Ways to motivate yourself

We all struggle from lack of motivation at times.  Whether you’re struggling with a lack of motivation right now or just looking for ways to be more motivated, you’ll find something useful here.  I tend to be a pretty passionate person and I always have something in life that I am passionate about.  Or almost always.  A couple days ago I became aware of this feeling I’d been having for a few days.  I didn’t want to get out of bed.  I didn’t want to do anything.  This may initially sound like depression, but it lacked the feelings of sadness, the pessimistic thinking and thoughts of whether or not life was worth living.  Pure and simple, I just had no motivation.

So, I Googled ‘How to get Motivated’.  Google knows everything!  Below are the techniques and concepts that I found that were the most helpful to me.  But first, Part 1 of my poem on motivation.  (Part 2 is at the bottom of this post.)

Motivation and Feelings

It’s important to note that motivation has to do with how we feel.  This isn’t about how to accomplish things.  This is about changing how we feel so that we want to accomplish things.  We accomplish more when we feel positive.  Personally, I love it when I feel motivated.  There is nothing like feeling passionate and fired up for some goal or project that I am working on.

Having reasons to want to do something aren’t enough.  We all have reasons to exercise: health, happiness, stress-relief, looking good, etc.  Those reasons aren’t enough to get us up off our bottoms and into the gym.

5 Ways to Motivate Yourself

1. Music

One of the quickest ways to change how we feel is to listen to music.  Listening to an upbeat song can bring about those positive feelings that make us feel motivated.  This worked like a charm for me when I was feeling unmotivated.  I plugged my phone into my speakers, out on my favorite playlist and felt more motivated washing the dishes than I’d felt all week.

2. Reading Blogs or Books

Reading a blog or book by somebody that has done what we want to is a great way to get motivated.  As I write this, I am preparing to move into my van and hit the road full-time.  When I realized I was feeling unmotivated, I wasn’t even excited about my upcoming travels.  Thirty minutes of poking around some travel blogs for some full-time RVers and I was again psyched about my plans.

3. Visualization

Spend time thinking about how great the results will be.  This may sound silly, but lately I’ve been walking around my house having imaginary conversations with people I’m going to meet on the road where I have a beaming smile and am telling them how much I love my life traveling around the country.

4. Pictures or Reminders

Pictures or saying posted around the house or office can be good reminders of what we want to work for.  I changed the background on my phone to be a picture of my RV parked by a lake from one of my previous trips.  Every time I see it, I feel excited about hitting the road.

5. Track Your Progress

This is a great way to stay motivated.  Obviously it doesn’t work so well if you haven’t started on something yet, but once you get going, nothing is more motivating than seeing your progress!  For some goals, before and after pictures are a great way to track progress.  For others, you can make a list of things that you have accomplished.