If you ask me what’s the one thing that terrifies me, it certainly would be something like this, “waking up one morning and lose all the motivation to work or create.” Lack of motivation to do something scares me like hell. Ever since I started working, I’d somehow get myself motivated enough to do something. Always move. Take one step. Then the next. But I’ve never stopped. I’ve failed many times and hit a brick wall too and each time I reached a dead end It would really shake me.
This is the one thing I’ve learnt in my 6 years of consulting, training, coaching or even creating content for the courses and blogs, that success and failure run quite parallel to one another. One cannot exist without the other and you don’t have any control over it. The only thing you’ve got control over is you, your motivation, your commitment, your time and your energy.
I swear I’ve had my moments of self-doubt and still do. It gets extremely overwhelming to keep the show running. I understand the frustration and burn out all too well. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, employed, student or even a home maker if you lack motivation to wake up each day to do what you’ve got to do it cannot take you where you need to go.
Here’s what you’ve got to remember about motivation there are two types of motivation that help you to keep going –
Internal Motivation or Intrinsic Motivation – This is when you do what you do because of your personal satisfaction and desire.
External Motivation or Extrinsic Motivation – This is when you do what you do because you have an external force such as, a goal, a reward, an obligation etc., that drives you to keep going
There has been a ton of talk on which motivation serves you better and yet there’s no telling. There’s no one type that can work in your favour. The trick is to use both these types for your benefit when you need them the most.
For e g., I love creating content for my blog and programs because it tends to help give many people clarity and information. Here I use a lot of internal motivation for my blog because it’s a way to serve people without them having to pay for it. At the same time, I use external motivation to create programs and courses because these programs also help people but are more detailed and are charged for a price. So, the internal motivation for the blog makes me feel happy as I can serve people and external motivation helps me run my show and serve people better.
You see? It’s on you and how you use these motivations for yourself to get the job done.
To make it a bit easier and help you feel motivated every day, I’m giving you 10 steps you can apply for the next 10 days just stay motivated and keep going even if you don’t feel like or are disappointed with the results.
Steps to help you stay Motivated
Step #1 – Prioritize – Your task. Your time. Your attention. This needs to be prioritized. If not, you’re going to find yourself among a lot of chaos and not knowing how to get to it will eventually de-motivate you and you’ll procrastinate.
Step #2 – Calm your nerves – Especially on the days you need a lot to get done and especially of it freaks you out. Overwhelm can be harmful causing a lot of anxiety and non - stop worry which will prevent you from taking action.
Step #3 – Add some Joy – You cannot expect to work well or create in a dull and gloomy atmosphere. Bring some colour, some music, or talk to people who make you laugh or lighten up your mood. It’s not easy to keep going and adding some joy to it smoothens it up a bit.
Step #4 – Patience – It’s quite normal for me to add this to the list, wouldn’t you agree? Have you ever accomplished anything without patience? Nah! Impatience make you angrier, stressed and you make decisions which certainly won’t help you eventually you lose interest and therefore motivation.
Step #5 – Connect with the world – Don’t focus on yourself for a bit. See what’s happening in the world. See in what way you can contribute to make it better? This little thought will motivate you to keep going.
Step #6 – Connect with your Body – Get some shut-eye. A massage. Eat right. Because if you don’t take care of your body, you’re certainly going to feel lethargic, feel stressed out and not want to work. Either mentally or physically.
Step #7 – Appreciate – You’re doing some great work. Your work and intentions matter. Be kind to yourself and appreciate all the hard work you’ve been putting into your work. Appreciate yourself. Feel good about all that you’re doing. This will motivate you to be more committed and focused towards your work.
Step #8 – Take a break – Give yourself a break. It’s important to unwind and rest allowing your mind and brain think clearly and a simple rejuvenation can make you feel more energized and more focused.
Step #9 – Acceptance – Sometimes somethings just don’t work out. It’s the way of life and it’s okay. It’s not in your control and there’s nothing you can do about it. Like I mentioned earlier, failure and success are parallel and you need to accept when things don’t work out, learn from it and move ahead.
Step #10 – Hit Reset and Restore – When something doesn’t go as planned or when we experience failure, we tend to give up but what we forget is that you don’t need to give up on your goal rather your method. Hit reset on your method or way of working and start again.
These simple steps will help you to stay motivated even on the days you feel upset or lethargic or disappointed. All you’ve got to do is apply these steps everyday for the next 10 days and keep at it. Keep showing up for work or your goal. Look. It’s going to be a bit uncomfortable to keep going. It’s not going to be extremely easy and yes, you’re going to have to commit to this for the next 10 days. Needless to say, that you may fail to follow but keep at it for the next 10 days or whenever you decide to begin and I’m certain it’ll help you stay motivated. If you need your personal motivational buddy who can also guide you and train you in areas you need a little help with, you don’t need to look any further. I can help. We can work together to help you stay motivated and productive. If you think you can invest the time, energy and money to work with me, we can get started right away.
How do you keep yourself motivated? How do you keep at it each day? Share with me in the comments below.
Hope this post helps you to stay motivated and get you going. If you liked it share it with your friends or loved ones. It always means a lot when you share.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Love,
Nikita