Another Motivational Wednesday

Well, here we are again, Hump Day.  Except that today for many of us is only the second day of the work week, not the third.  For many, we only have two more days left of work before the weekend, and we only had to work two days to get here.  Even still, after a 3-day weekend, you may already start feeling a tad less motivated than you did yesterday.  We are going to try to rectify that lagging feeling with another Motivational Wednesday.

Today is one of my less than great motivation days, I am tired, even though it is the second day of a 4-day work week, it has been a loooong 2 days.  Many of you are probably feeling the same way too.  Here are some things that I have done to get motivation back into my day:

Goal setting is very important.  If I hadn't told you all that I would be posting a blog tonight, odds are very high that I would NOT have posted anything tonight.  I set that goal yesterday because I KNEW I would need the motivation to get this weeks blog done.  There are days when writing is easy, the words just flow off my fingertips and onto the page.  Then, there are other days, like today, where it feels like you are fighting to put even one word on the page, let alone a cohesive sentence.  Knowing that I promised to write and especially publishing the goal made it a lot easier to be motivated to achieve the goal.

Keep your goals simple.  This is the next step to remaining motivated to work on your goals.  If you have a goal that is virtually impossible to achieve in a day, week, or month, your initial goal is far to complex.  That is not to say you need to have simple goals, but what is important is to have relatively easy to achieve small goals that will ultimately bring you to your biggest goal.  If you are standing at the bottom of a very large mountain and know that you have to get to the top quickly, it can be very disheartening.  A way to achieve your larger goals is to set many smaller, simple goals that will guide you on your way to achieving your main goal.  A great quote I have heard several times is:  "How do you eat an elephant? ...  One bite at a time". 

Set a date to complete the simple goals.  Set a specific date that you want to achieve these smaller goals.  Do not set dates for all your goals, it could very easily demotivate you again.  Set one or two dates for one or two of your simple goals, and focus on getting those completed.  Once you succeed in completing those goals on time, you could easily become naturally motivated to start completing the other goals.  Be sure not to try to complete all your goals at one time, it will not work, and then once you stop, you will not be motivated to start again.  How many times have you gone to the gym to work out after a long absence, only to end up doing far too much on your first workout?  You may feel OK that first day, but boy, on that second day, you may not want to look at a gym again. 

Lastly, celebrate when you do achieve a goal.  Get excited about your successes, no matter how small you  may think they are.  The fact is that you did succeed, celebrate that.  Don't focus on the fact that you may not have achieved your whole goal, that will come with time and practice.  Start small, celebrate each small step.  You celebrate your child's first step, why not celebrate your own personal first step toward your goals.  Rewarding yourself can be as simple as lighting a scented candle, taking a bubble bath, or even treating yourself to a cookie, but reward yourself for a job well done.  If you don't do it, nobody else will.  Don't let others bring you down, surround yourself with positive people and you will find your own attitude will also improve. 

If you want to find motivation to achieve something it is critical to define your goals, keep your goals simple, set reasonable dates and then to celebrate each accomplishment.  Once you do it, you will be amazed at how easy it is to remain motivated to complete the remainder of your tasks.

The hardest part is getting started.  If you are not sure what your goals are, start writing down everything that you may want to do.  Then from there focus on one item that really gets you excited.  You will find then that setting smaller goals to achieve that one task becomes easier.  Heck, your first motivational task might be to list what goals you would like to achieve.  Set a date to begin that task, and limit how long you will spend writing down goals.  By keeping your time short, you won't be overwhelmed with the task and you may be amazed at how motivated you become after you put just one goal down on a piece of paper.

So, stop reading and start your own motivational practices. 

Until next week...