Calendars, planners, and agendas can be daunting to glance over when you know the upcoming week is supposed to be busy. This is especially true when your energy is low, and you struggle to feel inspired about the upcoming tasks. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to improve your self-motivation.
Whether you’re already a go-getter, or you’re wanting to become one, we’re here to help you become more self-motivated. It’s not as difficult as you’d think … it just takes a little practice.
Know what you need.
If you’re someone who needs regular motivation, it’s helpful to know where your desires lie. For example, many people gain satisfaction from crossing off completed tasks on their to-do lists. Doing this allows you to visualize progress and remove the completed item from your head. Then, you can look forward to the next task and the reward of crossing it off the list, too.
Often, the things that feel the most rewarding aren’t things at all. Sometimes, what we really need is the approval and support of someone whose opinion we value.
Connect to valuable voices.
Make sure that the people in your life are positive and motivated, like you. Being surrounded by like-minded individuals makes it easier to progress toward your goals. To take this step even further, ask these people to help keep you motivated and hold you accountable. This will ensure you’re always motivated to give your best effort.
Looking for other ways to motivate yourself? There are tons of books, movies, and even motivational speakers to seek out and pull inspiration from. If you’re absorbing motivational content frequently, your mindset will slowly become more motivated, too!
Motivation ... everywhere!
Self-motivation is important in every area of your life. Focus on spreading that same productive mindset over everything you do! Don’t let your lack of motivation keep you from cleaning the house. Instead, use the same principles that you use to self-motivate at work, at home.
Treat every life experience as a new adventure and an opportunity to learn. Although they won’t always be thrilling or new, if you look at them the right way and with a positive mindset, you can find the lessons in every experience. If you want to truly gain something from each occurrence, bring a small journal and pen everywhere with you. When you focus on what’s happening around you, with the intention of writing significant information down, you’ll start to see the value in everything. You’ll also find yourself listening and observing more intently.
Sometimes self-motivation requires a change in perspective. When you make this change and start to look at life in a new light, you’ll get excited over even humdrum activities. You might be thinking, “Every time I do the dishes it’s the same process … how can I get excited about that?” Think again!
Doing the dishes might always be the same, but you’re different today than you were yesterday. You have different thoughts today, so ignore the similarity of the process and acknowledge the differences in your mind.
When mindless tasks like these need to get done but you’re dreading doing them, treat them as moments to be mindful. Use these tasks as time to listen to a podcast or audio book. Eventually, you won’t think of it as a chore, but as a time to learn and let your mind wander.
Discover your current level of self-motivation.
If you don’t know where to begin, that’s okay! Take this test to find out what areas of self-motivation you excel at, and where you can make improvements. Be honest with yourself while taking the test, otherwise you may be missing out on some important growth.
