Motivation is something we all need. It’s hard to get motivated and it’s hard to stay motivated, particularly when live throws us a curve ball and sets us back.  This article will give you some tips on how to get and stay motivated.

How can you Get Motivated

You have your plans in place then something happens how do you either get motivated again or stay motivated. It can be easier than you may think. Although the tips below are simple they really work!

• Remember why you started the project or created the goal

• Make a plan that will help you get to where you want to be. The clearer your plan and when you know why you want it the easier it will be to be motivated.

• Have a visual reminder of your project or goal. This may be a picture of what you want, or your goal written out.  It has to be seen in order to keep it fresh in your mind.

How Can You Motivate Others
What if you are in a position where you have a team you need to motivate, or even your friends and family? Here are a few more tips

• Always give positive reinforcement. Praise people and point out what they have done right. Too often people point out the faults rather than the good people are doing.

• How can you help others. Ask people is there anything you can do for them to help them achieve your goals. By giving you will also receive help back!
• Offer constructive advice and don’t criticize. Show people how they can improve rather than telling them what they are doing wrong.

Motivate Yourself To Be Happy
Getting what you want should make you happy

• Everything you do should bring you closer to your goal. Sometimes it’s tough to see the end result but focus everything you do on getting close to your goal.
• Do not get yourself down. What is done is done, no matter how hard you try you can’t change the past. However you can learn from the past and not make the same mistakes.  Think of everything that has happened as a learning experience.

• Release  negative thoughts. Negative thoughts won’t help you so breathe in and take in the good and breathe out and let go of the negative

Motivate Yourself Towards Being Healthy
It is a known fact that a healthy body will also foster a healthy mind. So your health and your motivation go hand in hand. However staying healthy can be difficult. However you can use the following tips:

• Be Realistic start out with a 30 minute walk once a week and build it up from there.
• Sleep Your body needs to relax and replenish and charge up so make sure you get enough sleep each night. Burning the candle at both ends won’t work for too long

• Eat healthier Eat less sugary things and more vegetables – yes they can be tasty!
• Reward yourself it’s nice to treat yourself so why not go to the cinema? Out with some friends? Or just stay home and chill once in awhile.

Motivate Yourself To Be More Productive
Being productive is important, here are a few tips to help you be and stay more productive.

• Remember the feeling of satisfaction. What was it like the last time you did something well and completed it on time – it was great right. Remember that feeling and use it to push yourself forward.

• Finishing is a reward in itself. The reward may not be just money but it may be recognition, praise or a promotion!

• Focus on the ones you love. The more productive you are the quicker you can get things done, or the more money you can make to spend time with your family. Remember the ones you love are so important.

These various tips will help you get more motivated, remember the more motivation you get the more motivated you will be – it’s a positive circle!

Getting motivated can be difficult. You wake up look at your todo list and don’t even know where to start. You can’t even motivate yourself to get going. Is there a solution?

This is made more difficult if you don’t really like the task you have to undertake!  But there are ways around this read on and you’ll find out more…

Becoming Motivated and Staying Motivated

Motivation is pretty black and white – you’re either motivated or you’re not. Unfortunetly there is no middle ground! You can’t be half motivated! Don’t worry we all get demotivated at times, but you can get back on the motivation horse quite easily.

In order to get motivated look for a mentor or a role model. Someone you admire who is very motivated. This will help you begin to think like they do. For example you can ask yourself wht would X do to get motivated? Would they sit down and do nothing or would they find a way to get motivated.  This person could be a family member or someone famous. If it is someone famous go out and buy or go to the library and see if they have a biography that you can read!

Sometimes we may find it hard to get motivated because we are stressed so why not try to relax! If you’ve been worrying too much, not sleeping and not eating properly you will find it hard to get motivated, so look after yourself!

Take a mental vacation if you find that high amounts of stress are zapping you of your motivation. Go shopping for a couple of hours, read a book, go for a nature walk, or call a friend. Taking a break may seem like the wrong thing to do, but your motivation will likely come back when the pressure is gone.

You may find that doing something completely different will help you – going for a walk, tidying up, even just chilling out to some music. Look at your environment and see if you need to declutter, ie is your desk really messy? Perhaps this is stressing you and making you less motivated.

Find out what motivates you? For some it comes from within (intrinsic), ie you like to feel the satisfaction of getting things done.  For others they need to be motivated by others (extrinsic) ie being told they have done a good job.  For people who like extrinsic motivation perhaps working for yourself might be difficult as you need outside praise.

My top tip is to relax, change what you are doing and don’t get stressed out about not being motivated. Look at your goals and see if they are motivating enough for you. Perhaps your current goals don’t motivate you enough and you need to change them.

Do you ever feel inadequate and incompetent? I know there are times when I have these feelings and I am sure you have had them too. However some people feel that way more often than other people do. There are so many people who constantly put themselves down that they fail to grow in life. They simply stop trying, they stop trying to learn and better themselves. Often it is common that they become depressed and discouraged. I’ll be honest and say we all feel like that sometimes…

It has been shown that sometimes self-doubt comes from a negative experience early in your life. For example, if people you were made fun of when you were a younger, you might doubt your abilities even today. I’ve seen this with people who return to study. They have a bad experience during school and now feel they cannot achieve.

Parents, teachers, and even friends can  sometimes say things, without putting a lot of thought into what they are saying, that can have a powerful impact. You know how it is someone says something that makes you feel a bit awkward and then you start to dwell on it and think about it. Suddenly the inner critic within you starts to play with this and you begin to lose faith in your abilities.

Here are some tactics to help you erase that doubt and become more confident:

It’s time to let go of negative, critical self talk

Don’t dwell on the past and don’t let it take over your present. You have a choice –  Don’t let a anyone ruin your day. It’s like a recording that goes off in your head and keeps repeating itself. Those words, or that phrase that the person uses, keeps spinning around like a record.  They are the ones at fault here not you. Their negative talk says more about them then you!

• Stop your tendency to criticise yourself. By believing those who criticize you, you give them the power – you have a choice to either listen to them or ignore them.

• Don’t listen to the inner critic that tells you that something won’t work out.

• Don’t fan the flames of the voice so to speak. A fire with no air will soon be extinguished.

• Believe that you can succeed

• Avoid negative people and seek out more positive people

Be prepared and do the best you can

Thinking positively will not work alone, you must take action to succeed. Visualize yourself succeeding and see the strategies you need to make the outcome a reality. If you doubt your abilities write down a list of things you have achieved and start from there.

• Right now write out 5 things you are good at and 5 things you have achieved. Read this list everyday and show yourself how good you are.

Filling your mind with positivity is going to help you take action and succeed.

Here are some more important tips:

• Set achievable goals. Too many people set goals that are too big and lofty. They then set themselves up for failure right from the start. If you have never run a race in your life, don’t set a goal of running a marathon. Build up to run 1k, then 2, then 5, then 10
• Get active. Take action don’t sit around the house and think about things, this is a recipe for disaster.

• Remember your successes. Again think back to when you were successful. Feel what it was like to succeed. Use this feeling to push your forward.

To paraphrase a saying. “every journey of 1000 miles starts with the first small step”

As you achieve the small steps they will soon lead to greater achievements. Don’t believe this? How easy is it to put on weight by just having one “treat” a day. Soon those treats add up till you find yourself overweight. The same works with achievements. A small achievement may not seem much but over the course of time you will see its greatness.