Self-Motivation and How to Do It!

Self-Motivation and How to Do It!

Self-motivation is defined by the Oxford Dictionaries Online as:

‘Motivated to do or achieve something because of one’s own enthusiasm or interest, without needing pressure from others.’

It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? But notice how it refers to things we like to do, are interested in and are enthusiastic about – even I can do that!

But what happens if we have to do something we don’t like or are not interested in, but have to do it anyway? Maybe it’s for the good of our health or the right thing to do for a career choice, etc.

How do we get self-motivated, then?

Self-motivation is about designing a mindset. It’s not something you can just instantly get. Making an active choice and empowering yourself is the essential key. When this is done – by active choice – then these tips might help:

1. Use the power of positive thinking – if you believe you can do it you will.
2. Try to be around people who are working on the same goals as you, who can get you fired up when you feel like slacking off.
3. When you think you’ve found something that works to help with motivation, write it down and do the same thing next time. Also note what time of day it is – maybe you can arrange to do what you need to do when you know you can cope better.
4. Try not to overthink everything. The more you think about something and the more you dissect it the more excuses you will find for not doing it. Just DO IT.
5. Help to motivate others; by being a motivator you will motivate yourself. It doesn’t look good if you give up on something while encouraging others. By motivating others you will be much more likely to continue.
6. Take up yoga – this has helped me to focus better and have some uninterrupted ‘me’ time when I can zone out and just be me.
7. Focus on the goal you want to achieve and how much better things will be when you attain that goal.
8. Break tasks into small chunks – and reward yourself after you complete each part. For example: work on part of a task for 15 minutes and then stop and have a drink, chocolate – whatever you fancy. On completion of the task, give yourself another reward.
9. Put on your favourite music and boogie! Seriously, music you enjoy can be very motivational. If you can’t boogie while you work, at least you can bop mentally while you tackle the job you need to do. Music makes us happy, and that makes every job easier to complete.
10. Don’t give up! It’s so easy to give up, but then you will have just another reason to lack focus, confidence and direction the next time you have to do something.

Some motivational quotes to get you fired up:

‘You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.’

C. S. Lewis

‘If you can dream it, you can do it.’

Walt Disney

‘In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.’

Nikos Kazantzakis

‘Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.’

Gordon B. Hinckley

Thank you to Corinne and Mary from Precious Kids Great Parents for this week’s inspirational guest blog.