How Do You Go About Motivating Yourself?

how do you go about motivating yourself?

Motivation — that 10-letter word that makes all the difference in what gets accomplished throughout our lives. Whether it’s your academic life, professional life, or personal life, your journey depends on the motivation that can be mustered up to push you through those moments when you’re feeling tired, lazy, or downright uninspired. Setting goals is one thing, but taking action to get that to-do list done is another ballgame that many of us struggle with.

There are ways to help give yourself that little extra nudge when you’re starting to veer off course. So how do you go about motivating yourself when you’re feeling down and out? Here are some tips that might be able to help you.

Figure Out Your ‘Why’

We all make goals and to-do lists only to procrastinate so much that we forget they even existed. But in order to reach your goals, you have to pay attention to your emotions since they dictate just about everything you do. That’s why it’s important to figure the why behind what you’re trying to accomplish. If your goal is to get in shape, eat healthier, ace your next exam, or get ahead in your career, sit down with a pen and piece of paper and think of the reasons why you want it. Writing out concrete reasons can help anchor your emotions to them, which makes it so much easier to motivate yourself to keep on going.

Start Off Small

Piling up your list of goals and expectations can be an inadvertent way of setting yourself up for failure. So start off small and try to be realistic about what you can accomplish in the allotted timeframe. Focus on one thing at a time and break down your goals into baby steps. Then, eventually over time, your efforts will compound and make you feel great about what you’ve achieved.

Push Through the Fear

Fear is always a significant obstacle when it comes to achieving our goals because the idea of failure is hard to ignore. But don’t let fear stop you from moving forward. If you’re struggling with this, write down what it is that you’re envisioning. What is your fear telling you will happen? Often, when you take the time to truly identify what it is that’s preventing you from reaching your goals, you will see that even your worst case scenario really isn’t that bad at all.

The reality is that it’s much easier to set goals than it is to find the motivation to act on them. But tuning into your emotions is crucial in order for you to really connect to your reasons, and of course, find the drive to keep going, even during those difficult days. If you’re struggling to tap into your motivation, we can help. At Ottawa Counselling, we offer counselling services that can help with a variety of issues such as this. Contact us today to set up a consultation.