How to Get Motivated, Quickly and Easily
Getting the motivation to do something – whether it’s making it to an endurance practice or starting a new workout program – seems easy enough, but few can sustain the motivation to follow-through consistently.
There’s always too much to do. The task is too big. Tomorrow’s a better day to get started. Right? There are a million reasons we don’t act, but almost always the consequences of our inaction are guilt and regret.
You’ll be glad to discover that you can stop that vicious cycle of inaction and regret and become the self-motivated person you always wanted to be!
Here are some excellent tips on how to motivate yourself, even when you’ve hit a setback, are in a slump, or haven’t even begun to figure out what you want from life or cross-training:
- Focus. Focus on just one goal at a time. Even if you’re working toward improving several things, focus on each goal separately. This helps to keep you from feeling overwhelmed and prevents you from giving up before you get started. Flush out everything else from your mind, and keep your energies focused on the one goal.
- Develop a tunnel vision focus to tune out unimportant tasks and distractions.
- Envision results. Remembering why you’re inspired in the first place will refresh your motivation towards attaining your goal.
- Think of how your life will be changed and improved once you achieve this goal.
- Start small 🤏. Determine the tasks necessary to reach your goal. Now divide these tasks into a series of smaller tasks. Continue this process until you’ve obtained tasks that you know you can accomplish. It’s like bite-size chunks. When the chunks are small enough, you know you won’t be biting off more than you can chew at one time!
- Attaining many small goals on your way to the big goal keeps you happy and motivated with constant successes.
- Network. Talk to friends, coworkers, and experts in the area you seek to master. Get them to share tips, advice and experiences they’ve had that can help you to reach your goal. Surrounding yourself with people who have the same goals – or have already attained them – will inspire you to act.
- Tell people about your goals. By telling people about your goal, you are making a pact that you will follow-through. Tell your friends, teammates or Coaches to energize your motivation.
- Dedicate daily time. Dedicate a certain amount of time each day specifically to furthering this goal. Investing time in attaining your goal every day will keep it in your mind as positive action.
- Positive action propels success and diminishes doubts and regret.
- Research. Research industry or topic books, blogs and forums. Anything you do to make yourself more knowledgeable about your goal can inspire you to act.
- Reward yourself. When you accomplish a step or a positive outcome in your goal plan, reward yourself with a nice dinner or something that will make you feel special.
- Learn from your mistakes. First, recognize that you will make mistakes and accept this. Second, take the opportunity to learn what to do (or not to do) the next time.
- Analyzing how to fix the error will push you forward with greater confidence.
- Replace negativity with positive thoughts and actions. We all encounter those negative thoughts that tell us to give up, but knowing how to counteract them will keep you on track toward your goal. Your mindset and attitude determine the positive or negative outcome of any situation. Keep those positive thoughts and actions coming and success will surely follow. Don’t let those negative thoughts mess up your mojo!
- Negativity is not reality unless you make it so.
Self-motivation begins with the end in mind, and the only person who can get you there is you! By using this combination of tips and techniques, you can motivate yourself to take action toward your goals. You’ll be proud of yourself for doing something positive to make your life better. Plus, you’ll develop a mindset that will serve you well into the future for achieving more and more of what you want out of life and/or cross-training! 💪