To motivate yourself to begin with is difficult, especially if it’s something you’ve never done or thought about before. I find myself having motivation to start something and then dropping it at the slightest inconvenience. When the going gets tough I go nowhere; I’m aiming to change that.
Looking at human motivation, I think that we can talk ourselves into doing absolutely anything; it’s a few weeks (or months) into the same routine that people tend to drop off. Whether it's saving money, playing a sport or weekly blog posting, many people have started and failed. I was a failed blogger for most of my first year of uni and it took a global pandemic to get me back into it- we all have out vices eh?
I know what motivates me, but it’s keeping that motivation when I continue to do something for a prolonged period (it’s surprising I’m still attending university.) I need to encourage myself to carry on, regardless of whether my motivation is screaming at me or napping.
To do so, the first thing I need to start doing is thinking everything in my life is a chore- because it’s not. Cleaning the kitchen is a grown-up chore I’m convinced no one likes and that cannot be comparable to going for a run. Running is a really good way to sort my mind out, and it also keeps me fit, it has benefits that I care about and shouldn’t be something that I need to do.
A way I’m starting to stop this is by going running when I feel like it; I’d still like to run at least twice a week but I’m not going to put time and dates on it. If I don’t have to run on a cold Monday morning, I won’t. This is both taking the need out to go running, but also mixes up my schedule every week, because I won’t be knowing when I’m running until I’m, well, running.
Now I’ve started back at university, parts of my week are scheduled, and as I help out with a homeless charity society, I have commitments there too. To take something that was a scheduled event, back when everyone had too much time on their hands and cared about a man and his big cats and make it something free flowing during the week eases pressure.
So now my activities aren’t a chore, and don’t have to be completely scheduled, where do I go from here? “The trick is to focus on the elements of the work that you find enjoyable.”
That quote is easier said than done, because sometimes there’s nothing to enjoy about what we want to do (like cleaning kitchens.) One ‘keep on’ motivator in times of drastic trouble, I say is the most enjoyable thing about this is it ending. And, if I’m honest, that has worked- I wrote an entire assignment in 4 days because I wanted it to end (I miraculously got a first; something I can’t explain.)
What I’m trying to say is, that no matter what you might be doing, there’ll be a silver lining hidden somewhere. It could be right in front of you or 10 layers deep, but it will be there, and will give you some satisfaction at the end.
I’ve always been a fan of rewarding yourself. In my first post about getting motivated I spoke about how no matter how big or small your goal is, when you get there (or you complete a large chunk) you should reward yourself. We’re always aiming to complete something, to get that reward. I run to get fit, I go to university for a degree- but life would be pretty boring if we didn’t give ourselves time to let ourselves loose or reward ourselves with something along the way.
These could be incentives. I’ve been running in the same outfit since the very beginning and seen as though I’ve come on leaps and bounds since I started, I’m rewarding myself with buying new workout gear (Student loan has just come in but that’s beside the point.)
Rewarding yourself is more focused on when you have long-term goals, but giving yourself little boosters on your way through will help you get you where you want to be and might just keep you motivated enough to get there quicker, or complete it just that little bit better.
However, if we were to ignore what I’ve just said, some of you could be more motivated to reach a goal if you didn’t know what was going to happen at the end of it. You could apply this to every goal, you really don’t know what this is going to do for your career, your personal life, your mental health, it’s the not knowing that makes everything rather more exciting.
If I didn’t know what was going to happen to my body after I’ve finished a run, I’d probably go on a lot more. In reality, I get back to my flat and can’t think about carrying on with my day for 10 minutes, before dragging myself to the shower. Knowing this, the thought of going on a run isn’t appetising, but, if I didn’t know whether I’d look like a supermodel or well whatever you’d call the previous description, then I think I’d run just to find out.
Uncertain rewards in day to day life can be hard to set up, and possibly don’t motivate you at the beginning, but it’s not impossible and If you find yourself out of options, maybe this could be the one?
The final thing I’ll talk about it changing the way you process your achievements. When you’ve made headway towards a goal, you can see the finish line, rather than think about how far you’ve got to go, think about what you’ve already done, you’ve done it once, you can do it again. Once you’ve hit the middle mark, you’re closer to the end than you are the start; the home stretch. If you can advantage of the tendency to say, spend more when you’re close to an offer off, apply it to your goals- hit your target, and reward yourself.
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