How to Motivate Yourself in Day-to-Day Life

See also: Self-Motivation

If you want to accomplish your objectives and not give up half-way, there is one essential thing that must stick with you and that is motivation.

Being motivated will help you overcome laziness, procrastination and minor failures.

People become motivated by different things: some are motivated by avoiding failure, and others by attaining success.

People who are motivated by avoiding failure tend to be good at spotting issues and resolving them. They immediately notice what could go wrong and tend to lose sight of objectives.

Those who are motivated by attaining success tend to focus on goals. They are motivated by results, which makes them good at setting priorities. Their purpose fills them with energy and it might be difficult for them to spot problems that might arise.

Another thing that sets people apart when it comes to motivation is where it comes from. Think about yourself and the factors that motivate you. Are these factors intrinsic or extrinsic?

Those that draw their motivation from within (intrinsic motivation) have a higher control over their standards because they themselves are responsible for setting them. They regard orders as information, are difficult to coordinate, and don’t offer a lot of feedback in a managerial position.

People that find motivation in external factors (extrinsic motivation) constantly check other people’s opinion to be certain that they’re doing a good job. These people are motivated when someone else decides.

From a decision-making point of view, people fall into two categories. Those who prefer having more options and enjoy doing things differently, and those that prefer proven methods.

Of course, you can’t categorize people completely. It would be like splitting people into good or bad and that wouldn’t be fair. Any person has a good side and a darker side, and this principle perfectly applies to the above categories. One cannot say that motivation ONLY comes from within, but rather that motivation tends to come more from within than from external factors. See the difference?

Now that you’ve gained some understanding regarding the reasons behind decision making, you are closer to understanding your own way of making decisions. Balance is important, but some key elements can help you stay motivated in your day-to-day activities.

1. Passion

“Do what you love and you’ll never have to work another day.”

You’ve probably heard this expression and have experienced yourself the ease of doing something that you enjoy. Of course, every one of us has to do things that we don’t like from time to time, but doing them daily will make your life unsatisfying. If you’re stuck in a dead-end job that you hate, get out of there as soon as possible and find something that you at least mildly enjoy doing.

2. Habits

Creating a routine can help you accomplish your goals.

Waking up in the morning at the same hour, having the same work schedule and so on will help you be more organized and be more productive.

3. Focus

You may find yourself with lots of tasks on your to-do list.

Try ticking off one thing at a time to avoid having five half-finished tasks at the end of the day. Take one task at a time and concentrate your entire attention on it. Don’t shift focus until the task is completed. Take small breaks if you have to, but resume the same task, not something else. If you zone in and zone out of activities, you will be using your mind more without being productive.

You may have a task that requires hours and hours of work. Try splitting that task into subtasks.

Let’s say that you have to create a blog post. Usually, an article of medium length takes around three to four hours to finish. For most people, maintaining focus for three to four hours is quite difficult. Thus, you could split this task into smaller subtasks. These could be a. planning and structuring, b. data collection, c. writing part 1, d. writing part 2, and so on. You get the picture.

4. Remind yourself why the task at hand is important.

What will it help you achieve? Is there any better way you can do it?

Answering these questions will help you eliminate doubt and think more clearly. It will be easier to follow through and finish the project or task.

I’ll give you a little trick to instantly boost your motivation levels.

When you dedicate yourself to accomplishing an objective, take a pen and paper and write down all the reasons why you want to accomplish it. Take five minutes to think about the impact it will have on your life.

After you’ve listed the reasons behind your objectives, hang the piece of paper somewhere around your workspace.

Whenever you feel like not working, or fail to see the point of it, take a look at that piece of paper. You will remember why you started in the first place and you will feel enthusiastic again. You know deep down that you’re not a coward that gives up so easily, after all.

5. Just do it, even just for five minutes

If you’re in one of those lazy phases when doing something seems almost impossible, the best thing you can do is to get started. Tell yourself that you’re going to be doing it for five minutes. Once you get started, it will become a lot easier to continue.

It’s kind of logical, I know, but it can be really helpful. I know that I myself have been faced with moments of “productivity-paralysis”. I wanted so badly to get things done, but something was stopping me from getting started.

Sometimes, all that you need to do is to simply give yourself a figurative “kick in the bottom”.

The Skills You Need Guide to Personal Development