7 tried, tested and proven ways of motivating yourself

Motivating yourself can be a hard task and you can find yourself stuck in a rut more often than not. It is important to find ways in which you can motivate yourself against all odds. To start you off, here’s what you can do to keep going.

1. Make failure your bestie

It’s almost inevitable to fail in one thing or the other. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful ones is that successful people never quit. It’s important to keep trying when you fail by rising and picking yourself up. If you tried something and it didn’t work, then you can try out a different approach until you get what works for you in whatever it is you are doing. Look at failure as a stumbling block that you can overcome and not as a death sentence.

2. Develop an attitude for gratitude

There’s always something to be grateful for. You could even start off by giving thanks for the gift of life once you wake up. You can also make a list of what you are thankful for and start counting your blessings. If you had set a target and managed to accomplish it, then it’s good to be thankful about it. It will push you to be able to set more goals and in turn propel you to accomplish them. When you develop a grateful attitude, you tend to attract more positivity into your life.

3. Compete with yesterday’s version of yourself

Comparing yourself with others can be detrimental to your growth. When you compare your achievement to someone else’s achievement, it can make you feel as if you are not doing much yourself. It is advisable to compete with who you were yesterday and strive to do better day by day. When you evaluate yourself at the end of the day, you will realise that you have accomplished more and you will be happy with the progress that you have made.

4. Envision the feeling you will feel after accomplishing something

Sometimes you may find it hard to do a certain task and you don’t even know where to start. It’s good to imagine the feeling you will get once you accomplish that task. This will push you to actually do the task and you will end up feeling proud of yourself for successfully accomplishing it. Motivation is all in the mind and when you decide to do something, enforcing that thought into action will then become easier.

5. Learn to step back from time to time

It is important to step back in the course of pursuing a goal in order to evaluate the strategies you are executing. Assess the goals you set and also carefully examine the techniques that you have been using. Ask yourself whether the techniques are still effective or if you will be required to incorporate new ones. It will also help you gain more clarity on what exactly you want to achieve.

6. Learn when to stop

Sometimes we really push ourselves to the wall in order to achieve certain targets. This can be detrimental to your health because the body needs to get some rest. You may suffer burnout if you don’t know when to stop. It’s thus important to set time aside in order to recharge and come back fresh and ready to work on your goals.

7. Laugh your problems away

Whatever goals you have set for yourself, always make the most out of it. Have fun while at it and you will also feel accomplished once you manage to overcome the challenges that come along the way. Always maintain a positive spirit when you make a mistake and avoid dwelling on it. Ensure you learn from it and do better next time.