Are you serious about creating the life you want?
If you are, then one of the most important skills you need to master is keeping yourself motivated so you’ll be able to take the kind of action that will get you where you want to go. People who are intent on realizing their goals know that their success is largely dependent on how motivated they are.
The road to achieving the life you want is paved with failures. It can’t be avoided: Failures and misfires are part of the human experience. But even though we know this, failures are hard to take and cause a lot of people to give up on their dreams.
One of the biggest differences between those who achieve their goals, and the many that never do, is whether he or she can stay motivated no matter how many times they get knocked down.
Inspiration comes and sparks motivation, but it has a short shelf life. You have to keep it going.
You can’t buy motivation: It has to come from inside you and you have to work on it all the time.
I’ve been at this awhile and have developed a bunch of practices that keep me motivated. The good news is that keeping yourself motivated builds momentum and makes it easier to keep it going. If you keep yourself motivated, you’ll start to see things in a more positive light, weather setbacks faster, and find gifts in the challenges that life never stops sending your way!
Here are the top eight things I do to get or stay motivated.
Know why you want what you want
Knowing why you want what you want gives the goal roots that reach into deep parts of you and help anchor the desire behind your goal. When you know in your every cell why you want to create what you want to create it’s like installing a sticky layer in your psyche that keeps you aware of your dreams. Revisit your goals, and take the time to dig deep to uncover exactly why you want to achieve each one.
Create habits
Remember – and act on – the fact that creating a habit will reduce your need to summon as much willpower as you once needed to do whatever the new habit is. Willpower isn’t infinite – you can exhaust your daily supply of willpower if everything you do has to be powered through. But making something a habit reduces the amount of willpower needed, saves you a lot of energy, and keeps you motivated.
Get up early
I’ve gotten up at 5 a.m. for most of my working life. When I get up early, I feel I own the day. Yes, it’s a sacrifice, but I believe in sacrificing for what I want. By getting up early, I can do all the things I need to do to keep me strong, healthy, and mentally and emotionally fit before I start my workday. Taking care of myself like this feeds my motivation.
Create a morning ritual
Having some form of a morning practice, or ritual, centers me, helps me come into the present moment, and makes me mindful of the fact that I have a whole day before me. What I do is this: I get up at 5 a.m. and meditate for 15-20 minutes. After that, I drop to the floor and do 15 pushups just to get my blood going!
Only then do I make my awesome coffee. While drinking it, I write down three things I’m grateful for and three things I want to accomplish that day that will make me happy. After that, I either take a yoga or spin class, do a general all around work out, or go for a bike ride. Day on!
Exercise
Whatever form of exercise you do, do it. If you haven’t already made it a habit, please try to do that. A crazy number of studies have found that regular exercise is great for your physical and mental health in a crazy number of ways! No matter how you slice it, exercise is a motivator: Not only does it release feel-good chemicals and make you stronger, but it gives you a feeling of accomplishment that lends itself to greater self-confidence — which makes it easier to do what you’ve set out to do.
Stay connected
I have to be around people and stay connected to stay motivated. I got a lot of juice as a salon owner by being at work with other stylists, but also by developing a big network of other professionals. I was and still am active in all kinds of industry organizations and am always attending conferences and seminars where I surrounded myself with entrepreneurs and business professionals. Even if you’re just beginning a new career, or pivoting in a new direction, brainstorm ways to connect with others in your field, then start meeting them. It’s massively motivating, and also keeps you accountable. Today I belong to three mastermind groups of like-minded entrepreneurs who help keep each other motivated. I’ll also hire a coach when I need to work through something, and I always try to hire and work with people who are positive and uplifting.
Feed your mind with the uplifting
Ted Talks. Self-help books. Blogs. YouTube videos. I’m all over this stuff. Forget the popular culture: Society, in general, is not uplifting and a lot of people will rain on your parade more often than not. So, never go to a negative person for help. Instead, fill your mind with the wisdom and experience of the thousands of inspirational teachers and teachings out there. I am always reading self-help books, listening to podcasts, reading blog posts, and watching videos. My latest two favorites are the work of Tim Ferris (I listen to his podcasts and read his weekly emails) and Jenny Blake. The list is endless.
Dwell on your wins
According to psychologist Rick Hanson, author of the New York Times bestseller Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence, our brains lay down neural patterns rapidly when negative events happen. Our ancestors evolved this way to survive: If the dangers didn’t make a big impression on us, we could perish.
On the other hand, good things happen all the time – from the merely pleasant to the powerfully good – but they don’t make as big an impression on our brains.
To counter this, and lay down neural pathways that are positive and guide us to follow them more easily in the future, Hanson recommends savoring the positive.
When something good happens, don’t just let it pass. Dwell on it, for 30 seconds or so, at least, savoring how nice it feels: how happy you are that it came to pass. Extending this idea, reward yourself – in whatever way feels good – when you’ve had a win. It isn’t only dogs that are motivated by treats. Humans are too!
