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Most of us have things we would like to achieve. Whether we call them goals or not, they are present, in the back of our minds. Finding the initial motivation to do something is often easy. Keeping the motivation to reach our dreams is hard. The actions needed for success can suddenly become unpleasant chores that we despise. In this article, I will share my tips about how to stay positive and motivated.
How to stay positive and motivated
How to stay motivated every day
Motivation is accessible to every one of us. More importantly, it can also be lost by everyone. Those extra-motivated people aren’t “lucky” to have strong will and determination. They’ve developed strategies to help them remain focused and determined.
1) Find your why
A strong why is the key to achieving something challenging that requires months or years of work. Your “why” is your purpose, the reason you want to accomplish something.
The stronger your why, the easier it is to keep your focus and persevere. Failure becomes a lot more likely if your purpose isn’t meaningful enough to you. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you don’t deeply want something, why invest time and energy to make it happen? Find something more meaningful.
Your why can be anything important to you. Here are some examples:
- It can be monetary. Perhaps you want to exceed your sales goals at work to get that promotion. Why do you want that promotion?
- It might be health-oriented. Maybe you want to train for a marathon because you are hoping to avoid developing type 2 diabetes like your Dad.
- Or perhaps it’s for self-worth. You may be wanting to build a successful blog where you can help others struggling with a particular problem.
Your why needs to be meaningful to you and only to you. It must be something that you can anchor when the initial motivation wears off.
Learn more about finding your why, your purpose, and loving your life.
2) Build habits
For something to become easier, it needs to become an integral part of your life.
Doing something consistently will turn it into a habit.
You won’t need to decide if you want to do something or not. You will simply do it, just like you brush your teeth every day.
If something is important enough to you, you will make space to integrate it into your schedule. It will become part of your schedule.
To build successful habits…
- Start with something small and do it very consistently
- Track your progress, and be honest with yourself when you miss
- If you miss, reflect on why
- Make small adjustments to course correct
- Eventually, add bigger habits by chunking them into many smaller habits
- Track, reflect, adjust
Consider reading the book Atomic Habits by James Clear to further understand the power of habits.
3) Have accountability
Being accountable to yourself is important. However, having accountability to others can be even more powerful.
If someone you care about is counting on you, it will give you extra motivation to keep pushing forward.
For this reason, I suggest always sharing your goals with others.
It can also provide you with additional support from your loved ones. If they know what you are focused on, they can help by giving you the time and space to work towards your goals.
How to stay motivated recap
- Find a why that will forever be strong enough to keep you going
- Learn to build habits that will support the achievement of your goals
- Find people to keep you accountable in your close circle
Let’s now look at positivity. This is the second crucial component. How to stay positive and motivated for success.
How to stay positive when facing adversity
It won’t always be rainbows and unicorns, even when implementing these motivation strategies.
A bad day is not the same as a bad life. We all have bad days. Our ability to add perspective to what we are going through is going to help us navigate those harder times.
1) Be realistic
It is crucial to set realistic expectations for our goals.
If you are trying to exceed your sales goal by 50% this year, it likely won’t happen during the first month of the year.
However, you will need to work toward this goal from the very beginning of the year.
- What strategies must you implement to make this happen?
- How will you measure the effectiveness of your strategy along the way?
- How can you chunk this big goal into several realistic milestones?
“Don’t wait until you reach your goal to be proud of yourself. Be proud of every step you take.” – Karen Salmansohn
2) Reward yourself
Rewarding yourself along the way is going to have a tremendous impact on your ability to remain happy and positive throughout the journey.
If your ultimate goal is to build a successful blog to help others, some smaller strategies might involve writing a certain number of new articles each month. Perhaps the habit that you’ve implemented to support this strategy is to write for two hours every Saturday morning.
If you completed your next blog post faster than anticipated, you have choices. You can start writing the next one. Or, you can reward yourself and do something just for yourself. Go have a coffee with a friend or sit outside in the sun while reading a book.
A reward doesn’t have to be a material thing. It doesn’t have to involve money. It is about giving yourself something that will fill your cup and increase your joy and satisfaction.
Don’t skip this. This is a key component of how to stay positive and motivated.
In conclusion
Every one of us has the potential of being a highly positive and motivated individual. All we need is the recipe for success which is highlighted above. Test it out! Pick a small, but meaningful goal and implement the steps that I shared with you. You will be amazed by the results.
How to stay positive and motivated is within your reach and can transform your life’s satisfaction and happiness.
I cannot wait to see your success! I believe in you.
Cat xx