How to get and stay self-motivated
IT is easy to stay positive when things are going well. But it is more difficult to stay positive when things are against you. Life for most of us is like the Irish weather. Some days are sunny. Some days are stormy. We can even have all four seasons in the one day. It is easy to stay motivated in the good times. But if we lose it in the tougher times we lose our momentum.
We need a lot of focus and resilience to stay motivated. As we learn in science, Newton’s third law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This can come from within ourselves or in the world. When we are trying to grow and create new things, we should expect this opposing force. It is simply science.
Anything worth having in life takes hard work to attain and sometimes even harder work to maintain.
When we want to the garden of our life to look different this time next year we must plant and water seeds every day and weed and fertilize periodically.
Understanding and Staying grounded in why you are doing what you are doing is fundamental to help you sustain focus and motivation. This will stand to you when the going gets tough
I met Hector at the Wexford Business awards Dinner on Friday night. We were talking about ‘ keeping it lit’. There is an internal fire in all of us that needs to be kept lit. A quote I love is” The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire’. When we stay connected to who we are, what drives us and what we are doing, this fire is always burning.
We are goal driven beings. If you don’t have any, set a goal of creating a goal.
It is good to track progress at regular intervals. I like weekly. It is important to acknowledge and celebrate successes and give yourself breaks. When things don’t work learn from them and move ahead. The only real failure is not trying or not trying enough. Otherwise there is simply learning or success.
I often notice when working with people that they often expect to be able to do things they have never done perfectly without preparation and training. Children are always ready to keep trying until they succeed. As adults, we could learn this from then. Just as we would not expect to run a marathon without training nor should we expect to do new things without steady practice. Break your goals down to bite size steps that you can do monthly, weekly and even daily. Neuroscience has proven that small successes trigger our brains to release the feel-good chemical dopamine. This helps us focus and inspires us to take more steps. If you keep moving daily where you want to go, you will get there. And always ask for help when you need it. If you are stuck on anything, Ask. This is essential.
Reading others stories is inspiring. We often view others as overnight successes. But when we scratch the surface most apparent overnight successes are preceded by many years of hard work. Success that is sustained over time is mostly hard-won. Study, read and discover how others got where they want to go.
Every morning connect with your mind, your body and your purpose in the right way so you feel charged for the day. This will help you stay motivated and inspired and set you up for success daily and for life. And as Winston Churchill said: Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up.” And, ‘If you not you, who? and if not now, when ?’
Calodagh McCumiskey teaches meditation and yoga. She offers business wellbeing programmes for businesses and weekly meditation classes in Wexford and Waterford 087 1335230 | info@spiritualearth.ie | www.spiritualearth.ie