Oftentimes we find our motivation steadily fading away, regardless of the goals we are trying to achieve. And, instead of finding a way to “get a refill”, we just give up. To paraphrase Zig Ziglar, motivation does not last forever, but neither does bathing, and yet you still have to do it regularly.
But how do you get motivated? The thing is you need an extra ingredient to find that power to work for your goals: you need inspiration, besides motivation. If there’s nothing to inspire you, your motivation will eventually dry out.
We are emotional and mostly irrational beings
No matter how rational we like to believe we are, our decisions, our drives, our goals and our dreams – our whole lives – are controlled by emotions. The same goes with motivation. If you can’t find something to strike you on an emotional level, if you can’t find inspiration, you won’t be able to keep yourself motivated to achieve your goals.
This is why you must, first of all, focus on getting inspired.
Find your own inspiration
Inspiration can come in many forms and is different for everyone. Whenever you feel you lack motivation, you must search for those things in life that speak to your emotions and that inspire you to want to become a better person. For example, here are just a few things you could try:
- Talk to a teacher you admire deeply. Ask him how he got to where he is today or simply ask him for advice to help you stay on the path you have taken.
- Free up some time to attend conferences and workshops held by people who are successful in the areas that you’re interested in. You will find that, in many cases, they were far less equipped for success when they started out than you are, which can be greatly inspiring and help you believe in yourself.
- Reading about the great successes or personal changes in history can also be of great inspiration and help you find the power to work on your dreams.
- Maybe it’s your loved one or your family that you find inspiring – ask them for help whenever you feel your motivation dying out.
Whatever it may be that inspires you, the most important thing is to seek it whenever you feel you are losing your drive to continue on your path. Once you find it, there will still be obstacles in your way that will make you lose motivation, but it will still be a lot easier to stay on track, especially if you keep in mind the following tips.
Tricks for staying motivated
- Whatever goal you have, it will take time to accomplish. Very often, the main reason why we lose our motivation is because we don’t know how to organize our days and we end up feeling we’re working in vain. Proper time management is key to staying motivated.
- Connect with positive people. We all know at least one person that’s always so jolly and so optimistic, it seems it never rains on them. Whenever you lack motivation and feel like giving up, talk to positive people and you’ll find yourself stronger, in a better mood and inspired to work towards your goals.
- Celebrate every little success. Each time you overcome an obstacle or come a step closer to your final goal, make sure to reward yourself for it. Rewards play an important role in staying motivated.
- Have a plan, but be ready to change course if it doesn’t work. Everybody tells you “make a plan and stick to it”, and this mindset often leads to giving up completely if the strategy you’ve put together turns out not to be successful. Be flexible and prepared to try something else – and then try some more – until you find what does work.
Now what are you waiting for? Have you found your inspiration? Have you started working on your dreams? Get to action, as you are the one who controls your goals!
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Author: Kate Simpson
Kate Simpson is head of the editing team at Assignment Masters. Kate is also contributing her own insights at the news section.
