Motivation. You want it, but it doesn’t seem to want you. So what can you do to change that? If you’re at a loss for how you can increase your motivation, read on and use these strategies to tap into an unlimited source of motivation! Well, not really — I’m not promising miracles, but hopefully these tips can help you boost your motivation in a realistic and doable way.
1. Take care of your physical needs first
When you find yourself lacking in motivation, the first thing you should do is assess your physical state. Are you tired? Are you hungry? Are you comfortable? If the answer to any of these questions is no then you will need to address it in order to increase your motivation.
2. Set small goals
It can be extremely motivating to set yourself a big goal; just the thought of one day achieving this goal can give us a huge boost at first. However, most of us may find that this initial surge of motivation quickly deflates, and we end up back at square one with what now seems like an unattainable goal.
Instead, why not try setting yourself small, achievable goals. While they may not fill us with the inspiration we find in our dreams of grandeur, actually being able to fulfil your mini goals can work wonders for motivation. Knowing that we can do what we set out to do gives us incentive to keep going, and soon enough, these small goals add up to real, visible progress. Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day!
3. Stop comparing yourself to others
The success of others is present all around us, whether it be the success of celebrities in the news or that of our peers on social media. At times, this may motivate us; because if they can do it, why can’t we? But often we end up weighing ourselves down by comparing our own successes with those of others.
The reality is, comparing yourself to someone else can really hinder your motivation. It may be more helpful to compare where you are now with where you used to be. This way, you will see your improvements, and similarly to setting small goals, seeing how far you’ve come nudges you to keep going. The best competition to be in is one with yourself.
4. Surround yourself with people who want to see you succeed
The main person you should be aiming to please is yourself, and you should always try to be your own biggest fan. That said, a little outside support never hurt anyone, and can provide us with a much needed boost of motivation. While this isn’t a viable strategy on it’s own, surrounding yourself with people who support you in your goals is definitely helpful. Combine this with the other strategies and you could be well on your way to feeling a consistently higher level of motivation.
5. Manage stress
Stress is inevitable in life, both at home and at work. Sometimes it can even be useful, pushing us to achieve more than we thought we could. However, too much stress can be draining and is likely to cause a noticeable decrease in motivation.
So, in order to stay motivated you need to manage your stress. Only you can know what methods for doing this work best for you, but try taking breaks, making time for your hobbies, or even reducing your workload. You will not only find that you’re more determined, but also that you feel more mentally sound in general.
6. Use your intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to your advantage
People will tell you that if you do something you love, you won’t lose motivation. Firstly, this is untrue, and even if it were true, we can’t all do what we love all the time.
The motivation to do things for the love of them is intrinsic motivation, while the motivation to do things in hope of a reward or to avoid punishment is extrinsic. Try identifying which form of motivation you rely on for doing certain tasks; you may find that it doesn’t always fall into a neat box and is some sort of mixture between the two.
The goal here is to understand your motivation, what drives it, and how to best take advantage of it. Once you do this, you should find that motivating yourself becomes more like filling up a car than grasping at straws; you will know which real, feasible steps you can take to stimulate you.
7. Motivation is fickle; work on building habits instead
Do you know why the majority of us struggle so much with motivation? It’s because motivation is fleeting. That’s why you’re here, looking for ways to grab onto it and stretch it out; because it is so very hard to stay motivated.
If you find yourself constantly lacking motivation, why not bypass it completely by focusing on creating good habits. Many of us look for motivation to push us to do the things we need to do; but if we turn these actions into habits — something that we do automatically — then we will no longer need to push ourselves so hard to do them. For example, if you get into the habit of cleaning your bathroom every week, it will become less necessary to build up the willpower to do it. You’ll become used to repeating actions that will become easy.
Now this isn’t a quick remedy; if it were, we wouldn’t all be chasing motivation in the first place. It’s a process that takes time to learn and implement, but if successful, you will find it easier to do what you need to do without waiting for a productive spark.
8. Remind yourself what you’re working for
When you find yourself down and unable to summon even an ounce of motivation, take a second to remember what it’s all for. Why are you working so hard? What do you want to get out of this in the end? When all of your small goals are added up, what do you want them to equal?
It can be easy to forget what the end goal is when we’re right in the middle of the journey. However, once we do, this can provide some well-needed motivation. Don’t let yourself forget your endgame, and take pride in the fact that you are closer to achieving your goals now than you were when you set them. This should help to keep your drive up!
Written by Adena Dewar
Adena is a Modern Languages graduate with a background in literature and creative writing. Through her writing she aims to promote healthy conversations about mental health and wellbeing and give readers the tools with which to improve their own quality of life.
