Keeping yourself motivated is tricky. It can be tough staying on track when things start to go wrong. So, how do successful people keep themselves motivated regardless of the circumstances?
Set a Goal and Imagine it in Minute Detail
This is a great way to keep your mind focussed on the goal. Think about how you’ll feel and look when you achieve your goal. if it’s more money or a promotion you’re after, imagine your house, what it’ll look like, how it’ll feel when you live there, how you’ll decorate it, the furniture you’ll buy and so on. But, don’t stop there! You can also think about the holidays and clothes you’d buy and what food you’d love to eat. This is a technique top athletes use. If you watch sprinters preparing before a race, you can often see them visualising it – right down to the taste of the sweat, the feel of the wind in their face as they run and, most importantly, the celebrations of the crowd as they pass the winning line first. If you use this technique on a regular basis, you’ll keep your reasons for working hard at the forefront of your mind.
Break The Goal Down Into Smaller Parts
Large goals usually lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed. So, it’s simple – break the goal down into smaller parts that you can achieve easily. This way rather than slogging on for years aiming at one large goal, with the feeling that you’ve not achieved anything until you reach it – make smaller goals that you can achieve on a regular basis. This will give you a sense of satisfaction and motivate you to carry on. And, it’s backed up by neuroscience, which shows that our brains reward us with dopamine (the feel-good chemical) each time we reach a small goal. This inspires us to continue on with the next little step. A simple way to see the effectiveness of this is to write a list of all the jobs you have to complete in the day and tick them off as you achieve them – just notice how good it feels as you work your way down the list.
Hand Write a List of The Reasons Why You Want to Achieve the Goals
You may wonder why you need to do this, but research suggests that hand writing requires more attention and engagement from the brain. Typing, on the other hand, is an automated process and requires less brain interaction. So, the action of hand writing sets the goal in stone. You can also keep the list of goals in your bag or pocket so you can whip them out and read through them if you feel you need a little boost now and again.
Ask For Help if You Need it
None of us know everything – that’s normal. And no-one expects you to know everything either, so there’s no harm or shame in asking for help if you need it. In fact, even if you could reach your goals all by yourself, it’s better to share them. Telling others of your intention to achieve a certain goal puts it out there – into the world – and it gives your unconscious mind a clear message too, which helps you stay motivated. Plus, when you ask other people for help, you never know what great ideas they’ll bring to the table. You could end up reaching or surpassing your goals easily just by asking for help from others.
Have Strategies in Place in Case Your Motivation Starts to Flag
Even with all these ideas in place, there may be times when you feel like giving up. In anticipation of this, it’s a good idea to have a strategy in place. And this is not defeatist – it’s preparation. A simple technique is to write a list of all the people you admire or find inspiring. These can be people you know personally, maybe a relative who has overcome a serious illness, or famous people, such as Winston Churchill, who famously said ‘Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up,’ to a group of students after London had endured 57 consecutive bombings.
And to finish off, here’s a comprehension task from the British Council based on motivation.
Use these techniques and see how they work for you. And, if you have any others that you find super motivating, please let me know.
Written by Shelley Bowers
