YOU are your own worst enemy. This is a hard pill to swallow when it’s easier to provide excuses or blame someone else when we fall short of our dreams. In truth, the culprit for lack of success is the lack of self-esteem or self-motivation.
Are there ways to motivate yourself? Yes. Self-motivation is all about facing your fears but doing them anyway. Easier said than done but as cliche, as it sounds, that’s what it takes to achieve your dreams.
Going from point A to B doesn’t require complicated actions. And does not rely on one’s academic achievement. For it, it all starts with the confidence to take that first step.
In a world full of negativity and things beyond your control, self-esteem can simply go spiraling downhill. That’s when you get stuck, lost or drifting into the unknown.
Not everyone thrives in these times but the challenge is to be the exception and rise above others. So how do you find motivation?
Here are 17 simple tips on How to Motivate Yourself
1. Create a Clear Goal for Yourself
People who don’t have any goals are like ships drifting off in the vast sea without a destination. Thus, it is necessary to define your goals and write them down.
Set a goal that’s neither too daunting to achieve nor too easy to grab. Make your goal doable but challenging enough to push you out of your comfort zone. Thus, setting a destination is the first stop.
2. Power Your Mornings
Not known to many, mornings sets you off to a good start for the day. Think about the first thing you do when you wake up.
Do you reach out for your phone to check the news or notifications on social media? If so, you need to change your morning rituals. Rather than drifting in the open sea, list down your Top 3 for the day that is aligned with your goals.
It is not about being busy but being productive. Powering up your mornings is ensuring your car in tip-top shape before you head out.
3. Clear Out Your Space
A cluttered space is often a reflection of a messy state of mind. As Marie Condo usually says, “keep things that only spark joy in your life.”
Weed out the nonessential and seek to decorate your place with things that inspire your creativity and empower your mind.
4. Feed Your Mind
Your internal state is influenced by what you feed your mind. You cannot expect a person who watches news all the time to give the most reliable judgment.
If you feed your problems, chances are you will feel worse than when you started. Filter the information that you receive such as reading articles that power up your mind and emotion.
Remember a gas-operated car cannot run properly when fueled with diesel.
5. Get Up to Speed on a New Skill
Learning and mastering new skills are great confidence boosters. It helps you to shift your energy and rekindle the passion within. New skills such as driving can bring you to places far from where you can imagine.
6. Channel Your Creative Side
Whether it’s arts or crafts, immerse yourself in a creative quest to titillate your mind. There’s a certain vibe and accomplishment that you get from creating something out of nothing.
Seeing a blank canvas turn into a magnificent art piece or yards of thread converted to fashionable items gives you an immediate sense of achievement that brings your self-esteem to a new level.
7. Find a Mentor
Only a few percent of the population is successful. But, this doesn’t mean that the rest of the populace is not ready to be one.
Rather than living a mediocre life, get advice from people who are already at the pinnacle of success. Look for someone you respect and a lifestyle or ideology you want to emulate to get closer to your goals.
You’d rather have an expert driver to teach how to drive than an expert swimmer.
8. Invest in Yourself
The fact that you are still not where you want to be or at the peak state of performance means there is much to learn. Opportunities are everywhere but it takes a skillful and talented person to get the most out of them.
Don’t wait for the god of luck to show up on your doorsteps. Be ready to grab as it comes and create one if there’s none. And this is only possible when you continuously learn to develop yourself. When you stop learning, you stop growing.
9. Find a Cause Bigger Than Yourself
While motivation is deeply rooted in your being, often it helps to look outward to improve inward. Helping someone even at your worst state provides an avenue to think less of yourself and more of others.
People are demotivated because they dwell too much on what’s lacking in their lives. And it takes a bigger responsibility to break you out from your peril and start reaching out to others to become a better person.
10. Attitude of Gratitude
Look around you, there are tons of things you should be grateful for. A lot of people have forgotten to show gratitude for even the smallest things such as a house that shelters them from storm or food that brings nourishment to their body.
A heart that is grateful is a heart that attracts beautiful things to come their way. Appreciating how far you’ve come gives you the confidence to keep moving forward.
11. Do Some Physical Activity
Exercise is an age-old activity overlooked by a lot of people. Science has proved time and again how physical activities can release endorphins to make you feel good.
When you feel down, exercise gives an instant surge in your energy and changes your state in just a few minutes.
12. Take Care of Yourself
People have been so busy nowadays that they fail to look after themselves. Resorting to stress eating or drinking alcohol to destress but feeling much worse at the end of the day.
Taking care of yourself is not about indulging in food or vices but about giving the body what it truly deserves. Live a healthy lifestyle to provide you with the energy you need to carry on your daily tasks and embark on new adventures.
13. Celebrate Small Wins
You don’t need life-altering triumphs to celebrate. Every small victory should be equally applauded. Appreciating those tiny steps increases your self-esteem making you more motivated to do more.
14. Fail Forward
Make mistakes. Tons of them. The more mistakes you make, the more chances of learning fast and growing to a person bigger than yourself.
15. Look “The Look”
What does a successful and confident person look like? Definitely not someone with shoulders slumped and dressed in rags. Your physical appearance gives you an edge all the time.
It is not about the value of your wardrobe but how you carry yourself. Walk like a millionaire or a beauty queen on the runway that’ll make heads turn giving you that instant lift to your mood.
16. Go Back to Your WHY
The reason people lost sight of their goals is that they forget the reason why they started in the first place. Reconnecting with your WHY will refuel you to go further in life.
17. Having a Growth Mindset
Aim for progress, not perfection. Condition your mind to focus on what you have rather than what you do not have. By doing so, you can add fuel to the fire that’s already within.
Bob Marley once asked this question, “Open your eyes, look within. Are you happy with the life you’re living?” A question that will help anyone reflect, find the motivation to start over and move forward. Be the author of your life and don’t let others write it for you. Stand up and get moving.
