Let’s face it, some days it’s hard to get motivated. We’ve all experienced those days when it feels almost impossible to get anything done.
Your to-do list is completely full, and you have ZERO energy or motivation. Unfortunately, this is an all too common occurrence.
If you’re anything like me, then you must start your day with a To-Do list. Without one you don’t feel like you’re living up to your full productive potential, right?
Well, what do you do if you can’t find the motivation to tackle everything on your To-Do list? And no, I don’t suggest pounding more coffee or watching motivational videos on YouTube.
It’s interesting how people will spend hours watching motivational videos instead of actually doing the work. Anyway, that’s not us so we don’t have to worry.
It’s important to remember that motivation is fickle, it can come and go at any time. People often think that successful people are motivated all the time. However, this is not true. Successful people struggle with motivation just like the rest of us.
What makes successful people different is how they overcome the lack of motivation. Successful people are able to overcome their lack of motivation because they have systems and strategies.
This is why it’s important for you to have strategies that you can use when you’re not feeling motivated.
In this article I’m going to outline 9 simple and effective tips that will help you to motivate yourself when you’re feeling down. So, grab a pen and notepad and let’s get started!
Table of Contents
1. Start Small
It’s hard to start anything when you’re not feeling motivated. Even simple tasks like sending an email or posting to social media can feel like a monumental chore. We all experience this from time to time.
So, what do you do when you can’t find the motivation to start?
You take one small step forward, then another, and another. It might sound too simple to be effective, but this strategy is one of the best ways to overcome a lack of motivation.
How does this work?
When you’re not feeling motivated to do something, simply getting started can feel overwhelming. Our brains tend to make mountains out of molehills.
That’s why starting with the first step helps. When we do this, we’re able to bypass our brains procrastination circuits, so to speak.
If a task feels overwhelming, most people will feel the urge to procrastinate. If a task appears to be quick and easy, then that feeling of procrastination won’t be as strong and we’ll be more inclined to do it.
For instance, let’s say you have 100 sales calls to make in order to reach your daily quota. For whatever reason, you just can’t find the motivation to pick up the phone and dial. Instead of punishing yourself for being lazy, you break the 100 calls into smaller steps. Step 1 is to find one person to call. Step 2 is to dial the number. Step 3 ask for the decision maker and deliver your sales pitch. Step 4 go for the close and ask for the sale. Step 5 take a short break and reward yourself. Once you’re finished with your break, start on the next call.
Do you see how breaking a large task into smaller steps can make it less intimidating? This is the power of taking small steps. You don’t need motivation to start, you just need to take the first step.
The best part is that once you start making progress you will naturally start to feel more motivated. Before you know it, your to-do list will be done and you will be looking for the next task to crush.
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar
2. Go for Small Wins
One of the key components to motivation is celebrating small wins. Let’s face it, it’s hard to get motivated when there is no reward waiting for us.
Unfortunately, most people postpone their reward until the end of a large project. This is fine but what if you can’t sustain your motivation all the way through?
You need a small win.
Small wins have been shown to increase motivation and boost performance. In fact, many companies are now incorporating small wins into their culture in order to boost productivity.
How to Incorporate Small Wins
One of the most effective ways to incorporate small wins into your day is by simply writing them down. Take a piece of paper and write down all of the things that you want to accomplish for that day, you can also use a to-do list.
Then once you complete a task, celebrate. Don’t worry, you don’t have to throw a party. Pick something small that will excite you. It needs to be big enough to motivate you but small enough so that you don’t go broke.
For instance, I like to use an energy drink, a protein bar, or a smoothie. Again, it’s up to you, just make sure you’re not establishing any bad habits, like eating a cookie after every small win.
“I’ve found that small wins, small projects, small differences often make HUGE differences.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter
3. Get Happy
It’s no secret that negative emotions are often accompanied by a lack of motivation. Have you ever felt inspired to write a book when you were feeling depressed? Probably not.
Negative emotions have a way of sapping the energy and motivation right out of us. That’s why maintaining a positive attitude is crucial for sustaining motivation.
For instance, let’s say you have an exceptionally busy day ahead of you and your to-do list is into the triple digits. As a result, you find yourself stressed and overwhelmed.
You start berating yourself for trying to schedule so much in one day and you start second guessing your judgement. Before you know it, you’re in a downward spiral of negative thinking.
How motivated do you think you would feel in this moment? Not at all, right?
Research has shown that positive emotions can increase motivation, and, to no surprise, negative emotions have the opposite effect.
Barbara Fredrickson who is a positive psychology researcher at the University of North Carolina proved this to be true.
Fredrickson conducted an experiment where she divided study participants into five groups. She then showed each group different picture ranging from sad and depressing to happy and uplifting.
She then asked each participant to imagine themselves in a situation where similar feelings would arise and to write down what they would do. The group that was shown the positive images came up with significantly more responses then the other groups.
The study showed that positive emotions lead to more optimistic outlooks and more motivation. Those who cultivate and maintain a positive mental attitude are more likely to come up with solutions and push forward when things get tough.
The Power of Gratitude
One of the easiest and most effective ways to get in a positive mood is practicing gratitude. The simple act of writing down things that you are grateful for can have an amazing effect on your mood.
I recommend starting a gratitude journal. If you don’t want to buy a journal you can also use a spiral notebook.
Start by writing down three things that you are genuinely grateful for. Emphasis on genuinely. Don’t write down superficial things. Write down things that will really move you.
Some examples would be:
- I am grateful for my home and the warmth and safety that it provides.
- I am grateful for my health and all the amazing things it allows me to do.
- I am grateful for my dog and the endless love and affection it shows me.
Who wouldn’t be in a good mood after writing down those three things?
Continue this practice every day and try to not miss a day. The goal is to turn this into a habit. After a few weeks you will notice an improvement in your mood.
“The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don’t have.” – Woody Allen
4. Use Peer Pressure
Peer pressure has gotten a bad rap. This is mostly because “peer pressure” tends to carry a negative connotation with it.
Think back to high school when you friends would pressure you into doing something that was probably not in your best interest.
This is unfortunate because when used correctly, peer pressure can be a powerful motivator, especially in the workplace.
For instance, let’s say that your behind in your monthly sales goals and time is not on your side. As a result, you are feeling defeated and unmotivated.
No matter what you do, you can’t seem to summon the motivation you need. Suddenly, your manager announces, “In order to receive your monthly bonus everyone on the sales team must meet their monthly sales quota.”
Suddenly, the pressure is on, specifically, peer pressure. Not only are you responsible for your bonus but now your responsible for everyone else’s bonus too.
Now, this might not seem fair, but It definitely works.
Peer pressure has even been shown to be more effective at motivating than money, at least in the long term.
Money and prizes can be effective motivators but once the money and prizes are given out, motivation tends to drop back to baseline.
Peer pressure on the other hand, can go the distance.
How to Use Peer Pressure
One of the most effective ways to utilize the power of peer pressure is to have an accountability partner.
Pick someone who you know, like, and trust and make sure that they are as committed to the partnership as you are.
How an accountability partnership works is simple. You tell your accountability partner what your tasks and goals are, and they make sure you complete them.
If you need even more pressure, add money. For instance, if you don’t meet your goal in the allotted time frame, then you pay your accountability partner $100.
I don’t know about you, but if I had $100 on the line, I would be pretty motivated.
Interesting Fact
The American Society of Training and Development found that people are 65 percent more likely to meet a goal after committing to another person. Their chances of success increase to 95 percent when they build in ongoing meetings with their partners to check in on their progress.
5. Find Your Why
Having a compelling reason “why” is perhaps the most powerful motivation strategy of all. We’ve all experienced events in our lives that required us to summon enormous amounts of untapped drive and motivation.
These can be traumatic events or situations where the stakes were high. It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we are truly motivated.
It’s unfortunate that we sometimes have to experience traumatic situations in order to experience this superhuman level of drive.
But what if we didn’t have to? What if we could summon untapped levels of motivation at will?
Well, I’m happy to inform you that you can. Now, it’s not as simple as snapping your fingers but it can be done.
The key to creating high levels of motivation is to create a compelling “why”.
Now, you might be thinking, “I already have a reason why and I’m still not feeling motivated!”. Well, that’s because your “why” isn’t compelling enough.
In order for this strategy to work, your “why” must be compelling enough to motivate you even when you feel like giving up.
For example, let’s say that you set a goal to lose 25 pounds because you are having a hard time playing and keeping up with your kids.
Part of your weight loss regime is working out at the gym for 30 minutes every day. However, your just not feeling motivated today.
Your sore from your last work out, it’s raining, and you really don’t want to get wet. Just before you’re about to throw in the towel you remember your reason “why”.
Your compelling reason to lose weight was so that you could play with you kids again. This is something that you want more than anything in the world.
Suddenly, you are filled with energy and motivation. You go to the gym and you have your best work out yet.
This is the power of having a compelling reason “why”. It will motivate you to do what you need to do even when you don’t want to do it.
So, pick your compelling reason “why” and go crush your goals.
‘He who has a why can endure any how.’ – Frederick Nietzsche
6. Set Realistic Goals
Setting realistic goals is incredibly important for staying motivated. As I mentioned earlier, motivation is a fickle thing. It can come and go throughout the day.
In order to sustain motivation, it’s important to set realistic and attainable goals. When setting goals, it’s important to set yourself up for a win.
Don’t set big unrealistic goals. This won’t keep you motivated. You may feel motivated at first but after a while you will start to feel defeated.
This happens because when we set our goals to high it’s takes us much longer, if ever, to accomplish them. It’s very difficult to maintain high levels of motivation for extended periods of time.
That’s why setting realistic goals is so important. It allows you to set goals and actually accomplish them. You’re essentially setting yourself up for success.
Doing this will help to boost your motivation and confidence, which you can then use to accomplish other goals.
Find the Goldilocks Zone
Just make sure that your setting your goals at an optimal level of difficulty. In other words, you don’t want you goals to be too easy or too hard. They need to be in the goldilocks zone. Not too close and not too far away.
For instance, let’s say that you want to have six pack abs in time for summer. Great, the only problem is that summer is just 4 weeks away. It’s simply not realistic to have six pack abs in only 4 weeks.
On the other hand, let’s say that you want to have six pack abs in time for summer next year. Well, this is a realistic goal, however, it’s probably too far out for you to stay motivated. You need a shorter goal posts.
Setting realistic goals are important for maintaining motivation. Setting yourself up for easy wins is an effective strategy for creating motivation and sustaining it for extended periods of time.
“Focus on what it is that you want, set a realistic goal. Start setting goals that you feel you can accomplish. Don’t try to go right to the top in one leap. Every time you accomplish a goal you develop the strength and wisdom to accomplish the next one.” – Chuck Norris
7. Keep Track of Your Wins
Now that we have set ourselves up for quick wins, it’s important that we keep track of them. The reason we want to keep track of our wins is because it can be easy to lose sight of our accomplishments.
Do you know someone who appears to have it all and is still unhappy?
Most of us do.
But why is this?
The reason many successful people aren’t happy is because they delay their happiness. They are constantly setting their sights on their next big goal instead of reflecting on past accomplishments.
They’re always looking forward and never looking back.
For instance, let’s say that you set a goal to make 1 million dollars in your business in the next year. This is an ambitious goal, but you are confident you can achieve it.
You work diligently day and night towards your goal. One day you wake up to a text message from your accountant telling you that you achieved your goal.
You are elated!
For next couple days you are on cloud nine. You feel like there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish if you put your mind to it.
However, that feeling is short lived. Soon you start thinking what it would be like to make 2 million dollars.
After a few weeks you’re are no longer excited or impressed by your million-dollar year. Now you feel like you should be making 2 million dollars a year.
This can be very demotivating.
This is why it’s important to reflect on our past successes. Reflecting on our past successes allows us to appreciate our efforts and see how far we’ve come.
It’s helps us to remember the challenges and obstacles that we’ve faced and overcome. This can greatly help to boost confidence and motivation.
“Reflect on your past successes. Every success, be it large or small, is proof that you are capable of achieving more success. Celebrate each success. You can recall it when you begin to lose faith in yourself.”- Napoleon Hill
8. Take More Breaks
While hard work is important for achieving success, it’s also important that we give ourselves regular breaks. It’s easy to get caught up in the “Hustle and grind” mentality when working toward an important goal.
It seems like everywhere you look someone is wearing a t-shirt with “Hustle Hard” written across the front. Or you might hear an entrepreneur passionately promoting the importance of “hustle” in order to succeed.
Personally, I don’t think there is anything wrong with “hustling”, just as long as you’re taking good care of yourself and taking sufficient breaks throughout the day.
Taking breaks is critical for avoiding burnout and sustaining motivation.
Additionally, taking breaks will improve the quality of your work. When we try and power through our work without taking breaks, our work suffers.
And when we’re not doing quality work, our motivation suffers.
Have you ever been stuck on a problem and then suddenly came up with the solution after taking a break?
I know I have. If fact, whenever I’m stuck on a problem, I like to take a walk and let my subconscious mind come up with the solution.
It’s challenging to be motivated when you’re tired. If your pushing yourself and not taking breaks, then your likely going to experience burnout.
I can assure you that burnout is not going to inspire or motivate you. If anything, burnout will make you feel like giving up.
To avoid this, make sure that you are taking your breaks when needed. Just make sure that youre taking breaks at the appropriate times.
For instance, don’t take a break when you’re in the middle of writing and in the zone. This is counterproductive, and it will be difficult for you to refocus.
The best time to take a break is when you are feeling strained. We’ve all had that feeling after working on something for too long where everything feels like a struggle.
If you find yourself struggling to write a simple email, step away and take a break. Even if it’s only for 5 minutes. Don’t worry, the email will be waiting for you when you get back.
“Taking a break can lead to breakthroughs.” – Russell Eric Dobda
9. Learn from Failure
Failure is an inevitable part of life. We all experience failures from time to time. No matter how much we try to avoid it, we will all experience failures.
However, this doesn’t mean that failing is a bad thing.
In fact, failures can be positive when looked at in the right perspective. For instance, failure provides us with the feedback that we need to improve and get better.
Failures let us know what’s working and what needs improvement. Personally, I like to think of failure as nothing more than a feedback mechanism.
It’s a tool that I can use to optimize my systems and processes.
However, failures can be discouraging and demotivating. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that nobody enjoys failing.
However, when looked at in the right light, failure can be used for motivation. Personally, I view each failure as opportunity to learn and grow.
Having this perspective motivates me. It helps to push me forward regardless of what obstacles stand in my way.
Because I know that no matter how big the failure, there will always be something positive that I can take away from it.
If we don’t overcome our fear of failure, we will never try and push ourselves outside of our comfort zones.
So, the next time you experience a failure, don’t get discouraged. Look at it as an opportunity. Ask yourself the following questions:
- “What can I take away from this experience?”
- “How can I do better next time?”.
If you do this, you will start to see your failures in a different light. They will motivate you to persist and keep growing.
Remember, you only fail if you quit.
“Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” – C. S. Lewis
