Sometimes, I find myself pausing, and occasionally stopping due to my inability to push myself forward. Although, I know that I have much to do, different things that require my attention, different datelines to meet but I just couldn't find the push to do it.
At times, I try to find, or rather, dig for some motivation from within but nothing works. More often than not, I find myself battling within me, to get moving, to find that push factor. Sometimes I find it, but sometimes, nothing comes.
As I was thinking about this, I wondered and was curious to read from others, how does one find motivation? I went searching. I browsed around, reading articles related to finding motivation and I noticed that we can't just stop at finding motivation. The very reason to finding motivation has to go hand in hand with keeping it or risk losing it again. That is pretty much the missing piece in my puzzle. I haven't thought much about keeping the motivation or some say, staying motivated.
There were 3 articles that I found well worth the read:
All 3 articles, write about setting goals as one of the very first steps. ReachOut.com says that by setting a goal, we are making a decision to achieve it. They went on to explain that a goal gives direction and should be measurable and has an endpoint. healthdirect added a point that goals should be achievable. Inc. pretty much sums it all with setting SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. I have read about this SMART acronym, but in project management arena and I was surprised that it was referenced in this context of finding motivation.
When I read this, I realized that when I set my mind to do a specific thing, within a specific timeframe and the need to do it, I do get motivated to complete it because there is an end in mind. For example, making gifts for my loved ones for Christmas or for birthdays. There is a specific item to be made, and there is a timeline. And when the dateline gets close, I tend to have that extra push to get them done and that could mean working all night. The same goes with work datelines. There is an amazing boost of energy when I am put under pressure.
Next, the thing that I liked was how Inc. talks about minding the mindset, instead of thinking about how daunting a task may be or how mundane it is, we should think about how it will feel when the task is done. This is also in line with Reach.Out's article that mentions the power in finding something within the task that motivates us, such as thinking the next step once a task is done. I could relate to this point because during the times when I do find motivation in doing something that is mundane such as mopping the floor, I tend to think about the happiness that I would feel once the mopping is completed. It helps in pushing myself to mop.
Another important point brought up by these articles is to break down the goals into manageable bite sizes. Basically to start small, instead of trying to complete a mammoth size goal. I believe that this is one of a motivating factor to continue to be motivated. I could relate this to working a jigsaw puzzle. If we plan our puzzle by first breaking the pieces down into similar colours and start by working the most obvious pieces which is the frame, we can get pumped up to continue working on the puzzle as and when a section is completed. Just as Reach.Out says, it helps to build confidence. Imagine not being able to complete anything at all after spending an hour. We would most likely not continue.
Then, there is positive self-talk that was mentioned in the healthdirect article. I think I do this quite a bit and I do agree that it has a major impact in helping to push myself to do something, especially when motivation is running low. Sometimes it works but sometimes to no avail. But, when I read Inc.'s list to crush procrastination, I think that is one of my weaknesses. Procastination is so easy and finding an excuse or making up an excuse is always the easy way out, isn't it? We need to have the discipline to "Just Do It", like Nike says.
However, the articles also talk about finding support or mentor or someone to help motivate us and surrounding ourselves with positive people to find that motivation. I would like to agree to this but most times, we do not have the luxury of having someone to take up that role. If we do, then good on us, but if we do not have one, we can take a look around and find in the internet for people in similar boat to read how they do it.
Summary
After reading these 3 articles, these are my take home points to find motivation and to stay motivated:
Set SMART goal or goals
Shape our mindset
Break the goal or goals into smaller and manageable tasks
Positive self-talk
Have the discipline to crush procrastination
Find support
There are many more pointers listed by the authors but I will start with these first (start small and have attainable goals :D) and revisit the articles. I realized after doing this exercise, is that we tend to believe in what we want to believe in, based on our experiences and write about them as if we are good advisors on the subject. But every now and then, it is good to read other points of view or views with structure, especially when it comes to life experiences or life pointers to improve ourselves.
I am very happy that you find motivation by reading these three motivational posts. I hope to read your posts more often.