Staying Motivated

How does one accomplish the (sometimes seemingly impossible) task of staying motivated. If you're like me you can cycle through phases of being motivated and entirely unmotivated in accomplishing what you would like to in any area of your life.

I think there are 2 reasons why 'staying motivated' can be difficult at times:

1. We're tired! Or something comes up! Or we need a break and so forth. This only becomes a problem if these occurrences become frequent. Then we'll have to start calling them excuses and we probably need to revisit the task or goal we're avoiding and how important it actually is to us to get back on track.

2. We haven't formed a habit! Habits are our routines, our behaviours that are so deeply ingrained in our daily lives that we don't necessarily have to think twice about doing them. If we looking at staying motivated to accomplish a new task or goal we're most likely going to encounter a habit that is in direct opposition to what we'd like to achieve. This is because we've got to form a new habit, which could definitely be a lengthy process (depending on how badly you actually want the goal you're after).

How do we deal with our habits that are getting in the way of things we'd like to change? Keep in mind these 5 thoughts:

1. Be patient! Things take time.

2. Don't expect perfection! It's about making progress!

3. Keep positive!

4. Be kind to yourself! Tied in to the first three points. Don't beat yourself up.

5. Reflect on and be creative with discovering new strategies that are going to work for you.

Remember the goal: progress!

Strive to Optimize!