Motivation
6 Life Changing Tips To Stay Motivated
In order to truly become great and make our dreams into realities we have to cultivate superior levels of consistent motivation. This type of motivation guarantees success in whatever endeavor because it allows you to do what needs to be done regardless of whether you feel terrible or great.
The simple feat of knowing that you are that kind of person with that amount of self-discipline brings all the unbreakable confidence and satisfaction you can dream of. Imagine for a moment how amazing the world would be if every single person just activated their motivation?
Every single person who planned to start a new years resolution and had the motivation to complete it? Every single person that planned to exercise consistently and followed through? Every business, project, service and idea could become a reality if more individuals had the motivation to continue taking persistent action. How different would our society be?
“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than master of oneself.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
You can start using all of the following tips in your day-to-day routines or just choose one that inspired you the most:
1. Sleep
I know, you were thinking I would start off with some crazy new concept that would change your life. The further you dive into the self-development field the more you keep coming back to the three fundamentals; sleep, nutrition and exercise. Optimize those three and you will find that every area of your life will dramatically improve.
Recommended action: 7-8 hours, go to sleep before 11:00PM and focus on a PM routine that keeps your sleeping habits consistent.
2. Morning ritual
Every single morning you have a choice. The choice is simple. Either you wake up reacting to the world or you wake up in creator mode and take important action towards your vision. How you start your mornings will create incredible amounts of momentum and fuel your motivation.
Recommended action: Have a minimum of 30 minutes to yourself without checking any type of electronic device. Aim for 1-3 hours of (GET STUFF DONE) time for world-class productivity every morning. Plan your #1 task aka (the frog) from the night before into this time period. Create value for your dreams instead of reacting to the world.
3. Gatorade showers
What does any type of sports team do after a huge win? They surprise their coach with a nice refreshing Gatorade shower to show their appreciation. If another person can do something so can you. In order to stay motivated you have to remember your wins and build on them.
Recommended action: Before you go to bed journal all of your micro/macro wins that you had throughout your day. Call this your success journal. Once a week celebrate all your wins by rereading them, rewarding yourself with a ‘Gatorade shower’ of your choice. (Do not miss a day as this momentum becomes compounded).
4. Take a small step
Feeling some type of way? Feeling demotivated? Just get started with it! Take the mini-habits approach and just do one push up, write one line. Just get started. When you are lacking motivation remember to just take some small level of action because research shows that our attitude follows our behaviors every time.
Recommended action: When motivation is not there just take any type of bare minimum action to ‘take off’ and you will see your attitude and motivation change.
5. Clarity and commitment
Without clarity and commitment your motivation will be low. Guaranteed no questions asked. Are you feeling demotivated? What do you need the extra motivation for? Do you really think that some type of inspirational video on loop is going to really do that for you? What type of action are you having trouble mustering up the strength to accomplish? Why do you need to be more motivated?
Recommended action: Answer those questions and get as clear as possible on what you’re having trouble being motivated to do. Journal on this and find your ‘why’. Perform some type of ritual for a macro commitment; such as writing down your goals and action steps on a paper and burning it. Every morning recommit to taking action in congruence with your best self.
6. Death
Remembering that you will eventually die is such a motivating factor because it is the most powerful reminder that we only have so many moments in our life. It reminds you that every single ‘present’ moment is completely priceless. You will eventually run out of time and stop living. Why not make the most of your life starting right now?
Recommended action: Imagine your last moment on earth. Imagine the 100-year-old version of yourself crawling out of their deathbed in a hospital. Imagine this older version of yourself looking at you right now and becoming furious at the fact that you do not understand how crucial the present moment is because he hardly has any left. Channel this urgency and get to work.
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs
These six tips are powerful. I have laid out the framework to being motivated right now and creating a momentum to staying motivated over the long term. In order to stay motivated you need to really want something, think you can get it while curbing your impulses and setting a bunch of micro goals along the way.