Do you wish you knew how to get motivated to do important things even when you don’t feel like it? Or do you struggle to do what you need to do when you lack motivation?
If so, and since you’re here, I imagine it might be one of those days for you. A day where you’ve said to yourself, “I don’t ‘feel like it”. So, um, you don’t.
Maybe you said it to yourself when you woke up? When you started work? Or, when you thought about that exercise class later? Quite possibly, all three.
We’ve all been there—wishing we knew how to get more motivated to do the things we need to do.
And, let me guess, you’re fed up with having these days? Days where you don’t feel motivated and don’t do what you promised yourself you would. I imagine too, that you’re annoyed and frustrated at yourself. Maybe the self-criticism is at an all-time high?
I get it. You’re smart, ambitious, and driven—a hard worker. And you know what you want. You even know what you need to do. But you can’t motivate yourself to do it 😩.
This isn’t just me. Right? We all have these days. Don’t we?
I ask as I used to think it was—that I was the only one who felt like this. The only one who had, “I don’t feel like it days”. The only person who had days where I felt unmotivated and then guilty for not doing what I said I would.
Imagine the relief when I realised it wasn’t me! That it was a normal thing. And, probably most importantly, that it wasn’t a negative reflection on me as a person—on who I am. Or, on who you, or anyone else for that matter.
I learnt that it’s a reflection of our feelings—not who we are. Very different!
If being unmotivated was a core part of our identity, it would be hard to change it. But since it’s not—because it’s a feeling—it’s possible to change. Let’s learn how.
How to Get More Motivated to Do Important Things
The Problem With Motivation
So, the problem with motivation is that we’re all waiting around to feel motivated—because, well, no one told us otherwise!
No one told you that:
- You won’t always “feel like it”.
- Motivation is a feeling.
- Feelings can’t be relied on to get things done.
And maybe worst of all, no one told you, how to get motivated when we need to.
The Solution to Lack of Motivation
So, now you know you can’t rely on your motivation to get things done (because it’s a feeling and feelings are flighty little things don’t you know 😉 important things but flightly nonetheless!), what can you rely on? ACTION!
Yep, you can rely on good old-fashioned ACTION. And when I say action, I mean any action at all that’s small! Because, as you know, when you’re low on motivation, you’re not going to embrace massive action are you?!
For example, when we’re not feeling motivated, we’re unlikely to convince ourselves to clean the house from top to bottom. But, sweep the kitchen floor for 5 minutes? We could probably convince ourselves to do that with a little effort.
And that 5 minutes? Well, it builds momentum! It gives you energy and makes you feel good because you made some progress—and that small progress is way better than no progress.
This, my love, is how to get more motivated—by doing a 5-minute action. Then maybe another. And another.
Next Time You’re Lacking Motivation Try This Simple Trick
How to get motivated:
(1) Grab a sticky note.
(2) Write one small thing you can do in 5 minutes or less.
(3) Do it.
(4) Celebrate! 🎉
(5) Repeat.
Celebrate with a high-five to yourself, a pat on the back, or by saying, “Woo, go me!”. This celebration creates a feel-good emotion and gives you that motivated feeling!
You might like to think about it like this:
Action + Celebration = Motivation
We can all be stronger than our feelings, we just have to face them with small 5-minute actions 🙂. So, grab that sticky note, write down the smallest action you can think of, do it and then fully celebrate your success!
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(Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)
