5 Tips for Self-Motivation
I love a good personal development book, podcast, or seminar. Personal development content serves as a motivational tool to fire you up to achieve your goals, create new habits, and change your life.
Unfortunately, there will be times when personal development content won’t be enough. You’re going to have to motivate yourself when the going gets tough.
And on that note, while personal development content is great, consuming it doesn’t equal the work required of you to create a life you love.
Let’s talk five tips for self-motivation.
5 Tips for Self-Motivation
Establish what success looks like for you.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” ~Proverbs 29:18
I believe the #1 reason why many people lack the motivation and desire to make real, lasting change in their life is because they don’t know what they want.
They don’t have a vision for their future.
You know that assignment in elementary school where your teacher asked you and your classmates to write a report on what you want to be when you grow up?
Well, unfortunately, many adults still have yet to figure that out.
(And if this is you, that’s totally okay! Lord knows I don’t have it all figured out yet, myself).
Instead, we’re stuck in some job our heart really isn’t into, not making as much money as we’d like, counting the days ‘til Friday or vacation, and allowing ourselves to be completely owned instead of taking the reins of our own future.
Just wishing and hoping for money to fall from the tree, to jump on the scale and see you’ve miraculously lost excess weight, or wake up in a bigger, paid-off home, isn’t a wise plan for your future.
Going with the flow and letting life happen to you instead of intentionally living will not make your circumstances change.
Instead of just wanting more money, a better job, weight lost, for life to get better, etc, you have to clearly identify what a successful life looks like for you.
You have to figure out what you want to be when you “grow up.”
What do you specifically want to do with your life that would define success for you?
Figure it out and write it down.
Related:
Think about your circumstances now, 1, 5, and 10 years into the future.
What would happen if 1, 5, or 10 years from now (or more) your life was still exactly the same as it was today? Would you be happy about that? Or miserable?
I want you to sit and think about something for a minute. Fast-forward 10 years from now, and nothing’s changed. Are you happy with your career? Your life? Living conditions?
If the thought of being in the same place 10 years from now scares you, it’s time to make a change.
That fear of repeating the same thing year after year should motivate you to get yourself out of a rut.
Start now.
Related:
- Using Selectivity to Transform Your Life
- 7 Healthy Mindset Practices to Adopt
- How to Make Better Decisions
- 6 Thinking Habits of Successful People
Know your “why.”
“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.” ~Esther 4:14
When you identify the deep and profound reasons as to why you want to do something, you keep those reasons at the forefront of your mind.
In those moments of, “I’m not in the mood to do this,” you’ll remember those reasons and it will motivate you to do what you’re otherwise not in the mood to do.
When you don’t want to get out of bed early to exercise, you remember that you set a goal to lose 20 lbs and get healthy.
You might be scared to start a new business, but then you remember you want to be free of corporate America and financially independent.
When your church starts advertising about their upcoming mission trip and you’re scared of the unknown of traveling to a 3rd world country, you remember how badly you want to minister to the people there.
When you know you’re being called to do something and you’re having trouble getting started, I want you to ask yourself this question:
Do I really want what I say I want?
You must know your “why,” or you won’t propel yourself to do it.
Related:
Desire your future self more than any competing desire.
“Desire: the starting point of all achievement.” ~Napoleon Hill
How badly do you want what you say you want?
Aside from establishing what success looks like to you (see #1), desire is the leading factor behind self-motivation.
Everything occurring in your life right this very minute is all based on your level of desire and how badly you want what you say you want.
You change your desire by changing what you focus your attention on.
If you’re trying to lose weight and you’re more focused on the foods you have to give up than the result of exercise and eating right, you’ll fail. You’ll grudgingly forgo the donuts at the morning meeting at the office but at next week’s meeting, you’ll give in.
You have to focus on the end result and desire that more than anything you’re sacrificing to get it.
Strong desires bring strong results and weak desires bring weak results.
If you want to go on an exotic vacation that costs more money than you have right now, you’ll find a way to save the money to go if you want it bad enough.
You won’t make excuses.
People do what they truly desire to do.
They find a way.
Related:
- 3 Money Mindset Habits that Increase Your Abundance
- 6 Reasons Why People Give Up on Their Dreams
- Dream Year
- How to Set Goals and Achieve Them
Don’t compare.
Depending on your circle of influence, you might look around and think, “why does she get to sleep in on weekends and binge-watch Netflix while I’m up at the crack of dawn in the gym?”
If you want to be extraordinary, your habits need to be extraordinary. Unfortunately, most people are content with a mediocre life.
But that’s not you!
If you look around at the people you associate with and their habits aren’t what yours are, don’t be misled. Their ambitions are not yours.
You are rising above mediocrity by establishing good habits and being a self-motivator.
Related:
- 4 Keys to Cultivate Abundance Thinking
- 7 Excuses You Need to Stop Making
- How to Be Persistent in Achieving Your Goals
- 9 Questions to Ask Yourself to Find Your Purpose
Before You Go
Self-motivation is a key factor in creating your future self.
Those who can motivate themselves have no excuses as to why they can’t do something-they just do it.
You can be that person too, but it’s going to take intentional thinking and actions on your part.
Integrate the above tips into your plan to stay motivated and achieve what you’ve set out to do.
Let me know your tips for self-motivation in the comments below!
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