Five Steps to get Your Motivation Going

We all have days that we are not motivated to work, or to do anything for that matter.  Whether you are passionate about what you do or are struggling to find your direction in life you will still have these days!  So what do you do to change your motivation level and get headed in a better direction?  I have a variety of things that work for me, try these out:

1. Workout – always gets me going and refocused on healthy energy.  Sometimes this requires walking with strong coffee to get me going, but it always helps.
2. Build a list of good mood activities- take the time to build a list of things that make you happy that you can do easily.  For me this is includes coffee and a magazine at a local coffee shop.  Having a list ready means that when you need a lift you are ready to go!
3. Watch a motivational video or read something inspirational – I personally use the 212 movie; it is a great motivator (and short)!  
4. Change things up – start the day with something different than what you normally do.  If you typically answer emails and return phone calls first thing in the morning, but you are not in the mood to interact with people do some filing or other activity to get started.  Many times this is all it takes to get you on your way.
5. Give yourself 10 minutes – tell yourself that you are going to work on your activity for 10 minutes and then if your mood does not change you can do something else.  It is amazing how 10 minutes can turn into an hour!

Now you should be on your way to a motivation filled day!  If not, remember it is one day.  Tomorrow will be different especially when you love your direction in life!

Staying motivated, Positive and Happy

It can be very hard to stay motivated, positive and happy.  Especially with continually negative news (even when not warranted) and the day to day responsibilities that most of us have.  I myself find I can struggle to keep going even though I love what I do.  Some days I just want to throw my hands in the air and call it quits, but I don’t.  I do keep going.  How?  Usually I take a bit of recovery time for myself and try to refocus my energy to the positive. 

Yesterday was one of those days, so I pulled out some affirmations I use, committed myself to a media sabbatical (only positive things going in), put exercise first and reminded myself of my priorities.  Amazingly after only half a day I feel more revived than sometimes a long weekend can revive me!

 I challenge you, instead of being cranky or negative refocus yourself and get back to working on what you love.

Out of the Box Motivation

What do you do when you need a boost of confidence, or energy, or just enough motivation to keep going?  What happens when the normal does not work?

This weekend was a bit of a downer for me.  I was really struggling with the positive energy to keep working on my business.  It is especially hard when you work alone as an entrepreneur, my self motivation was gone!  Even though it was the weekend, I just could not shake my lack of excitement and motivation for my business.  It affected me all weekend and would not go away! 

So how did I move on and get energized and ready for work today?

Well it was tough, at first I tried to exercise (which usually is the golden ticket), then I tried entertaining friends at our place and then went to a friends house.  Normally all these things will get me motivated and ready for another day, but they just were not working!  Luckily my husband started making suggestions on Sunday.  He said read a book – “and I mean one for fun not to learn more about a project”.  I just started at him, because I really don’t own many of those books!  (Self help is my world).  Then he said or go watch a movie (Max was napping so I had time)!  For me that was the winner, I never take time to watch movies!  Amazingly I felt so refreshed after the movie (Sex in the City).  I was amazed.  What I began to realize is that sometimes it takes stepping out of our box, in all areas of our lives to create balance.  So even though I am very adamant about keeping my life balanced, I rarely change what items I am balancing.  I learned that by not always relying on my workout to give me ideas will make my rejuvenation even better.  Making my Monday even better!

So I challenge you, expand your life balance.  Do something out of the ordinary!  You never know where it might lead you!