10 Tips to Staying Motivated: Especially When You Don’t Feel Like It

Motivation is like a shower, you need one everyday-Zig Zaglar

Firstly it would be unrealistic to feel pumped all the time, so don’t be hard on yourself if you have the odd day when you feel really flat. Here are 10 suggestions to get you to re focus. Go get ‘em!

An update to this post: I have included an mp3 recording

Click here to listen:Audio recording of 10 Tips to Staying Motivated

1.    Remind yourself again what it is that you are striving to achieve.
•    Is it a physical fitness goal of wanting to run a personal best in the Boston marathon or being financially independent in 5 years
•    Either way, are your goals written down for you to review and read as often as it is necessary
2.    Portion control
•    You can eat an entire elephant by yourself if it is only one bite at a time. So chunk it down to manageable portions that are achievable in days and weeks rather than months and years!
3.    Do a stock take of where you were 3, 6 and 12 months ago relative to where you are now
•    Celebrate your wins, no matter how small. It’s a win, don’t get too precious about it
•    Keep a journal and record your progress. You will be surprised at how far you have come
4.    Practise mental rehearsal of having reached your goal
•     Make it as real as possible by imagining what you are wearing, who is with you, whereabouts is this taking place, does it have a particular smell. Above all, tap into the feeling of having aced the goal and remind yourself of that winning feeling by clicking your finger 3 times in succession.
•    Do this daily even when you don’t feel like it, especially when you don’t feel like it
5.    What are you eating, when do you exercise
•    Remember the old computer programming term GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out). If you are fuelling your body with junk food, you will not have the energy and stamina to get to your goals. This is a non negotiable fact of getting where you want to go and what you want from life
•    Yes, your body is a temple. Worship it with fresh food, vegetables, and lots of water. Ditch the refined carbs and trans fats, they clog your arteries and reduces blood and oxygen flow to your brain. Lord knows you need all your neurons to fire if you want to be able to think clearly.
•    Physical fitness is not an option. Again it is one of those things you just do to stay alert and healthy to be able to enjoy your successes when they come. Being in an iron lung and a millionaire is kind of bittersweet
6.    Oh brother where art thou; who do you hanging out with
•    Are these people supportive or do they make it a sport of taking potshots at your dreams and goals; if they are in the latter category, say bye-bye and leave them to wallow in their own pity party
•    Create a mastermind support group. These are people on the same wavelength who will not ridicule your goals, dreams and aspirations but instead cheer you on. You can learn from them and vice versa
•    If this type of support is thin on the ground, consider hiring a business/life/fitness coach to keep you accountable. Yes, it costs money so think of it as an investment in yourself. “You’re worth it” as the Revlon ad goes.
7.    What are you reading, watching on television
•    I am a big fan of reading motivational books by Jim Rohn, T Harv Eker, Bob Proctor and the cool thing is that there are lots of free mp3 downloads you can listen to in your car or as I like to call it “your university on wheels”.
•    Stop watching the news. If it is really important, somebody will tell you. Notice how television only reports bad news; that is because bad news sells.
8.    When do you stay still-meditate daily
•    This is about staying healthy on the inside
•    Often the solutions to business problems or obstacles at work are found when we shut up and stay still long enough for our sub conscious to present us with an answer.
•    Don’t be skeptical if you haven’t tried it for at least a month
9.    When did you last do a budget and track your expenditure and earnings
•    It is vital not to shy away from tracking your finances. How then will you know that you have made progress in putting aside money for investments and passive income building? Answer me that?
10.    Get in sync with your internal clock
•    If you are a night owl and your best ideas come to mind after 10pm, ask yourself why are you flogging your body to be up at 5am to be inspired and creative on your projects. It does not make sense, so stop it!

Yours in health, wealth and happiness