Instant Motivation in 3 Easy Steps

Why is it so hard to stay motivated?

Every day, people find themselves asking this question. After all, motivation tends to reflect a willingness to take action. This leads to results and so on.

Yet, even knowing that motivation is a key ingredient to success, it’s still a struggle.

Think about how many people give up on their New Year’s resolutions or quit a diet after a week or two. At this point, most people throw in the towel and revert back to previous behaviors. Loss of motivation leads to a lack of results.

This can be an endless cycle if you don’t know how to stay motivated.

In any endeavor, there are ups and downs. To overcome points where you lose motivation, you need to have a plan of action to stay focused. Luckily, there is a simple 3 step formula that can help you do just that. By following the steps below, you will be able to maintain your motivation to achieve your goals.

Know Your Why

Ask yourself one simple question: why do I want to accomplish this?

Behind every desire, there is a reason. Maybe you want to start going to the gym to feel better about yourself. Perhaps you want to earn more money so you can give your family a better life. Whatever the case, it is important to remind yourself of the reason you are working so hard.

When people are able to create an emotional connection to something, it is far more likely to get done. Think about a time you went out of your way to prove someone wrong or wanted to show that you could do something that no one believed you could. In these types of situations where there is a burning desire to achieve, you usually work harder to get the desired result. A perfect example of this is Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time. He was a late round draft pick with everything to prove coming into the NFL. Over time, he used this as motivation to excel and to this day plays with a chip on his shoulder. His why is still to prove all his previous skeptics wrong. By building an emotional connection between yourself and your goal you will be far more likely to accomplish what you set out to do.

Writing down your why regularly is another part of this process that can pay huge dividends. By affirming your desire in writing and reading it to yourself, you are bringing the goal to life. If you remind yourself why enough times, it will begin to sink into your subconscious. Before you know it, you’ll be taking actions towards your goal without having to force yourself to. This process has been used by people like Jim Carey and Big Sean to manifest success and can be done by you to do the same.

Build the Habit

In order to stay motivated, you need to build the habit of working on your goal daily. At first, this can be challenging because it takes about 66 days to form a habit. Knowing this, the first two months are crucial.

Forming a habit can only occur if you make a concerted effort to work on establishing it daily. To give yourself a better chance at doing this, make sure that you block out the same exact time each day. By getting your mind and body used to a routine time when the habit is performed, you will eventually get to a point where it becomes automatic. Before this point, you are going to face a lot of resistance internally.

You need to make performing your habit as easy as possible if you want to overcome resistance. As noted above, time blocking makes this more possible. In addition, stacking this habit onto something you already do will make you more likely to follow through. For example, let’s say that you want to start going to the gym daily. If your route to work passes a gym, it might be a good idea to sign up for that one--you are already going by it on your way to work. Therefore, it would require no extra effort to get there, but the habit of driving that way literally steers you towards the destination. Since you have to get to and from work using that route, you will now have a constant reminder that you need to go to the gym. In due time, you will associate driving home from work with going to the gym. Tie new habits to old habits and you will have a recipe for success.

The byproduct of a good habit is your desired result. In order to stay motivated, create habits that make working towards your goal inevitable.

Have Rewards or Incentives

It can be a daunting task to plug away at something day in and day out. Sometimes you don’t see the results right away, which can feel discouraging. Just remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day--greatness takes time. Knowing that success is a process, you need to keep yourself motivated in the interim. The best way to stay motivated is to have incentives for working towards your goal.

Whenever you complete your daily goal, give yourself a reward. Think of things that you can do that will motivate you to achieve regularly. This will make you work harder and keep you excited about whatever it is that you’re working on.

Let’s go back to the gym example given earlier. If you go to the gym after work, that’s a great accomplishment. To reinforce this habit, you can do something like give yourself more time to relax afterwards or even buy yourself a prize like a fitbit. The reward can be small or large, just make sure to celebrate whenever you do what you set out to do.

Rewards and incentives are a great way to stay motivated.

Final Thoughts

Motivation is the main reason we are able to achieve...or not achieve. In order to stay motivated, you need to know your why, build habits, and create incentives. These 3 simple steps will totally change the way you work towards your desires.