ways how to get motivated and stay motivated

I know, you want to get some motivation right now.

It’s easy to think about getting things done, be it to study, write articles, clean up the house, do the laundry, etc.

But when it comes to doing the work, it is difficult.

It happens to everyone.

However, things will be totally opposite when it comes to doing things that you love doing.

Think about it:

  • It is easy to watch just one more YouTube video.
  • It is easy to scroll through Facebook or Instagram just one more time.
  • It is easy to sit on your couch, get your phone, and play games.
  • It is easy to continue to sleep than to wake up when your alarm rings.
  • It is also easy to eat the ice-cream than to push it away.

Why is this so?

Well, I believe that motivation is a skill. And like every other skill, you can learn to manage it.

There will be times you have to get things done, but you just don’t have the motivation to do it. You just want to do something else.

So, the solution is simple – learn to master your motivation.

And that’s exactly what I’m going to share with you in this article – the 31 easy ways how to get motivated and pump yourself up…

1. Remember your purpose

remember your purpose
Always reflect and think about why you start. Let your purpose be your drive that continues to fire up.

Why do you do what you do? Your reasons are the fuels that drive your behavior.

Imagine yourself running a 42km marathon. Do you think you can finish the run? Well, it depends on your purpose.

If you’re truly committed because you want to prove yourself that you can do it, then perhaps, you will muster all your willpower and commit to the run and finish it.

On the other hand, if you take part in the marathon because your boss asked you to and you just want to show up, then highly likely, you won’t finish the run.

This is how your purpose can affect your motivation.

Make your purpose strong and emotional and you will never run out of motivation.

2. Revisit your goals

Like reminding yourself of your purpose, revisiting your goals can reconnect you with what you want to achieve in the first place.

In fact, thinking about your goals should make you feel excited and make you want to take action.

If it is not, then it simply means that your goals are not exciting enough, or they are not what you really want to accomplish.

Hence, check your goals.

Every time when I’m don’t feel motivated to take action, I revisit my goals. I will sit on my chair, look at the goals that I have written on my notebook, and mentally visualize myself achieving them.

If you want to learn how to set and achieve your goals, check out Goal Setting Formula.

3. Set a big and exciting goal

What if you don’t have a goal yet? Well then, take out your pen and paper and set one right now.

And make sure your goals are big and exciting so that you will look forward to achieving them.

Don’t set small or realistic goals that don’t inspire you. Make them big. Make them exciting.

Make your goals so exciting that when you remind yourself of them, you’re motivated to achieve them.

Again, I share my techniques of how I set and achieve my goals in my course. If you want to learn how I did it, go here.

4. Focus on rewards and success

Stop thinking about the difficulties, setbacks, problems, and failures that you will encounter and start focusing on the rewards and the success you want.

If failure is all a professional athlete is thinking about, do you think he can win the competition?

You must expect yourself to win and to succeed before you can actually get it.

This is why what you focus on is important. Choose to see yourself winning the game. Focus on the rewards that excite you. Think about achieving your goals and living your dreams.

And stop thinking about how difficult things are going to be, or how problems are going to stop you.

Focus on the good and positive, and you will get your motivation back.

5. Adopt the “can do” attitude

adopt the can do attitude
Adopt the “can do” attitude. No matter how tough the situation may be, tell yourself you can do it.

Extraordinary people are able to accomplish outstanding success because they adopt a “can do” attitude.

When it comes to achieving their goals and making their vision a reality, they don’t think about the impossibility.

Instead, they trust themselves and they believe that they can do it.

You have to be the same. It is possible to achieve what you want and to do what you want to do.

As Will Smith once said, “The first step is you have to say that you can.”

I know, things are difficult, and they are definitely not easy. But you have to understand that difficult doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

So, muster up your energy, pump yourself up, and then just do it.

6. Start really, really small

Don’t try to tackle everything at one go, do it one small step at a time. If you try to do big things, you will quickly find it overwhelming and lose your motivation.

Instead, try to start small, really small. Like doing just one push-up at a time or writing just 100 words of a 2,000 words article.

When it comes to making progress, you want to lower the resistance so that you don’t need that much motivation to start.

Make it small. Take just one small step at a time.

Do you know that you don’t have to run the entire marathon? Just trick your mind and commit to taking one step at a time. And eventually, you will finish the whole marathon.

Like how I write this article. It is a long article, but I tell myself that I just need to get one motivation tip done at a time. And that’s how I manage to write the entire article.

7. Celebrate your wins

celebrate wins
Remember to celebrate your wins, no matter how small they are. The more you feel good about what you do, the more you will do.

Yes, celebrate your wins, no matter how small they are. The point is that you want to train yourself to feel good every time after you made some progress.

As Oprah Winfrey said, “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”

If you want to get motivated, learn to celebrate your wins. Like how Tiger Woods puts a fist-pump for every of his winning move.

This will grow your momentum and allows your motivation to stay longer.

8. Reward yourself for your hard work

Besides the celebration, you want to reward yourself too. For example, when I feel like not taking action, I will tell myself that once I get the work done, I will reward myself with an hour of game time

Guess what, suddenly, I’m looking forward to taking action and to work because I want to enjoy the game time.

This is why companies and organizations give bonuses and incentives to their employees. When the sales team hit their targets, the company sponsors them for an oversea vacation trip.

What about you? What rewards are you looking forward to getting?

9. Make a public commitment

Making a public commitment can be scary because you are announcing to the public your goals, your plans, and what you are going to do.

It can give you stress. But that’s exactly the point. You want to make a public commitment and share your goals with someone who will support you.

When you do so, you are putting yourself on the line.

It gives you stress and forces you to take action even if you don’t want to. After all, your reputation is on the line.

Imagine you tell a friend that you’re going to change a new car by the end of the year. It makes you feel more committed because someone is monitoring your progress and keep you on track.

When you commit publicly, you are putting yourself in a “no escape” situation because you have just promised what you’re going to do.

10. Get yourself an accountability partner

accountability partner
Get yourself an accountability partner. Get someone to push you and encourage you to go for more.

Besides making a public commitment, you can also get an accountability partner.

According to a study conducted by Dr. Gail Matthews, people who shared their progress report with an accountability partner tend to be more likely to achieve their goals.

Like when you need to report or submit your work to someone, you will be forced to do it, whether you like it or not.

Think about students getting their homework done because they need to submit it to their teachers.

In the working world, we need to submit our work and report our progress to our managers too.

And when you know someone is waiting and watching what you do, you will do it, even when you don’t feel like doing it.

This is why getting an accountability partner can help improve your motivation.

11. Find meaning in what you do

Yes, you need to find meaning in what you do. Even if you are just a bricklayer, but if you look at your work as a contribution to the society and that you are building a home for someone to stay, rather than thinking about just laying bricks, you’ll be more motivated to work.

Most people fail to find the meaning in what they do, this is why they find it hard to get the motivation to work.

When you work for a bigger purpose, like helping to build a better community, then you’ll find your work to be meaningful.

Even if you’re just a janitor, you’re helping to make the place cleaner and better to live. Like the janitor who worked at NASA, when he was asked by John F. Kennedy, he said he was helping to land a man on the moon.

12. Get rid of distractions

Distractions can destroy your motivation. This is why I prefer to work in a quiet and conducive environment than one that is noisy and distracting.

When I’m writing articles like this one, I don’t like to be in a place where the people around are talking. I don’t go to noisy cafés to write articles. I make sure to get rid of all distractions so that I can focus better and get into my flow state.

If you want to stay motivated at what you do, make sure don’t get distracted. Turn off your phone, disconnect from the internet if possible, and close your office door.

13. Be passionate

Do you love what you do? If you don’t, it is difficult to maintain your motivation, especially when you face hard times and problems.

Steve Jobs once said, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” And he was right.

When you don’t love what you do, you will find it difficult to do and lack of motivation will be a common issue. But when you are passionate about what you do, you are willing to get up early and stay later for it, you even want to learn more about it because you love doing it.

The key is to connect your passion with your work. You don’t have to search for your passion, instead, just dig deeper to build up your passion.

14. Play music that drives you

listen to music
Music can stimulate your mood and emotion. You can play uplifting but not distracting music to boost your motivation.

Do I need to say more about this? Background music can boost your mood and improve your motivation.

But this is not applicable to all music out there and it depends on what kind of work you’re doing.

If you’re working on something mechanical that doesn’t require much of your attention and thinking power, then you can play songs with lyrics. Just put some of your favorite tunes in the background and you will find the motivation to work.

And when you’re working on something creative that requires your thinking power, like writing articles, then you should play music without lyrics.

You want the music to increase your motivation, not to distract you. So, when you don’t feel like working, play some music. Try it out.

15. Remind yourself what you want

Be honest with yourself, what do you want from what you do? For most people, they started a side business because they want an extra income. So, remind yourself of that goal.

Some people exercise twice a week because they want to lose weight. And the reason they want to lose weight is that they don’t want their friends to laugh at them. They want to feel proud of their fitness level.

Thus, whatever that motivates you to start, remember it. Keep what you want to achieve in your head. Like reminding yourself of your goals.

16. Remind yourself what you don’t want

Here’s another method you can use to drive you to take action – think of how NOT doing what you supposed to do will impact your life.

For example, you want to build a successful blog, perhaps, like this blog, but you find it difficult to muster your motivation to work on it.

Now, take a moment to think about all the consequences if you DON’T work on your blog. What will happen then?

Well, maybe after 3 years down the road, you will still be working at a job that you hate. And maybe people around you will laugh at you for giving up on your goals/dreams, which is your blog. Think about all the regrets that you will feel when you don’t achieve your goals.

Use the negativity to motivate you into taking action. Give yourself a little bit of stress by thinking about what you don’t to happen.

17. Declutter and organize your workplace

declutter and organize
Make it a habit to declutter and organize your workplace. Your environment plays an important role in influencing your motivation.

Do you know that one of the easiest ways to get yourself motivated is by creating a supportive environment?

For instance, when you get to the office, you see a huge pile of papers and the table is in a mess, how do you feel? Straight away, you don’t feel like working.

This is why organization and declutter are important. You want to create a constructive environment that can improve your motivation, not taking your motivation away.

A lot of people ignore the importance of their environment. Never let your environment determines your future and success, instead, build an environment where you can win, in business and life.

Creating a proactive and inspiring environment is like setting yourself up to win.

Thus, spend a couple of minutes every day to declutter and organize your workstation before you leave work.

18. Create a to-do list

Sometimes, you don’t feel motivated because you lack a clear direction and you don’t know what to do.

Just imagine going through a weekend without a plan. You don’t know what to do. So, guess what will happen?

You oversleep, you wake up late, you spend more time on Facebook, you binge YouTube, you watch plenty of tvs, you waste a lot of time on games, and in the afternoon, you sleep again because you have no plan and you’re bored.

This is what happens when you don’t have a plan. Therefore, get yourself a to-do list.

Now, you don’t have to schedule everything, but you must at least understand what you want to accomplish throughout the day. Don’t let yourself waste time because you don’t know what to do and have no direction.

Just write down what you want to get done that day and stick to your plan. Having a plan is better than having no plan at all. Just don’t overwhelm yourself with it.

19. Give yourself regular short breaks

Taking a short break throughout the day proves to be a great tip to keep your motivation high and maintain your productivity according to research.

As human beings, we can’t focus on a task for hours. This is why we need to take a short break to refresh our focus and energy.

It is better to work in short bursts like an hour and then take a short break of 10 minutes before you continue with your work again.

Our willpower will decrease as we use it. And so, if you work on a task for too long, you will lose your willpower and you will find it difficult to focus. This is when you need to stop for a while and take a break.

Whether it is to take a drink in the pantry or to take a short power nap, taking a break is important to keep your energy and focus at the optimum level.

20. Apply the Pomodoro Technique

You know the importance of taking short breaks, but how should you do it? Well, just follow the Pomodoro Technique.

You work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minutes break. This cycle is called a Pomodoro. So, you repeat the cycle for about 4 times before you take a longer break like 30 minutes.

My suggestion is you don’t have to strictly stick to just 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of rest. You can alter the Pomodoro technique according to your own preferences.

For example, you can work for 50 minutes and take 10 minutes off. Or you can work for 45 minutes and then take a quick 5 minutes break.

Whatever you do, try out to see what works best for you. This is how you can become more productive and able to maintain your momentum at work.

21. Get close with nature

get close with nature
Get close with nature regularly. You can recharge your energy and relax your mind when you do.

You may be wondering what being with nature has to do with motivation. Many studies have shown that when we get along with nature, we tend to feel calm and happier.

In other words, when you lack motivation, like feeling stuck, lose your direction, or feeling stress, try to get close with nature. Kris Abrams from EcoWatch.com said that we need to be along with nature for our psychological well-being.

I don’t know about you, but when I take a walk in the garden or simply wandering in a park, I feel calm and able to focus better after that.

22. Read an inspirational book

This is my favorite. I love reading and I read about 2-3 books on average in a month. I did buy a lot of books, but sometimes, I prefer to just reread those books that I found to be good.

So, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to buy many books, just reread them, over and over again.

Reading is another common success habit that most extraordinary people shared. During an interview, here’s what Warren Buffett said about reading and the key to success:

“Read 500 pages every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”

So, start reading from today on. Reading not only improves your knowledge but also increases your motivation especially when you read about books about how ordinary people like you and I can achieve great success in life.

Let’s be true, we all love inspiring stories. They motivate us and drive us to venture out of our comfort zone and take massive action. That’s motivation, my friend. Hence, don’t stop reading.

23. Talk to someone positive

Here’s another good method of how you can get motivated – talk to someone positive and supportive.

Energy is contagious. When you mix around and spend time talking to people who are more successful and more positive than you, the energy will affect you. You will feel motivated by the conversation with people who have big dreams.

Imagine talking to extraordinary people like Elon Musk, Richard Branson, LeBron James, Oprah Winfrey, or legends Muhammad Ali and Mahatma Gandhi, how would you feel after that?

You’ll be inspired by their gigantic goals and ambitions.

However, don’t just talk to anyone, you need to find the right person to talk to. Find someone who is positive and who is willing to support you in what you do.

The best person is to talk to your mentor or someone who is doing what you do and is more successful than you.

24. Reach out for help

As I mentioned above, go and talk to someone else, get help. Don’t just keep everything to yourself. People are willing to help, but only if you reach out to them.

Most people don’t like to ask for help because they think that asking for help makes them feel inferior.

Never buy into the idea that you can succeed on your own. We all need help in this world. We can’t succeed without others. No man is an island.

And I don’t believe that there is such a thing as a self-made man. I believe we all need the support and help from others to achieve the success we want in life.

Therefore, whenever you have difficulties or problems that you don’t know how to solve or find it challenging and that you need help, go and seek it.

Check Google for solutions. Ask friends. Read books. Attend seminars and seek out people who have done it before for help.

When you found the solution, trust me, your motivation will soar.

25. Think about solutions, not problems

focus on solution
Stop thinking about the problem and start working on the solution. Don’t play the blame game and don’t complain. Just focus on the solutions.

When things happen, which they will, don’t focus on the problems, instead, choose to think about the solution.

Think, “How can I solve this,” rather than, “Oh shoot, why does this happen to me.”

What you choose to think and focus on expands. In other words, if you focus on the negative, the problems, and the difficulties, you will quickly lose your motivation and eventually give up on the issue.

However, when you choose to focus on the positives like the solutions and what can you learn from it, you will quickly turn your mood around and get motivated again.

Here’s a quote I like and something you should always keep it in your mind:

“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.”

There are always 2 ways how you can approach your work/goals/dreams/projects, either you feel miserable and do nothing, or you can motivate yourself and do it anyhow. It’s your choice.

26. Build a routine

Finding it hard to sustain your motivation every day? Here’s what you can do – turn your actions into habits.

When a behavior becomes a habit, you will do it automatically, without much willpower and motivation needed.

Successful people make their actions into habits, and they do it anyway even when they don’t feel like doing it because it has become their routine.

Take writing as an example, I don’t mind writing every day. But I must admit that sometimes I will still find myself reluctant to do it, but it is not something difficult for me to do.

I will just sit in front of my laptop, open Microsoft Word, and start chunking out words. Yes, there are times when I lack motivation and just don’t want to write, but writing has become one of my daily routine that I don’t find it to be something difficult. I will just do.

This is why habits are important and powerful. You want to develop productive habits like reading and making progress towards your goals.

Once a behavior becomes a habit, you will need less energy and motivation to perform it.

27. Measure your progress

One way to boost your motivation is to measure your progress. You want to know how far you have come and not how far you are still behind.

When you measure your progress, trust me, you will connect with your goals and the results you want. Thus, you feel motivated because you know where you are, what you have done, and what you can do to get to your goals.

More importantly, tracking your progress allows you to better focus and proceed in the right direction.

Plus, if you want to improve your results, you need to measure it. If you don’t measure your results and progress, you will never know how well you are performing.

Check out my previous article about measuring your progress below:

How to Measure Your Progress to Effectively Achieve Your Goals

And if you want to know how I measure my progress, join me in Goal Setting Formula masterclass.

28. Be absolutely specific with what you want

Do you know that being specific with what you want to do actually helps you get things done?

James Clear, the best-selling author of Atomic Habits, shared in his book that when people are clear and specific with what they need to do, they are more likely to follow through.

atomic-habits

There was a study on 248 people to build better exercise habits. And the study found that when the participants wrote down when and where they intended to exercise, as much as 91% of the time, they will stick to their plan.

In other words, you want to be specific with your action steps.

For example, don’t say that you want to exercise, state it in terms of when, where, and how are you going to do it.

“I will run for 60 minutes this Tuesday from 7 AM to 8 AM in the park just outside my house.”

When you state your action step clearly, you are giving specific instructions to your brain. And guess what, your brain will remind you to do it when the time comes.

You can use this technique to help you overcome procrastination.

Here’s another example. Don’t just say that you’re going to write an article, be specific with it:

“I will write an article of 2,000 words this Wednesday from 10 AM until 12 PM in Starbucks.”

Remember, give your brain specific instructions so it will know what to do. Set yourself up to win!

29. Make the work fun

make your work fun
Learn to make your work fun. When what you do is fun and engaging, you will have the motivation to do more.

Do you feel motivated when you don’t find the work you need to do to be exciting or fun?

When something is boring, like doing the dishes or mopping the floor, you will find it hard to come up with the motivation to do it.

Many times, we procrastinate because the work that we are supposed to do isn’t fun. If you want to get your work done, make it fun. Turn the work into something that you’ll be looking forward to doing.

Think about it, do most people jump out of their bed in the morning when their alarm rings and they can’t wait to go to work? No. They prefer to continue to sleep and if they have a choice, they don’t want to go to work.

But when it comes to exciting things like traveling and having a vacation in another country, or a holiday trip they’ve been looking for, they will jump out of the bed at 4 AM when their alarm rings because they are excited to catch the flight.

Hence, learn to make your work fun. Use the excitement as motivation to get you to work.

In my case, sometimes when I’m bored working on my blog, I will just grab my laptop, go to a nearby café, order a cup of my favorite beverage, and work there. I make my work pleasurable.

How about you? What can you do to make your work fun so that you will want to look forward to doing it? Can you do it with someone else? Can you play some background music as you work?

30. Visualize the success you want

Here’s another powerful technique you can use to motivate yourself – visualization. Whenever you’re not feeling pumped, just imagine the success you want.

Imagine it vividly through your mind’s eye. See yourself already living your dream life, driving your dream car, having the perfect vacation that you want, and traveling first-class or running the multi-million dollar business that you desire.

Our thinking can change our feelings. When you visualize the results you want, you are focusing on success. And whatever you focus on, expands.

So, daydreaming about the success you want can make you feel good. It drives you, but you have to make sure you take action after that.

You can’t daydream about becoming a millionaire and enjoying life and then go and eat a sandwich. Things don’t work that way.

You need to take massive and determined action to make your dreams a reality. So, visualize the success you want, and then take massive action.

31. Tell yourself things are going to change

Finally, tell yourself that things are not going to stay the same and they will surely change. Meaning, when you lack motivation or stuck in a rut because things are not working out for you, tell yourself that things will change.

You may feel down today, but once you wake up the next day, you may feel totally energized and driven.

Therefore, you don’t have to blame yourself for your failures or that you are having tough times right now. You just need to understand that the tide will turn.

No matter how tough the situation you’re in right now or how many problems you have, there will always be a tomorrow and things will be different by then.

Now, if you are having some hardships right now, here’s are 2 famous quotes that I love and I would like to share them with you…

“Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that does not make you who you are, it is the rest of it – who you choose to be.”

Soothsayer, Kung Fu Panda quote

“Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.”

Rafiki, The Lion King quote

Conclusion

I hope you enjoy reading this article. I know, it is a long article. And so I would love to thank you for your time and for putting in the effort to read what I shared here.

By now, you have at least learned 31 ways how to get motivated and pump up yourself. If you love the tips here, do share this article to motivate more people to reach their dreams and live a better life.

And if there is anything you want to add, feel free to leave a comment below.

This article may contain affiliate links. Meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. As always, I only recommend products and services I trust.

By Shawn Lim

Hi there, this is Shawn. I inspire people to achieve their goals and dreams and to reach for higher success in life. If you want to learn more about me, kindly go to the About page. By the way, have you downloaded your FREE copy of The 90-90-1 Rule? Don't forget to do so. Cheers. :)

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