10 Tips to Motivate Yourself to Work Harder And Achieve Your Goals
Everybody has dreams. However, dreams don’t come true unless you find a way to turn those dreams into goals and then find ways to motivate yourself to achieve those goals. Here are ten tips to help you do that.
1. Associate With The Right People
Whether you are trying to get a promotion at work, lose 50 pounds, improve your relationship with a loved one, or something else, it is imperative that you hang around the right people. These are the people who will encourage you to stay on your path and work hard. Sure, the person who encourages you to take an extra break or have another slice of pie might be more fun at first, but do you really want to associate with somebody who doesn’t value your goals?
2. Know Your Goals And Put Them Down in Writing
If you want to work hard to achieve your goals, you need to know exactly what they are. Then, you need to write them down. This will help you to solidify exactly what it is that you want to achieve. For example, if a goal is nothing more than a thought, it is probably too vague to be useful. You may think about wanting to get into shape, but that’s not much to build on. However, if you put a specific goal in writing, such as I want to be able to run a 5k without stopping or walking, you know exactly what you want and can make plans to work towards that goal.
3. Cut Out Distractions
Distractions are nothing more than an excuse to procrastinate. Cut them out ruthlessly. Schedule a couple of times a day for checking emails and texts, and skimming your social media. Then, let everybody know that you are not to be disturbed, so you can roll up your sleeves and get to work.
4. Stop The Negative Talk
When you have a difficult task in front of you, don’t make yourself even more miserable by telling yourself how much it’s going to suck. Instead, focus on the sense of accomplishment that you will have when you finish the task. You will find that the less you focus on the negative, the more pleasant your tasks will become.
5. Break Big Jobs Down
It can be difficult to get motivated and work hard, if the task in front of you is so big that it seems insurmountable. If you have a major job to tackle, break it down into a series of smaller jobs. Then, set a timeline for completing each task until the entire job has been finished.
6. Offer Yourself a Reward
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of extrinsic motivation. If it will keep you on track and working towards what you want or need to achieve, go ahead and offer yourself a reward. On the other hand, if you think you respond better to negative consequences, you could try depriving yourself of something until you accomplish a specific task.
7. Work on Being Positive
As a whole, positive people are more productive, and more energetic. However, it is important to remember that positivity is a state of mind, and not something that you can only apply to certain areas of your life. However, in order to become a more positive person, you must make a dedicated effort to do so. This means stopping yourself when you are being negative, and forcing yourself to restate your thoughts and words into something positive. If you put work into doing this, you will find that your overall outlook will become more and more positive.
8. Take Care of Yourself
This is about working hard and achieving your goals. It isn’t about glorifying burning yourself out or neglecting your health and wellbeing. Yes, hard workers put in long hours and they are willing to occasionally sacrifice a bit of sleep or power through a little illness. However, they also take care of themselves by eating right, getting enough sleep, and managing any health issues they may have. Do these things, and you will have the energy reserves you need when it is time to put in an extraordinary amount of effort.
9. Start With Motivation End With Habits
Motivation is a great thing. It helps you to get up and get going when you are tempted to slack. It also serves as encouragement when you are feeling defeated or overwhelmed. However, your ultimate goal should be turning the actions you need motivation to complete today into habits that you do without thinking in the future. For example, wouldn’t it be nice spend thirty minutes each night organizing and cleaning your house because it’s habit, rather than having to find ways to talk yourself into it?
10. Remind Yourself
What You Will Gain When You Reach Your Goal . When you are truly struggling to stay motivated, take a few moments to remind yourself of what you will gain if you stick to your plan. This is often the best motivator of all.
