Feb 3: Stay Motivated

So you know how when you have this great idea, you feel really pumped about it?  You're ready to go out that second and do it!  Things are good for awhile and the initial spark gives you momentum... and then something happens.  The details trip you up, the follow-through is lacking, and the results are never like you thought they would be.  I've been hitting those kinds of days lately and so I've been thinking, today especially, about motivation.  I made that beautiful collage of goals for the new year, but focusing on it every day and working toward those things that I claim to want so bad?  I could definitely do better.   So what can we do to get motivated again?
Lifehack.org recommends we: 1. think of the good reasons we are trying to accomplish something (material, emotional, is it a step toward a bigger goal?) 2. make it fun (how can you turn something you avoid into the best part of your day?)   3.  take a different approach (mix things up a little, try doing it in a new way)  4. recognize your progress (through a journal, chart, something visual is best) and 5. reward yourself  (with something that doesn't conflict with your goal).
I also recommend writing down all the things that you think are holding you back, and taking those one at a time as kind of a goal within a goal.  For example, say my goal is to go to bed earlier and get up earlier... a hindrance might be, oh, say... waiting until 11 pm to work on my blog.  So maybe I can set an alarm to do my blog at the same time every evening, so that's one less thing holding me back.  The less obstacles in our way, the easier it is to stay motivated and finally achieve the things we want to do in life.  Why is this important?  Because getting off the ground is one thing, staying up is something else entirely.

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson