how to stay motivated - by Stride & Glory 🏆 

A guide for runners experiencing shin splints looking to buy a new pair of Nike running shoes.

Carl Wakeford - Oct 06 2022

how to stay motivated

Experiencing motivation lows can be pretty annoying. Starting something with the best of expectations only to feel burnt out or frustrated that you're no longer getting after it with the same enthusiasm.

How does one stay motivated?

This is a very good question, and if you suffer from a lack of motivation then let me start by reassuring you that you are not alone.

Let’s get one thing straight, every human being suffers from motivation lows, even pro athletes and your greatest idols.

However, there are some important tricks that motivated people do to keep their successful lives afloat. In this article, we’ll go through 5 tips that you can practice in your daily life, so you too can stay motivated.

Let’s cut right to it…

Tip # 1 – Understand that motivation lows are perfectly normal.

Motivation isn’t this beam of holy light that mesmerisingly touches your forehead and all of a sudden you become motivated. Stop waiting for that beam of light and stop re-enforcing that you lack motivation…

You aren’t doing yourself any favours here. When you go through a phase of low motivation, the best thing to do is to accept that you are feeling this way and assess the reasons why.

It may be that you have been working too hard or you’re finding things too stressful. If this is the case, you aren’t lacking motivation, you just simply need to take a break.

 Ultimately, motivation comes from being inspired. It’s the feeling you get when you’re committed to seeing a task through to the finish because you understand the value in what it is that you’re doing.

Tip # 2 – Look for the value in what you’re doing.

Although inspiration is often the foundation of motivation, sometimes you may find yourself lacking motivation to complete tasks because they’re quite simply monotonous and boring.

We’ve all been given boring tasks at work we really don’t want to do…

And if you’re anything like me, you’ve also set your alarm optimistically early to squeeze in a morning workout. But when reality strikes, and the morning tiredness hits, and your duvet starts to snuggle you that little bit warmer, we become uninspired to get out of bed and get the job done…

To get around this, you need to look for the value in what you’re doing and firmly re-enforce this within your mind. No matter how dull, difficult or uninspiring the task, you must shift your mindset to see the positives. By finding the value in what you’re doing, we can spark inspiration and therefore create our own motivation.

Let’s take the earlier example and say you really struggle to get out of bed in the morning to workout. It’s cold in the house and you didn’t sleep too great. All these thoughts are tipping the scale towards staying in bed…

This is when you focus on the value that getting up and working out brings. Focus on the feel-good energy you get from waking up early and successfully bossing your morning workout like a true champion. Focus on this so strongly that those other negative thoughts become silenced.

Tip # 2 – Mindset is everything.

Your mind is such a powerful tool. After all, it dictates your every emotion and behaviour. It’s therefore so important to synchronise your mind with the task at hand.

If you find yourself putting off a task or procrastinating, then hold yourself accountable for this. Procrastination is quite normal, and adequate breaks should always be allowed for. Just don’t let laziness or self-doubt cause your lack of motivation. You should hold yourself to higher standards than this.

If you find it difficult to build the right mindset, then give yourself a helping hand by building an effective plan…

Tip # 4 – Plan. 

Planning is an incredible tool. Often, we lack motivation because we lose sight of where our current efforts fit into the bigger picture of what we’re trying to achieve.

This is especially important when we are working towards our goals. It’s normal to compare yourself to the end goal, because after all this is what we really want to achieve.

But the end goal or product resembles the greatest change from where you are today. Focusing on the end goal can lead to decreased levels of motivation because we become disheartened.

So, start off by writing a daily ‘To do’ list and mapping out your week. The key to effective planning is to be honest and realistic. Your plan should not be overly ambitious, as this usually leads to abandonment.

Breaking down your end goal into daily actionable tasks reduces reliance on motivation because you’ve introduced simple steps to complete your task. Our minds appreciate simplicity… Break it down with a plan.

Then lastly, you just need to be consistent.

Tip # 5 – Be consistent.

It ain't sexy, but consistency really is key. Once you’ve developed a solid plan to complete your task or goal, consistently honouring your plan will eventually breed self-discipline.

Now here’s the real trick to staying motivated… Don’t rely on motivation.

Rely on consistency and self-discipline. Completing your daily ‘To-do’ lists and honouring your plan week in and week out will form lasting habits which eliminate the need for motivation in the first place.

Focus on making it through just a few weeks of sticking to your plan and you’ll find it increasingly easier to stay motivated due to increased self-discipline and a greater appreciation of the results that can be achieve through being consistent.

So, to sum up… The key to staying motivated is to understand that motivation lows are normal. Once understood, invest time into developing a positive mindset which seeks the value in what you’re doing. This may be hard, especially if you’re not already inspired by the task at hand, but it’s a must. Lastly, replace the need for motivation with consistency and self-discipline through effective planning.

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