Inspiration

3 most effective ways to save yourself from lack of motivation

As someone who constantly likes to learn new techniques around goal setting, productivity and effectiveness I find myself reading some amazing articles and watching inspiring videos of productivity gurus like Robin Sharma, David Allen and Tony Robbins and so on. I think each one of us is on a journey to set and achieve goals in areas of our life that are important to us like personal growth, career, finance, health and the list goes on. And on this journey, while there are days we are all inspired and full of motivation and get things done, there are also some days, sometimes weeks where we lose our motivation.

Over some wine and cheese last evening I got chatting with my friend Amar and he said to me ‘I did a 15 day ritual and followed it to the T…with walking for a few hours each day, watching inspiring videos, meditating, focusing on my top important work and making sure I ate nutritious food during the day, had a light meal at night…I was feeling simply amazing and so proud of myself’ and then his face fell, as he said ‘ and somehow although I felt so good about myself, one day I just stopped doing it all. Something happens at work or in life, a rough day comes and there I go…I lose all my motivation to get back to my productivity ritual. I know the advantages of sticking to it, I have experienced it first hand and yet I seem to find it almost impossible to get back to my routine…feels like a drag, a burden on me.’“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”This conversation got me thinking and here are some tips I believe, that can help us get ourselves back to our winning rituals.Procrastination

This word is the most unwanted one in my list of rituals and yet I find it plaguing my everyday routine. I know I need to spend the first 90 minutes of working day on marketing activities, but instead I find myself flipping through different apps on my phone and reading mails. Although I know the fruits of doing the right thing are great, I procrastinate and find different things to do instead.

If this is you at different times of the day, then a good idea is to keep phone, notifications and emails off for the first 90 minutes, so you give your undivided attention to the task at hand and give it your fullest. This simple technique can help you gets a heads up early on in the day and sets the tone for a productive day ahead. It fuels your motivation!

Motivation
You need it every day, like food and water. You can’t possibly eat 21 meals on a Sunday and say this will take care of my weekly needs. You need food and water on a daily basis, on demand when your body asks for it. Similarly motivation is also something we need to fill ourselves with each day. The problem however is, unlike hunger and thirst that are a sign, lack of motivation is not a sign that we notice very quickly. We start to notice it after a few days or weeks have passed and find it challenging to refill ourselves with ample amount of it to feel rejuvenated and inspired again.

Begin your day with a 15 minute inspiration dose. You could choose to read something that motivates you, visit your dream board to get you motivated or watch an inspiring video…there are ample amounts of all these available to you. Doing this daily, will make sure you protect your energy from being sapped on things that don’t serve you or pull you down.

Write a journal
For most of us, until something can be quantified or measured, we seldom count it as a win. Rome was not built in a day, it was built a little everyday and if each day the ones building it felt they didn’t build much, it would mean a day wasted for them too. You are building a life of productivity, happiness and contentment, do it one brick at a time and acknowledge yourself for each brick that you placed in the right place that will eventually give you a great output.

One of the best ways to do this is to write a journal. Before you hit bed each night, remember to write your 5 daily wins. When you do this consistently you rewire your brains to help set new patterns that become winning habits over a period of time. When you record your daily wins you also feed yourself with enough motivation and inspiration to keep at it every day. To me this is one of the most powerful techniques of all time to keep your motivation fuel meter running at full each day.

Try these techniques today and share with us how your days are shifting as a result. You never know how your little action on any one of these techniques could be a game changer in your life.

Leena Munot
Co-founder, The Giving Tree
Author, Goals Mantra
Tedx Speaker