We are in the second month of the New Year. And it’s usually at this time that most people start to lose their motivation to achieve their goals.
At the start of the year, you were inspired and fired up, and ready to start making changes to improve your life. But as bills start coming in and the pressures from work start to stress us out, we tend to lose our focus and forget why we made those goals in the first place.
When the going gets tough, we need to find a way to build up our momentum and keep on pursuing what we want.
What motivates you? How do you stay motivated when things don’t go your way? Every individual is motivated by something, whether it is internal or external.
You need to find out what motivates you and why because this may make the difference between achieving your goals and giving up. Here are four powerful steps you can take to keep yourself motivated to achieve your goals in 2022.
1. Keep yourself motivated by identifying your goals.
The first step to keeping yourself motivated is to identify your goals and to know why you want to achieve those goals. For example, my goal was to become an author because I love to write short stories and poetry.
In order to be successful in whatever you do, your motivation needs to come from you. Take an active approach and write down your goals. Think about what you want to do with your life and where these thoughts came from. Ensure that you are pursuing those goals for the right reasons and not because your parents, friends, or colleagues said you should.
Think of how and why you chose your goals. For instance, you may have decided that you want to become a professional basketball player because of your skills and because it makes you feel happy when you play the game.
Identifying and owning your goals will help you to head in the right direction and you will feel good about yourself and what you are trying to accomplish.
2. Motivate yourself by envisioning the steps you need to take to achieve your goals.
Goals can be broken down into manageable steps that will help you move towards getting what you want. When you envision your goal, think of all the steps it will take to get you to where you want to be. Consider the costs involved, the obstacles you will face, and the deadlines you have to meet to help you accomplish what you set out to do.
Set realistic goals. Keep yourself motivated by visualizing your goals every day. Picture each step down to the smallest detail that will help you to achieve your goal.
Envision your success and then do everything you can to bring that vision to life. This is how athletes prepare themselves before a big game. They envision themselves winning and then they practice over and over again up until game time in which they push themselves to make their vision become a reality.
You can use this method for both short-term and long-term goals. Be specific with what you want to achieve and you will turn your vague ideas into real, achievable goals.
3. Keep motivating yourself by creating the expectation of achieving your goals.
Once you have decided on what you want to achieve, tell a friend or someone you trust what you intend to do to change your life. Let them know where you want to go, how you plan to get there, and why you want to do it. Share with them the steps you plan to take to achieve your objectives.
It may not be easy to share your goals with someone else. Some people tend to write down their goal and hide it so that nobody else can see it.
You may feel too embarrassed to share your goals with someone else. You may tend to worry about what your friends or family may think about you and your ideas.
But hiding your goal may be holding you back because you will not feel as motivated to work on it if no one knows about it. This may cause you to procrastinate and not take any action at all.
This is why it is so important that you talk to someone that you know you can trust. That person should be someone who will encourage you and hold you accountable for achieving your goals. Telling someone about your objectives turns it into a physical deadline. This will help to motivate you to put your plan into action.
Create the expectation. Your friend will expect you to finish something when you say you will. Get someone to check on your progress. Make sure that it is someone that you really care about because then you will work harder to succeed. You would not want them to see you give up.
Nobody likes to admit to a loved one that they failed or have fallen behind on what they planned to do. Instead, you want to show them what you achieved and make them proud.
Make sure you only tell one or two people about it. Don’t tell everyone because not everyone has your best interests at heart and there are some who would prefer to see you fail. So make sure that the person you share your goals with is the one who really wants to see you succeed.
4. Bring your motivation back to life
There will be times when you will not always feel motivated. There will be times when you will feel tired, frustrated, and lazy and will want to give up. Unfortunately, you can’t avoid these moments of weakness.
Most people let this negativity stop them from pursuing their goals. They expect things to be easy but life doesn’t always work that way.
Every path you take will be filled with obstacles that will leave you feeling frustrated and helpless. You know these obstacles are coming. You may not know how or when, but it’s going to happen eventually. Something will make you feel like giving up.
So why not prepare yourself? Figure out ahead of time how to bring your motivation back to life. Create a plan on how to navigate through your darkest, weakest moments.
One key thing you need to do is find a way to accept your mistakes and failures, learn what went wrong and what you should do differently so that you don’t make the same mistake again.
You can’t change what happened. For example, don’t feel guilty if you spent the whole night on social media instead of working. Every second is a chance to start over. Learn from your mistakes and try again.
Don’t let the negative things in this world stop you from reaching your full potential. Keep motivating yourself to pursue your goals and don’t give up. Identify and own your goals. Envision the steps you need to take to make your dream a reality. Create the expectation and bring your motivation back to life. Keeping yourself motivated is one of the hardest things to do, but it is essential to your success.
