How To Improve Your Motivation

Finding the motivation to meet or exceed your goals is sometimes difficult. Of course, everyone has an off day from time to time; the kind of day in which productivity is trumped by a really bad reality television marathon or a tempting new novel that just can’t wait. It happens, and it’s nothing you should be ashamed of. However, a more frequent lack of motivation is a bigger problem. If you find it difficult to meet even your smallest goals, it might be time to reevaluate your mindset and get yourself back on track.

Low Expectations

Maybe it seems like setting the bar low is a good starting point. After all, once you accomplish your smallest goals you will have the motivation you need to accomplish bigger ones, right? Wrong. According to Dr. Gary Latham Ph.D., setting the bar low actually makes it more difficult for you to motivate yourself. Give yourself some challenging deadlines to meet your goals and you will become more likely to motivate yourself to meet them.

Willpower

Stop relying on your willpower to get you through.  Medical professionals have proven that your supply of willpower actually depletes itself the more you use it, which is why it is so much more difficult for you to deny yourself that cookie on the third day of your diet than it was on the first day. Try motivating yourself to stay on track and meet your goals by relying on more than simple willpower.

Stop Pleasing Others

One of the worst things you can do to your own motivation is focusing on how much you can please the people around you rather than yourself. You’re never going to meet your own goals if you’re too busy doing things that will make others happy with you. For example, if your goal is to lose weight and get in shape, stop eating your mother-in-law’s cheesecake when she invites you over, even if she gets upset that you don’t. Just explain to her that you’re on a mission to makeover your body and as much as you love her cheesecake, you have to decline.