It’s Monday and your alarm clock is blaring in your ear for the fourth time this morning. You’re just not feeling it today.
We’ve all been there. We’ve all lost our motivational “oomph” at one point or another. Even entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg have had days where they just weren’t feeling it. But you won’t see them binge watching seasons of “The Office” in pj’s with a bag of popcorn instead of working on their next project. When their self-motivation starts to run low, they shake it off and press on. They take action.
When you start to feel the lack of self-motivation creep in, it’s time to think about how you can regain your motivational mojo. Here are a few steps you can take to recharge and get your “oomph” back.
Amp up your goals.
Do your current goals get you excited about something? If you haven’t set meaningful goals that ignite your passion, there’s a chance you are going to start to feel worn down and tired. Setting generic goals that you can’t sink your teeth into isn’t going to keep you motivated.
Take Elon Musk for example. He fuels his motivational engine with short-term goals, like adding solar power panels to houses across America, but it’s his longer-term goals, like colonizing Mars and creating a hyperloop, that really get him fired up. He is consistently taking action and defining more creative goals to break down any motivational barriers he may come across while working towards his long-term goals.
Take some time to reflect on past achievements.
Looking back at your past achievements is a great way to help you stay motivated. You haven’t gotten this far without some little and big wins. Take a minute to think about where you were at a year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago. Think about the challenges you faced and the actions you took to overcome them. Picture yourself a few months or years into the future doing this same exercise. What achievements do you think you will have added to your list by then?
As Shia LaBeouf says, “Just do it.”
Action can cause motivation. Plain and simple. If you’ve run out of motivation and you’re just waiting for some type of inspiration to strike you at the right moment – you’ll never reach the amount of success you truly want.
When you feel hesitant about taking action towards your goal, it’s probably because you’re thinking of the big picture, and it’s intimidating. Thinking big is great when you are setting your goals. When you are working to achieve those goals you really want to think on a smaller scale. Take some small specific action to get the ball rolling. A small action can lead to motivation which can then lead to more action, so on and so forth.
I hope the take away you got from this MondayMo was to “take action.” Action leads to motivation and any action is better than no action at all.
“Don’t just sit there. Do something. The answers will follow.” ― Mark Manson
Losing your “mojo” is normal and happens to everyone at some point. Don’t focus on it or let it stress you out. Take action through this list of tips and you’ll find that your self-motivation returns and even grows.
