Motivation: Create it - Don’t wait for it!

What’s that thing you’ve been wanting to do for so long, but still haven’t got round to it yet because you just haven’t got the motivation?

Unfortunately, motivation rarely appears on its own for us, so unless you create some, you’re never going to get that thing done.

Creating motivation can be easier than it sounds. Action creates emotion, in this case motivation. So, by starting to do something, you will find you start to feel differently about it almost immediately. You need to act first and motivation will come second.

As an example I’m one of the world’s worst procrastinators, I take so long to get started on things that I need to get done telling myself I’ve not got any motivation – there’s always something else I can be doing, I fear failure or not doing the task well enough, or not getting it finished, having too much to do, getting too sweaty or not wanting to exert myself at certain times, the list goes on endlessly. But when I actually make myself do something, I soon find that I quickly get into flow state, the task becomes easier than I expected, and I start to enjoy what I’m doing and feel I’m achieving things.

Two things that greatly help improve motivation are Reason and Accountability.

What is your reason for wanting or needing to do that thing in the first place? How important is to you? If you have a clear reason and can justify its importance, you will find you are more motivated to do it. Anything you can’t do this for might not be worth your time at this point, move on and you’ll find you’re motivated for something else.

Accountability is holding yourself responsible for doing something or being accountable to somebody else. You won’t want to let them down. You’ll feel good when they are grateful for what you’ve done or praise you. Which brings us onto the dopamine effect.

We all like rewards. Our brains are wired to like receiving nice things and thus release the dopamine hormone to make us feel good. So, motivate yourself by rewarding yourself for doing something. Break tasks down into smaller goals and reward yourself after completing each stage – you’ll be motivated to carry on and do the next stage for another reward. You’ll feel your achieving something more frequently.

You could even learn to habit stack, a method by which you learn new habits by doing a task you don’t really like or want to do (don’t have the motivation for), directly before a task you really enjoy (do have the motivation for). This way you are motivated to do the first task so that you can get onto the second one, again a kind of reward system.

Tracking or journaling is also a good way to increase motivation. By keeping a record of what you do you will see you progress. There are many ways to do this – writing in a journal, ticking tasks off in a diary, having a sticker chart. The more you see how much you’ve already progressed since the start, the more motivation you will have to carry on to the goal end.

Preparation may help with motivation before a task. You can do research to educate yourself on why you’re going to do this. However, you still need to actually then start to keep the motivation going.

Physical preparation is also useful. Putting out any kit you need, for example, selecting and laying out the night before, clothes you need for the gym or shoes for running in the morning. This way half the task is done – you just need to put them on and go. Place objects around the home to make tasks easier to accomplish, like leaving your yoga mat against a wall, bottled water on the side table, notebook and pen at the side of your chair, etc. Creating an environment where you’re constantly going to be reminded of tasks and having them made easier by items being to hand will boost your motivation to do tasks.

Focus on enjoying the journey – not just the end results!

If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, not only will your goals become harder and longer to reach, but your lack of motivation will also increase. By setting realistic goals and selecting enjoyable ways to achieve these your motivation will grow.

A good example of this is if you want to lose weight. Rather than doing solo treadmill workouts and a strict boring diet – go dancing and walking with friends, and relish the chance to learn new culinary skills with healthy recipes.

Schedule time for tasks. This way you won’t feel guilty or disheartened about not doing something else and can feel that you are able to give your all to this task during this set time. Motivation will be higher because your brain knows that this is special time for this task, and you will have greater focus.

Next time you don’t want to go out for that run on a cold, wet, windy, dark day, or you think you’re too busy doing other things that you can’t be bothered to get the cushion out to meditate…

Remind yourself how you will feel afterwards!

What could be better motivation than knowing how good it’s going to feel if you do this task?

You’ll feel energised, pleased with yourself for not giving in, focused for the rest of your upcoming activities, excited about what you’ve achieved and wanting more, another proud notch on the progress chart and of course getting your reward.

Don’t let things pass. Create your own motivation by starting something right now.