Help! I’m Not Motivated

How do I achieve my goals when I’m not feeling motivated?

I hope you had a good weekend. I have been prodding you since the beginning of January to have BIG Thoughts and then set BIG Goals. Hopefully, I got you really excited about it and you have dedicated time to moving forward.

However, I also know you are human and, like me, just aren’t motivated! We have great intentions and even start our project or set out on our path with tremendous energy and “can-do” attitude. But then life happens. We get busy, distracted, absorbed in other activities, and just lack motivation. For some reason, we push pause.

Pause is okay for a little while but then we must get moving or we will have regrets months later.

When we are not motivated, discipline and commitment are what help us push through. You do not have to accept not reaching your full potential because your motivation is wavering! There is an ebb and flow to all things, but that doesn’t mean you should just give up and throw in the towel. When your motivation is waning, call in your two strong tools: discipline and commitment.

Discipline

We have to discipline ourselves to do the hard work to reap the rewards. Developing your discipline is a lot like working out. At first, the muscles of the body are flabby but in a very short time frame they become strong and carry you with endurance.

How can you build your discipline? Think of something you can do in a short period of time (15 minutes). Perhaps it’s taking a walk, looking up definitions in the dictionary or reading a book. Set a time frame morning and night. Make your project (doing this short easy task such as learning a new word) part of your morning and evening routine. In just a few short weeks you will have toned or gained new vocabulary AND built your experience with discipline!

As you build your discipline muscle you will begin to apply it to goal-setting and other teaching in this module. You will learn to trust yourself more, knowing that you have developed your discipline muscle and can now apply it wherever you wish throughout your life. What you do by the routine of discipline you will do regularly and by habit.

Commitment

The dictionary defines commitment like this: “a promise to do or give something; a promise to be loyal.” When you commit yourself to something, you are promising yourself to be loyal and remember what you have decided to accomplish. It may help you to have a constant reminder of your commitment, such as a special necklace, ring or a sign on your mirror.

We need to keep our commitments whether they are made to others or to ourselves. Many people willingly keep their commitments to their employer (showing up for work on time, completing projects by the deadline) or to their kids (vacation plans, attending recitals or soccer matches) but often, may routinely not keep commitments to themselves.

Become a person who keeps commitments to yourself. Do what you say you will do. Fulfill your promises to yourself. You may not “ace” it 100% of the time, but give yourself a good effort. If you fall, dust yourself off, get back up and continue as though you never stopped.

As you build discipline and commitment, your motivation and goal-attainment factors will shoot through the roof. You will gain mastery and strengthen yourself. Over time, you will be able to accomplish harder goals with ease.

Joan