Staying motivated is as individual a task as you are a person. Once you go through the question exercise in the post Why Stay Motivated? (Do that now if you haven’t yet.), and you can apply that to anything you want, you realize that the key to staying motivated is your own personal desire for an outcome. Your desired outcome on or about a thing could range from a hefty, extravagant goal to simply finding a reason to go to work today – or not to go.
When you discover your precise reasons, your why, for wanting a specific outcome, you’re then equipped with your actual motivation. Once you are clear on that, it’s much easier to surge forward to do what it takes to get where you want to go or do the thing that you want to do.
Others cannot motivate you. They can inspire you to stay or become motivated, by helping you recognizing your own motivation. Motivation in and of itself is the reason you want to accomplish a thing. People are motivated to stay physically fit because they want to be healthy, or they want to look good, or they want to be able to do things physically that they wouldn’t be able to do if they were not physically fit. Those are the reasons, their why, the motivation to do what they need to do to accomplish what they want to accomplish.
So how do you stay motivated? The answer is to simply think about why you want to do whatever it is that you want to do – really examine it for yourself – and then keep that in your awareness at all times. Write it down, carry it with you so when it gets difficult to keep going forward or seems like it’s taking to long and you’re getting weary, you can always pull it out and remember. If you don’t remember why you’re doing something or going somewhere, then WHY would you keep going?
A good friend says he “hates” his current job. He doesn’t like the brutal hard labor, the people he works with or the hours he has to put in. Why does he keep going? He wants a job and doesn’t have an alternative option yet. Why does he want a job? He wants the money to provide for his family and he doesn’t want to face his wife if he walks off and goes without a job for a while, putting stress on his family. Why does he want a job? Because he likes where he lives and the ability to buy the things that he likes to have and he feels good knowing his family is comfortable and taken care of. Why does he keep going to this job? He can’t find an alternative yet. Is he looking? No. Why? No motivation. The job is meeting his basic needs and he’s motivated by that. Somewhere inside, he’s found a way to be grateful for it. When he decides that it’s not worth it anymore, he will be motivated to do something else.
Pure determination, shear will power, will only go so far without constant motivation, because your motivation is what creates those. And unless you find your own motivation in a desired outcome that will require more on your part, opposed to what some else wants of you, your determination and will power will dwindle quickly. Motivation is never about them, it’s always about you and what you want.
Why are you doing what you’re doing? Why would you do something different? Find your why, your real why, and you’ve found your answer to staying motivated.
