Getting Motivation and Staying Motivated

One problem that a number of people have in realizing their goals is getting motivation or keeping motivated. Motivation requires a desire to do something and willingness to do what it takes to get there. Motivation may be for a short or long term project, but how do you get motivation or stay motivated for the task you want to accomplish?

Staying Motivated Requires Desire

Motivation is based on a desire for something that you would like to have or accomplish. Getting motivation and staying motivated therefore requires that you have a clear picture of what it is you want to accomplish and keeping this picture firmly in your mind. Start by writing down what it is you want to accomplish, picture it clearly in your mind and then read your picture every day. As you focus on this picture you will find it easier to get motivation and keep motivated.

Staying Motivated for a Difficult Task May Require External Rewards

If there is something that needs to be done but for which you do not have a particular desire you may succeed in getting motivation and staying motivated by promising yourself a reward after completing the task. If you have a work task that you don’t really want to do, promise yourself that once you get the task done you will reward yourself with something you do desire and enjoy. This method is based on the principle of extrinsic motivation.

Staying Motivated and Accountability

Another trick for getting motivation and staying motivated is to surround yourself with people who you are accountable to for the accomplishment of your task. Once you have decided what you want to accomplish, tell a couple of people about it. Ask these people to keep asking you about the task and what you have done to accomplish it. By staying accountable you will find getting motivation and staying motivated a lot easier as you will need to admit not having done what you intended to if you don’t do it.

Staying Motivated a Step at a Time

The reason getting motivation and staying motivated is sometimes so difficult is that we look at the enormity of a task and feel inadequate to accomplish it. Instead of looking at the whole picture all at once break down your large task into a number of smaller steps and then work on taking one step at a time. Once you have made the first step, write down what the next step is and do that. Getting motivation and staying motivated is a lot easier when you do it one step at a time.

Getting Motivation and Staying Motivated with Pictures

In the first step we mentioned that in order to get motivated and stay motivated you should be able to picture what it is you want to achieve and to repeat this to yourself daily. Another way to make getting motivation and staying motivated easier is to actually get pictures and photos of what it is you want to accomplish. Do you want to go on a holiday to a particular place? Find photos of that place in magazines and stick them up around your home or office. Do you want to lose weight? Then find pictures of healthy and slim people and stick them around your kitchen. These pictures will be a constant reminder of what it is you are working towards and so help you in getting motivation and staying motivated.

In conclusion, getting intrinsic motivation and staying motivated is all about knowing what it is you want and keeping this desire alive. This can be done by writing down what you want, clearly picturing it in your mind, and sticking pictures of it all around your home or office. Sometimes however extrinsic motivation needs to be found through other means if it is not a task we desire, this can be done through breaking the task into smaller steps, promising yourself external rewards and being accountable.