From time to time, each of us inevitably faces certain difficulties in life. All of them are connected with different areas of our lives: work, business, family, friends, finances, etc. But there are situations when difficulties relate not to something external, but specifically to ourselves and our internal state. The biggest problem of all the problems that affects a person most strongly is internal imbalance. One of the manifestations of this imbalance is the lack of desire to take any action, develop and achieve goals. In other words, it is a lack of motivation. And if you can sometimes influence someone else with enviable ease, then it can be very, very difficult to effectively influence yourself. In this article we will talk about practical ways of self-motivation, putting into practice that any person can rekindle within himself the unbridled desire to move forward with his head held high.
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Without long introductions, let's get straight to the point.
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How motivation works in practice
In order for motivation to work in real conditions, it must be managed. That is, first you need to create it, and then support it in every possible way and try to ensure that it does not fall below the required level.
You can create motivation in the following way:
- encouraging;
- forcing;
- creating a situation.
In addition to all this, when managing motivation, it is necessary to take into account the distinctive features of a person and his qualities. Thus, for a person who is unable to enjoy the process of work, the result will be a much more motivating factor.
When managing motivation, it is also important to consider whether a person is prone to frequent emotional reactions or whether he is mainly accustomed to being guided by his mind.
Other engines
Many people tend to complain about the lack of this very motivation, energy, and will to live. Some people sometimes find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes in such situations, the effective solution may not be motivation at all.
Although it is certainly one of the most important behavioral drivers, it is far from the only one. Sometimes the solution to the question: “Where do I get energy?” - is not a search for 100 ways to self-motivate, but setting a mission or developing habits that a person did not have before.
Sometimes, instead of looking for the cherished motivation, you need to remove certain internal barriers that do not allow you to move on, to eradicate self-pity. And sometimes simple rest is the most effective solution.
The Importance of Skill Development
Self-motivation as the art of motivating oneself has an inextricable connection with beliefs, life aspirations, desires and almost everything that is important to an individual. All this can just push you to take certain actions.
Self-motivation is what sometimes allows you to achieve results that a person could previously only dream of. Having the ability to motivate yourself is one of the many factors that separates those who achieve success from those who simply go with the flow.
Developing self-motivation is necessary because no one is born motivated. A motivated person is able to rise above circumstances, because he shows less self-pity and, accordingly, is able to get up early in the morning and do more things in the most effective way.
Tenth way: develop your inner world
The desire to develop their inner world is common to most successful people. Try to keep your inner world clean and protect it from the invasion of any negative factors that destroy it and have a destructive effect. The consequence of such “hygiene” will be a free flow of thoughts, a sense of harmony, the development of intuition, inner lightness and even better physical condition and well-being. And as the most effective methods for protecting your inner world from destruction and developing it, we can recommend practices such as meditation, reading mantras, mindfulness practice, etc.
And finally, one more effective recommendation : always remember that time tends to pass and life passes. And it’s up to you how you live it: will you remain among those who failed to grow themselves, letting your whole life take its course, forgetting about your goals and betraying your dreams, or will you pull yourself together and make yourself the way you want and will be able to achieve what you want more than anything in the world! Think about the fact that you will always have the opportunity to throw up your hands and head, cry and become a slave to circumstances. But only today and only now can you decide to become a winner - a winner over your fears, your insecurities, your bad habits and, ultimately, over yourself!
Dear readers, leave your comments and share your opinions. Which of the above methods did you find most effective? What else can you recommend to people who want to increase their motivation and learn to be in a state of psychological readiness to take action more often?
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Key words:1Self-knowledge
Time factor
Gary Vaynerchuk, a Belarusian immigrant, now a businessman who has achieved incredible success in America, once uttered the most motivating words of his life:
One day I will die.
These seemingly depressing thoughts pushed him to live every day as if it were his last.
The time factor creates three forms of self-motivation, these are:
- Low. When a person simply prefers an activity. Emotions in this form are not enough for an individual to mobilize himself “right here and now.”
- Average. This form appears when an important but not urgent task comes up.
- High. Here the stimulus of emotions is at such a level when the individual has practically no choice but to do it right now.
We can conclude that the time factor has a significant impact on what priority is given to certain tasks.
Non-stop forward movement
Methods of self-motivation mainly consist of correctly managing the forms of “preferred”, “important” and “needed right now”. Self-mobilization reaches an optimal level when at least two forms change into “I can.”
A person is able to show the best of all possible results when all three forms change. This happens, as a rule, when a person’s occupation is the work of his whole life.
In such a situation, a person maintains his level of motivation even at the end of his strength and when significant obstacles arise.
Sixth method: perform different tasks
Thanks to various psychological studies, it is already known for certain that constant work on one project tends to tire and become boring. If you do only one thing for a long time, then the state of fatigue sets in much faster than in situations where you do different things. If you feel that you are starting to get tired of what you are doing, stop, switch your attention to something else, do some small but unrelated task, or just rest. Take a break and take a break. After some time, your strength will be restored, and you will be able to do what you were doing with new strength and renewed motivation.
Other factors
In addition to the time factor, which gives self-activation various forms, its formation is significantly influenced by:
- Internal barriers. In most cases they arise due to low self-esteem.
- Individual characteristics. For example, there are people who naturally have increased energy reserves, but their organization may suffer.
- General development. Those individuals whose ambitions are able not to come into conflict with laziness often easily find a variety of excuses for their failures.
- Age. Children and the elderly usually have much more difficulty with self-activation and using self-motivation methods.
In the process of working on assigned tasks, this skill plays a key role. In order to develop it, self-motivation exercises were developed.
Practical psychology in this case does not involve the use of any complex techniques. Exercises that will allow you to feel a surge of energy are quite simple.
How to develop a motivating habit
A ritual that sets a person up for work should in itself bring pleasure. It cannot be abused and used as an independent action, otherwise the process will lose its deep meaning.
To find your own “engine of motivation” and make it work, you need to follow three simple rules:
- A very simple action should “open” the algorithm of the ritual (for example, you can first put on “special” slippers).
- The ritual should contain any active manipulations (brew coffee, perform 2-3 physical exercises, water indoor plants).
- The algorithm of actions must be verified to the smallest detail and always reproduced with accuracy.
When composing a ritual, it is important not to try to artificially lengthen it by adding unnecessary manipulations. Let it be one action, but performed with high quality and with complete immersion in the process. It is optimal if the entire preparation takes no more than 10 minutes.
Goal setting and visualization
In order not to waste your precious energy on everything, it is very important to note your life goals. Thus, all sorts of little things that don’t matter will stop bothering you, more energy will remain and you will spend it on what really matters to you.
And for greater effect, it will be useful to tell about your plans for life to those who can understand you. This will allow you to visualize your most important goals, which will have a positive impact on your sense of purpose and bring some satisfaction.
An indispensable tool for personal growth is a journal in which you will record every personal victory. In such a journal, in addition to notes of success, it is useful to add clever sayings from a variety of sources, which will provide additional motivation.
Inspirational quotes can be gleaned from the biographies of people who have already achieved the success they desire. In difficult times, such a diary will be able to remind you of what you are capable of and what you have already achieved, thereby inspiring you to further achievements.
Method two: Keep a “Success Journal”
A success journal is a very effective tool for motivating yourself. It is a kind of diary in which you must record all your achievements. Even the smallest ones. This could be a successful acquaintance that occurred on your initiative, praise from your boss for a well-prepared report, an increase in income, getting rid of a bad habit, etc. It is advisable to keep this diary every day, because every day is filled with many events, among which there will certainly be good ones. The more you write down, the more success you will have in your journal. Scroll through and read it in the morning and evening, and whenever you are in a bad mood and feel low energy, loss of motivation, or feel like you are standing still and not making progress. Visually displaying all your successes and achievements will give you a new positive charge and strength to continue to act.
Give up your routine
Take a thorough look at what activities you perform on a daily basis. There is a high probability that a significant part of them does not bring the result that you planned to get, but instead only takes away precious energy.
You can completely calmly let go of things that are already boring and not needed at all. Reserve your energy for accomplishments that will have a real impact on your life.
It will be useful to create a small environment for yourself with accessories that create an atmosphere of coziness and comfort. They will help in adapting to changes.
Method four: set clear goals
Setting goals has an extremely motivating effect on a person. First, when you practice goal setting, you automatically start thinking about exactly the things that motivate you. Secondly, when setting goals, you think about the time frame for achieving each of them, which already brings their achievement closer and serves as an additional motivator. Thirdly, when you think about your goals and their achievement, you unconsciously think through various options for their implementation. It’s not for nothing that they say that thoughts are material. The energy impulses of your thoughts will attract more and more new events into your life, which, quite likely, will open for you, figuratively speaking, those doors that were previously closed. For effective goal setting today, there are a considerable number of effective methods. You can familiarize yourself with some of them here and here.
Build up endorphins
A hormone called “endorphin” is considered by many to be a kind of drug, since with the release of this hormone in the body comes bliss. Physical activity can lead to such a release. A light walk, a short jog or even the most ordinary exercise will do.
At the same time, at times it is simply necessary to relax to replenish your strength. Comedies, funny stories, jokes and anecdotes will relieve tension and allow you to discard unnecessary seriousness. Humor is one of the best cures for stress.
You don't want to take on an unbearable burden by trying to complete a bunch of different tasks without stopping. Overworking can destroy your self-motivation and lead to severe exhaustion.
Instead of trying to do everything at once, it is wise to take some time between tasks to recuperate. Attempting to accomplish something huge at once threatens with a decrease in quality and unnecessary nerves.
Defeats and personal circle
One of the most powerful tools for self-motivation is failure. If you don’t get hung up on them and boldly step over them, they will save you from complexes and fears.
Every defeat that doesn’t break you will definitely make you stronger, it’s just important not to stop.
You should also not take on the burden of other people's problems, since you already have your own. For those who want to delegate the execution of their tasks to you, do not be afraid to refuse, because you risk taking on an unbearable burden.
Be extremely careful with those whom you allow into your life, into your personal circle. There are people who are commonly called energy vampires because of their ability to suck energy out of you with their attitude to life. Such people should be avoided.
Optimistic people who are just as motivated as you are will be more suitable for you. These are the people who can really help you in difficult times.
Self-motivation in management
One of the most noticeable indicators of how successful management is in an organization is the ability of employees to do without a “kick” from their superiors in difficult conditions, that is, their self-motivation.
Often, the main driving force for the most effective employees is to realize themselves within the company, taking into account their own priorities in life. For a manager, managing such an employee has two sides to the coin. On the one hand, this is quite convenient for him, since it does not require significant effort to motivate an employee.
On the other hand, such employees become difficult to manage when they lose interest in the processes they deal with. And when the opportunity to realize themselves within the company disappears, such employees quit without hesitation.
There are certain techniques that can help develop self-motivation among employees. One of them is reframing.
Using Reframing
A special exercise that allows you to see something from a different angle that was previously inaccessible to perception is called reframing. An example is the situation with a glass of water, which for a person with a pessimistic attitude seems half empty, and for an optimist - half full.
Having an idea of a person’s attitude (optimistic or pessimistic), it is more than likely to predict his actions in a given situation. While an optimist strives for something, a pessimist's habitual action is avoidance.
Managers are able to influence their employee to develop a more positive perception of the surrounding reality, as well as contribute to the development of the skill of understanding the other side of what is happening. And all this is achieved with the help of reframing, the construction of which is carried out according to the following principles:
- Constructing more optimistic interpretations of what is happening while only the negative side is visible to the naked eye.
- Finding personal advantages for an individual in a given situation.
- Making favorable comparisons.
- A game of contrasts.
With all these principles, the use of reframing does not allow lying or substitution of facts. All characteristics of the other side of what is happening must actually take place in reality.
Although some managers prefer to conduct training sessions for their employees along the lines of “33 Ways to Self-Motivate,” sometimes it makes sense to simply demonstrate reframing to your subordinates and show how useful it is in relation to self-motivation, because this technique has repeatedly proven its effectiveness.
Eighth way: communicate with the best
Believe me, this method can dramatically change your whole life for the better. In order to become better, you need to communicate with people who are better than you in some ways. In order to achieve high results, you need to communicate with people whose results are better than yours. This will inevitably lead you to personal growth and conquering new heights. But, besides this, you need to strive to communicate not only with the best, but also with positively minded people. The fact is that there is such a category of people as negative people. They are always complaining about something, constantly whining about problems, judging other people and being skeptical about any success. Communication with them is an anchor that pulls you to the bottom. It sounds tough, but it’s worth “filtering” your social circle and trying to interact with negative people to a minimum. Meet those who are positive, who are motivated, enjoy life, smile and joke, no matter what. After some time, you will be very surprised that the quality of your life has improved, and you yourself have become a more cheerful and happy person.
