HOW TO GET THE SPIRIT OF MOTIVATION

Let's see if any of this sounds familiar!

You beautifully scribbled down resolutions, and this time you were even careful to keep them practical, you wrote down detailed plans, and then even tried to stick to them as the year proceeded. Buts oops! just halfway through January, you realize things are falling apart. 

So, what went wrong? You had the perfect start, practical goals and a carefully architected plan, therefore, what may be lacking is motivation. And here on earth, it is the motivation that moves you, that puts you on the direct route to your goals.

But there’s a not so tiny problem.

The Motivation Problem

The most widely held notion about motivation is that it must come to you, and consequently propel you to make the next move.

I call this the motivation problem and regard it furthest away from the truth.

The truth which might sound bitter to you right now is that motivation is a result of a move you make. Always remember, motivation is a by-product of a given move and not the actual force.

The mere fact that you are searching for motivation doesn’t give you an upper hand. You are going to need two things to attain the motivation you so badly need.

1.      Effort

2.      A personal goal

 

Until and unless you feel the benefit of an action, I don’t expect you to be personally or accurately motivated. You may have heard this before, but let me reiterate this, scrolling through social media and comparing yourself or your journey to others on Instagram will never give you that boost of motivation.

Of course, you should feel happy for those people and appreciate how far they have come in their journeys- but what’s going to push YOU to feel happy for YOURSELF, and take on a personal journey?

Put what everyone is thinking aside, it is not your business. Take the first baby step, then the next, and then the next – hold your tea and watch your motivation grow stronger with each step you take, no matter how small or insignificant they seem.

Small Steps Set in Motion Big Results

From personal experience and study, I have come to the conclusion that motivation is weirdly seasonal, and don’t get me wrong, that’s absolutely okay. Of late, I am in a low-motivation season, as compared to the mid-range or high-motivation flows that keep me right on track. All I have done to face this reality is adjust to these lower levels of motivation.  

I am proud to say, that’s okay.

As long as you take that baby steps every day to enhance the quality of the next day, you will see the benefits, and as long as the benefits are there, your motivation should stay.

You’ll begin to notice that the levels of your motivation are actually rising, and the low-motivation streak will be over before you can say, “Oh look, I am back on track”. What more can we expect of motivation, when even life itself comes in seasons, and you have to adjust to the flows if you don’t want to be left far behind?

Here are the steps I take when I feel my motivation taking a downward spiral;

1.      Put my phone away for a while

2.      Take a social media hiatus

3.      Meditate/yoga/exercise

4.      Change my diet

5.      Get 8+ hours of sleep

 

These may feel like they are very small if not insignificant, but in reality, they break the monotony and force your brain to take a detour. These have been my go-to’s whenever I need to get back in the game.

Now, let me ask you the million-dollar question

What Will You Do to Motivate Yourself?

I cannot emphasize enough the irrelevance of where you are with regard to your goals – perhaps you have managed to make some progress, maybe you are staggering and on the verge of letting it all go down the pipe, or maybe, you have done nothing at all – in either case – it’s okay.

The more you beat yourself about not being motivated enough, the less motivated you are going to be.

You have to be that person who pushes you forward, believe it or not, no one can do that for you. You’ve got to pick up the pieces yourself, and then guide yourself to the path you seek. While you have to resort to yourself to begin with, YOU are your only hope and are the only one that can in the true sense of it all motivate yourself.

I am a believer in the efficacy of small steps. I am a believer in the change that stems from believing in yourself, and consequently taking the needed action. The only question that remains is – DO YOU?

While we are at it, remember YOU;

Are incredibly awesome

Can be successful

Are your own solution

Can start today

7 HABITS TO DESIGN A LIFE-CHANGING MORNING ROUTINE

As a person who not only hated mornings, but despised morning people, I have evolved into a strong believer in the efficiency of waking up early. Our mornings can go two ways; a relaxed productive morning gearing us towards long-term success, or a stressed morning which comprises of waking up late, and rushing to work or school, setting us up for stagnancy if not failure.

I take motivation and inspiration from successful people, and one of the common denominators in the lives of such successful people is waking up early. Here is a look at the time some of the most successful people in world wake up;

Apple CEO Tim Cook wakes up at 3:45 a.m.

CEO and co-founder of Ellevest, Sallie Krawcheck wakes at 4 a.m.

L. Rafael Reif, President of M.I.T., gets up at 5 a.m.

CEO of Xeroz, Ursula Burns rises at 5:15 a.m.

Michelle Obama wakes up at 4:30 am, to name a few.  

 

Do you want to know the 7 habits I implemented to have a life-changing morning routine?

 

1. MORNING PAGES

Morning pages are the holy grail I live by. I collect my thoughts and ideas in one place, be they dreams, thoughts, troubles or worries. I write it aaallll down, and make room for more productive and positive ideas.   

This is not just venting time; it is also gratitude time. There is so much to be thankful for, and merely recalling them can be a huge morale boost.

 

2. HYDRATE

Your body has been snoozing for hours, and whether you feel it or not, your body is thirsty. I start my day with a glass of water and lemon, as this helps with not only hydrating my body, but also some vitamin C.

As you develop the habit of keeping your body hydrated, you will experience a drastic decrease in your cravings. This will keep your weight in check, keep your skin shiny and fresh, as well as a long list of other benefits that come with it.

 

3. WORKOUT/EXERCISE

While I am a sucker for routines, and cannot stand change, monotony can be a buzz kill and severely affects my ability to perform, especially my writing ability. Thus, not only does exercise break this monotony, it stimulates creativity by firing off endorphins and getting the blood flowing to our brains.

Additionally, along with being an energy boost, exercise helps in staying fit and healthy by burning of those extra calories, thereby keeping you in good shape and health. If you don’t spare time to exercise now, you will not only have to make time but also spend money on your health in the years to come.

 

4. READ A BOOK

“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.” – Lena Dunham

Reading is the second common denominator in the lives of all successful people I have seen or read about. Thus, instead of mindlessly scrolling on social media, I have made it a habit to read a few pages every morning. I realized that due to busy schedules I was losing my love for reading, and thus replaced 20 minutes of social media time to reading a book.

It is very true that some people despite trying do not enjoy reading, and that is okay. Let’s celebrate our difference, in style. I suggest audio books or podcasts for those who for whatever reason can’t read. You can listen to these while doing something else, thereby killing two birds with one stone.  

 

5. STAY DISCONNECTED

Social media comes with pros and a long list of cons. Due to its addictive nature, social media usage increasingly occupies time meant for other activities, or in most cases leaves no time to pursue other activities.

Your mornings are meant to be your YOU time, and checking emails, replying to DMs or checking Instagram stories among others can wait. Stay disconnected from this false reality, and use this time for self-improvement, and enhanced productivity

 

6. EAT THE FROG

Frogs are nasty, literally and figuratively. Eating the frog is basically about getting the most difficult chunk of work out of your day. With these extra hours on your hand, down that difficult bit, and by the time your day starts, you are already ahead of others, less stressed about what you have to do, and most likely will have a relatively relaxed and spaced day.

 

7. CHANGE ONE THING

We can always do something different, something that actually makes a difference and matters, but are either stuck in a bad habit, or too lazy to take on a new one. Use this extra morning time to work on something productive, and build on it gradually to make a difference. Bear in mind, massive success starts with the change in a day.

 

As we come to the end of this article, remember that these extra 3 or so hours are a gift of nature to you. While many spend it sleeping, or struggling to get out of bed, use it to your advantage, and design your mornings for a life-changing experience. 

Here are a few extra tips that helped me

 

Take A Cold Shower; A cold shower in the morning is not only hygienic it is an excellent jolt to being active, and out of the sleep zone. Avoid warm showers, as that relaxes your system, and may tempt to you to crawl right back in bed

 

Make Your Bed; The armed forces are keen on making a perfect bed in the morning, as it builds discipline. But for ordinary peepz like us, it merely prevents us from going back to sleep as the bed is all made up, and making it all over again can be a headache.

… And also the discipline part

 

Don’t Skip Breakfast; It goes without saying, skipping breakfast is a NO NO. skipping breakfast makes you cranky, causes headaches, general weakness, and eventually impacts the quality of your work. If you are unable to eat before leaving for work or school, pack your breakfast and eat it as soon as you can.

For people with desk jobs, it is always best to eat a low-carb breakfast, while those with more manual work regimen can eat a carbohydrate-rich breakfast.

Whatever you do, don’t skip breakfast

 

We are all made differently with different needs, and set on different paths. These are outlines of some of the changes I made in my mornings that set me up for a better life. They may not be what you need in your life right now. These are guidelines aimed to help you in designing your life according to your life and challenges.

"You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream" C. S. Lewis

STAY STRONG AND WORK HARD FOR THE LIFE YOU WANT.

 

5 SIMPLE WAYS TO HAVE A HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE DAY

I have always been obsessed with getting the most done in the shortest span possible but hadn’t been particularly successful. Having a full-time job, being a part-time freelancer, and a grad student, I have to juggle a lot and needed to make the most of my time. I fell down the productivity rabbit hole, spending hours reading lengthy articles to endlessly watching productivity videos on YouTube. There was so much overwhelming information; I tried to implement what I learned, and was successful in some instances, but was not content with my overall performance.

I realized that my failure was due to my search for shortcuts and hacks to being productive when all I had to do was have a system that worked for me. I deduced that productivity is a lifestyle, which very subtly boosts the quality of our work and life. While I hope to delegate subsequent articles to each point, here is a brief look at six ways to boost your productivity by 3 times.

1.   PLAN YOUR DAY

 

“Have a bias towards action – let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.” Indira Gandhi

It has been proven time and again, that planning goes a long way in the success of any endeavor. As such, this same principle is applicable when it comes to enhancing your productivity. Here is a planning routine that I have found to be extremely helpful. 

i. Plan The Night Before

The best possible way to have a head start is by preparing the night before. Make a list of things you have to achieve the following day. Bear in mind that as human beings we can only do so much in a given day. Therefore, your to-do list must follow this pattern;

ü  Tasks should be written down the night before; It always pays well to get up knowing exactly what you have to do, and when you have to do it.

ü  Tasks should be arranged in order of their priority, with the most important ones appearing on the top of the list

ü  Tasks should be allocated times; write an estimated time you require to complete the task at hand. This will give you an idea of how much time you will be using, how much you have left, and where to utilize it.

ii. Account For Time Cushions

We generally underestimate the time required to complete tasks. This leads us to put in more time than we had anticipated, and the timeline we established fails. Failure is always a buzz kill and may end up putting you off. To avoid this, begin by tracking the time you generally take for those tasks, and with time, you will become as precise as it gets.

iii. Be Realistic And Reasonable!

Don’t overwhelm yourself by packing in so many things. Having a lot of unaccomplished tasks on your list can give you a sense of failure. As established earlier, this feeling hurts your productivity and growth. We have limited time, and limited manpower, and writing down so much on your list can put you off. Be realistic and practical when drawing out the things you want to achieve the next day, and give each task a reasonable time.

2. CREATE A MORNING ROUTINE

Ugh, these nasty nasty mornings! To be honest, I am the worst morning person ever. I have to wake up early because over time I have learned that it is the most crucial time for personal and professional growth, but it’s still not my favorite time. Personal grievances aside, a good early morning routine is a common denominator in the lifestyle of all successful people, be it our all-time famous Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, entrepreneurs like Sir Richard Branson or performance coaches like Tony Robbins.

 

i. Waking Up

Before your day can begin, and your plan brought to reality, you have to wake up. But isn’t that the actual problem? Yup! It is the first hurdle of the day you have to overcome. I use Mel Robbin’s 5-second rule to wake up at the same time every day.

Here is a summary of 5 the second rule in Mel Robbin’s own words, “If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it … When you feel yourself hesitate before doing something that you know you should do, count 5-4-3-2-1-GO and move towards action. There is a window that exists between the moment you have an instinct to change and your mind killing it. It’s a 5-second window. And it exists for everyone.”

So, instead of hitting the snooze button to grab the extra minutes of sleep, quickly count backwords from 5 to 1, and jump out of the bed.

ii. Create A Routine

Create a routine of healthy habits, which will gradually stick and become second nature. My previous article on Strategies to overcome bad habits lays out the way to implement new habits while cutting out bad ones.

According to a study by the American Psychological Association, by creating and following a morning routine, your stress, depression, and anxiety levels will start to plummet and your life satisfaction levels will begin to soar. You’ll notice that you feel more motivated and your to-do list will seem less daunting.

Here are some healthy habits to give you a jump start

ü  Drink a glass of lemon water; Squeeze a fresh lemon into a glass of room temperature and drink it. It’s not only refreshing, it has a long list of health benefits you could use.

ü  Meditate/Pray; While some subscribe to religion others don’t. In either case, it helps to dedicate some time to meditate/pray to relax for inner peace and gratitude. Make sure it’s not soothing, and relaxing, as you may begin to feel sleepy, and go for the bed, rather make it about focus, and inner growth.

ü  Make your bed; Many studies have proven that making your bed right after waking up, not only prevents you from crawling back right into it, but also helps build your confidence.

ü, Take a cold shower; for me, this has been a non-negotiable element, as it has a guaranteed result of bringing me out of my dullness into active mode.

ü  Eat a protein-rich breakfast and cut down on the sodium

By the time you are done with your rituals, you will still have time for something you enjoy doing. I use this time to do things that require a fresh mind, predominantly these activities include; working on my articles, reading chapters I am having difficulties with, and working on a project that has been giving me problems.

Pro tip: Avoid social media and checking emails. Do them later on in the day.

3. EAT THE FROG

 

Mark Twain is said to have once stated that, if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that, that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. Applying this to your work routine simply means doing the most difficult tasks first, and moving down the slope to the easier tasks. But what do you do if you have two frogs to eat? In that case, eat the ugliest one first.

If you feel pulled in various directions and going crazy by the number of tasks on your plate every single day, I will highly recommend this method as a powerful tool. You must focus more on what is important than on how fast you are going. According to various researches, it is best to spend 20 percent of your day on the most important tasks and you will accomplish 80 percent of your results. Divide and conquer your to-do list, strike out the difficult tasks first, as you have the energy, and then gradually move down to the less hectic tasks.

4. AVOID DISTRACTIONS/PRODUCTIVITY KILLERS

Focus is everything where productivity is concerned. The rate and efficiency with which a task is executed depend highly on the ability of the doer to focus. Distractions are the little devils that pop up all around us and are great productivity killers. Distractions can be anything from social media alerts, music, conversations of others, or even other tasks you have to do.

 

Studies have shown that multitasking significantly slows your progress and makes the result relatively inefficient. So while you may be thinking that tackling two things at the same time will help you finish your tasks faster, you are impairing not only your productivity but also your mental health.

Pro-tip; Do a complete audit of your distractions, and find out what your productivity killers are. After my distraction audit, I found that Twitter and candy crush were my biggest distractions.

Complete your tasks efficiently and effectively by focusing completely on one task at a time.

5. REVIEW YOUR DAY

 

“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better. I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.” – Elon Musk

We cannot progress until we know the ups and downs of our lives, and make efforts to rectify those downs. Get a designated journal, in which you write an honest review of your day, do yourself the favor of being true to yourself, and get those pesky little details right. An end-of-day review helps you in understanding what you could have done better, and how you can do it. Over time you can determine if the changes you made are working for you or not. Moreover, it gives you a chance at appreciating and celebrating your wins. Remember to celebrate the little wins, they make all the difference. You can also get reviews from friends and colleagues who look out for you, and do not mind giving you the truth whether you like it or not. Get feedback, as it enables you to grow into a better version of yourself.

 

I cannot guarantee that these steps will help you as much as they did for me. But I can guarantee that change begins with a strong will, determination, and persistence. It doesn’t matter how many times you have to start over, as long as you get up with a renewed will.