Three easy steps to motivate yourself

I was chatting with one of my new Hawke’s Bay friends the other day, and she asked me in conversation ‘How do you stay motivated?’  (Specifically about my writing and my books.)  At the time I said that I simply loved creating inspiration for myself, so it wasn’t really an issue.

Afterwards, I had more of a think about it and realized that there were times, more in the past than now, where motivation was an issue so I thought it would be a great post topic for today.

Because it doesn’t matter if you want to write a book, eat healthier or take up a new challenge; the key to your success if having the right motivation.  You always know what you need to do to reach a goal, but the motivation to do it is always another matter, am I right?

These days with my writing, I simply sit down and write.  I usually have a book outline I am working on or a blog post to come up with.  Because I have been writing almost daily for so long now, I just sit down and go.

But before that when I was just starting out I needed to create my own motivation.  Even more important were those times when I couldn’t get going at all; when my well had run dry and I just couldn’t be bothered writing, even though I knew in my heart that I desired to be a writer.

At those times I gave myself a break (as in a mental break.)  I stopped nagging myself and trying to whip myself into action and feeling guilty and sick because I still wasn’t doing anything.  Gosh, it was like trying to drive a car with the handbrake on!

I then went right back to basics.  The question I asked myself was:

Do I even want to do this anymore?

It’s a big question, and I think it is an important one.  In life, there virtually isn’t anything we have to do if we don’t want to.  Of course there are consequences to things we don’t do, but there are plenty of examples of people who decide just to quit their jobs and go bush, leave their comfortable life and go travelling, leave their city life and move to the country…

But quit writing?  No, when I asked myself that, I knew I didn’t want to.  I love it and and can see myself doing what I'm doing now for the rest of my life.  The next step therefore, to get me back into momentum, was to treat what I wanted to do like it was my job.

Jobs aren’t fun 24/7.  They involve work, and even when it’s something you love like writing or with an outcome you want such as being in kick-ass shape – the best shape of your life; you still have to show up every day and do something towards that goal.

So I would.  I’d stop asking myself if I felt like writing and just do it.  I’d book in time in the morning (my favourite time to write) to turn up and create.  I’d put routines and helpful systems in place to enable me to write, such as prepping that day’s food the night before, and only booking necessary appointments and errands in the afternoon.

Making myself do it helped bridge that gap between what I said I wanted and what I was prepared to do to get it.  After a while it became routine and I had primed my rusty writing pump too, so it was easier to write each day.

Think about this technique with something you want to achieve. 

Maybe you want to slim down.  First ask yourself, ‘Do I really want to or is it something I feel I should do?’  Of course you might say ‘All my clothes are tight, I need to.’  And maybe they are, but so what.  You could make the decision to be happy with your weight exactly as you are.

And you could put away all the clothes that don’t fit you only leaving the ones that do hanging in your closet.  That at least gives you a temporary reprieve from the stricken feeling of ‘I’ve got to do something about my weight!’

Then, from a mentally calmer place you can ask yourself, if it was my job to be slimmer, how would I approach it?  If I was a competing athlete or an actress, what could I do to achieve that goal?

I find it helpful to look at being trim and healthy from a body builder or body sculptor’s point of view.  To me it feels to diet-y to weigh and measure my food or serve strictly balanced portions of healthy meals, but when I think of it from a gym person’s point of view; they do that as ‘just what they do.’

They put their meals together the night before and take everything with them to work.  They don’t get to noon and think ‘What do I feel like?’  No, they already have their protein and vegetables in the fridge for lunch, they eat it and then they carry on with their day nourished and full.

Athletes training for competitions or body builders getting in peak physical condition for a show will of course have meals prepped ahead of time, all the time.

They’re not sad losers for weighing and measuring their food, they are making something of themselves.  Setting your nutrition up as just something you do as part of reaching your goal strips away the thoughts of ‘I don’t feel like eating something healthy tonight, I feel like something fun.’

The ‘just do it’ thoughts get you past the initial enthusiasm of a new project and into the everyday.  That middle section is the danger part you have to go through, because once you start seeing results it’s easy to carry on.

Not only has it become your new routine way to eat, but you’ll start feeling more energetic because of the better foods and your clothes will fit a little looser.  That's highly motivating!

It’s like that with my writing.  After asking myself if it’s something I really want and when the answer is yes, committing to it like it’s my job.  I make myself write daily to get through the choppy part, and after a bit I’m in smooth waters, effortlessly creating every day, building up my body of work and feeling the thrill of releasing a new book.

It really is that simple.  Not easy, but simple.  Just follow the three steps for anything you are feeling stuck about.

What’s the thing you simultaneously want to do and can’t be bothered doing?

Ask yourself if you really, truly want it

If yes, commit to it like you are being paid to do it, like it’s your job

(If no, forget about it and go do something else!)

Sound good to you?  And on that note, I’m off to the gym.  I’m not asking myself if I feel like it (although I do, crazily enough), I’m just doing it.

I’d love you to share with me what you might try my motivation technique on.

~Fiona~

PS. We are in the spring season here in New Zealand, but you lucky people in the northern hemisphere are experiencing autumn.  Yes, I love spring and the warmer summer months, but autumn will always be my first true love.

If you haven’t read my book How to be Chic in the Winter yet, why not check out a sample from Amazon?  In this book I share all my ideas on how to enjoy the winter season instead of just enduring it – even if you are a summer person!

I’m sure you will find ideas to transform the way you think about winter, and it all came from my own desire to ‘live slim, happy and stylish during the cold season.’  You can find it on Amazon Kindle here and in paperback too.