John Place online

Everyone gets in a rut every now and then, a Doldrum where all our motivation is sucked out and we just don’t feel like working on anything.

A short-term dip into one of these emotional ruts is fine, but sometimes we need a boost so we can climb back into the sunshine and resume the pursuit of our goals.  Whether you’re struggling to lose weight, finish a college course, become more socially active, or accomplish some other important goal, review these 10 tips to reclaim  your lost motivation:

1. Process Orientation: Instead of focusing on your goals, try extracting joy from each individual task along the way. In other words, focus on the process instead of the product. You may find that many of your tasks are enjoyable (or can be made that way) if you stop worrying about their overall purpose.

2. Set a Goal: Conversely, it’s also important to have goals so that you know where you’re heading. This tip may seem to be in conflict with the previous one, but it’s not. Goals (like losing weight, graduating college, etc.) are important in the sense that they help lay out what tasks we should pursue.

3. Create an Action Plan: Clarify all the steps required to obtain your objective, the anticipated timeline, and the resources you will need.   

4. Jury of Peers: Once you have an action plan, find a group of people who will hold you accountable and tell them what you intend to do. Tell them to ask you for progress reports on a regular basis, to keep you on track.

5. Write it Down: There is something about the act of writing down a goal that makes it official. On a sheet of paper, make a contract: clearly document your goal, then sign the contract, signaling commitment. Stick the contract onto the walls in your work area, your fridge, or anywhere else where it might serve to keep you motivated.

6. Create a Ritual: We are creatures of habit. The easiest way to climb out of an emotional rut is to establish routines that encourage productivity. When it comes to establishing new rituals, the first 30 days seem to be the most critical; so for the next 30 days, try structuring your days such that you are consistently working toward your goals.

7. Back on the Horse: Instead of allowing a short-term failure to ruin your motivation, make up your mind to jump back on that horse and keep moving forward. We learn from our failures; in this sense, our failures are good, all part of the plan, if only we’ll treat them that way.

8. List the Benefits: If you’ve forgotten why you’re trying to accomplish a particular goal (which is pretty common whenever we lose motivation), try writing down all the benefits you plan to experience once your goal is attained. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, consider your gains in health, vitality, energy, life span, and attractiveness. Focus on the benefits instead of the challenges.

9. Visualize: Close your eyes and visualize the future you anticipate. Make this a part of your routine. The purpose of such visualization is to solidify within your mind the worthiness of the goal, to clarify your path.

10. Change Priorities: Sometimes our lives or opinions change in such a way that renders certain goals obsolete. For example, if you have a goal to increase your income despite feeling financially satisfied, perhaps the answer is to find a new goal that will inspire you more.

There you have it: 10 ways to break through your motivational roadblock so you can resume your forward progress. There is no shame in a temporary loss of motivation (I find myself there all too frequently), but the key is to evaluate goals, chart actions, and move forward one joyful step at a time.

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