4 Ways to Find Motivation in Life

October 12, 2021

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1. Action = Motivation

The first way to find motivation in life is to notice and become aware that motivation does not equal action, action equals motivation. The more that you take action and the more that you actually go out and do the things that you set your mind to do, the more the motivation comes with that. So, the more you take action, the more you see that it’s achievable. Also, the more you feel accomplished and already achieved and seeing yourself progressed, creates the motivation to back up more action. So you have two options,

Option 1: You take action and just do it
Option 2: You just sit there and overthink and over analyse the situation at hand

So those are your two options. If you take action, it takes way less time, way less stress and way less energy than sitting there and over analysing the situation thinking if you should or shouldn’t do that. We waste so much time sitting there debating whether or not we should or shouldn’t do it. Beating ourselves up over it for not doing it, trying to fit it in our schedule and giving yourself negative self-talk because you aren’t doing the things that you’re doing are so irrelevant. Also, they honestly just excuse only. We all have obstacles to overcome throughout our day. Whether they’re big or small, the way we deal with these obstacles is what ultimately defines our success. So, don’t let them become excuses.

Don’t Overthink

Overthinking is creating excuses and therefore don’t overthink and just do it. For example, if you want to go work out then put your clothes on and go to the gym and do it. Also, even the smallest little thing that you do will ultimately get you closer to your goal. Another example is that if you want to wake up earlier and you set your alarm and you keep hitting snooze over and over again thinking should you get up or not. In this type of a situation, you are creating anxiety and stress in your head which ultimately giving you an excuse to stay in the familiar state of not waking up early. So, instead you have to sit up and wake up early, and it’ll become so much easier once you start doing it regularly.

Jumping in a Cold Pool

For example, it’s like jumping in a cold pool. At first, you hesitate to jump in a pool, and you’re thinking and analysing and most often overthinking on whether you should or shouldn’t jump into the pool. But eventually, you end up jumping in the pool. So, why not jump in the first place, which will give you less worry and less stress. Also, more motivation is created through the action that you’re taking.

2. Analyse Rewards

So the second of 4 ways to find motivation in life is to create or analyse your rewards. We all have intrinsic rewards as well as we have extrinsic rewards.

Intrinsic Rewards

Intrinsic rewards are internal rewards that we give ourselves such as,

Passion for the things we’re doing Love for the things we’re doing Curiosity
Creating meaning for ourselves Creating a mastered skill & etc.

So, intrinsic rewards are anything that brings you internal rewards that you get from the outcome of achieving whatever you’re trying to do.

Extrinsic Rewards

And then we also have extrinsic rewards which are external rewards outside of ourselves that influence us to do certain things such as,

Rewards Money
Fear of failure
Fear of punishment & etc.

So basically those are the things that are outside of our control yet we do them for that specific purpose.

So, think about your goal or think about what you want in life whether that’s work-related or fitness related. Write down six positive outcomes of achieving your target and what will it bring to you. This is going to be your ‘why’ and why do you want this goal. Then analyse whether they are intrinsic or extrinsic.

So, if you have a mixture of both then usually that’s going to be an excellent motivational push and drive to get you to do things.

Extrinsic < Intrinsic

If you have more intrinsic rewards than extrinsic, try setting up a reward system because even though intrinsically you’re motivated to do the things but maybe you’re lacking motivation because you don’t have anything extrinsic rewarding you for doing those certain things. So to get the extrinsic rewards you can create external rewards like putting something on social media which kind of claiming your goal and making it public like that will hold you accountable for it because of the external influence of peer pressure.

Another pretty exciting thing you can do is you can give your friend or your parents or someone close to you some money or whatever valuable to you. By providing this to them tell them that if you don’t do something you plan to do or if you failed to achieve something you wanted to achieve, then they get to keep the money or the valuable thing you gave to them. Also, this is actually creating a reward system for yourself.

Intrinsic < Extrinsic

Also, if you have more extrinsic rewards rather than intrinsic rewards then sit back and analyse. So, you should analyse whether it brings you any joy at all or you’re doing it just to make your external situation or other people rather than yourself. So you need to identify whether you really love what you’re doing, whether you find and get anything intrinsically from what you’re doing and if that’s not the case, then you will not get motivated.

MBTI Personality Test

So a thing that you could do to find out what your intrinsic rewards are is to take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator Test. So it’s a personality test, and it tells you the careers that you would be best at based on your personality type and different things that intrinsically bring you joy based on your personality type. Also, it’s fascinating, and it figures out the whys behind your behaviour based on your personality. So one of the number-one motivators in life is happiness, and if you don’t even have that intrinsically, then it is quite challenging to get motivated. Therefore, try taking that test and see whether you are really doing what you really want to do and if not, then maybe that’s why you’re lacking motivation in your life.

So just make sure that you have a mixture of both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

3. See Your Goals

So the third of 4 ways to find motivation in life is to put your goals out in front of you to see every single day. You can set goals out, affirmations and intentions for yourself and it creates a constant reminder of your ‘why’. Also, it helps you get excited and pumped up to do certain things. For example, you can take your marker pen and write down your goals on your mirror. So having that out in front of you and seeing what you’ve already done is an instant motivator for you. Also, you can write down an intention for the day or an affirmation and what is your main priority or what is your primary goal. When you see that every day in front of you, it creates a push and excitement and reminds you why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Create a Vision Board

Another thing that you can do is create a vision board. Also, this is something huge in the law of attraction field as well. In this method, you envision your best life and create a collage of pictures that get you excited and pumped. You could do this on a poster board and put it in your closet when you’re getting dressed in the morning, or you can put it on your refrigerator or wherever appropriate. For example, if you’re using your laptop, pc or mobile frequently, then you can set it as the wallpaper of them. So, when you’re opening up your laptop, pc or mobile every day and seeing a perfect life that you’re striving to achieve motivates you a lot.

Also, when it comes to vision boards, you also want to make sure that every single picture creates an emotional reaction or so much excitement. If you have random images and they don’t create any sort of emotional connection to your initial ‘why’ or ‘why you want it’, then it’s not really going to give you those feelings. So make sure that every single picture gives you an emotional connection to your goal.

Affirmations

Another thing you can put out is affirmations. For example, you can put one like “I choose to be happy”, and it reminds you daily that happiness is a choice. So you need to choose

every single situation to be happy and writing down “I choose” rather than “I should” is more powerful internally. So, if you’re eating healthy foods and if you say “I should be eating xxx” rather than “I choose to eat xxx” then it is not good. You always need to be in control, and for that, you should always be “I choose” than “I should” when it comes to your mental connection to the affirmation.

Ask – Believe – Receive

So when you see these goals throughout your life whether, that’s in the car, on your mirror, on your refrigerator, on your desktop or wherever you’re seeing it out in front of you helps you believe it more and then you’ll be able to achieve it more. Which is also basically the concept of the law of attraction as well.

4. Change the Mindset

So the fourth and final way of 4 ways to find motivation in life is to change your mindset. This is huge when it comes to being motivated. A lot of the times when we are in a slump, feeling negative or just not feeling happy, there is no way that we can drive any sort of motivation to do anything. Also, that’s scientifically proven thins as well. You can try to create happiness in every single situation and create a better mood for yourself if you’re feeling unmotivated. You want to set the mood for your emotions, your mental state as well as your physical state.

Gratitude is the Key

For example, you can create a positive attitude and mindset for yourself through gratitude. Gratitude is the best way to get rid of a mood as well. When you think about what you’re grateful for and if you thought about it five years ago, 10 years ago or whenever it is, your past self would have died to have the things that you have right now. Also, maybe you were praying for the things that you have right now and remember what would it be like if you didn’t have the job that you have today and what would it be like if you didn’t have the partner that you have today.

So, at one point in your life, you didn’t have the things that you had in your life today, and your past self would be thinking how are you not happy with this and really you would have done anything to be where you are right now. So you need to kind of reflect on that and be grateful for the things that are in your life right now.

Digital Media to the Rescue

Another thing that you could do in today’s digital-driven world is to find a positive YouTube video documentary podcast and listen to it to help you get motivated. Also if you are into listening, you can listen to an audiobook or something that really helps you get in a better mood and really excited and if you are into reading, you can read self-help books which are essential motivators as well. Also, some people even get that through TED Talks or YouTube videos. So it is up to you to find your push and have that be your drawback when you need a little bit of motivation.

Go Out – Work Out

Another thing that you could do is to get outside. Sometimes you may feel like you are stuck inside a lot because you may be working from home. So getting out, walking around and changing up the scenario, it will give you a breath of fresh air. Another thing that will help you to get in a better mood is working out. Whether that’s yoga, running, strength training or whatever it is it helps get your endorphins running, your internal body pumping, moving and it definitely helps you feel better.

Happy Music

Something else that you can do is listening to happier music. Different people may have different taste and genres when it comes to music, but if you can listen to more pumped up happy music, then most of the times you’ll be able to get out of many weird feelings. You can find so many different playlists relating to happy music on Spotify or any other music streaming site.

Everyone Needs a Good Laughter

Another thing that will help you is laughter, whether that’s being with the people that make you laugh or finding happiness and laughing in every situation. So, being around with more smiley people or watching funny videos on YouTube that makes you laugh is another great way to get good laughter. So, give yourself a good laugh because that definitely puts you in a better mood and helps you get motivated so much more.

Journaling

Another thing that you can do is journaling. You can do that emotionally if you’re having an

emotionally hard time or you can do that mentally if you have so many ideas running through your head and you don’t know where to start. You can just brain dump all of your ideas on your page and organise and plan around your thoughts. Also, sitting there and arranging your thoughts feels like you’re releasing all these jumbled thoughts in your head and that will definitely motivate you.

Environment around Us

Finally, another thing you could do is to change up your environment. Cleaning, organising and even rearranging your space is huge when it comes to motivating you personally. When we have a clean environment and a clean space and when you kind of set the tone for your environment, it helps you want to go out and do the things that you want to do because you feel cleaner productive and just overall more motivated.

So that is all about “4 Ways to Find Motivation in Life” and hope you got something precious for your life out of this article and hopefully, you will find the motivation in life sooner.

Apart from the things mentioned in this article, there are many motivational quotes as well which you can find easily by just googling “Motivational Quotes”

Also, if you enjoyed reading this article, then don’t forget to share it with your friends and also feel free to check out our other articles on health & lifestyle as well.

Have a nice day!

Further Reading:

Internal: Other Articles on Lifestyle | My Daily Life Lessons
External: How do people get motivated in life? | Quora