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Motivation is an elusive concept for many people. Despite having big dreams or desiring to accomplish a particular goal, taking the steps necessary to reach the end objective can seem impossible. Sometimes just completing the bare minimum feels like all you can do. Forget the idea of accomplishing anything greater. As you strive for improvement there will invariably come times of struggle. You may become anxious, depressed or overwhelmed by the tasks still to accomplish.

However, there are some strategies you can take to increase your motivation even when anxious or depressed. Continue reading for some tangible ways to help you move past survival mode.

Do It for Someone Else

While personal goals generally need to come from within in order to be meaningful, anxiety and depression can make generating any kind of internal feeling beyond despair difficult. Intrinsic motivation, or the kind that comes from inside you, simply may not be something you can muster right now. One way to “trick” yourself into becoming motivated is to think of ways your goal may benefit others.

When I don't feel like finishing a post or pitching myself to a brand, I remind myself that if I make enough money blogging, my husband will be able to teach one less class and be home with us more, which in turn will lighten my load. While it shouldn’t be a long-term solution, it can sometimes be enough to get you moving and lead to fueling further motivation.

Outsource Dreaded Tasks

Deferring your most-dreaded tasks onto someone else may be especially effective for those dealing with anxiety. Many anxiety sufferers fear talking on the phone. If possible, request that a significant other or friend make important phone calls on your behalf.  Some things can be outsourced in order to make everything else more manageable. If finances allow, you can pay professionals to bear certain loads for you. Otherwise, some creativity may be in order. The relief you’ll experience is worth the initial expenditure of energy required to generate creative outsourcing solutions.

Can't afford a maid? Well why did you have kids if not to make them clean your house. Ha ha! All kidding aside, recruiting your children to do small tasks around the house is good for your stress level and for them. Do a babysitting swap with a friend so you can knock out a few blog posts in silence. Hire a Virtual Assistant to do that blogging task you dread.

Do the Fun Stuff First

Many life coaches or other experts will recommend that you tackle the tough or boring items on your list first in order to get them out of the way. The theory is that you’ll feel more accomplished, and finishing the rest of your project or goal will be easier.  Sometimes that doesn't work. Therefore, turn the advice upside down and start with the easiest part first. Or do the absolute bare minimum or smallest part first. Once you’ve summoned the motivation to just get started in some way, continuing on will be a more likely prospect.

In the house cleaning department, if my floors are covered in Legos and markers or the sink is filled with dishes I instantly feel overwhelmed. Even if I don't have time to do anything else, if I do those few things my mood instantly lifts and I am able to accomplish the rest of the cleaning.

Be Gentle With Yourself

If you were helping a friend in your situation, you’d likely have all the compassion in the world for them. You’d probably offer words of encouragement for the small achievements your pal made and be there to take up some slack when they’re feeling unable. In order to foster motivation, you absolutely must show yourself this same level of compassion. Reward or praise yourself for every small accomplishment. This can be taking a break to watch your favorite show or enjoying a simple indulgence (chocolate! but just a little) . Even praising yourself for your efforts can be effective.

Along that same vein, be sure not to chastise yourself for perceived faults. Instead, focus on what you were able to get done or remind yourself that you are currently facing some tough obstacles and you’re doing your best. Negative self-talk is self-sabotage and kills motivation.

Accept that there will be struggles in your journey towards your goals. Everyone has struggles. But those that have succeeded move past the troubles and keep going. Incorporating these steps into your daily routine can significantly increase your motivation even when the sailing isn't smooth.

Put it into Action

Have you set a goal and are working towards it? Yeah you! Celebrate by sharing below.

If you have other tricks to share about staying motivated when times are tough, please share with us.

The Complete Motivation Series

Here are links to the entire motivational series in case you are just joining us.

• Find the Motivation to Get More From Life
• The Science of Motivation
• Five Tricks to Boost Motivation Quickly
• Goal Setting for Motivational Success
• Feeling Unmotivated? Try Meditation
• Increasing Your Motivation When You Are Anxious, Depressed or Overwhelmed

Learn how meditation can motivate you to achieve your goals by providing clarity and calm.

Waning motivation is a problem for many of us. The stress and strain of a busy life can overwhelm you, making even the most basic of tasks seem difficult. The downward spiral of low motivation can seem like an impossible cycle to break. Once you lose your spark, productivity and accomplishment can seem like unattainable goals.

There is one simple tool you may not have considered before that can get you back on track, and that’s meditation. This exercise of the mind goes well beyond providing just relaxation.

What is meditation?

Meditation takes many forms. For some the thought of sitting cross legged on the floor chanting mantras and practicing rhythmic breathing is unChristian and abhorrent.

Transcendental meditation may work for some, but it is not the only method.

The Bible is filled with references to meditation as a practice to be praised. What do you think Mary was doing when she was "pondering in her heart"? (Luke 2:19)

For the purposes of this post I use meditation in the broadest sense:

to think deeply or focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.

You can gain a host of good things through its practice. Continue reading to discover the benefits of meditation for motivation.

Strengthened Focus and Concentration

Focus and concentration are essential elements of motivation. If you can’t force your mind to center on the things you need to do, your motivation will go out the window.

Meditation is all about focus and concentration.

No matter which of its many forms you practice, chances are you will be engaging in focusing your mind in some way. Engaging in regular meditation will naturally strengthen your ability to concentrate and focus in your everyday life.

Increased Happiness

We all get down now and again. More and more individuals are being diagnosed with depression in modern times. Regardless of your mental starting point, it’s a known fact that happy people often have more energy and higher self-confidence.

Fortunately, motivation has been shown to increase happiness by stimulating the release of the brain’s “happiness hormones.” When you’re feeling more positive, you’re likely to have more internal desire to get things done.

Less Stress

Meditation leads to a more relaxed state due to the way in which it allows the brain to slow down as it receives sensory input. This relaxation and improved processing leads to reduced feelings of stress. With less stress comes a feeling of more control, which then fuels your motivation.

Positive Thinking

One of the biggest killers of motivation is negative thinking. A pessimistic view can come from many sources such as depression, poor habits or general life difficulties.

The beauty of meditation is that it “rewires” brain patterns that naturally elicit more positive thought patterns, giving you the reset you need to be more motivated.

Clarified Goals and Purpose

Taking time each day for meditation gives you a great deal of personal insight. This self-reflection can be the catalyst for reassessing what’s truly important in your life.

When you have a better picture of your priorities, your goals and life’s purpose become clearer.

Knowing where you want to go kicks your motivation into high-gear, and you’ll feel a greater urgency to take the steps necessary on the path to your dreams.

The benefits of meditation for increased motivation are extensive. These are some of the main ways in which this daily mind practice can jumpstart the actions required for reaching your goals.

There are many different types of meditation. You can begin to research on your own or find a skilled teacher who can help you develop a practice that works for you.

What’s most important is that you get started and maintain consistency in your meditation practice in order to see the most effective results. Soon you’ll be tackling your to-do list and pursuing the life goals that matter with renewed vigor.

Put it into Action

If you don't already practice meditation in some form, Google it now and do a little research. Find a method that appeals to you and start practicing daily. Set an appointment reminder on your phone if you need it.

Share your favorite meditation methods below.

The Complete Motivation Series

Here are links to the entire motivational series in case you are just joining us.

• Find the Motivation to Get More From Life
• The Science of Motivation
• Five Tricks to Boost Motivation Quickly
• Goal Setting for Motivational Success
• Feeling Unmotivated? Try Meditation
• Increasing Your Motivation When You Are Anxious, Depressed or Overwhelmed

Goal Setting is an integral step towards success that will motivate you to continue working to achieve your dreams. And it is backed by science!

There is a strong connection between goal setting and maintaining the motivation required to successfully attain them. In fact, in the 1960’s, behavioral research led to an understanding of the relation between these concepts, and theories were developed to shed insight on the concrete ways one influences the other.

Let’s take a look at the basis of these theories and then at some of the reasons to utilize goal setting for motivational success.

Theories of Goal Setting and Motivation

The first researcher to study the relationship between goal setting and motivation was Dr. Edwin Locke. He published his findings in 1968. Locke’s Goal Setting Theory concluded that specific goals provided more motivation than vague ones. Along these lines, goals that provided a challenge were shown to be better motivators than easier ones. In addition, Locke discovered that positive feedback was highly influential toward increasing motivation.

Essentially, the very act of creating a goal leads to better performance.

Decades later, in 1990, Locke paired up with Dr. Gary Latham to develop the Goal Setting and Motivation Theory, whose main premise is that five fundamental principles influence effective goals setting and that goal achievement is more likely when higher numbers of these principles are in place.

The five fundamental principles of the theory are:

• Clarity
• Challenge
• Complexity
• Commitment
• Feedback

In essence, your goals should be clear and provide you with enough of a challenge to entice you to reach them. However, it’s important that these goals not be so complex as to cause frustration or overwhelm; this would be counterproductive. Goals that inspire motivation also should include an aspect of formally committing to them and have a check-in method in place to determine satisfactory progression.

Benefits of Goal Setting

Provide Reference

By developing objectives through the framework of goal setting theories, you are providing yourself with a tangible reference point to keep you on track. Thus, your motivation is likely to endure. You are able to look at the points you’ve written down in order to remind yourself of your purpose and to validate that you are moving in the right direction.

Add Manageability

Proper structure of your goals can also make your overall plan seem more attainable. By assuring that your goals are challenging, you’ll keep your brain stimulated. Breaking things down into short-term and long-term targets, along with similar strategies, can help you to avoid becoming overwhelmed by one big goal that is simply too complex to be achieved. Motivation is better sustained when you feel some agency over your goals.

Instill Accountability

By adding a check-in mechanism of some sort, you will be instilling a sense of accountability to your goals. It’s easy to toss a goal aside when you don’t really have to answer to anyone, or even yourself, with regard to progress. Find an accountability partner to share accomplishments with or build assessment dates into your calendar in which you self-check your progress.

Increase Confidence

Challenging, yet realistic, goals that allow for the monitoring of progress can do a lot for your sense of mastery. Seeing your goal becoming closer to reality through hard work and skill is empowering. Hearing praise from your network is also motivating toward fulfilling an objective. Confidence is increased through all of these things.

Improve Life Quality

Essentially, having well-developed goals can lead to a more fulfilling life. By taking the time to proactively define what you want and working toward that desire, you are living with purpose. Those who know what they want and feel they are on track to achieve it are generally more motivated and satisfied individuals.

More Help for Goal Setting

Now that you are convinced that goal setting is important, here are a few more posts to help you set your goals:

• Conquer 2017 with SMART Goals Not Flimsy Resolutions
• How to Set Goals to Become More Productive
• How to Set Money Goals You Can Actually Meet
• How to Set and Crush Fitness Goals with a Free Printable to Check Progress.

As you can see, there is a strong relationship between goals and motivation. In order to sustain motivation, you must not only set goals, but your goals need to have structure. Following these guidelines can increase both your motivation and your chances of reaching your intentions.

Put it into Action

Choose one of your dreams, aspirations, hopes, wants, etc. and create a concrete actionable goal complete with time line. A few examples to get you started:

"I will double my blog revenue by the end of the year."  
"I will be able to bench press my current max weight five times in three months."
"We will save $200 in our emergency fund by October 31."

This activity will help you clearly define your goal and set a deadline in your mind to help motivate you to undertake the actions necessary to achieve it.

The Complete Motivation Series

Here are links to the entire motivational series in case you are just joining us.

• Find the Motivation to Get More From Life
• The Science of Motivation
• Five Tricks to Boost Motivation Quickly
• Goal Setting for Motivational Success
• Feeling Unmotivated? Try Meditation
• Increasing Your Motivation When You Are Anxious, Depressed or Overwhelmed

Sometimes you need to get started on a project right away. Maybe you’ve been procrastinating for days, or even weeks, and now you’re down to the wire on an unforgiving deadline. The threat of not completing the job on time should be enough to motivate you to get moving, right? Wrong. Often, even knowing the consequences that exist for not completing a task aren’t enough to push us forward. Fortunately, there are some tangible steps you can take in order to give yourself a boost when your usual routine isn’t working.

Keep reading for some of the best ways to improve your motivation fast. Adding even a few of these to your bag of tricks may help you to overcome that slump when you need a motivational jumpstart.

Look Ahead

One way to convince your brain that an activity is worth starting is to look ahead to the end result. Think about the money you’ll make a from a freelance gig, the feeling of satisfaction you’ll get from handing in your portion of the monthly report to a nagging co-worker or the freedom to begin your two-week semester break when your last paper is submitted. No matter what the project, visualizing the result of your efforts can improve your focus and motivation. Consider adding an actual visual such as a photo, magazine clipping or other image to motivate you.

Confession time. This is what got me to put the finishing touches on this series: vacation starts next week and then we jump right into back to school. Get this series done and let it run on auto-pilot while I enjoy time at the beach in the photo on my computer wall paper. (Don't worry I will still be checking comments 😉 )

Get Moving

If you’re feeling sleepy or even restless, you won’t be able to focus on that pressing task. A solution can be to move your body. Exercise has been shown to increase mental clarity and decrease stress, just the combination for working on a complex project with a looming deadline. Taking a brisk walk or heading to the gym for a quick step aerobics class on your lunch hour can be just enough of a jolt to get you in prime thinking mode. Be careful not to overdo it or you’ll be too exhausted to do much of anything.

Walking or stationary cycling often helps me with blog posts. The repetitive action helps me focus and I usually have an outline for the post done by the time I finish.

Take a Rest

It’s also possible that a quick rest can restore your clear thinking. If your brain is feeling cloudy or your thoughts are cloudy, a short nap might be a better course of action than exercise. Put your head down on your desk or stretch out on the sofa in your office for 10 or 20 minutes. When you wake up from this power nap, you should be feeling rejuvenated and ready to work.

[Tweet "5 quick tips for when you need motivation NOW!! #motivation #selfhelp"]

Listen to Music

Upbeat tunes might be a solution that leads you to start tapping your toes and feeling more alert. If you are able to work with background noise, you can keep the music going. Perhaps changing to a mellower playlist or instrumental songs might be a better option for you than fast beats. If you require silence in order to concentrate, put on just a few of your favorites to shift your mood, and then get to work.

Start Small

A method that is often successful in tricking the mind to move on a task is to start with a small portion of the whole. Using the above example of the monthly report, you might wish to begin by gathering your data and other supplies necessary for completing the job. This small action can put you in the right mindset to keep working on the rest. Getting started truly is half the battle.

These suggestions can, and should, be tailored to fit your personality, preferences and lifestyle. Experiment a bit. Use the ones that work for you, and throw out the rest. You’ll likely be surprised by the significant effect a simple action can have on your productivity.

Put it into Action

How can you use some of these strategies to tackle your to do list? Do you have any other tricks you like to use to get motivated quickly? Let me know in the comments below.

The Complete Motivation Series

• Find the Motivation to Get More From Life
• The Science of Motivation
• Five Tricks to Boost Motivation Quickly
• Goal Setting for Motivational Success
• Feeling Unmotivated? Try Meditation
• Increasing Your Motivation When You Are Anxious, Depressed or Overwhelmed

When it comes to success, there is one key component that may be more important than even such factors as talent, intelligence, money or connections. That elusive piece of the puzzle is motivation. After all, without motivation, nothing can be accomplished. You won’t reach your goals or meet your self-imposed deadlines without the motivation to take action toward them. Unfortunately, that motivation is often what is lacking in the fulfillment of desires. We all have lists of things we hope to accomplish. These lists contain big goals, daily tasks and everything in between. Learning how to increase your motivation will boost the likelihood of checking more items off your list. Let’s take a look at the science of motivation and the ways to harness it to your advantage.

An Improved Approach to Motivation

Author Dan Pink writes in his best-selling book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, that there are three components of motivation that compel individuals to get things done. His premise is that the traditional method of motivating ourselves and others using a carrots and sticks type of reward system is ineffective. Instead, he argues that the scientific approach to understanding the makeup of motivation provides a far better lens from which to view the subject. By understanding the factors that tangibly affect motivation, we can then develop strategies to increase it.

Three Elements of Motivation

The three elements of motivation Pink discusses in his book are autonomy, value and competence. It is these components, according to researchers, that drive people to become motivated.

Autonomy refers to the amount of control or independence one feels over a task or action. It has been shown that when you feel that you have a significant amount of input regarding that task, you are more likely to follow through to completion.

The second component of motivation, value, is the amount of personal significance or importance you place on a matter. In essence, if something matters to you on a personal level, you will feel more motivation to take it on than if you are simply given an assignment to which you feel no connection.

Competence has been found to come from an individual’s feeling of mastery as it relates to practice and hard work, not necessarily to one’s natural abilities. If you spend time developing competence toward a particular goal, it is predicted that you will be more motivated to complete said goal.

[Tweet "Learn the science of Motivation to get you on the path to achieving your goals. #motivation #goals"]

Strategies to Increase Motivation

Now that you have an understanding of what matters most with regard to what motivates us, it’s time to consider some strategies to increase motivation.

One way to motivate yourself using autonomy is to take ownership of a chore or add some aspect of self-direction to it. When I used to host the Friday Frivolity Link Party, I sometimes struggled to create the posts when our host topic was one that did not appeal to me: hairstyles, lip sync, Donald Duck. UGH! But, when I twisted the theme to make it my own it was so much easier: Crazy Hairstyles the Princess Leia Edition, Lip Sync? Lip Dub? Man I am Old, and Ducks I Like Better than Donald Duck.

To add value to your task, you want to make it meaningful or personal. Find a way to add purpose to that item on your to-do list. This involves changing your perspective or the way you look at that item. Who likes doing dishes or cleaning toilets? anyone? anyone? But the value of a clean kitchen or bathroom is not only about appearance but health as well.

Finally, there’s competence. Feeling mastery over an act requires practice. Try to look at the job at hand as one in which you are working toward an end goal of skillfulness. One area of blogging I feel the most incompetent is photography. I know my photos are lacking, especially the food photos. But, every day I take a photo or two and try to improve. I don't always enjoy trying to get creative taking a photo of my morning coffee every day, but it is good practice for me.

Motivation is not always easy to come by. However, with this knowledge of the science behind it, you can now pursue the steps required to achieve your dreams more effectively. Soon you’ll be mastering your goals, which will fuel your motivation toward future endeavors.

Put it into Action

Choose one area of your life that you want to improve. Consider how you can use autonomy, value and competence towards making the changes needed. Feel free to share in the comments below so I can cheer you on.

The Complete Motivation Series

Here are links to the entire motivational series in case you are just joining us.

• Find the Motivation to Get More From Life
• The Science of Motivation
• Five Tricks to Boost Motivation Quickly
• Goal Setting for Motivational Success
• Feeling Unmotivated? Try Meditation
• Increasing Your Motivation When You Are Anxious, Depressed or Overwhelmed

The year is almost half over. So is summer vacation for us. How have you progressed towards your New Year's Resolutions? Are you halfway there? Or have you lost all momentum and now can't find the motivation to get back on track?

Making resolutions is only the first step

I have done great on my nutrition goals, but haven't managed to get consistent about exercise.

On a whim, I started a Project 365 on New Year's Day of posting a photo of my morning coffee every day. The last few weeks it has been a chore. One day I took the photo but never got around to editing and posting it (so two went up the next day). And I haven't updated the monthly round ups here in a few months.

I was determined my son was going to learn to ride a bike and work on typing and cursive writing this summer. The bike is shoved in the back of the garage after his last meltdown and he's currently watching You Tube videos while I type this. Mom of the Year nominee time.

Sometimes letting your goals get hijacked can be a good thing. At the start of the year my goals and focus were on my two blogs. Then something happened and I developed a new revenue stream that is flourishing. But, I need to hone my craft and implement some new strategies to continue to develop that stream into a gently flowing river.

Self improvement requires one thing, that for me is often in short supply: motivation.

You have the desire, but do you have the motivation

I know what I need to do to get physically fit, but putting down the phone and getting off the couch to make the changes is hard. Pushing my son to practice cursive is a bit hypocritical when I can't take the time to work through the hours of classes I have purchased to improve my blog and business.

Does any of this sound familiar? I am guessing it does or you wouldn't have clicked on this post in the first place.  You don't need to wait for the New Year to set a goal, and you can start a diet on a Wednesday (or so I have been told 😉 ).

[Tweet "Have you lost motivation to achieve your New Year's resolutions? Get motivated to begin again. #motivation #inspiration"]

Get Motivated Series

This unmotivated blogger is drawing a line in the sand and starting anew. Beginning with publishing a 5 part blogging series on motivation. Yes, I see the irony.

You can jump right to the topic that interests you or just click next post and read them all:

• Find the Motivation to Get More From Life
• The Science of Motivation
• Five Tricks to Boost Motivation Quickly
• Goal Setting for Motivational Success
• Feeling Unmotivated? Try Meditation
• Increasing Your Motivation When You Are Anxious, Depressed or Overwhelmed

[Tweet "How to find the motivation to get more from life, a 5 part series. #motivation #inspiration #bloggingtips"]

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