Motivation is a tricky thing. Sometimes you have it, and sometimes you don’t. When your motivation starts to wane, it can be difficult to get going again.
You need that extra push to keep going in order to achieve the goals that you’ve set for yourself in life, at work, or in school.
In this blog post, we’re going to talk about 7 motivation hacks that actually work when all else fails!
Take a picture of yourself when you wake up in the morning.
The first motivation trick that actually works is taking a picture of yourself when you wake up in the morning.
You may be thinking, “What on earth does this have to do with getting shit done?” Well, I’ll tell you! When your alarm rings and it’s time to get out of bed for the day ahead, many people have a natural inclination to hit snooze for as long as possible. Not only does this feel nice at the time, but it also allows you to go back into your dream state and avoid all of those morning responsibilities that need attending.
However, if you take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning before even getting out of bed, you’ll be more motivated to get up and start your day.
Why?
When you take a selfie first thing in the morning, it’s not as easy to hit snooze and go back to sleep. Why? Because if your alarm goes off again while getting ready for work or school, then that picture of yourself will be staring right at you! This is what I like to refer to as a “painful reminder.”
In other words, it’s way more painful to hit snooze and get an alarm notification every minute or so when you have that picture staring at you. In addition to this motivation hack actually working, the end result is also super fun! You’ll be able to see your progression throughout the day as you go about your business.
Write down your goals and post them somewhere visible for motivation
The next motivation hack that actually works is writing down your goals and posting them somewhere visible.
This is particularly useful for those who require a little bit of motivation to get things done. Sometimes we need that extra push in order to keep going, and having our goals visible can give us just the boost we need!
I recommend making your goals as specific as possible so you know exactly what it is that you’re working towards each day.
For example, if your goal is to get in better shape this year, then that’s great! But instead of just having “get in better shape” written down somewhere visible for motivation every day, why not be more specific? Such as: “Exercise at least 30 minutes today” or “Eat less than 300 calories for dinner.”
Writing down your goals every day is a great way to keep yourself accountable and motivated to achieve them!
Set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals.
Setting specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals is another great motivation hack.
When you set a goal for yourself it’s important to make sure that the type of your goal fits within this acronym: SMART. In other words, each one of these letters stands for something different so we can ensure our goals are as clear and specific as possible.
S – Specific: Your goal should be clear and concise so you know exactly what it is that you’re working towards each day.
M – Measurable: You should have a way to measure your success, such as tracking the number of minutes exercising in 30-minute increments for one week or writing down everything you eat for a few days.
A – Attainable: This means your goal should be something that’s achievable, given the time and energy you have to work with. If your goals are too ambitious at first, then this will lead to failure because of a lack of motivation! But if they’re not challenging enough either, it won’t be worth your time.
R – Realistic: Your goal should seem realistic, given the current circumstances in your life and the amount of effort you’re willing to put forth each day. For example, if you struggle with motivation when it comes to exercise because of depression or anxiety then goals like running a marathon every week might not be realistic for you.
T – Timely: The main reason why this tip works is that it adds a sense of urgency to your goals! These short-term deadlines can help keep us motivated and on track to achieve our long-term dreams.
Make sure that the type of goal fits within the acronym SMART so we know exactly what it is that we’re working towards.
Identify three things that are currently going well in your life to help with motivation
Next, we have three things that are currently going well in your life.
This is a really easy way to boost motivation because it can be done anywhere and anytime!
All you have to do is identify at least three positive aspects of the current moment so far today. No matter how small they might seem, these tiny moments can give us the motivation we need to carry on throughout the day.
This can be anything from: “I’m eating a delicious breakfast,” “I’ve showered and am clean,” or even something as simple as, “The sun is shining.”
It doesn’t matter what exactly you choose! Often times it’s more helpful to focus on positive emotions rather than things you can see because feelings are a lot easier to perceive.
Make sure that the three things going well in our lives help with motivation and give us a boost during tough times.
Quit beating yourself up about your goals if they’re not being met – just reset them!
If we fail at reaching one of our goals, that doesn’t mean our journey is over!
It just means that we have to reset the goal and start again. No big deal at all! It’s only a failure if you let it stop you from trying one more time.
We can do this by either starting out with smaller steps towards the bigger picture or setting different types of goals.
But we can’t let our failures keep us from trying again!
Create a list of ten reasons why you want to succeed and then read it when you feel like giving up.
This is one of my favorite and most effective motivation hacks because even if we’re struggling with the biggest, baddest goals imaginable, these ten reasons can be a big help!
To make this list all you have to do is think about why exactly it is that you want to achieve your goals. These ten reasons can be anything from “to show my children that I’m capable of working hard” to “because it’s good for my mental health.”
They don’t have to make perfect sense either! Just write down any reason at all, no matter how random or stupid you might think it is.
Then read this list whenever you feel like giving up because it will remind us of all the good reasons we have for working so hard.
It’s important to remember that goals are step-by-step processes and should be treated as such!
We need to understand our progress if we want them to work out in the long run. It’s helpful to keep track of our progress because this brings us one step closer to being able to achieve those goals.
Get rid of all distractions
One of the best ways to keep track of our progress is by clearing all distractions.
Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat are only going to be a distraction if we let them take up too much time or energy. So just remember that it’s okay to turn off your phone every once in a while! And don’t feel obligated to watch TV if it’s not helping you get any work done.
Take a break, get up out of your seat, and walk around. If you’re stuck on something difficult it might be helpful to take some time away from the problem so we can come back fresh!
It’s also really important to remember that motivation isn’t always going to work in our favor every single day. So if we don’t feel like doing something no matter how many of these hacks we try, it’s okay to skip the task and come back later.
Listen to an audiobook or podcast that will motivate you
One of the easiest ways to boost our motivation is by listening to something that will give us a little nudge in the right direction.
We can listen to an audiobook or podcast while we work so it’s almost like having someone telling us what needs to be done! Of course, if this works for you, feel free to try out any other strategy that you think might work.
It’s important to remember our strengths and not be afraid of them!
When we’re struggling with motivation it can help if we stop thinking about what we aren’t good at and focus on the things that actually motivate us.
This means figuring out which parts of a process are easiest for us so we can focus on those.
For example, if we’re someone who struggles with following through after taking action, it might be a good idea to make sure that our goals are small and achievable first. Then find ways to motivate ourselves so that we feel like putting in the work even when it’s hard!
We need to remember what motivates us and learn how to use that motivation in order to get things done!
We need to remember that we can’t accomplish our goals by just waiting around. There are always going to be days when we’re not feeling motivated but it’s what happens after those moments of weakness that matters the most.
Conclusion:
In order to start being productive, we have to find the motivation within ourselves that will keep us going towards our goals!
These seven motivation hacks might seem a little out there but they’re ones that actually work and can help with achieving those big dreams of ours.
If you have any other unusual motivation hacks, leave a comment and share this article with anyone who might need some motivation!
