5 Ways to Motivate Yourself Daily – PART FOUR

Part 4 of 5

I decided to break this topic up into 5 parts to allow me to share some deeper thoughts that I have on each individual tip and to make it easier to digest for you, the reader. So let’s get started.

In parts 1 through 3 we talked about the importance of having a morning and evening routine, explained what a vision board is and how it can be a powerful tool to keeping you motivated and on track, and about making a public statement of your intentions to accomplish a goal. Let’s move on to the next step:

#4 – Size does matter

I’m sure you’ve heard the riddle “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is, one bite at a time! This is exactly how you can achieve all of your goals. One bite at a time. Don’t try to take on your tasks as one huge undertaking. Break down your goals into small, easy to accomplish “bites” and then go for it.

If you’re anything like me, you probably have a hundred new ideas for things you want to do running through your mind all day long. New ideas for blog posts. New ideas for improving the website. New video ideas, places to explore, tricks to teach the dog …… It’s never ending and very overwhelming. How do you tame the constant stream of thoughts and ambitious ideas going through your head? You pick one and focus on that until it’s finished. 

Writing this series of blog posts is a great example. I have easily a dozen other projects that I could be working on. If I tried to get them all done at once the result would be less than satisfactory. Yes they would all be checked off the list of things to do, but they would all be done with distracted focus and effort, and the end result would reflect that. Instead, I chose one thing to focus on that I would give all of my attention to until it is completed. This allows me to hit the pause button on the other thoughts and give all of my effort to the task at hand. Once I am done with the current project, and am happy with the result, I can hit play on my thoughts again and select the next item to focus on. 

On paper this sounds easy, right? Just pick one thing, pause the rest, work diligently on that one task, then pick another and repeat. What could go wrong? Life happens and we can’t do anything about it. You feel as though you’re making great headway and can see the finish line! You’re almost at the end of accomplishing your third goal in a month!

Then life takes control and your focus is disrupted. You hit pause on your current project to handle a minor crisis at home – your son’s pet guinea pig got sick and passed away so you were needed to be a grief counselor and help with funeral arrangements and the adoption of a new fuzzy family member. I get it. But now it’s a week later and you’re ready to pick up where you left off.

Where did you leave off, anyway?

It’s easy to maintain a level of focus and effort once you’re there, but not so easy to get back in the groove once you’ve stepped away. This is why one small bite sized task is easier to return to than three or four separate projects all running at once. You can easily slip back into the thought process from a week ago and move forward. It can help to have a designated space to work in, as does having a designated time frame that you set aside every day or every other day with no interruptions.

Tell the kids, your significant other, the cat – especially the cat – that you are not available during this time. It can be 30 minutes or it can be an hour or two. You decide what works best in your life. Turn off your phone or at least adjust your settings to reflect a “do not disturb” timeframe. No TV in the background and minimal outside noise.

Now you’re ready to finish this task and check another item off of your list!

I hope you found some helpful information in today’s post. Be sure to come back on Wednesday for part #5 of our five part series “5 Ways to Motivate Yourself Daily”.

Thoughts shared by Kris