“How soon ‘not now’ becomes never.” – Martin Luther
The start of a New Year can be a bit of an anti-climax. You have the hustle and bustle of Christmas followed by the hype of New Year’s Eve. For many it is a time where there is a lot going on – seeing family, socialising with friends and colleagues and being excited about new gifts.
Suddenly January kicks in and you resume life as it was two weeks previously. Before you know it, you feel like you’re living Groundhog Day and any optimism you had for the New Year quickly disappears.
Any of that sound familiar?
Even if you did not make a resolution or set an intention, no doubt you began the New Year with ideas about how you want the next 12 months to go. However when you’re feeling like your Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, it can be extremely difficult to get and stay motivated about anything.
Here are five strategies you can use to stay motivated in 2015:
Create a vision board
I do this every year as it can be very powerful to have a visual reminder of the year you want to create.
Think about what do you want to do, see, feel, have and experience then create a collage of photos that represents all of those things. Then place the vision board somewhere you will see it daily.
On those days when you are feeling particularly demotivated, spend a few extra minutes focused on your vision board as a reminder of what you are working towards.
Write a vision statement
Some people are not visual so if creating a vision board is not your thing; write down your intentions for the year. Visualise what you want your year to look like and then write it down in detail. Ensure you capture all of your senses and describe the sights, smells, sounds, etc. so it really makes your goals feel real.
Again, have your vision statement somewhere you can see or access it daily. Try to read it every morning or each night but if not, definitely read it on days when you are lacking motivation.
Of course you can write a vision statement as well as creating a vision board and you might even want to incorporate one with the other.
Acknowledge yourself
Everyone likes to be acknowledged when they have accomplished a task and done something well. We like and often expect our efforts to be acknowledged by others and most people will recognise the efforts of others, yet we find it so hard to acknowledge ourselves.
When you are lacking motivation, it can be even more challenging to acknowledge yourself for progress you have made. For some reason you find it easier to focus on all the things that haven’t worked out and that you haven’t done which just makes you feel worse and definitely does not inspire you to take action.
When you are feeling demotivated, take a moment to reflect on any recent accomplishments or times when you have overcome huge obstacles to remind yourself that no matter where you are at now, if you did it once, you can do it again.
Surround yourself with positive energy
Negativity breeds negativity.
People who are always complaining about what’s wrong in their life and the world can be toxic. So too can people who criticise and abuse you.
When you are surrounded by negative energy, you can struggle to feel motivated and optimistic.
Sometimes it can be difficult to avoid negative people if they are your immediate family, flatmates or colleagues so you must find a way to surround yourself with positive energy as often as possible.
Socialising with positive people; reading or listening to inspirational books and attending talks and seminars where other positive people are likely to be are just a few ways to increase the positive energy in your life.
Just like negative energy creates more negative energy, being around other motivated people is contagious and will help you to improve your attitude and feel encouraged.
Get a buddy
Working with someone else to get and stay motivated can be extremely beneficial.
A buddy can encourage you when you are lacking motivation as well as acknowledge your efforts to keep you motivated.
Having a buddy also gives you accountability as it makes it more difficult to not do something when you’ve already told someone you will.
Ensure your buddy is someone that will be tough with you when you need it but that will also be loving when necessary.
Your buddy can be someone you already know or there are many online groups where you can find people with similar interests and goals. You can use these online communities as a way of connecting with like-minded people and finding a buddy.
Everyone experiences a lack of motivation but if you are not careful, you can find yourself stuck where you are, unable to get going again. Try to commit to doing one thing each day to stay motivated and maintain your momentum as it is much harder to get going again from standstill.
However, the year is long so do not be too hard on yourself if you do have days where you feel like doing nothing. The most important thing is that you get going again and hopefully you can use some of the strategies above to re-ignite your motivation.
Author Bio:
Leanne Lindsey loves inspiring, motivating and empowering women who have had enough of feeling demotivated, fed up and unfulfilled to create a career and life they love. She is a Career and Lifestyle Fulfilment Coach and author of Get A Career & Life You Love, who has experienced redundancy, a complete career change, starting a small business and as a result is enjoying what she calls “the sweetness of life”.
Through 1-1 coaching, workshops and writing, Leanne works predominantly with women who are considering a career change or craving a more fulfilled life, to identify any limiting beliefs, find inspiration, get creative, explore their options, rediscover their purpose and develop a plan for living a more meaningful life, full of happiness, joy, peace and abundance.
Click here to visit her website.
