3 Practical Steps to Motivate Yourself

A life without motivation becomes very barren and miserable. When we lack motivation, we don’t feel like doing anything. There are many types of motivational videos, articles, books, and various methods available all over the internet. You can also incorporate those techniques into your life to motivate yourself and stay motivated.

In this article, I am not going to bring you three simple single steps. These are three clusters of steps created by combining several other steps. This is how I get motivated for things in my life. Someone may not agree with this step, it is your choice. But anyone who wants, can add these 3 steps to their life.

01. Have a Goal

First of all, we need to understand what is a goal. A goal is a long-term concept. That is, what you hope to achieve in your life in the long term or your understanding, your desire or your purpose of where you will be after a long period of time, is called ‘the goal‘. Generally there should be one specific goal in life.

You can decide that. But it is not like buying a car or building a house. Most people think that way. A goal is where you will be socially, internally and financially at some point / day in the future. Words that indicate uncertainty like “at some point”, “at some day” have to be used because this is a long period of time and changes in the external environment cannot be determined in advance.

But this goal is reached as the final stage of a long journey made up of many small steps. Those small steps can be called ‘objectives‘. Objectives are not the same as goals. Objectives are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. These objectives can be defined as small parts that need to be loaded in order to reach the main goal of your life.

That is why we mentioned earlier that there is only one goal in life. Because objectives are in abundance. Passing the exam well, obtaining a university degree, getting a good job, buying a luxury car, building a house are such objectives in your life. Your goal will determine where you will be in your life after achieving all these objectives.

Please forget the literal meaning here. Please understand what these two concepts mean. It doesn’t matter if you call them goals, intentions, hopes, goals or whatever else.

If you don’t have a target in your life, what will you be motivated for? If you don’t have something in life that you want to achieve, it doesn’t matter that you have motivation. If you want to be motivated in your life, you must first create a purpose (goal and objectives, intentions, target…) in life.

02. Choose the Right Path and Time

I would like to explain this to you with two examples. Imagine you are awarded a contract to mine a titanium deposit. If so, you need to know exactly where the deposit is, decide where to start, and also have the necessary machinery, technical knowledge, and many other things related to it. Is it something you can do on your own with a bucket and pickaxe? Also, if you take all the machinery and dig in the wrong place, is that right?

Choosing the right path is like that. If you choose the wrong path, you will reach the wrong destination. Also, you need to decide whether you will be walking, cycling or driving a car on the road. It determines the speed at which you travel on that road. Also, you need to understand how much rough gravel there is, how difficult the road is, how many gorges and valleys there are. If not, you will not be able to walk the path successfully.

For so long this matter has been talked about in parables. Let us clarify this now. First of all you need to decide your goal and objectives. Then you need to list the steps you need to take to get them. For example, if you want a good job, you need to define what that desired job is.

If you want to become an engineer, you should be very specific in which field you will become an engineer. Because we talked above that objectives are specific.

Then you have to decide what degree you want to take and what university to choose for it. There you have to study many things like how good you are at math, whether you really like the job you are looking for, whether it suits you, and whether you will be able to successfully complete your university education. That’s how you choose the right path to get where you want to go.

Second example, imagine you are growing something like cassava or carrots. Is it beneficial to remove the crops before harvest? No. Also, if the crop is removed after the specified time, is that also OK? No. You must harvest at the right time. The same goes for determining the right time in your objectives.

We mentioned earlier that objectives are time-bound. So, set a deadline to achieve those objectives. Otherwise, you will have no interest, no effort towards those objectives. Because you don’t understand, how much time you have is limited.

Until it is understood, you will not be motivated to do your work. Once you realize that time is very limited, you become more motivated and the pressure that comes with it pushes you to get the relevant work done.

03. Claim the Reward

Our brain, mind, and body will do nothing if there is no benefit, no reward, no prize. Therefore, first of all, if you achieve the relevant goal, determine the life you will get, the privileges you will get from it, the freedom etc. Then develop a strong desire to claim those things. Whenever you lose motivation, remember the privileges you will have in your future life.

If you are demotivating, you are deviating from your work duties, and deviating from your duties means that you are deviating from your dreams. It means that you will not be able to achieve the life you are aiming for.

So be honest with the life you hope for, be honest with the path you have chosen for it. If that happens, even if you lose motivation, you will soon be able to get motivated again and focus on what matters.

Along with all this, take care of your physical and mental health. Stress is something that disrupts our daily life a lot. You will be able to successfully cope with stress by reading this article which contains many unique ways to get rid of stress.