5: 10 Strategies To Increase Your Motivation

Welcome to the Women's Success Coach Podcast. A podcast created to inspire growth and to help you learn, achieve, and evolve in your life ongoing regardless of your age. I'm your host, certified coach, and licensed therapist Karen Vincent, and I'm here to guide you and provide you with concrete tips and strategies you can implement in your life. I'm also here to inspire you, challenge you, and cheer you on so that you can create the life of your dreams and beyond. Wouldn't it be great if your motivation was always at a sky high level? Of course it would be. However, the reality for most of us is that motivation can't be maintained at a high level without us being intentional about doing what we can to keep it dialed up. In this episode of the Women's Success Coach Podcast, I'm going to give you 10 strategies you can use to increase your motivation when it starts to dip. Well, hello and welcome to this week's episode. I hope you're having a good week, and I'm glad you're taking some time for yourself to listen to this podcast. So to start, I have a couple quick questions for you. Do you wish you were more motivated overall? Do you wish you could sustain your motivation over longer periods of time? If so, my friend, you are not alone. It feels great when you're motivated and operating at a high level, am I right? Unfortunately, the reality is that motivation is not sustained at a high level naturally. It's inevitable that it'll dip. How much it dips, and for how long it dips varies from person to person. As a member of the motivational interviewing network of trainers, I've supported clients who are struggling with motivation, and I've also trained other coaches and therapists in strategies to help them help their clients dial up and sustain their motivation when it dips. But before we look at how to dial up and sustain motivation, let's explore some reasons you could be lacking motivation. It could be that you are experiencing low energy, or it could be that the task at hand feels boring or that it will require you to experience some discomfort. Or it could be that the task at hand is unfamiliar and or there's uncertainty about the outcome. It could be that you feel overwhelmed, that you're lacking confidence, or that you are experiencing some emotional concerns such as depression or anxiety. The good news is that there are things you can do to both dial up and sustain your motivation. Rather than waiting for the chance that your motivation may increase on its own, I want you to try one of more of the strategies that I'm going to share with you in this episode. The key with all of them is to be intentional and consistent. Also, if you are concerned you are experiencing emotional or mental health concerns, you should also seek the support of a mental health professional. So let's dig into these 10 strategies. Strategy one, take care of your mind and your body. Now, this may sound basic, but it makes a big difference. If you are not fueling your body with healthy foods, you're more likely to feel sluggish and or experience brain fog. In addition, exercise increases your overall energy level and releases those feel good chemicals in your brain. Although it can feel hard to start, nobody regrets a good workout after it's done, am I right about? Finally take care of your mind by getting plenty of quality sleep, by using moderation with things like alcohol, binge watching shows, and scrolling on social media. Also practicing mindfulness meditation is a great way to take care of your mind. So if this is not something you're familiar with in the show notes, I provided a link to a free guide that will walk you through a simple five minute mindfulness meditation. And trust me when I tell you, just five minutes most days can make a difference in how you feel overall Strategy two, focus on your why. Both the positive why and the negative why. If you're trying to do something new, you will experience discomfort. That's just a given. This is because your brain wants to stay with what's familiar and what feels comfortable. So when the discomfort starts to creep in, you'll wanna be very clear on why you decided you wanted to do something new. And when I mentioned, I want you to focus on both your positive and negative why, I want you to consider both the benefits of following through and the consequences of not following through. Allow yourself to really visualize and feel both the pleasure and the pain, and use those feelings to motivate you to take action. The stronger your why, the more likely you will be to start something to keep going with it, to show up, and to just keep doing the thing even when you don't feel like it. Onto strategy number three, focus on the positive and plan for the obstacles. So as I mentioned above, you should focus on the positive outcome you'll experience if you follow through with what you said you were going to do, because this will help pull you forward on the days when it's hard. But even with a strong why and visualizing a positive outcome, I don't want you to fool yourself into thinking that it'll be smooth sailing along the way. When you are working towards anything new, you will experience obstacles and setbacks. That's just a given. They could be external obstacles, such as a lack of time interruptions, a lack of information about something, or maybe a lack of support from others in your. Your obstacles could also be internal obstacles such as self-doubt, a lack of confidence, and a mindset where you keep telling yourself you are not capable of doing something or you're not worthy of something. The more you anticipate these external and internal obstacles and create a plan of attack for how you'll manage them when they show up, the less likely you'll be to experience overwhelm, frustration, fear, or boredom, and the less likely you'll be to give up on something that you really, really want. Onto strategy number four, have consistent habits and routines. When you have consistent habits and routines, you don't need to overthink things in the moment. You are less likely to feel overwhelmed, or to try to talk yourself out of doing something. For example, if you have a habit of getting up when your alarm goes off without hitting the snooze button, you'll be assured that you'll always start your day on time. Another example could be that you have the habit of always drinking eight, eight ounce glasses of water each day to keep you hydrated and feeling good. If this is truly a habit, you wouldn't even really think about it. You would just keep filling up that water bottle until you consumed all of the water for the day. Maybe you have a habit to journal and do a brain dump every morning so that you check in on your mindset and make sure it's where it needs to be so that you have a successful day. You can use the process. I'm going to share in strategy number five, our next strategy to help you implement new habits and routines that will support you in achieving goals. So let's get to it. Strategy number five. Keep it short and simple when needed. Start small. When you are doing something new, your brain is going to freak out. The reason why most people who make New Year's resolutions don't follow through is because they go from zero to 100 and their brain freaks out when they do this. It will come up with every lame reason to stop doing the thing that feels overwhelming or uncomfortable. Remember, your brain likes comfort, and it likes what's familiar. When you're making a change, start small and keep it as simple as possible. Once you feel like you're in a routine with consistent habits, you can then add a little more and keep building on the habits and routines that you created prior. Next up, strategy number six. Improve your external environment. Does your environment support your goal? Do the people around you energize you and do they support your goal? If not, find some people who will do this for you. That could mean finding a group of like-minded people in your community, or finding an online community. Speaking of online communities, you are always welcome to join my Best Boss Lady Life Facebook group. Also, when you are examining your environment, identify what the distractions, temptations, and energy drainers are. Is it having too many windows open on your computer? Is it a group text that keeps buzzing? Is it social media notifications? Is it scrolling to get all the behind scenes scoop on your favorite Bravo celebs or other influencers? Maybe you're trying to be healthier, but all you can think about is the bag of chips in your pantry. Maybe your energy gets drained by certain negative individuals or by the idea that there are piles of laundry that need to get done. Identify what things in your external environment you can improve, fix or remove so that you can feel more supported, energized, and focused on what you're trying to accomplish. Next up, strategy number seven. Improve your internal environment. Your internal environment is just as important as your external environment. What you think matters. So when you learn to manage your mind, you manage the outcomes in your life. Through my work, I have witnessed so many people's lives change, because they rid themselves of the faulty thinking patterns and limiting beliefs that were holding them back. When you notice a lack of motivation, I want you to ask yourself,"What am I thinking right now that's causing me to feel this way?". Then, ask yourself,"What is another way I could be thinking about this that would result in better, more productive feelings?". And then continue to challenge your thought patterns, insert more helpful thought patterns, and let your brain go to work for you instead of having it work against you. Clean up that internal environment if needed. Strategy number eight. Ask yourself better questions. This one may sound a little silly, but it does make a difference. So instead of asking yourself questions from a negative point of view, ask them from a positive point of view. Let me explain. So for example, instead of asking,"Why can't I do this?", ask,"What will it take for me to do this?". Instead of asking,"Why don't others support my goal?". Ask,"How can I cheer myself on so that I don't need to rely on others to support my goal?". Finally, instead of asking,"How will I ever have enough time to get this done?", ask,"When will I block time this week to work on this and to gain forward momentum?". It can be really helpful to check in with yourself throughout the day, and make sure the questions you're asking require empowering answers rather than disempowering answers. Now, our second to last strategy strategy number nine, have a mantra or affirmation. Now, the key to having a mantra is that it must be something you believe. For example, if you have been struggling to lose weight for years, your mantra probably should not be."I will get to my goal weight effortlessly, and in no time.". Your brain is going to reject that mantra immediately, and it's also likely going to call you a liar. Instead, you could say,"I'm committed to eating healthy and exercising today.". A couple other examples of mantras are,"I already have everything I need to succeed.", or,"I'm willing to work hard to live the life I dream of living.". Remember, the key is that you have to believe what you're telling yourself. Allow your mantra to energize you and help you show up as the person you want to be. And if you're looking for more affirmation ideas, you can check out my Instagram at Best Boss Lady Life. I have many affirmations in my posts, and I also post daily affirmations in my stories. And now my final strategy. Strategy number 10. Take a break, energize and go. If you are feeling stuck with taking action towards something, try taking a break. Do something to shake things up a little bit and then come back to it. For example, if you're just staring at your computer screen, but you aren't really making headway with anything, get up and do something such as stretch put on music and dance it out, grab some water, take a quick walk outside, or call a positive friend. Shift your energy, shift your physical state, and then get back to it. So now, as we do in all my episodes, we're going to take some action. And so if you are feeling challenges related to motivation, I want you to consider trying one or more of the strategies I covered in this episode. Decide which one you'll start with now, and then you can add on others as is needed. I'm going to do a quick review here, but each of these strategies are also listed in the show notes so you can go back and review them all there. Strategy one, take better care of your mind and body. Strategy two, focus on your why. Both that positive why, and that negative why. Strategy three, focus on the positive, but plan for the obstacles. Strategy four, have consistent habits and routines. Strategy five, keep it short and simple when needed. Strategy, six improve your external environment. Strategy seven, improve your internal environment. Strategy eight, ask yourself better questions. Strategy nine, have a mantra or affirmation. And finally, strategy 10, take a break, do something energizing, and then get back to it. As I mentioned, allow these strategies to build upon one another rather than trying to do them all at once. Remember, your brain does not like to be shocked or overwhelmed, so ease into these. Also, as a final reminder, being intentional and consistent with these is what matters. Also, one more quick thing, another great strategy for managing mindset, motivation, gaining support and having accountability is to work with a coach who will offer you strategies more specific to your situation. If you're interested, feel free to reach out to me if you would like more information about how coaching works and why it can be the answer to finally getting the results you want. You can grab all my contact information in the show notes, or you can hop over to my website at www.karenvincentsolutions.com. That's a wrap. You should be proud of yourself for investing time in you, which is so critical for success and for overall life fulfillment. I look forward to having you join me for my next episode. And in the meantime, go click that subscribe button so you'll know when it's released, and you can also follow me on Instagram at Best Boss Lady Life that's at Best Boss Lady Life on Instagram. Also, remember that whatever it is that you're working on, you've got this and I'm here cheering you on.