Motivating yourself can feel like the most daunting of tasks. Some days it might feel better to pull the covers back up and hide from the world. But today is not that day. It’s time to get yourself prepared to face the world. Here’s how.
Set a Reasonable Goal
It’s okay to dream big and set lofty goals. First, let’s start with something more realistic. It can be as simple as making your bed daily or making coffee at home. Seriously, start as small as you want. The key is setting attainable goals so you’ll train your body to chase that high you get from accomplishing something.
After building up some consistency for weeks, it’s time to build on that. Set a goal for six months out and write it down. Mark the day on a calendar, circle it in red. Seriously do whatever you need to get yourself excited for that day. Then it’s time to break it down.
Say you want to reach a health goal. What’s your first step? If you try to flip your whole life upside down all at once, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Try setting your alarm ten minutes earlier and do some stretching. Get yourself a fitness watch and try to build up your step goal. You’ll be shocked how quickly you start to thrive on hitting your daily goals while building to your long-term goal.
Surround Yourself With Supportive Friends
There’s nothing worse than trying to improve yourself and finding yourself with a friend who isn’t in your corner. People are inherently afraid of change. Your friend might feel scared that you wanting a change might leave her without a spot in your life. Even worse, it could force her to have to reexamine her own life, and nothing is scarier than that.
If someone isn’t your cheerleader or, at minimum, not dogging your efforts, it’s time to ditch them. You’ll thank yourself later when you hit that date in your calendar and find yourself surrounded by people who are genuinely happy for you.
Celebrate Yourself
It might feel super cheesy, but being proud of what you’ve accomplished is okay. As you soldier on and start to feel unmotivated, try rewarding yourself. Tell yourself that you can buy a new pair of running shoes if you hit so many steps in a week or don’t snooze your alarm. Or that you can treat yourself to a fancy coffee on Friday. Suddenly each day, you’ll find a little more pep in your step.