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8 Best Tricks to Keep Yourself Motivated02 Jun 2015

A popular approach to staying motivated comes down to following few simple rules.
These are the common, fail-safe rules. But if you're not feeling motivated enough to read through the entire list, keep this in mind: there is a difference between what motivates us in long term and how we perform on a daily basis.

Basing on what you're aiming to achieve, you can either set performance goals (reply to 35 emails in 60 minutes), or mastery goals (learn to write better code, register for people skills course, get more fit etc). Knowing the difference will help you save time and effort (don't go for a 2-week seminar on people skills, if the reason for going is hoping that this will get you a raise).

Now for the tips that always work – whether for operational or personal development motivation:

Setting simple and achievable goals

The less general and vague, the better. Get them down in detail, and make them action-oriented. For instance “improve the look of the sitting room” is not specific enough at all, but “get new curtains and pillows” is.

Getting started right away

There's hardly ever a real need to put something off for tomorrow. Face it.

Paying rewards to yourself

A small treat for each achieved milestone and a reward for a completed work. This is bound to work, when done with honesty.

Getting a good discipline in

It's too often that it is not the lack of motivation that stops you from achieving a goal, but the lack of discipline to do the actual work, step by step.

Setting up a routine

An extension of discipline, really - getting used to the order of things for the day, which - of course – includes working on the things you need to be motivated for.

Setting realistic goals

That's a big part of being able to stay motivated. It's never a surprise that someone has given up working toward a specific goal, simply because there was no way on Earth they'd ever be able to achieve even a small part of it. Stay real.

Keeping yourself inspired

Even the nicest of jobs or activities can become tiring at some point. Rather than give up, try making yourself focused on the aspects of it that drew you to it in the first place. Yes, this does sound like a relationship advice, doesn't it? That's the point, inspiration is the one thing, that through allowing you to step back and take a look at what you have or what you're doing, helps to realize what keeps you in it and why you do like it really, you just need to be reminded.

Staying fit

There is a reason why this comes up as last. Maintaining a discipline, getting the right amount of focus and inspiration, as well as having the energy and mindset of a motivated person, all become easier to achieve and stick to, when you're physically well. Therefore, sleeping and eating well, exercising and taking appropriate time off will truly help in becoming and staying motivated.