Finding motivation can be a hard task for anyone.
Motivation is important because it can help you keep your eye on the goal even when you want to quit.
Motivation will help you continue to work hard towards your goal, even when it seems impossible.
Motivation is what keeps you going so that you do not quit.
Without motivation, most people would give up on a goal very easily. This is why it’s so important to learn how to stay motivated.
Whether your goal is finance-related, career-related, family-related, lifestyle-related, or something else, there are many ways to help you stay motivated so that you can reach it.
Below are eight ways to get motivated so that you can reach your goals and become successful.
Related: How To Set And Reach Goals In The New Year
1. Write down your goal.
Writing out your goal is a very important part of the process. I know it helps keep me motivated whenever I do this, and I believe this is a big reason for why we are doing better with our food budget.
Writing down your goal helps keep it in your mind. Whenever I don’t write something down or have it in front of me on a regular basis, I usually forget about it.
If you can’t remember your goal, it would be very hard to reach it. I suggest creating a blog, creating a vision board, and so on.
2. Remember the reasons for why you want to reach your goal.
A big factor in staying motivated is to remember why you are wanting to reach your goal. If there is no reason, then it would be very hard to stay motivated.
You should envision what your life will be like once you reach your goal, why you are trying so hard to reach it, and so on. A little daydreaming can go a long way every now and then.
If your goal is debt payoff, then your reason is probably so that you can stop living a stressful paycheck to paycheck life. Just keep dreaming about what a debt free life would be like!
3. Create a plan to reach your goal.
If you want to learn how to stay motivated with your goals, then one of the first things you do after you create your goal is to create a plan. Without a plan, it would be difficult to reach a goal as you would just be all over the place.
You should create a plan that details the steps you need in order to reach your goal, what will happen as you reach each step, when and how you will track your progress, and more. Being detailed with your plan will help you reach your goal and become successful.
Related: Setting Goals – How To Set Personal Goals
4. Set smaller goals in between so that you can become successful.
When you’re creating your plan, you might want to think about setting smaller goals in between. This can help you learn how to stay motivated because it will help you keep your eye on your goal and fresh in your mind.
One way to do this is by setting smaller goals that directly relate to your overall goal.
So, if your overall goal is to pay off $24,000 in debt in two years, then you might want to aim for $1,000 in debt payoff each month. This seems much more attainable than the $24,000 number, and this can help you stay motivated.
5. Keep track of your progress.
To stay motivated with your goals and become successful with them, you should review your progress every now and then. You might want to check in daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on what type of goal you have and what personally works for you.
Keeping track of your progress is a good idea because it can tell you what you need to do in order to each your goal, if you are behind, or if you need to make a change.
I highly recommend that you check out Empower (a free service) if you are interested in gaining control of your financial situation. Personal Capital allows you to aggregate your financial accounts so that you can easily see your financial situation, your cash flow, detailed graphs, and more.
6. Make changes when needed.
After you check in on your progress, you might find that you need to make changes in order to reach your goal. You might decide to change your timeline, your goal entirely, or you might set different smaller goals in between your time frame.
You should always make sure your goal is what you want and that it is realistic, so doing this step is important.
7. Be nice to yourself when learning how to stay motivated.
Every now and then, you might fall off track or come short of your goal. If this happens, do not be too mean to yourself. This is a very important step when learning how to stay motivated with your goals, as many people drag themselves down when they are not on track with their goals.
Things happen, but instead of being negative you should analyze what happened and see what needs to be changed so that it doesn’t happen again.
8. Reward yourself when you do become successful.
Whenever you reach one of your smaller goals, you might want to try rewarding yourself so that you can stay motivated.
A reward doesn’t mean that you are cheating your goal progress or that you need to fall off the wagon. You can reward yourself in many ways – you just need to find what works for you while also staying on track.
What are your current goals? How do you stay motivated with your goals?
Leave a Reply
Setting smaller goals helps me stay motivated, it makes my ultimate goal seem more achievable when I can cross off the steps along the way.
Yes, same here! What are you currently working towards?
Great tips Michelle 🙂
I have many goals and I generally break them up into smaller steps. I find though I’m not always confident enough to take action and so progress is very slow.
Thanks! What’s your top goal right now?
My top goal right now is to create a side income stream of at least $1500 pm through blogging and freelance writing.
Awesome. Great goal. Good luck!
I agree with you. Writing down our goal really helps us see more of it and realize how easy we can really reach our goal. It makes us start to see the “how” from the “what”. It’s much better written down than only in our mind.
Yes, I agree!
Absolutely agree with this post, I am working hard to achieve my goals into personal life and works…writing down goals and create a vision board helps to stay focused on them!!!
Thanks! What are you currently working towards?
I completely agree with these steps. I’m trying to follow a similar plan to pay down our debt. I started my blog as a way of writing down my goals and keeping myself accountable.
Thanks Amy!
We’re using a visual reminder to keep track of our goal to pay off $30,000 in 2015. It’s literally like a big thermometer that we fill in each month once we figure out how much we paid off. Yes, it’s juvenile, but it makes it so easy to see how far we’ve come and how far we have left to go!
I think that’s an awesome idea Gretchen!
Having a strong “why” is super important for me:-) Great list; I need to apply it to a new weight loss goal ASAP;-)
Yes, a strong reason to reach your goal is very important. That always helps to keep me motivated.
I like it! I like celebrating mini-goals too. It’s easier to stay motivated that way.
Thanks Holly!
Your goals list is realistic, and I think that is the key to achieving them. I especially like the ‘set small goals’ option, as that will pay off and provide motivation for the larger ones.
Thanks Rust! What are your goals currently?
Great tips Michelle! I like to set smaller goals within my larger goal to help me acknowledge the progress I’m making and while sometimes it’s hard I try to always stay focused on my ‘why’ to remind me of why I set my goal and what I plan to achieve.
Thanks!
Helpful motivational post, especially for a cold, dreary Monday! One additional step that I take is to break my goals into quarters, 3 month sections. It can be hard for me to stay connected to a year long goal, unless I have little victories each month/quarter. Thanks for the encouragement.
Thanks Melane!
I feel you have to be somewhat obsessive in order to achieve goals. Always have them in mind, and every day do 1 action item towards completing each goal. Good Advice Michelle.
Thanks EL!
I like to write down my goals and keep them up where I can see them, it helps me keep track of the progress I make and it keeps me motivated.
Yes, this is an important thing to do. Good job!
When I lose track of my goals, I write them down on an index card and tape them to my bathroom mirror, that way they are looking back at me everyday. I have been really focused on my goal of growing my business the last few months, though, that I don’t need the reminder, it’s become a passion of mine and when a goal shifts to a passion, it’s hard to lose motivation.
Yes, when something shifts to becoming a passion, it is much easier. That is awesome that you have a passion! 🙂
Writing down my goals has been the ultimate step in getting things done and staying on track. I don’t care how smart you are – until you write something down, you’re always going to be at risk of forgetting it!
Yes, exactly! I have a horrible memory too, so writing things down is a must for me.