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?
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Go to bed early….you will feel so much more motivated after a full night’s sleep
Yes, that’s a great tip that I should have included 🙂
This is so nice to read Mike! 🙂
I really do need to write down my goals and make them into long term and short term and ways I’m going to reach them. The main goals are in my mind but that’s not holding me accountable.
What are your goals? 🙂
Great tips! Setting a goal and creating smaller goals to achieve that bigger goal helps me. Writing down the goal is also great advice. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Eden!
These are some great things to keep in mind. I got the flu the entire last week of January and completely fell off the wagon with all of my goals. I’m only just now getting back into the swing of things, my motivation has completely disappeared.
Glad you are feeling better! Being sick definitely derails goal progress.
One of my current goals is to eliminate one of my bills within the next month. I stay motivated because I realize that once I pay it off it will be one less bill I will have to worry about.
Good luck! 🙂
I think your point #2 is my favourite. When I know WHY I’m doing something, I’m much more likely to follow through.
Yes, exactly!
These are some wonderful ways to keep motivated! I especially like #4! My goal always seems to be to lose weight and I often find that I set such an unrealistic goal, I fail. So instead of saying my goal is to lose 30 pounds, I set my goal at 5 pounds and when I reach that goal, set another goal for another 5 pounds. Sometimes I just set my goal to successfully stay on a healthy eating plan day by day!
Thanks Pamela! That is a great way to stay motivated 🙂
Yes, stopping is usually the way I end up loosing motivation. Just gotta keep going!
Great tips Michelle! I find that creating a plan to tackle my goals is definitely the best way for me to be successful. Otherwise I tend to be willy nilly all over the place and don’t accomplish much.
Thanks Christina!
This is great advice! I also find it really helpful to have a short mantra or phrase to repeat to myself when I’m feeling discouraged to remind myself of the goal and keep me on track.
Thanks Stephanie!
I am naturally an “idea person” more than a “follow through person”, so writing down small, measurable goals and tracking them is an absolute necessity. I’m working on a number of different goals right now, and they include increasing my exercise routine and accelerating the principal payments on my mortgage.
Good luck with your goals Gary. I’m sure you will do well!
Good luck! 🙂
What a great post, with some simple but great ways to keep on track! I saw a post on Lauren Conrad’s site a little over a year ago (I’m obsessed), and use a trick that she suggested for new years resolutions: I write them down (like you suggest) and then put them in a pretty frame in my bedroom. It reminds me of my goals, and it’s nice to look at (seems silly, but it makes me happy to see them this way).
Right now my biggest goal is growing my TFSA and saving for a downpayment (I’d also really like to lose a few lb’s before my wedding haha)
Good luck with your goals! 🙂
It took me a long time to figure out my goals in life, as opposed to just blindly following along on the traditional path. After finally identifying my true goals, I have so much more motivation for everything. You should really take your time with step # 1, because once your goals are well-defined, the other steps are much easier.
This is great to hear 🙂