What Motivates You in Life?

What Motivates You in Life?

If you’ve been hanging around us at all this month, you’ve confirmed that motivation is quite fickle. We all want to feel motivated because we know how great it is to experience. Motivation brings with it the enthusiasm, energy, and power to get things done and move towards our goals. Yet it cannot be used as our primary source of power. (Go back and read why in this blog post.)

So, with the knowledge that motivation waxes and wanes, we must be strategic about prioritizing it. It can be a powerful tool once we learn how to get the most out of it. How to do this? Three things:

It’s easy to feel like everyone and everything is vying for your attention these days. Hell, even trying to choose which podcast to listen to takes tons of scrolling. This is where you need to take back your power. You get to choose your main motivations. And, no, you can’t choose it all. My main motivation used to be what others thought of me. Every life choice I made was so I could keep up, appear like I had it all together, and fit in. Now, my motivations are my own autonomy and the health/happiness of those around me. The good news is you get to choose what motivates you too! Then, you can say goodbye to all the rest that wastes your time. In order to choose what motivates yourself, ask, “What am I living for?” It could be your kiddos, your happiness, your health, your spouse, your career, etc. There are no wrong answers. I’d pick two or three, let them be your motivation, and let the rest fall into the background.

 2. Pick and choose where to focus that motivation.

 Ever know someone that gets distracted easily? They’ve got shiny object syndrome, quickly moving from one motivation to the next. New hobbies, new vehicles, new relationships, new toys, etc. They demonstrate a pretty big lack of focus. Even if they are clear about what is motivating them (“I’m doing this for my kids,” or “My main goal is to make enough money to retire early.”), they aren’t clear about where that motivation is going. They are great at starting projects but usually don’t finish them. Our advice here is to pick the projects that a) make you most excited, and b) are gonna move the dial the most for you. Personally, I’ve chosen my physical health, my business, and my close circle of relationships. I can’t tell you what yours will be, but deep down, you know. 😉

 3 Know when it’s time to bring in other tools.
Sometimes, the motivation just won’t be there. That’s, unfortunately, how motivation works. However, there are LOTS of other ways to keep moving forward on your journey! We have been discussing them all month with our e-mail list. (Sign up here if you’re interested!) You don’t have to wait to feel motivated, nor should you plan on that feeling sticking around. Luckily there are many ways to keep moving towards your goals! Things like taking baby steps, choosing non-negotiables, and surrounding yourself with people who won’t hold you back will be extremely beneficial for keeping yourself on track.

This life is a big journey, but don’t let that overwhelm you! Each day, we can take a bunch of small steps in whichever direction we choose. Let motivation be a friend when it shows up, but don’t fret when it leaves. You’ve got everything you need to get where you’re going. ❤️