Ring Ring! It’s the third ring of your alarm and you snooze again. You don’t want to leave your bed. Going to school or college is an adventure you are not interested in. You are like, Mom! Corona Virus, maybe I should just stay home. I wish my school or college or even my gym would shut down today. You are feeling lazy and have no motivation to break that laziness.
OK Dude! If this is how you feel, then watch this video right till the end coz we are going to discover the secrets of staying motivated all the time by finding solutions to the problem of “lack of motivation”
So, in this article I will give you
- 5 ultimate and simple secrets of staying motivated all the time
- 5 simple action steps to help you find your inner mojo
1. MEANINGFUL CHALLENGE
Somehow, we are always motivated to play a game of PUBG, Minecraft or Fortnite. We can play them at any time and for any number of hours. And do you know why these games are so addictive. Because they are just challenging enough to keep you coming back for more but not so hard that you eventually give up. In other words, nothing motivates us more than a little bit of a challenge.
Action Plan #1 – Find an exciting Challenge
Take up ONE meaningful challenge outside of your comfort zone which excites you enough and helps you grow as a person. Find something that is challenging, yet not discouraging. Difficult but not impossible.
This will give a greater meaning to your day to day boring life, something to get you out of bed every morning and also help you in your college admissions and job interviews. It could be voluntary work in the community, an art project, setting up a reading club, writing for a cause or even just a crazy physics experiment. It does not matter so much what the activity is, what matters is that it adds meaning to your (and perhaps other’s ) life and you look forward to doing it.
Finding a suitable mentor may be a useful tip here. Many times we get stuck because we are unable to think of a meaningful challenge all by ourselves. So find a senior student, teacher or relative who can mentor you to stretch your boundaries.
Devote a few hours a week to this activity on a sustained basis and it will fill you with inner happiness and a great sense of accomplishment.
2. BALANCE
Oh no! I have exams coming up! I have to cut out all the time-wasting activities. That’s it! No more Netflix! No more hanging out with friends! No more sleeping!
When we do this, our brain gets overburdened with an excess of these monotonous activities. But our monkey mind doesn’t like this since it gets bored quickly and then – distraction. We pick up our phone thinking it will only be for five minutes, and phew! before you know it, it’s been 45 minutes. And then, we’re blaming ourselves and end up feeling demotivated.
So let’s take a try to break this cycle of stress – distraction – blame – de-motivation.
Action Plan 2: Find your own root cause
- Each one of us is different, one solution cannot apply to everyone. So action plan #1 is to keep a motivation diary – each time you feel lazy and de-motivated, ask yourself why you are feeling that way – make a note of your feelings. Is it physical exhaustion or the topic is too difficult or is it just loneliness
- Later, sit with that notebook and analyse the root cause of your de-motivation. And the solutions would be different for everyone – it may be physical exercise for someone or playing with friends for another one.
- Also a balanced schedule helps in taking away the stress – Set yourself small and easy to achieve goals and write them down e.g. complete reading one chapter or design an outline structure of the term paper.
- Always include time for activities like entertainment, meeting friends, meditation etc and allocating time for things you love, like reading books, or painting, cooking, or gardening.
- This way the monkey mind is busy, and you are not blaming yourself either
Before I give you the remaining three action plans, we have a video titled ‘Best 5 secrets of staying motivated when you study’ and that will give you some more motivation tips especially when it comes to studies
3. MEET NEW PEOPLE
I feel like we have stopped having real conversations with strangers. We tend to be so transactional in our relationships. We sit in a cab, we’re checking our phone, we don’t even notice the librarian or the person behind the reception desk at the gym.
One day I was walking down Colaba Causeway and while passing through various street vendors, I chanced upon a small girl, around 10-12 years old, selling some daily use plastic stuff on the footpath. When she got free from her customers, she dragged one shaggy cloth bag from behind her and pulled out some old torn out books and started studying. I went up to her and struck a conversation and she told me of how she wanted to become a bank manager one day, since her father was refused a loan.
It blew my mind to see the determination of this little girl on the street and I thought, what’s my excuse !!
Action Plan 3: One new conversation a day
Try having one face to face conversation everyday with one new person. It could be your bus conductor or your tuition teacher or even the traffic cop. Talk to them about their lives and backgrounds. Just pick up a slice of their life.
Sometimes one conversation can open a new perspective in your mind or create an opportunity that you didn’t know existed or even just make you smile for the rest of your day
4. INTERNAL LOCUS
Most times we are demotivated because we think that someone outside is dictating us – mom / dad/ teacher / friends – they have the remote control of our lives and are pushing our buttons. We even feel that we need to study and do well because our parents want that.
True motivation comes when you realise that you are the master of your own destiny, you are the commander of your ship.
Action Plan 4 – Make one small change
Make one small change in your life – lose weight, become fit, start waking up an hour earlier, learn a language – anything that helps you realise that you are in charge. That you can do whatever you decide to do.
This will create real and lasting motivation.
Tell me which of these tips was your favourite
5. DUST YOURSELVES
Hey! What’s your best score in PUBG? And what about Asphalt 9? Which level are you playing right now? Clash of Clans anyone?
Let me know in the comments section which is your favourite game.
You know, I never had these options while growing up! But, it was so much fun! Do you want to know what I used to play as a child? Well! Hopscotch, Chain, Pitthoo, hide and seek, kabaddi.
I remember I couldn’t stay up longer than 9:00 p.m. And I would wake up totally energetic and excited.
Action Plan 5:
Maximise your time outdoors with nature. Make sure you enjoy sunlight everyday. Take a morning walk for the fresh air and these will keep you motivated throughout the day.
The mind performs at its best around natural conditions. If we give enough time to our mind around nature, it will be more positive towards any failure or distractions.
And once you use these 5 secret techniques, you will learn to be in the flow and motivation will no longer be a problem.
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