Due to our poll on Instagram that we posted, many of you feel unmotivated either physically or psychologically.
At the beginning of the lock down we posted the same poll, the stats showed that there was only a slight increase in people that were not motivated, to the people that were. We have done the same poll 2 month after lock down and the stats showed that nearly every one-off are now feeling unmotivated.
Motivation can be a tricky subject to pin point all in one go, there are many different scientific levels on motivation, as well as peoples own personal opinions and life situations but we can talk about the science and go into ways which can improve motivation.
First, what is motivation? Motivation is a general willingness to do something, it is a psychological force to act. In other terms “At some point, the pain of not doing it becomes greater than the pain of doing it.” at some point, it is easier to change than to stay the same. For example, not wanting to do an assignment but over thinking it so much it will make you do it, feeling insecure in a gym will become better than sitting at home with no energy, it becomes easier to get turned down on applying for a job then not applying for one at all.
Now some people can find motivation easy, its excitement, a new joy in their life. Whereas some people really need to push past a physiological barrier to get motivated. Motivation becomes easier when you change your daily habits, and the first step of action to change habits is always the hardest. Once you push past that barrier of trying to create change in your life, stay consistent at it, it becomes a new habit and more natural in your day to day life.
Motivation requires 3 things: discipline, consistency, and habits. If you can bring them things into your goals, you will most likely 100% have the motivation to achieve them.
So why is it so hard to stay motivated during lock down? Self-discipline is a hard one to master, when things were how they was. Most people had there own habits, they had a routine, the had bosses or work colleagues helping them with jobs to do through out the day, you had gym buddies, fitness classes you can attend, plans in the diary. This kept you focused, without a stimulus to keep you motivated, it will be easy for habits to change and hit a mental threshold.
So how do we get motivated? Motivation is often formed after you have performed action, not before it. So, the first step of taking the action is the hardest but after you have performed action, motivation will come naturally. It may be a little hard at first, you may need to get out of comfort zones, you may be to tired to work out, feel like your seeing no result after your first fitness session, still be feeling sluggish after eating your first healthy meal, hard to concentrate when you first start an assignment, but ones you begin this action and stay with it, you begin to see results, the motivation will come to you after you have taken action and stay consistent to get you where you want to be.
Once you change your behaviour, your behaviour will create action, action will change habits, habits will bring motivation and motivation will bring results.
Tips on how to stay motivated:
Stop wasting time and energy on things that do not matter, focus on what does matter and act on them.
Do not try and do to much at once, if there are things that you would like to achieve whether it be in the mind, body or goals you would like to accomplish, you need to recognise what you would like to bring into your life and focus on each individual point. When things get hard, write down your goals, spend time in your own thoughts on how you can achieve them and remind yourself every day why you are doing this. Do not try and bombard your brain with too many changes because you will most likely not do it.
Schedule in your motivation, we like routine and we are creatures of habit. Take time out to sit in your own thoughts and think of what you would like to do and where you want to be. Break down these goals into daily habits in your routine. For example: You work out at specific times, you do certain fitness sessions on certain days, you make have a 2l bottle of water and you need to drink it by the end of the day, give yourself times to write your assignment, make a work schedule of how your going to time manage the tasks that need to be done. By making a schedule for your motivation gives your goals a time and a place and it will most likely make you follow through and accomplish these regardless of your motivation. ‘Stop waiting for motivation or inspiration to strike you and set a schedule for your habits. This is the difference between professionals and amateurs. Professionals set a schedule and stick to it. Amateurs wait until they feel inspired or motivated.’ Motivation requires a responsibility of acceptance of the situation and then action to change it.
In your schedule you should also allow ‘phone time’, in the world we live in now, so much of our lives is taken up by distraction of social media, being on our phones, texting, calls. You are not only wasting time, but this can also stimulate stress in the body, and make a huge negative physiological impact. It is hard on the eyes and you bring yourself down looking at what everyone else is up to. Reminder, the social media world is not true (most of it). The news tells you what it wants to tell you, people show their best pictures, you do not know what is going on behind the scenes of posts. Focus on your own life and our own goals.
Wake up earlier, I am a massive fan of the 5am club. Between the hours of 5am-8am this is your time while the world is still sleeping. Most people do not need us between these hours. You can wake up to a morning where you do not have to rush, you can make time to have a good breakfast, get yourself ready, organise your day, work out, reflect, do tasks which will save you time throughout the day. Waking up earlier changes your mind set for the whole day. Again, this may be hard at first, but the results are worth it. It is important to routinise daily habits with a schedule. Try and begin the day waking early and having a stress-free morning. Yoga, meditation, no phone, no social media, no TV.
The key to more motivation is less thinking, more doing. The amount of time we spend thinking about what we would like to achieve, feeling guilty for not eating the right things or doing the work out or getting back to customers or finishing a project we could have spent this time doing it. Once we over think, we are wasting time and doing less.
The three steps of motivation:
Reminder- The que or trigger that begins a habit.
Routine- The action you take.
Reward- The benefit you gain from the habit.
One of the most important points, be around people who inspire you, use social media platforms to an advantage of education, motivation, inspire. Follow role models and read pages which helps to educate your mind to get to where you want to me. Unfollow and detach your self from people that bring you down. Be around people who are doing what you would like to do or people who are motivated which helps to inspire you.
What do we do if we start lacking motivation?
First, we are all aloud to have off days. We are not going to stay motivated all the time and our bodies need to rest. If you accept this and allow your body to take time out, it will be easier to wake with a fresh attitude and take the next day as a new start. Enjoy down time and then remind yourself of what your doing and why your doing it.
We tend to lack motivation if we do not see results, results may not be straight away. You may feel like your trying all you can to get motivated and still not seeing the results. Habits take 28 days to really put in place, this is 28 days where you will be hitting hurdles, having ups and downs but must keep going. Depending on your end goal, this may take longer but with consistency and routine, the results will come.
You begin to lack motivation if you start getting out of routine and taking on too much again, if this happens, take a step back, reflect and get back to the routine.
Discomfort is temporary, we must go through the bad to have the good. We must go through comfort zones to get results. Discomfort and bad times make us who we are. ‘A skilled sailor didn’t learn with in a smooth ocean’. Make that call, start the project, reach out to people, do the first work out. Many people begin to feel sorry for themselves that they are going through there situations or trying so hard with no result. This is the most important time that you push past the barrier and keep going.
Life is a constant balance between giving into the ease of distraction or overcoming the pain of discipline. It is not an exaggeration to say that our lives and our identities are defined in this delicate balance. What is life, if not the sum of a hundred thousand daily battles and tiny decisions to either gut it out or give it up?
This moment when you do not feel like doing the work? This is not a moment to be thrown away. This moment is your life as much as any other moment. Spend it in a way that will make you proud.
Reminder:
Write down your goals no matter how big or small.
Spend time in your own thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
Imagine where you would like to be and what you would like to achieve.
Write down ways which will help you get there.
Create daily schedules which will become routine and routine will become habit.
Blank out background noise.
Be around like-minded people.
Drink lots of water, eat your greens and exercise.
DO NOT GIVE UP, we have all hit motivational hurdles at some point of our life and it is down to us to understand what our needs our and to take action. We can have motivational stimuli such as videos, speeches, being around motivational people but then it is down to us to take responsibility and implement them.
