Getting motivated can be a struggle! It can come in waves where at times, we’ll be super productive and other times its like that fire has gone and it’s no where to be found.

If you find yourself in a bit of a rut and struggling to get motivated, have a listen!

In this episode we share 4 things you can do when we struggle to get motivated!

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TRANSCRIPT

Hi and welcome to this episode of the self-development collective. So in this episode, I’m going to go through four things that I find really helpful when we’re struggling to get motivated when we’re struggling to get up and fully through with that email or skit cited on that project, or do a day of recording or, you know, anything that we are really struggling to find motivation around. And I think something to note too, is losing motivation, finding motivation, then losing it again, then finding it again is such a normal experience. I think sometimes we tend to be really tough on ourselves and we expect ourselves to be motivated all the time. And the reality of it is that’s not always the case. We can, it’s normal, it’s a human, it’s a human experience to find that our motivation might be really high some days and not so high other days. So these are four things that I found really helpful in getting a bit of momentum, a bit of traction when I know the stuff I need to do, but I just don’t have that kickstart to get there. So these are some great things to try.

1. Visualization

So the first thing, and honestly, the first thing to me is one of the most important, it’s something that I’d really highly recommend out of the top floor of the four that I’m mentioning today. And that is, um, vision, a visualization, sorry. I find when I practice visualization, it is a new type of motivation, a new type of, um, encouragement. It really helps me to get kick-started and it was really interesting because I was actually looking at some studies to see how it actually helps. And the thing with, um, with visualizing something before we do it is we actually use the same part of the brain that we do that we use when we actually do the task.

So I’m thinking maybe it’s something along the lines of when we actually, you know, it’s always hard to do, to do that. Take that first step. It’s always challenging to do that first workout. It’s always hardest for me to do that first video. It’s always hardest for me to do that first email, the first task, the first time we do something, especially when we’ve gone through a period of being unmotivated can be the toughest.

So perhaps maybe with visualization, it’s a bit of a thing where we, our brain already think we’ve done it once. So it actually feels a little less challenging. Something else, something else, sorry with visualization too, is when we visualize ourselves doing something, but also visualizing the challenges and overcoming them that also helps us to foresee obstacles, but also we’re able to overcome them because our brain actually looks at it and goes, well, we’ve already figured this out, let’s just do the same thing we did last time. Even if it’s only visualization and you haven’t actually done it.

And again, these are in studies, visualization is something really important that athletes use. They find that it actually improves their performance. Even if, you know, they’re not necessarily practicing physically, which is so important. And such an interesting thing to learn also visualization increases our experience of positive emotions. So that’s another thing as well because when we’re actually experiencing, like, for example, this morning, I was visualizing doing these videos feeling really good after it.

And again, kickstarting us to take that action. And that’s another thing that’s really helpful to know. So the app that I use for visualization and I really love it. I will attach a link below it’s called envision and they have, um, a free, I think it’s, um, seven days, maybe 10, but it’s like a, a proper, um, like mini Coles where you visualize and practice the goal of practice, visualizing the goals that you have and the experiences you want to have in the person that you want to be. And that is definitely an app that I would highly recommend. I used it this morning. It’s really fantastic. I forget how good it is because every time I do it, I leave feeling like the person that I want to become. And that’s a big part of visualization too. It’s about envisioning us being the person that’s achieved that goal because usually with goal setting, the toughest thing is we often don’t think that we’re the type of person that can achieve that. It involves a shift of thinking of the type of thinking about the type of person we are. And the visualization helps us to shift that thinking, literally, I’ve envisioned myself doing this morning, enjoying it, having fun and everything has gone exactly the way I thought. Um, it’s been really great. And to be honest, I was actually, yeah, it just, it’s such a great app. I really highly recommend it. Um, again, it’s been, it’s been shown in studies, how powerful visualization is. There are just so many benefits to it. It really just helps us to imagine doing something. And again, imagine us becoming that person that we want to be.

2. Gratefulness List

So the second thing that I suggest and something that I got reminded about the other day was a gratefulness list. And I know that there’s, um, sometimes with a gratefulness list, they kind of overdone at them. Like, you know, they’re spoken about a lot, and sometimes it’s kind of like, you’re just writing it rather than actually feeling it. And that’s a tip as well when it comes to gratefulness lists, make sure you’re actually spending the time to feel grateful rather than just thinking about it and writing it down. That’s a tip that really helped me as well, but it was really interesting because again, I looked into some studies for gratefulness and they actually, it was actually found that gratefulness helps us to broaden our minds, um, and derive more meaning from life. So that’s really good as well. That’s another great benefit of gratefulness.

Um, I actually didn’t think that it would be something that would, um, help us to find more meaning, but the idea is that as you start to feel more grateful for experiences, you’re able to add them to your sense of meaning in life. So it helps us to be, I suppose, a bit more positive in and see the benefits and experiences that happened to us and be grateful, um, for the experiences that we have and what they teach us.

Another thing that gratefulness was shown to do was increase the strength and strength of connection and belonging. So it was a bit of a thing where we become more grateful for the relationships that we have, the connections that we have.

We also tend to say other people’s, um, actions and personalities in a more positive light, and we feel more grateful for them, which is how it strengthens our connections. So a gratefulness list is another way for motivating us because it just helps us to say things differently. Again, broadening our perspective helps us find meaning helps us find better connection and a sense of belonging, and helps us to get up and find, I think meaning for me was the most important one. I tend to find that gratefulness just sets me off in a better tone and gratefulness, to be honest, it makes me look at things more positively that’s I tend to notice things to be grateful for when I’m practicing that.

And again, it’s, it’s kind of really, uh, makes sense. Doesn’t it? Because obviously the more we think about something, the more we’ll find, uh, Ooma will find it the more we’ll see it. So once we start thinking about the things that we’re grateful for, we tend to notice them a lot more and appreciate them a lot more. So that’s another tip that’s really helpful a gratefulness lease. And remember, it’s also not just about thinking about what you’re grateful for, but feeling it as well and taking a moment to really just process it and be grateful for it and just really appreciate the experience or the autumn will the, or yeah. You know, sometimes like it’s as simple as a warm bed, or sometimes it’s as simple as being able to work from home. Or sometimes it’s as simple as just having a good day in getting a moment out in the sun, whatever you feel like is something that you find grateful is the most important part.

3. Finding People Who Are Doing What You Want To Do

The next thing that I have found super helpful when it comes to finding motivation or getting motivated or staying motivated is finding people who are doing what you want to do. It is so hard when we have an idea or a goal or a way of life that we want to create for ourselves. But everything around us says that we can’t, or haven’t the biggest challenge sometimes for us is doing something that others haven’t done. We feel we can’t do either. And obviously, that’s just a feeling that we have.

Um, but something I found really helpful is jumping into Facebook communities. Uh, for example, uh, starting this membership, no one around me has started a membership, before no one around me has actually sought it, an online business before ADA. So kind of challenging that cultural status quarry. That’s around me in the sense that like, you know, and I’m talking about my family, when I talk about culture, challenging those ideas that are around us, you know, challenging the norms that we’ve grown up with can be really, really hard. So it’s a lot easier when we find examples through other people’s successes. And that’s something that a community does, for example, with the tribe, which the community on the pot of Austin people go on there, talk about their wins, talk about how much their lives have changed and how this, how this has helped them and how they’ve been able to serve people.

So it kind of gets me into that headspace where I’m like, oh, is it is possible. Other people are doing it. I can do it as well, but it’s just about finding those examples and keeping them around us so that we have a constant reminder that it’s possible that other people are doing what we hope to do on day two. And it’s definitely that thing of if other people can do it, why can’t we?

So that’s another great thing that I found really, really helpful finds a community, jump on Facebook, find a course, find anything where you know, that there’s a community of people building what you want to build for yourself. And it is so much, it’s just easier. And I suppose that this is the goal for the membership that I’ve been talking about. Sometimes creating personal change is so hard because we might be the only person doing it at our point in our lives. Or we might be creating changes that are quite challenging for us because they challenge the ideas, held by the people that we love most. Whereas when we’re going to the community and we’re encouraged and we say other people doing it, it’s a lot easier for us to follow those examples or at least be inspired by them. So that’s something I’ve definitely found helpful when it comes to creating a vision for myself and challenging my old ways of thinking and seeing other people doing amazing things is so inspiring. It really is such a great way to remind us that anything’s possible.

4. Filling Your mind With Positive People

Now, the last thing that I would recommend and something again, the I like to do is fill your mind with positive people, with people that can help you with mentors, with people that are encouraging. Um, it’s, it’s normal to, you know, what we fill our minds with is what we carry with us. And it’s kind of like the food that we ate. It’s the same sort of thing. If we fill ourselves with, you know, foods that aren’t great, we usually don’t feel great. And it’s the same thing with our minds. If we fill our minds constantly by, you know, reading negative things or listening to negative things, or, you know, that sort of those sorts of ideas, it tends to become hot to take action because we’re not feeling great.

We’re not feeling like we can do things were not feeling like we can challenge things. We’re surrounded by people that say we can’t. And that’s something that I learned from Gary Vaynerchuk V sorry, I can’t, I can’t pronounce his name. Probably that’s horrible, but he’s really good. Gary V he’s got his own podcast and he’s someone that I listened to, to after I’d done my visualization and gone through my gratefulness leased, then I tend to play some of his podcasts and I’ll just look for titles, um, that, you know, is relevant to what I’m finding challenging. And I will listen to the things that he says, and I will walk around and do my daily task and have him there lists like in my, um, with my podcast, uh, AirPods in listening to him, listening to his podcasts, because it’s like someone it’s like having a personal coach, someone that’s constantly fueling you and saying, no, you can do this. And this is possible.

So that’s the last thing that I would recommend be really mindful of what your filling your mind with and what you’re allowing in your space. Sometimes it’s really easy to get stuck in that Instagram scroll, looking at people’s lives and thinking, you know, that’s not me. I can’t do that, but it’s really good when we can change up our feed or listen to people that help inspire us, help push us forward, help tell us that it’s possible.

So that’s the last thing that I would do be really mindful of what you’re filling your mind with and fill it with positive people, fill it with people with, you know, genuine feedback or people who’ve been where you want to be. Maybe there’s someone that you admire. Who’s got a great attitude or, or has been through a lot of , or has been through something that you’re struggling with. Find, find those people and listen to them constantly, fill your mind with that. Because again, it goes back to that thing of the more we fill our minds with things, the more we will look for those things.

So if we fill our minds with people who say we can, we will look for ways that we can, whether it’s, again, something like fitness or a project, it’s all about , um, priming our brains to be able to, you know, notice the positive, accept the positive, see the positive, bring it in and take that action towards whatever it is we’re looking to , to take action towards. So thank you so much for being here in this episode.

And again, if you like the idea of a community and you want some, you know, a community again, to help you to create the person that you want to be to get unstuck, then join the waitlist. It’s a closed membership and we will only be opening it a couple of times a year, but otherwise, I will catch you in the next episode. Thank you so much for listening.