Need Some Motivation?

Photography by Xavier Photographic Art
Central Arts District, St. Petersburg, FL

We all have those days. “I just cannot get motivated” or “I have no motivation” or “Why should I bother?  No one cares.”  It is easy to wake up in the morning, stay in your pajamas and just hide from the world.  But you cannot hide from yourself.  None of us can.  Even when we read or see something that may inspire us, the feeling may not be enough to motivate us because we feel stuck or powerless.  We end up wishing that we could be like that person or have that much money or make all of this go away.  We think that everything would be better if we could change ourselves or make them change.  So, we wait, and we wait all the while thinking that the feeling will eventually come, and we will be motivated.

When we feel this way, I think what we are doing is looking outside of ourselves for motivation when what we should be doing is looking inside.  Now more than ever is the time to dig deep – really deep.  Look at the world around you and look within yourself.  Start small but start somewhere.  When I have those days (and we all do) here are some of the things I do to add focus and motivation to my day:

Photography by Xavier Photographic Art
Central Arts District, St. Petersburg, FL

• Establish a morning routine so I can start each day with a sense of accomplishment.
• Stay busy but with purpose and not just for the sake of being busy.
• Make a list of tasks and then check them off as they are completed.
• Make a list of people close to me and reach out to at least one of them each day.
• Each day find something for which I can be grateful. Write it down and walk away then reread it before going to bed to be reminded that there is good in every day.