With the new year only 2 days away, many are getting ready for a fresh start in improving their lives. One thing on most people’s list to improve on is to be better at self-motivation. Yeah, we know that should do things to improve our aspects of our lives, but we all lack self-motivation sometimes because we’re either lazy or just don’t have enough motivation to get going. Even a highly motivated person may lack motivation at times. We understand that no one’s perfect, which is why we at the Study Hut have come up with a few suggestions to help you get on the right path to self-motivation help.
1. Psych your motivation up by talking about it.
As silly as this may seem, talking about getting motivated to do something really works. Talk to your friends, family, or boyfriend/girlfriend about getting motivated, and you’ll find yourself not only becoming motivated, but remaining motivated (just by thinking about it!). Realize this – self-motivation is really “mental work” – you need to believe in getting motivated to jump start your motivation.
2. Stimulate your desires.
Think about the rewards you can achieve when you have reached your goals, and try to find ways to stimulate your desires. Usually, students find themselves unmotivated to study because they do not know why they are studying for. However, if you make them realize the rewards of effective studying (good grades, monetary rewards from family *hint-hint to some parents* [I am joking, of course], etc.), they will find the motivation and will to study.
3. Know the potential bad consequences if you don’t motivate yourself to do good.
Basically, think about the potential bad consequences if you aren’t motivated to do something, like studying hard (example bad consequences would be earning bad grades or not getting into your dream college) or getting out of bed right when your alarm clock goes off (the potential bad consequence would be the possibility of being tardy to class and earning detention). Point is, why risk being in trouble or disappointed in yourself if you aren’t motivated?
4. Stay focused.
Knowing your goal and the rewards it will reap you will help you stay motivated. Whether if you’re looking to lose 5-10 pounds or earning all As, knowing the positive outcomes will help you stay focused longer than just mentally psyching yourself up.
5. Find a greater goal.
If you have to motivate yourself to do something that you dislike, but it needs to be done, focus on the greater goal. For example, students who don’t like to study. Ask yourself why you need to study, and if it will effect your life in a positive way. (Odds are, YES, studying does make your life better, but that’s kind of a “no-brainer” question.) Point is, if it’s something you need to do, but hate doing, realize that you are doing it for a greater good, and that will help you stay motivated while doing that particular task.
6. Take small steps.
This last suggestion is crucial to everyone because it will help you stay motivated by allowing you to take small steps towards your goal. Failure is an anti-motivation device for most people, and by taking small steps towards your goals, you’ll stay motivated at a higher rate because failure at a small step is not as detrimental as failure at a large step.
I hope you will find these self-motivation tips to be useful in your future endeavors. Even if you find only one or two helpful, know that you’re on your way to a better path.
