35 Motivation Strategies When Discouraged

We are living in very challenging times. Our current living situations are not typical right now. We can even say a new normal is occurring. The stories and discussions on the news and online are heartbreaking. Our lives are forever changed because of this pandemic. The long term effects, we will know with time.

I know for me, I was discouraged for a while. I was demotivated. I did not want to do anything related to my business. I just did not have the energy. I was worried and unsure about what the future holds. I had to turn my energy and attention to preparing my family for a possible lockdown. It did not come as a surprise when it was announced. I knew it was just a matter of time.

Why the demotivation? Was it burnout? Or is it the uncertainty?

I know I had things to accomplish, and I needed to use this time productively. So how do I motivate myself to start reworking on my business?

It is essential to validate my feelings and understand why I am feeling like this so I can address it accordingly and appropriately. I needed to go back from the very beginning.

What was my motivation then? What was my intense desire or need, what was my end goal? How bad did I want it then?

I also know that without motivation, my willpower is the only solution. I recognize that I need to do this, and I need just to do it. I need to power my will to resist the temptation of procrastination. I need to will my mind to override unwanted thoughts of sadness, feelings of worry, or impulse just to do nothing. Reigning my willpower, controlling my mindset, then remembering my passion and purpose.

35 Motivation Strategies

1. Take a break. Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep makes you more moody, emotional, and tempered. If not corrected, it can lead to anxiety and depression.

2. Take a deep breath. It is not just relaxing, but manifest physical defects like slowing your heart and lowering blood pressure.

3. Reach out to a friend. Talk, vent. It is cathartic.

4. Exercise. Just move. Physical activity produces endorphins, which are chemicals in the brain that acts as natural painkillers. It improves your mood.

5. Remember your “why.” It comes from within you, and it comes with a feeling that will compel you to work. It will drive you to pursue it. No excuses. Motivation flows from what we value.

6. Create your vision board. It brings to life what your heart and heart desires. Have it visible in your office or your work area.

7. Write your plan on a wall with a timeline. You would list your goals and the events in the order that it needs to happen.

8. Just start. Simple but powerful. All great things started with one move, one step.

9. Commit to one task at a time. You accomplish more, and you are less stressed. Doing too many things leads to overwhelm, which causes stress and exhaustion.

10. Divide your tasks into manageable small chunks. Breaking big tasks into smaller ones and complete them in sequence. A massive amount of work can be daunting, which can immobilize you.

11. Have short term goals and small tasks. Focus on what needs to be done now, the current 24 hours. Tomorrow will have its own cares.

12. Drink or have a healthy snack. Rejuvenate your body, so you have the energy to do and think clearly. You stay alert, not groggy or sleepy.

13. Motivate yourself by imagining the end goal. Feel the feeling of accomplishment.

14. Motivate yourself by saying positive affirmation out loud.

15. Meditate. An over-stimulated mind will drain you mentally and physically. You need to clear your mind. Open up your heart and mind.

16. Get inspiration by watching, listening, reading, motivating videos, music, and books.

17. Get an accountability partner. When you share your goals to a partner, and what actions you need to take, they help, support, and push you.

18. Get a mentor. Having a mentor can help you direct your efforts and know what and where to spend your time, money, and energy to meet your goals. They’re good motivators.

19. Turn off the television. Watching TV provides a momentary escape and caters to distraction and procrastination. Limit it, and do not allow yourself to be glued to it. You can still watch the news because you need to be aware of what is going on and how situations are going to affect you and your family.

20. Be positive, be optimistic. You choose to look at the bright side of things that allow you to enjoy life and take everything in stride.

21. Look at your life and your blessings and be grateful. “I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.” – Mahatma Gandhi

22. Surround yourself with hard-working, positive people. You’re the average of all the people who surround you.

23. Stay calm. Go into nature. Being in nature lifts any feeling of heaviness. It has healing powers by slowing us down, we become present, aware, and we relax. “A walk in nature walks the soul back home”. – Mary Davis

24. Watch funny movies or do laughing exercises. Laughter is essential for health and productivity. Laughter helps you stay motivated, personally, and professionally.

25. Do your passion. Find your purpose. Your purpose and passion are your motivation. The reason why something is done, why something exists. Your reason to get up in the morning. Your purpose and passion dictate and guide your actions, and the intensity of the feeling associated with your passion and purpose will dictate your tenacity, persistence, and consistency. When you find your passion and purpose, you are self-motivated, not relying on people. We have the focus, and we are not easily distracted. We have a no hell or high water attitude.

26. Cultivate good habits. Habits are our routines. They are the daily actions that we do every day from the time we wake up until we rest and sleep at night. Most of them do without even thinking. Habits are so ingrained in our lives that they can either be a motivator, gives encouragement to they can be detractors, drain, or demotivators—good habits or controlling our habits so they are actions that contribute to achieving our goals. Good habits enable you. They magnify the momentum of your motivation.

Jim Rohn says, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”

My favorite saying concerning habits and how they impact our success or failure is by Margaret Thatcher, “Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we think we become.”

27. Take life in stride. Do not overreact to whatever it is that is going in your life. You push yourself out of the situation and look at the situation from the outside. See, when you look at things from the outside, you have a better perspective. You see everything, the whole thing, not just parts and pieces. But if you think with yourself in the picture, your mind is limited to your thoughts and feelings at the moment, which is subjective and self-limiting.

28. Rewards yourself. Celebrate your successes. Any reward, big or small, is a motivator. Your brain releases dopamine, a chemical that makes you feel good and happy. As a result, you become more motivated and driven to do more. We feel energized and motivated.

29. Remove distractions. We must shut out everything that interferes with our motivation to achieve a goal, reach our highest potential. Lock-in, focus, and get the job done.

30. Evaluate and track your progress based on your timeline.  Set a time to assess our activities periodically. Look at the numbers. So we can adjust accordingly. Good numbers are a good motivation to keep going, not so good numbers should motivate you to find new solutions, think of the what, why, where, who, and how of it. Evaluation helps us identify areas for improvement and ultimately help you realize your goals more efficiently.

31. Write your goals and a to-do list as a checklist. As you finish goals and tasks, check them off. Doing this gives you a feeling of accomplishment, which spurs you to keep going.

32. Focus on the current task—schedule time. According to Wikipedia, A schedule or a timetable, a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are intended to take place. Scheduling effectively leads to greater success, which motivates you more.

33. Stay consistent and persistent. “Permanence, perseverance, and persistence despite all obstacles, discouragement, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.” — Thomas Carlyle

Triumph comes to those who are consistent and persistent. Be relentless and undeterred.

34. Know your abilities, talents, and potential. Lou Holtz said,” Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. Motivation is the internal drive that makes you exercise your abilities. Attitude is the mental state you have while you are doing your abilities.

35. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Doing more of what you are good at can have an immediate effect on your work motivation. But knowing your weaknesses is important so you can address them and not ignore them. If you know you’re not good with this, get somebody who is. Know that you cannot be good at everything, and do not let that demotivate you. When you clearly understand your weaknesses, you become resourceful. You make better decisions, you have more successes, and you become more motivated to do more.

My Reason for Doing, My Motivation

I had to take a break and give myself time to take all of it in, process, and recenter. I had to rejuvenate my mind, body, and spirit. I had to go back from the very beginning. Go back to my why.

When you figure out, you’re why, the next is to just restart or take action. You will yourself, mustering up your willpower to keep going. Staying persistent and consistent with small goals and small tasks is the road to greater goals and successes.

Be clear on what you want so you can design the right path and steer properly. We need to be positive and do actions that would lead to small successes because these small successes are what gives us the motivation to keep going.

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