How To Increase Motivation: 10 Powerful Steps

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Sometimes you may feel unfocused, and your motivation is lower than ever. It happens to all of us at one point or another, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t get motivated again! Here are ten things that you can start working on right away to regain your motivation and increase your happiness and productivity:

1.  Focus on Your Accomplishments

One of the most significant factors that can negatively affect your motivation level is how you measure your success. Rather than thinking about how far away you are from a current goal, try to realize what you have accomplished to get you where you are today. It can be challenging to step back and see the big picture, so focus on your specific achievements, which can increase your motivation, productivity, and overall happiness. You will feel your best when you start visualizing these specifics and using them to measure and achieve your dreams.

2.  Giving, Not Just Getting

Many people focus too much on themselves, rather than the world around them. What do I get out of this? How will this help me? While it is vital to take care of yourself, it is just as important to think about the people around you, and how your actions affect them. By helping, serving, and being conscious of the world around you, it becomes easier to focus on giving rather than receiving. Not only does this help the population in general, but it also gives you a feeling of pride and a sense of purpose, which is an excellent way to stay motivated towards your goals.

3. Set Meaningful Goals

One key factor in staying motivated is to set and work toward meaningful goals for yourself. By continually focusing on achieving these goals, you are training your brain to realize what is important. Remember, these objectives are solely for you; if you start to compare your wants and progress against others, it can be demotivating. Your goals should be meaningful, positive, and desirable. They should benefit you without harming anyone else and be somewhat challenging. Utilize basic, useful plans to increase your wellbeing and motivation.

4.  Reward Yourself

By setting goals that have measurable results, you can easily track your progress, which is a great way to stay motivated. When you can see the progress you’ve achieved towards a final objective, it motivates and inspires you, and you'll probably feel happier. The best practice is to stay in the present; don’t worry about what happened in the past, and try not to look too far ahead into the future. A great way to keep the motivation flowing is to reward yourself when you hit milestones of your goal. Think positively about what you have achieved, not how much progress is left to go, and reward yourself with little luxuries as you advance towards success.

5.  Get Creative

Visualization is another great way to increase your self-motivation to achieve your goals and dreams. Think about what you want to achieve and how you can get to that point. Focus on how you want to work towards a goal, and imagine the positive outcomes. Vision boards are an easy, do-it-yourself project that can help you stay motivated and driven. Create a poster, and start with an image of yourself in the center. Surround your photo with pictures of things that motivate you, things that make you happy, and anything that represents your future vision. Take a look at your vision board when you feel demotivated; it’s sure to give you the boost that you need to keep going!

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6.  Simplify Your Life and Goals

You can simplify your life and goals by having creative plans. By cutting out activities that don’t contribute to your happiness or motivational ends, you can focus your energy and attention on the goals that are important to you. Having fewer projects going at one time allows you to maintain a distinct, clear objective to work towards. A straightforward way to achieve this is to combine a list of your small tasks and find a way to consolidate them into one activity. Working on these little things simultaneously helps you stay focused, motivated, and feeling accomplished.

7.  Develop A New Habit

Starting new, positive habits is a great way to increase your motivation level and productivity. The keys to developing, maintaining, and improving these habits are consistency and repetition. By constantly reinforcing a new routine, it becomes almost an automated reflex, allowing for near-constant development and improvement. Spending a small amount of time every day working towards a habit that will help you meet your goals is an excellent way to increase your motivation. One tiny improvement each day adds up quickly over time; decide what skills you want to improve and keep at them!

8.  Be Thankful

By expressing gratitude for the things that you already have, you can be less fixated on other people’s achievements and have more motivation to work towards your own goals. Having a positive attitude and being grateful for the things in your life can increase your energy and overall wellbeing. It’s not always easy to do, and it takes active thinking to truly be thankful. Try not to think about what someone can do for you, but how that person makes you feel. Expressing gratitude can sharpen your creativity and increase your motivation. What are you grateful for today?

9. Energize Yourself (motivational movies/books/etc.)

Energy plays a large part in your motivation level. When you are excited or pumped up to do something, you’re much more likely to start on it right away and see the task through to the end. High energy levels produce confidence and motivation. Try to find what motivates and energizes you, whether it's watching a motivational movie, reading a book, or listening to a speaker talk about a skill you want to improve. Try to commit a little bit of time each day to what gets you excited. Are you looking for a natural way to get energized? Try Magic Mind for a shot of productivity!

10.  Watch Your Self-Talk

What does your inner voice sound like in your head? The odds are that you are your biggest critic. People are usually much tougher when analyzing themselves than when looking at others. One of the most significant ways to motivate yourself is to keep thinking positive thoughts. Instead of beating yourself up because you haven’t met a goal yet, focus on what you’ve worked on to succeed. Thinking in phrases like “I can’t” creates a self-fulfilling prophecy; if you tell yourself you can’t do something, you’ll probably believe it. Think positively, with a can-do attitude, and your motivation will soar.

Try out some of these tips today and see what works best for you to keep your motivation levels up. If you spend a little bit of time each day focusing on how to achieve your goals and dreams, you’ll be feeling motivated and accomplished in no time!

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