Demotivated? Tips for staying in the zone and performing at a top level

We know that self-motivation is vital for being successful in anything we do - at work, at home or anywhere we happen to be. Many times we have every intent to stay committed to task and keep our motivation level high as we fight through trials and tribulations, but sometimes life gets in the way.?

Every day, unexpected events and situations come at us out of nowhere. And depending on how we react to them, these events can throw us off balance for the rest of the day or sometimes the rest of the week or longer. The situation can be even more compounded in the post-COVID environment where many more of us are working from home on a daily basis. Without the long commute to attend to every day, many of us have replaced that time with other important, yet time-zapping activities that contribute to the feeling that we just don’t have enough “time,” which can make us feel frustrated, unproductive, and/or ineffective.?

Fortunately, there are a variety of things you can do to help avoid this happening and it starts with making the most of every waking moment. Here are some tips from Coach David to increase your motivation:?

1. Set specific goals. A big reason for feelings of demotivation comes from not having a clear line of sight into where we want to go, how we’re going to get there and when we’re going to have it accomplished by. Why do you wake up each morning and go to work in your current role and complain about career stagnation if you’ve not done anything beyond the basics to make yourself a compelling candidate for a promotion? With that in mind, what would you like your life to look like in the next year or two? Why do you want it to look that way??

●?????Asking questions like these helps you gain clearer insights about where you want to head, why it is important to you and what you plan to do about it. Sometimes you may need help from a friend, mentor, coach or advisor to help you better understand your path, but once you have answers to these questions, you can finally set the goals that are right for you. New goals can create new motivations, excitement and passion for your future.?

1. Avoid comparing yourself to others. People know that we are all imperfect by nature, yet they forget this when they compare themselves to others. Why does a person think that their success in their life and career journey has to look exactly the same as someone else’s journey? We each bring different qualifications, knowledge, skills, abilities, passions, intent, capabilities, fire and clarity to the equation, so the more comparisons we make, the more potential for stress and depression we create because of it.?

●?????Instead of comparing yourself to others, try imagining what your life will be like when you achieve your own established goals. Let others chase you on your success journey! This approach can help you eliminate the endless lists and mental comparisons that may hinder your progress and motivation.?

1. Wade through your struggles. Everyone has challenges in their lives, so it's natural to have negative thoughts and emotions creep in and directly effect our headspace and immediate actions. Instead of abandoning your goals, double down on your commitment to accomplishing them, so that as you incrementally complete each one and take it off of your “To Do” list, you can give yourself the “Scooby Snack” pat on the back you deserve and enjoy your successes one by one.?

●?????Your challenge may feel like a huge obstacle, but giving up on your goals and dreams is a much bigger deal. Remember why you started. Recognize that results don't come instantly and find unique ways to stay motivated and keep working toward your goals. If you get stuck, again, reach into your network to find a helpful and trusted thought partner that can help you remain focused and accountable to yourself. But make sure you don’t choose the person who is going to tell you how great of a job you are doing with everything. Select that person who isn’t afraid to tell you that you have mustard on your shirt and will hold your feet to the fire when necessary.?

1. Let your choices differ from the past. Everyone hates change, but it is one of the most constant and consistent phenomena in our lives. But many times, that change we’re facing is exactly what we need to shift our focus from being mired in where we’re standing “right now” and allows us to see broader and bigger horizons. You don't always have to make immediate and/or significant changes to your life. Many times, you can make incremental small changes that lead to substantial results.?

●?????For example, you may be scheduled to go to an upcoming conference where you know there will be a ton of professionals in your career field and the event is known as one of the best places to network. However, you’re a natural introvert who is not comfortable in group settings like this and your tendency is to shy away into the corner and not meet anyone. Remember: your results will follow your decisions, so make sure you make better and different choices to produce a different outcome. ?

●?????Why not challenge yourself to move from the corner of the room into the exact center, since the likelihood of everyone in the room walking past the center at least once is very high. Scan the room and choose just one individual to introduce yourself to based on something you might admire, such as the color of their suit, style of their shoes, or even the lapel pin that shows s/he went to your alma mater. Lean into that uncomfortable feeling you have in that moment and just say hello. Once you’ve done it and realize the person didn’t bite you and that it felt pretty good to meet her/him, and hopefully it has motivated you to do it again…and again…and again.?

1. Embrace your mistakes. We all make mistakes. Even when you're doing something right, sometimes you will still make an error. It happens. Just be sure mea culpa with the right people, learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward. Realize that mistakes are as natural to humans as breathing.?

●?????Even the most successful people have made poor or misinformed decisions at one time or another. And the truth is, mistakes help us to grow as we learn. They allow us to learn new skills and improve our behaviors. So instead of dwelling on your mistakes and diving into the demotivation abyss of feeling like you can’t do anything right, evaluate them and think about what you did well. Take credit for and enjoy the success of what went well and commit and motivate yourself to not repeating the error again in the future. ?

Regardless of how hard you try, we all go through periods of time where it’s hard to stay motivated on our intended goals. However, the key to staying motivated is to focus on the big picture and look deeper within the situation to pull out the good, shed the bad and never stop leaning into your continued forward progress.?

While it's true that you may never reach some of your aspirational goals, if you focus on the possibilities and work hard to meet them, you can still achieve most of your dreams no matter how difficult they may be.?

If you need some assistance with creating or sustaining your motivation with any situation related to your future career success, working with a coach can be a tremendous way to overcome the real or perceived barrier that is keeping you stagnant.?

Visit www.1988strategies.com for a FREE coaching consultation and let’s co-create the action plan and strategies to help you continue to be successful on your career journey.