5 Cool Ways To Motivate Yourself

Life has a way of pushing all of us to our limits. Last week I was overwhelmed with the stressors of my personal life, work, and school and found it very difficult to concentrate on my goals. I realized that if I wanted to be successful I needed to learn how to stay motivated regardless of the hurdles that life threw at me.

In Psychology, there are various separate theories to explain what motivates people. This complexity means we are all unique in what motivates us. However, after last week I wanted to explore new tricks I could use to motivate myself. After doing some digging I came up with 5 new tricks that I hope to implement in my everyday life.

Surround Yourself With Green

 Studies have found that colors have a way of bringing out certain emotions or feelings in people. For example the color red is associated with attractiveness and danger. This is why often times in advertising we see a lot of red imagery in car ads, or in beauty ads. Green on the other hand is scientifically known to spark creativity and motivation. Surrounding yourself with green will subconsciously help you boost your creativity and motivation.

Feed Your Sweet Tooth

How many of you remember in elementary school, when your teacher would reward students who participated with candy? Do you remember how desperately you would shoot your hand up to have a chance at winning that candy? Candy and sweets are scientifically known to release dopamine, which triggers the reward center of your brain. Candy and sweets are also known to be a mild anti depressant. I’m sure all of you know somebody who loves to eat ice cream when they are depressed. Well, sweets like ice cream are known to have anti-depressing affects, which can help bring about overall happiness. Studies have shown that using sweets as a reward has a significantly positive affect on overall task motivation.

Find Inspirational Mentors and Leaders

Life is a journey that no one can travel alone. With all the different opportunities and paths to choose from it’s easy to feel lost or overwhelmed. Having a mentor to direct you and motivate you could be the factor leading to a successful life aimed towards your goals. We naturally look to our leaders in life as examples on how to lead our own lives. Surrounding yourself with motivational leadership in your everyday life will help you push yourself in every aspect of life, and reach overall success.

 Meditate

Everyday our brains are constantly bombarded with unneeded noise that clouds our thoughts. Meditation is an age-old method used by multiple civilizations to both clear the mind, and promote a healthy mental state. Just taking 10 minutes out of each day to meditate will help strengthen your focus to achieve your goals.

How do you start meditating?

I started meditating at the beginning of this year after reading about it’s various positive affects. There are an abundance of apps and tools out there to help foster your meditation skills. My favorite app is called Headspace.

Headspace is an app created to change the way we think about meditation. Headspace is extremely easy to use, and teaches you the tricks to mindful meditation in a fun way. Headspace starts with a beginner 10-step program that will successfully teach you the basics of meditation. After completing the beginner program, you have the option to selecting new programs to achieve your various mental and meditation related goals.

After about two months of consistent meditation I can truly say that I can feel the change within myself. Meditation has helped me achieve an elevated state of focus, as well as an overall feeling of happiness. I feel more in control of my goals. I also feel as I have the tools to tangibly attain them.

 When All Else Fails Stay Optimistic

The biggest motivator is a positive outlook on life. You can’t always control everything that life throws at you, however something you can control is your attitude. Scientists have found a correlation between optimism and success. In order to stay motivated toward your own personal goals, you need to maintain a forward thinking attitude to match it.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller