Momentum and Motivation: Six Strategies That Give You an Edge

The old adage “slow and steady wins the race” is actually sometimes true. The tortoise in the story of the tortoise and the hare won the race not because he was the smartest, smallest, or even wittiest. He won the race due to his laser-focus on the end result: the goal line.

If you struggle to keep momentum and motivation during your own quest to achieve a goal, you’re not alone!

Even though plateaus, setbacks, and relapses are completely normal when it comes to life-changing goals, there are many things you can do to keep your internal fire stoked on the journey.

Here are some strategies that can help you maintain your momentum and motivation:

1. Take action daily. This is the single best step you can take to further your momentum. Taking action ensures that you’re making progress, no matter how small. Even if you don’t know exactly what action you’ll be taking, just do something, anything, to further yourself.

For example, If you want to lose weight, it’s important to burn more calories than you take in each day. If you want to grow your business, review business growth materials.

2. Find motivational nuggets. Take a few minutes?each day to read something inspiring, whether it’s motivational quotes or affirmations, to keep your confidence going. Motivational quotes that inspire you can help transcend your mindset away from the daily grind and onto things that are bigger than yourself!

3. Check your progress. If you’re feeling stuck or like you’re not moving forward, review the goal you’re working towards. Check on your progress each day. Think positively about how close you are to the goalpost rather than how far you are from it.

4. Talk to someone. Find another person who has already achieved goals similar to the ones on which you’re working. For example, if your goal is to build a business, find another small business owner, an entrepreneur, or another like-minded individual who has been in your shoes. Extract all the wisdom, advice, and helpful tidbits that you can from hearing their story.

5. Plan your week. Scheduling time to work on things related to your goals is critical. We use schedules for everything in our lives, so make sure to block out time to work on your personal goals too.

6. Reward yourself. Small rewards have been shown to motivate everyone - from kids to older adults. Rewards act as positive reinforcement, and even affirmation of a job well done. When we’re being rewarded, we tend to continue pressing on toward our goals.

These are just a few of the things that we can do on a regular basis to keep motivated and ensure that we’re continually making progress.

?The key word is “progress.” If we’re taking some action or doing even just one thing on a daily basis that furthers us along in our goals, we’ll feel better about ourselves and be able to keep that momentum.

Other things that we can do on a regular basis to keep momentum and motivation alive are to write in a journal, listen to inspiring talks, join a support group related to our goals, spend a few minutes in quiet meditation on our life’s purpose, or even posting daily reminders.

The more alive that we can make our goals, the more inspired and motivated we’ll be to take action and achieve them.