Almost everyone has experienced a time in their lives where motivation was a little, if not completely, depleted. Motivation is the strong desire to carry out an act with the goal of achieving some objective. It’s the driving force behind a lot of our decisions. Without motivation, people tend to approach certain tasks with dread and apprehension, making the process rather unenjoyable.
When we aren’t motivated to do something, it feels like we’re trying to push a concrete wall. The resistance seems so great that we may feel as though we don’t have the strength to persevere.
Where a Lack of Motivation Comes From
Women looking to boost motivation should first understand where these feelings usually originate from. In many cases, people who lack motivation discover that there are unhealthy sentiments and beliefs about one’s self lurking beneath the surface. And, these negative beliefs tend to find their origins in things like childhood trauma, bullying, domestic violence, and loss.
- Perceived failures
- Unsupportive parents
- Depression and anxiety
- Self-limiting beliefs
- A lack of quality sleep
- Tendency to procrastinate
- A lack of self-accountability
- Unrealistic expectations
- A stressful environment
- Low self-esteem
How to Get Motivated: 10 Tips for Women
In knowing the signs, we become more self-aware of our habits and thought processes. Once this self-realization has occurred, it’s time to heal. When we nurture and heal ourselves, we become a better version of ourselves. However, when we aren’t confident in who we are, we don’t feel as capable or motivated.
Here are 10 tips women can use to boost their motivation and stay motivated.
1. A Playlist of Motivating Songs
Music has the power to lift our spirits when other things fail to do the trick. Meaningful music has the ability to make us cry, smile, and get goosebumps. Having a to-go-to playlist of motivating songs helps us to get our minds in the right place.
Of course, everyone has a different taste in music. It’s good to recall music that makes us feel focused and inspired. Compile all these songs into a personal playlist. This playlist can be enjoyed in the shower or during a morning run to help set the mood for a productive day.
2. Make a Vision Board
Motivation can leave us when we don’t have a grasp on what we want. In a busy world, our minds can look just as hectic and cluttered. When we don’t have a good direction of where to go, things feel much more complicated. This lack of direction feels especially discouraging.
To alleviate this confusion and motivate one’s self, a woman should reflect on what she wants. In other words, what will bring her peace, fulfillment, and joy?
Once this is known, it helps to create a vision board with pictures representing the goals she has. Seeing this board every day will serve as a constant reminder and motivator on what’s to come if perseverance persists.
3. Identify and Remove the Root of Fear and Doubt
Self-doubt is a huge blockage. It’s also a cause of one’s lack of motivation. A person may unconsciously self-sabotage themselves from feelings of unworthiness and insecurity.
It’s vital to eradicate fear and doubt by identifying their origins. Much of what we believe comes from our experiences growing up. It’s interesting that we aren’t born believing we aren’t attractive or smart. These ideals are almost always imposed or projected on us. And, we have the tendency to believe them.
4. Seek an Adviser for Guidance
Having an advisory or guidance counselor helps a ton. Sometimes, we need to hear an outside voice of reason. Advisers have resources they provide us with to help us achieve our goals. It’s okay to ask for help. Having a support system helps us in our pursuit of self-improvement.
For example, a woman wants to write a book but isn’t motivated due to feeling overwhelmed. She can find encouragement and guidance by reaching out to marketers, writers, publishers, editors, etc. Asking for help takes a lot of pressure off of us, allowing us to see a clear path to achieving our goals.
5. Do Research
Self-knowledge boosts self-esteem. When we feel competent and capable, we feel prepared and motivated to take on the tasks before us. Women must invest in themselves, cultivate their skills, and develop their assets. Hence, it’s incredibly helpful to educate ourselves on the things we are interested in.
6. Review Your Progress
We should always take a moment and look at how far we’ve come. It’s known that people seldom take the time to review their success. Instead, there’s almost an immediate set of new goals and aspirations that follow after the completion of previous goals.
Reviewing our progress gives us a sense of accomplishment which boosts our confidence and self-efficacy.
7. Take a Cold Shower
Cold showers have a host of benefits for our mental, physical, and emotional health. While comfortable, hot showers oftentimes make us feel incredibly lethargic afterward, cold showers activate the sympathetic nervous system, allowing the body to release several stress hormones. We not only feel stress-free after a cold shower, but we also feel fresh, energized, and alert.
8. Speak Words of Encouragement
Negative self-talk is like having a crowd following us around telling us hurtful things to make us doubt ourselves. Many people relate to the influx of negative mental chatter. With this ongoing noise in the mind, it’s hard to think and perform at one’s highest potential.
To alleviate this kind of self-talk, one should fertilize their mind with positive words of encouragement.
9. Remove Negative Nancies
Just as we remove the negative voices that originate from ourselves, it’s equally important to remove the external voices of limitation, scarcity, and fear. It’s common for other people’s emotions to rub off on us. We may feel incredibly motivated one morning. However, as the day progresses, we might hear a slew of negative projections and complaints. Hour by hour, we witness the vibrant motivation and potential of the day begin to fade.
To get motivated, we have to remove negative people from our lives as these individuals have a direct influence on our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
10. Make Your Goals Known
To get motivated, making goals public can be of help. However, it’s important we don’t go telling everyone our dreams as they may not have the vision that we do. Sharing goals with a trusted, supportive friend is ideal. This establishes a sense of solidity and accountability.
Staying Motivated and Resilient in Trying Times
It’s one thing to try to be motivated during the good times, but difficult and challenging times can make it even more difficult. A lot of women have found themselves burned out and motivated since 2020 began. Here are some tips that can help during the not-so-easy times:
Complete Small Tasks
Getting motivated is like building muscles. Without proper conditioning, getting motivated can feel like trying to lift weights outside one’s fitness level. If a person struggles to lift 100 lbs, lifting 150 lbs won’t be a good option just yet.
Motivation is something to be fostered and increased over time. When we overshoot our goals, we end up failing and feeling disappointed as a result. To keep our motivation boosted, it’s important to set and achieve small tasks. We are more likely to achieve these smaller goals than a bunch of bigger goals. Thus, we experience consecutive success.
Listen to Motivational Speeches
Having a self-empowerment routine is important. We should all aim to have a daily routine that aims to establish motivation. Motivational speakers have a way of grabbing our hearts and minds. Finding a motivational speaker that resonates is definitely beneficial for staying inspired.
Look at the Bright Side
As cliche as it sounds, it’s always best to look at a cup as half full rather than half empty. Perspective is everything and it constitutes much of how we see the world. We can not control all the events of our lives. However, we can control how we respond to these events. Purposefully choose to look at the bright side.
Add More Humor to Your Days
Don’t take things so seriously. Being so serious can put a damper on things and make matters look much worse than it is. Just as we intend to lift our spirits by shifting our perspective, we should also shift our mood as well. And, what better way to do this than with some good ol’ humor?
Keep Your Environment Clean
Keeping a clean environment allows us to think clearly. When the environment is cluttered and disorganized, it’s harder for us to find things. Our environment is usually a direct representation of the environment within our minds and vice versa. When our environment is organized and clear, we think clearly.
Don’t Share Your Dreams and Plans with Everyone
The mind is very powerful. However, it is very sensitive at the same time, susceptible to negative influence. If a person is known to be dismissive and envious, then it is crucial that we not share our plans with them as they will not give us the support we seek. Instead, they may actually present as blockages.
Surround Yourself with Successful People
Having successful people around is a constant reminder of what we seek to become. People should aim to keep good company with individuals who can help give them guidance and resources. In doing this, there’s no peer pressure or negative influence from others.
Finding motivation can feel like a long, arduous process. However, once found, it’s like a spark of pure energy that inspires us to take action. Whether women aspire to accomplish their wildest dreams or succeed in completing their everyday tasks, these tips will help women to get motivated and stay motivated.
