Workplace pressure pulling you down? Here are some ways to stay motivated!
A lot of times, you find yourself in situations where you end up feeling that no matter how hard you work, it is never going to be enough. Work keeps piling up, and you cannot see the end of it. In such times, you need to be motivated and push through if you want to fulfil your dreams. Here are some helpful tips that can keep you motivated at the right times.
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Remember your goal and keep every minute detail in sight
You need to feel it, see it and even hear the sounds that will accompany the end result. All top athletes visualise how they are going to perform ahead of time, even up to minute details like how the sweat running down their faces while they cross the finish line would smell. Although you need not go that far initially, visualise what success looks like to you and work towards it.
Prepare a list of reasons why you want to accomplish these goals
In today’s busy and distracting world, it’s very easy to get blown off course. This is exactly why you need to ground yourself in the goal you have set for yourself. It would help if you connect with your aim more by writing it down on a piece of paper. In this way, you will engage your brain more with your aim.
Break the goal into smaller targets and set rewards for achieving them
This phenomenon is popularly known as “chunking”. Tony Robbins, author and motivational speaker, says: “A major source of stress in our lives comes from the feeling that we have an impossible number of things to do. If you take on a project and try to do the whole thing all at once, you’re going to be overwhelmed.”
It involves breaking the big goal down to small, realistic targets and focusing on one target at a time. Studies in neuroscience have found out that each and every small success will trigger the brain’s reward centre, where dopamine is released which makes you feel good.
Keep a strategy ready, but also be prepared to change course
Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
Get the help you need
Even if you are capable of completing your task alone, there is always an inherent value in sharing your plan. This is the same reason why people get married in front of witnesses. When you announce your intentions, it will send a strong message to the world and more importantly to your subconscious. We also often tend to overestimate our abilities. On the other side, we need to be selective as to whom we disclose our intentions and plans to and whom to ask for help.
Plan for how you are going to deal with flagging motivation
It is almost inevitable that at some point on the way, because of sheer exhaustion or temporary setbacks, you will be in need of a confidence boost. At this point, think of the hardships others have gone through in order to get where they are now. You need to end the pity party before it even begins.
Keep checking in with your reasons for carrying on
Steve Jobs once said, “I think most people that are able to make a sustained contribution over time — rather than just a peak — are very internally driven. You have to be. Because, in the ebb and tide of people’s opinions and of fads, there are going to be times when you are criticised, and criticism’s very difficult. And, so when you’re criticised, you learn to pull back a little and listen to your own drummer. And, to some extent, that isolates you from the praise, if you eventually get it, too. The praise becomes a little less important to you and the criticism becomes a little less important to you, in the same measure. And, you become more internally driven.”
Keeping the above points in mind, you will be ready to pursue a long-term goal and stay motivated along the course.
