Seven Key Strategies to Creating A Motivating Mindset

Staying focused on a goal or direction can be a challenging task if you are not adequately motivated. A motivated mind can accomplish anything it sets its focus on, and do so with ease.

Unfortunately, most people have a hard time sticking to their goals. Some procrastinate, get distracted, or abandon the entire project. So what can you do to help improve your persistence and intensity in accomplishing your objectives?

Motivating yourself is the answer. Motivation is what keeps you moving. It is the reviving feeling of progress that encourages us to keep aiming for the prize. Let’s take a look at seven simple methods you can use to create a motivated mindset and help yourself persevere until your goal is accomplished.

Planning ahead

A well-scheduled plan acts as a guide on the journey to your goal. It will help you navigate through the steps you will need to take to achieve what you desire. Planning enables you to root out the possible challenges you will encounter along the way. You can, therefore, plan for possible solutions or ideas through which you can take advantage of the obstacles.

A good plan should give you a sense of direction and a feeling of the grand scheme of things when you feel disheartened. A well laid out plan will inspire confidence that you can accomplish what you’ve set out to do, and that confidence will motivate you to keep going even when you encounter problems.

Setting milestones

Milestones are short term objectives that act as stepping stones towards the long term goals. Accomplishing milestones has been recognized as one of the most motivating factors by psychological experts.

Each time you finish a small task that takes you a step closer to the primary target, your brain releases dopamine. You, therefore, get a feeling of satisfaction and relief that you’ve made progress.

When you set on to work on the next phase, you will feel more invigorated and ready to take on it with rejuvenated spirits.

Deadlines

If you have a problem with procrastination, deadlines are a great way to motivate you to get things done. Setting personal deadlines keeps your mind on alert and thus ensures that it creates a sense of importance on the job at hand.

The idea is to convince your mind that failure to finish the task in time will result in consequences. This makes your mind restless, and the more you think about the job, the more likely you are to do it just to get it over with.

Minimizing distractions

Sometimes distractions are the reason we don’t feel motivated to do something. You may be sitting at your desk, ready to start or continue with your work, but the frequent flashes of your phone or sounds from the TV could be stealing your attention.

To reduce the chances of getting distracted, create an environment where you can concentrate on your work. Clear away any clutter on your desk, turn off the TV or unhelpful background music and switch off the notifications of individual apps on your phone. You will be surprised at how much you will be motivated to work on your project when nothing distracts you from it.

Choosing a reward

Rewarding yourself is important, but selecting the kind of bonus you get is even more crucial to motivating yourself. You can opt to have similar rewards after every milestone you accomplish or have a mega-prize at the end of the entire project.

However, the best approach is a gradual improvement in the type of reward you get with each milestone. These celebratory gifts should be things you like or enjoy doing. The more personalized they are, the more motivated you will be to put in the effort to get them.

Giving yourself purpose

Working towards a goal is not enough. You should feel a sense of direction on why you are trying so hard to reach that target.

Purpose helps you answer the question, ‘why am I doing this?’

For instance, if you are saving to buy a car, you should ask yourself questions like “Why do I need a car?” and “What will I use my car for?”

The instance you answer that question, you will have a reason to motivate yourself to do better and increase your efforts on what you want to accomplish.

Visualizing your success

Take a moment and imagine what would it be like after you’ve accomplished the goal you set. How does it feel? Can you feel the excitement of looking back and seeing how far you came? What about the benefits that you will finally enjoy?  Such thoughts boost your motivation and push you to give more so that you get to enjoy those imaginations in real life.

Motivation isn’t accidental; you have to create it yourself. And once you do – anything is possible!