It’s winter—the sun is hardly out, it’s snowing across most of the East Coast and you probably just want to stay inside and snuggle under a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate. Guess what—you’re not the only one! Stacey Gawronski, senior editor and write from The Muse, shares some easy ways to motivate yourself to work hard—even when you just don’t want to.
Don’t think of it as hard work: “There is only one way for me to motivate myself to work hard: I don’t think about it as hard work. I think about it as part of making myself into who I want to be.” – Marie Stein
Try not to think about your day-to-day tasks as tedious and boring (even if some actually are)—rather, think of them as small pieces of a bigger puzzle that is helping you on your career path. This will energize you, rather than drag you down.
Create small goals: Having big, lofty goals can be overwhelming. In order to achieve those big goals, we need to piece them out into “bite-sized” daily, weekly and monthly goals. Think of donut holes versus a whole donut—it’s much easier to eat a dozen of the smaller pieces, don’t you think?
Read daily: Reading everyday will streamline your thought process, inspire you daily and also help you unwind from every day stress.
Stop caring about things that don’t matter: Make a list of things you want to accomplish each day. Now, go over that list to see which of those action items matter and which don’t. Sometimes, we just do things that are unnecessary, time consuming and even demotivating. Find these weeds in your day and remove them ASAP.
Set a quit time: It’s almost impossible to stay motivated 24/7. Everybody needs rest and relaxation. Carve out a specific time in each day to unplug and relax—or just walk around the block for a few minutes. It’s likely that when you come back from a break, you’ll find yourself more motivated and energized.
And finally… Just do it! As soon as you set a goal, get at it. Waiting around for the perfect time or for motivation or for help will only set you back. Dive in and trust that your inspiration will help you through the project.
Stay warm, stay motivated! For more, read the full article here.
Thanks for reading, and until next time… stay WISE!
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