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How to Stay Motivated!

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By Michael WiggePublished about a year ago 4 min read
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How to stay motivated in difficult times!

For years, our society has been experiencing many changes. This can present challenges for many of us, especially when it comes to self-motivation. Many of my coaching clients turn to me to help them increase their motivation to work and stay resilient and positive.

Here are my top 5 strategies for self-motivation that I think are particularly applicable:

1) Set goals: Goal setting is an important tool for increasing motivation. By setting goals for the future, we usually shift our attention from the here and now to the future and look forward to the goal we are trying to achieve.

Goals can be set as

- Professional goals

- Financial goals

- Social goals in the sense of improving friendships and relationships

- Personal development goals such as improving one's motivational skills

- Recreational goals such as planning a vacation

- Health-related goals

Goals can be set in these areas of life and divided into short-, medium-, and long-term goals. Medium- and long-term goals can often change over time, which is fine. But if you set them, it helps a lot to increase motivation during difficult times.

2) Define goals clearly: failed attempts to set goals are often due to a lack of definition. The more clearly defined the goals are, the greater the chance of achieving them.

The SMART model is a common goal-setting tool that helps you define and redefine the goals you set.

- S stands for "specific." You are basically reviewing how specific your goals are.

- M stands for "measurable." Are your goals measurable, e.g., "increase salary by 20%"?

- A stands for "attractiveness." This is important to ensure that you are eager and passionate about your goal.

- R is for "realistic", which is important to check if your goal can be realistically achieved

- T stands for "time-bound," e.g., "a 10-day vacation in July."

Once you have clearly defined your goals, your motivation will immediately increase!

3) Time management: Home office can mean freedom and flexibility these days. But it can also mean developing your best self-management skills. Without the fixed structure of the office, employees need to know their most important time management tools to stay motivated:

- Schedules with breaks and buffers. Often a daily, weekly and monthly schedule helps to plan ahead. I personally mix analog and digital schedules to get the best results.

- Track down time-wasters: time-wasters can play a big role in working from home: Social media, overflowing emails, too many digital meetings and lack of boundaries between work and family are just a few.

- Setting boundaries is very important to reduce stress, increase motivation and keep the workload reasonable. A gentle and polite "no" with a reason and a solution can make a big difference!

- Avoid procrastination: Breaking a project into many small steps and focusing on each step can help you overcome any form of procrastination and increase your motivation!

- Prioritize. I always ask myself at the beginning of a workday: what are my most important and urgent tasks and which of the less important ones can I set limits on?

4) Cardio Training. I'm a runner myself and when I'm feeling stressed or unmotivated, 10 kilometers of trail running here in Colorado usually changes the rest of my day! I always feel relieved and pretty happy afterwards. Many studies have proven that endorphin and serotonin production in our bodies during endurance exercise is an important aspect of feeling instantly motivated and stress-free.

5) Stress Management. The connection between motivation and stress management is huge. How are you supposed to feel motivated when you're almost burned out? There are many strategies to manage your stress.

I've already mentioned working out, time management, and most importantly, setting boundaries to reduce stress. However, increasing your own resilience seems to be the most effective.

I usually look at the seven-pillar model of resilience with my clients. Each of these seven pillars can be improved, and believe me, if you manage to do at least well with all seven, you will find it hard to be stressed and very easy to be motivated:

1) Solution focus: How quickly do you focus on the solution rather than the problem?

2) Planning for the future: how many future plans and goals do you have?

3) Acceptance of the unchangeable: How well can you accept important circumstances?

4) Self-regulation techniques: Do you have tools to regulate motivation and stress?

5) Networking: How good are you as a networker?

6) Self-responsibility: How well do you master the art of taking responsibility for your own happiness and challenges?

7) Realistic optimism: How much optimism do you have?

I would rank all seven aspects of resilience on a scale of 0 to 10. 0 means low and 10 means perfect. Anything below 5 requires your attention and can be adjusted.

With these five motivational aspects, difficult times usually turn into motivated times with good prospects.

Which of these five motivational aspects appeals to you the most so you can really hit the ground running today?

More motivation on my English and my German motivational sites. Best, Michael

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About the Creator

Michael Wigge

Motivational speaker and coach based in Colorado. Happy to get in touch with you!

Michael belongs to Top Speakers in Europe and to is one of the leading motivational speakers in Houston and nationwide in the US. My wikipedia and my Facebook

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