Motivate yourself in 5 ways

Our lives are like the ECG lines that denote our heart rate. There are always ups and downs. It doesn’t matter where we live, our financial status, or our education; everyone goes through highs and lows.

We are motivated by success, happiness, and various other positive factors in our lives during the highs. However, during the lows, we start to doubt ourselves and our abilities. Sometimes, we may not receive the support from even our family and friends during such a time. Everything around us may appear to crumble, and every step we take would seem to pull us further down. At such a point we may feel demotivated and be afraid of taking a step toward our goals.

I have faced many such moments where I began doubting my abilities and strength to overcome adverse situations. I have tried different ways to raise my morale during these difficult times. Specific actions clicked, and voila, I was back to being the confident me again. I will share some of the things that worked for me.

Write down everything that is worrying you at this point. This may not motivate you but will help you offload everything from your mind onto paper and make space in mind to think clearly.

Meditate even if you find it hard. Do it for a week, and you will see improvement. It will calm your mind and push those demotivating thoughts out of your mind. It will remove the noises from your mind.

Think of a time in the past when you achieved something. It may be passing a difficult test or winning a crucial match in some sport. It may even be buying something you wanted for yourself or your loved ones. Remember the feeling you had when you achieved it, and also remember how you never thought it was possible. Memories of that event may give you a high, which can help you push yourself forward and re-instantiate the belief in yourself.

Picture your goal and put it on paper. Make a drawing of where you are now and where you want to reach. See it, believe it, and act on it. Stick that drawing on the wall across your bed, where you can wake up to it every day.

Lastly, this is something that has worked multiple times for me. I have a diary which has parting notes about me from my friends from school and college when we were about to leave the respective institutions. Reading through those makes me realize all the good qualities I have that people have mentioned in that diary. There are events supporting those qualities, and reading through them brings a smile and lifts my morale.

Bonus tip:

Talk to a friend or family member about it. They might be able to help you see things differently and also motivate you to keep trying for your goal.

While these are some things that have worked for me most of the time, they may be different for each of us. Let me know of anything that helped you motivate yourself in the comments. Let’s raise ourselves and everyone along with us.