Just Do It
To be clear, this article is not about Nike's famous slogan. It's about how to motivate yourself and find the drive to complete a task, whether it's going for a jog or finishing your work at the office.
...whatever it takes, whenever you need it.
This is the most important thing in life. It's a mantra we're all familiar with, but what does it really mean?
Do you work at a job that has little to no potential where you can't even see the end of the tunnel or find motivation to go forward?
So many people are okay with that because they're getting paid and put in a comfortable environment, but many others aren't. Either way, here's how to find motivation when you're stuck in the wrong situation.
1. Be Clear on What You Want to Achieve
If your goals are unclear, you'll probably be unable to achieve them. It sounds simple, but it's rarely done by humans. You've probably seen this before: parents who yell and punish their kids for doing bad, but never praise them for doing good. In the same fashion, if you don't know what your goal is, you won't be able to get there.
To find motivation, you should ask yourself: What do I want?
A lot of people don't know the answer and simply go with the flow. But this is a waste of time because you'll end up achieving nothing in your lifetime. So what do you really want? What's it going to take to get there? Write down a list of things that motivate you and use them as reminders on what you can achieve when times are tough.
2. Use Your Strengths to Find Strength
We're all different, so to make it motivate you, pick one thing you find yourself good at and learn how to do it better. You'll feel motivated when you know that something you're great at has the potential for success.
When things don't work out, are you going to be defeated? No. Because the people who are pressured are the ones who lose motivation the fastest. If you have a passion for something and know more about it, instead of feeling like crap because of a bad situation, use that fire as motivation to help push through things.
3. Find Something You Can Optimize and Improve
Every single day, there are hundreds of things to improve. You could be getting lost in the world of work, school or whatever you're doing at this moment. But instead of thinking about how bad it is, see it as a challenge you can take on to improve. Always look for ways to find improvement in life and deal with the challenges that come along with it.
4. Look Forward to Futures Possible
The best motivation comes from thinking about the future, even if it's going to be hard or uncomfortable at first. Think about how happy you'll feel when you reach your goals and what that will look like for your life.
If you're currently unhappy with where you're at, you'll never be motivated. So try to imagine how things can change for the better. If you can't see a change, start by changing your immediate action. Take one step towards your goal and make that a reality.
5. Remember When You've Already Succeeded If you've already achieved what you want, think back to that moment and remember how great it felt to know it was over and done with. It's hard to do sometimes because we're so used to thinking about the problems in front of us that we forget about the times we were successful in the past and how good it felt.
Embrace the good times because they'll make it easier to get through the bad times.
6. Find Something Reliable and Unchanging If you're feeling stressed or down, think about something that you can say will always be there for you: your friends, family or a certain TV show that keeps you going. Try finding something reliable and unadulterated to always remind you of how far you've come in life.
7. Allow Yourself to Go Through Your Stages Uncertainty is part of life, but many people push themselves to do things immediately because they don't want to wait around for it. The worst part is they're constantly going through a cycle of fear and uncertainty.
When you feel stuck in that part of life, the only way to get out is to embrace it. Before you know it, you'll be able to see the bigger picture. But you have to be patient with yourself and understand that this is something that happens to everyone as we grow older and move on in our lives.
8. Remember You Can Win With Hard Work Nobody else can do this for you except yourself. If there were shortcuts, then everyone would've done them by now. But there aren't any shortcuts when it comes to real success and accomplishment in life – there's just hard work, perseverance and patience.
Keep these 8 points in mind, and you'll be able to find motivation in any situation. They've helped countless others, and they can help you too. Use them as guides and reminders on how to stay motivated no matter what the world throws at you.
...whatever it takes, whenever you need it. - Nike
I'm sure the article title already caught your attention, but there's a lot more to it than some random slogan from a classic running shoe company.
This is the most important thing in life.
You're here now, reading this article. This was your first choice, and you made it as soon as possible. You found motivation in the past and used it to get through personal situations you thought were impossible to overcome.
It's time to change that.
Wake up every day with a clear mind and a smile on your face. If you're not smiling, make something that will make you happy: a cup of coffee, watching some TV or even something selfish such as going out for dinner with friends or family. Whatever it is, do it with full focus on the positive experience instead of what could possibly go wrong at any moment during the day.
Sure, there will always be negatives in life, but that's life. It can be a pretty hard thing to be around each and every day, but try not to let it bother you as much as you could. Your happiness is the key to staying motivated when things get tough. And don't forget:
When you're happy and smiling, your mind is free from worry, stress and confusion – it allows your body to relax and move forward at full power. You'll be able to make better decisions while following the mission of improving yourself everyday. The more you go through those daily decisions on a positive mindset, the more in control you'll feel and the more motivated you'll become.
Conclusion
It's hard to remember how you were able to be motivated when things were easy and the path in front of you was clear and full of positivity. But once you're faced with adversity, it's easy to get worried and start feeling inadequate for what's to come.
So don't feel bad about yourself if you can't remember how it felt before because it'll come back pretty soon. It might not be today or even next week, but once your mind goes through the tough situation enough times, it'll know exactly what to do.