They say it takes 21 days to change a Habit. But you need the Motivation to change said habit for your goal from day 1. That means you have to keep and use this motivation for the next 20 days after deciding to make a change for the better.

This is the reason most people will fail at changing a bad habit. It’s easy to start out with motivation but it’s not so easy to keep it, especially for someone who has failed to in the past. This is a learned behavior that has to be broken. But how can a person break a bad habit when they learned first how to keep it and then how to not stay Motivated when they tried to change it. Our everyday thoughts and habits affect us and the amount of motivation we have more than we think they do. What we have learned to do has been ingrained in us for days, week, and even most times years. So how do we go about making a change to get better be better or accomplish a goal we have in mind? I have a few tips that have actually worked for me in the past and are still working for me today. I am going to share these with you.

First, motivation takes time.

Huh? Sounds strange right?

It does and it is but it’s true. It takes time to master the art of motivation and yes, it’s an art. It’s a sort of habit in itself. You can always start out raring to go and pumped up to accomplish your goals but it usually dies down after a few days and up to a week and there is a reason for that. You not only have to have the initial motivation to start something you have to keep that motivation for the long run too. You have to keep trying at it to get it right and keep it consistent. It won’t magically come to you the first time you try, just as with anything. You have to practice it. It has to become ingrained in your thoughts and your mind just as your habit did and does. Then you have to keep feeding it new motivation every day.

I have had numerous times already that I have told myself I was just going to stop writing on my blog because its time consuming especially when I already have four small children, a husband, im a student, and whatever else everyday life throws at me. Then I remember why I keep writing. I have a goal and had a goal in mind when I first started which was to write for a living. I knew I liked doing it and I knew I wanted to try and try hard. Not give up the first time it got a little hard or life threw a few stones my way. I also had to realize I wanted to know that I didn’t give up or give in like I have in the past. I need(ed) to prove it to myself and so far I have been. It hasn’t been quite how I thought it was going to be but I am still here. Typing and researching every day to learn more and more as I go. Hopefully, I can help others too at the same time.

Another thing I have learned about motivation is that the bigger the goal the more motivation and effort you need to put into it. This also means there is more potential for “failures” so I like to give myself excuses for these “failures” since I know the rewards from it will be worth it all. I can see myself in the next few years and know that I can look back and see that I was strong instead of simply stopping and giving up like before. Making mistakes helps you learn what not to do in the future. So I see my “failures” as little lessons I can use to be better than I was previously.

You have to give motivation time to grow on you. Think of motivation as a subject your learning in school. There is no way you’re going to master your new class the first couple days of going but by the end of the semester you will have a good amount of knowledge on it and be able to utilize it pretty well.

I also noticed motivation works and builds on itself.

What does that mean?

Well, with early motivation, or the kind of motivation you start off with everything is going great and stuff is getting done or changed or whatever it is your trying to do. Most times this means we see changes quickly and so we get more motivated to accomplish our goals but what happens when we reach a plateau? When we feel stuck somewhere even though we are trying, what do we do then? You keep going. Sounds easy, but this is actually the hardest part. This is the time you quit or the time you try and find another way. You have to have self-motivation at this point but that is not an easy task either. Especially when you’re tired or other things in life just aren’t going right and then comes doubt. Doubt is a dangerous thing. It can end everything you have just accomplished. Sometimes though we just need some help staying motivated and here are my tips that I use when I start to lose motivation.

1. Write down your end goal. Then break it down step by step that leads up to that goal. Mini goals if you will. Sometimes it’s easier to feel confident about accomplishing those big goals when you feel like you can accomplish the small goals first. Tell yourself that your working on this little piece of your goal to get you all the way to the big one at the end. You will feel a lot less pressured to be amazing and you will actually be more able to stick with it longer than you originally would have.
2. Let yourself know now that you will have “failures” along the way to reaching your goals and that it’s okay. Those are there to teach you what not to do. I know it’s discouraging when this happens and for a long time, I took failures to heart until I realized that the cliche’ “We learn from our mistakes” is actually true. But you have to learn the lesson AND make the necessary changes for it to be a true learning experience. Many successful people have failed numerous times at something before getting it right but they stayed motivated and were able to accomplish their goals because they just never gave up. You just have to keep picking yourself up after you fall. Motivation comes in waves and you just have to make sure you catch each one and ride it out as long as you possibly can.
3. Use the first part of your day to focus on your goal and your motivation.Motivation diminishes as the day goes on. I like my morning coffee for a reason. It’s a routine and it’s my motivator to start the day. I drink it and then I start cleaning up. I know if I don’t do those two things in the morning the rest of my day is going to be off and I will more than likely lose my motivation for other goals I have for that day too.
4. Surround yourself with motivational or inspiring people and ideas. It’s always easier to stay motivated when you surround yourself with the people who are either working on staying motivated themselves or have a good handle on keeping themselves motivated to accomplish a set task. Keeping uplifting, positive people around you to keep you motivated makes it that much easier to stay in that right mindset especially if you start to falter. You will have your own little built-in support group in the times when you need it most. Be careful about who you pick though because one bruised apple in the bunch can bring the whole bushel of apples down.
5. Finally, too much of a good thing IS bad, even motivation. Yes, I know it may sound strange but you need a day off at least. Don’t burn yourself out, especially in the beginning. You need time to get into the right mindset and it’s not going to happen overnight. Just like your not going accomplish your goals (not the big ones anyway) in a 24 hour period so why burn yourself out trying to? Take time to bask in the tiny accomplishments. What you want is a happy medium between lacking any sort of ambition and drive and the energizer bunny. Neither of those is going to help you in the long run.

Those were just a few of my motivational tips that I thought I would share. Thanks for reading and if you liked this post please let me know in the comments. If you want to read more, please follow my blog by email in the sidebar to get even more content delivered to your inbox.