Motivation is one of the most important keys to success that everyone needs. Whether it is in life or at work, we all need the motivation to take action and to perform better, but the problem is that motivation comes and goes.
Sometimes we feel extremely motivated and we are able to take on the world, but there are also times when we feel no motivation, lack of energy and we just want to get away and do nothing. Here are 13 great motivation techniques you can apply to produce real results when you feel no drive to do things.
- Revisit Your Purpose
One of the fundamental keys to motivation is your purpose. When your purpose is strong and empowering, you are willing to do whatever it takes to get the work done. And when your purpose is weak, you will often feel like procrastinating and have no motivation to do the work.
So revisit your purpose. Whenever you feel like you have no energy and motivation to take action, ask yourself why you want to do it in the first place. More importantly, give yourself a strong and powerful reason to act. The stronger your purpose, the more motivation you will gain.
- Write Down Your Goals
Whenever you feel like no energy to do a thing, get yourself a pen and paper, and then write down your goals and what you want to accomplish in your life or at work. When you do this, two things will happen. First is that you are reminding yourself of what you want to achieve. And the second is that you are visualizing all the rewards you are going to get from achieving your goals.
After doing this, you will feel motivated almost instantly. Your goals have the power to drive and push your forward when you needed it the most. Most people just write down their goals once and they never return to them ever again, ever wonder why most people fail to achieve their goals now?
- Listen to Inspirational Music
Music and songs can alter your mood by changing your focus. Try listening to a sad song and your mind will focus on all the sad memories you have. As a result, you will feel sad. At the same time, if you listen to inspirational music such as the Rocky theme or any pumped up song like Hall of Fame by The Script, your emotion will change and you will feel motivated after that.
This is why when you watch a movie in the cinema and when the motivated moment comes, the director will include some powerful songs to the scene to impress it stronger into your mind. Music and songs can change your motivation, mood, and also your life.
- Count Your Previous Achievements
A lot of people find it difficult to get motivated because they are comparing their current situation with the future that they want. And when you do this, there is a gap in between that makes you feel like your future is too far away. What you need to do is to do the opposite and count your previous achievements.
Just look at how far you have come and how much you have accomplished. Every time when you spend time thinking about all the things you have achieved, no matter how big or small they are, you will feel grateful and motivated.
- Talk to Someone Positive and Motivated
Energy is contagious. And if you want to stay up, positive and motivated, go and talk to someone who is highly positive and motivated. Their energy will influence you and you will feel motivated right after that.
The problem is that most people try to mix with friends who are no better than them. They choose to network with people who are negative and who always criticize or complain. Never let this happen to you. Choose to live the best of your life by making friends with the right people who can drive you and inspire you to achieve more than what you believe yourself can achieve.
- Apply the 5 Minutes Rule
Whenever you are not feeling motivated, apply the 5-Minutes Rule. For instance, when you feel like no motivation to write an article or to exercise, just tell yourself to commit to the task for a short 5 minutes. You want to lower the resistance and make the task so simple and easy so that you will never have the resistance to procrastinate.
When something becomes easy and simple to do, you will do it without thinking. And this is what the 5 Minutes Rule is all about. When you get started for just 5 minutes, you will build up your momentum and motivation. You will never want to stop at just 5 minutes once you have started the process.
- Visualize Your Success
Yes, visualization works. There was a study conducted on a group of basketball players and the researchers discovered that the players who trained their shooting through visualization have an improved in their skills as much as those who go through actual physical training.
Your mind cannot differentiate between what is real and what is being visualized. Thus, the moment you visualize your success, you feel driven because your mind makes it real. So imagine the success you want vividly in your head whenever you feel no motivation to take action.
- Create the Accountability
It is difficult to stay motivated the entire day unless you have someone to check on your progress from time to time. And this is where you can create an accountability partner to keep you on track and to get things done.
Find an accountability partner to keep an eye on your progress. For instance, if you want to hit the gym today, just tell a friend about it and commit to him or her. You can take it even one step further by telling your friend to keep an eye on your progress. The moment you make it a public commitment, the motivation will come automatically because you are putting yourself on the line.
- Change Your Physiology
Do you know that your mood is affected by your physiology? Emotions are created by your motion. If you are feeling sleepy, stand up right now and jump as high as possible for five times. And almost immediately, you will feel a mood change.
People will never feel sleepy when they are exercising. When you move your body, so does your energy. Therefore, change your physiology like your facial expression, your breathing, and your body movement when you feel no motivation. Try to sit straight, breathe deeper, and move faster, and the sleepiness will be gone.
- Make a Deal with Yourself
One of the easiest ways to get motivated is to make a deal with yourself. Whenever you are feeling like procrastinating on your work, just make a deal such as no lunch without completing the work or allow yourself to play 20 minutes of games if you complete the task.
This technique can be extremely effective when you are committed to the deal. It trains your willpower and also boosts your motivation. However, it is better to use rewards as a way to motivate yourself to take action rather than punishments.
- Ask Empowering Questions
There are two types of questions you can ask to boost your motivation. The first type is the fear-induced questions where you ask a question such as “What will happen if I did not do this right now?” This question will make you think about all the bad things that can happen when you procrastinate.
On the other hand, you can also ask another type of motivation questions that spark your drive. Asking yourself, “What will my success look like?” will force your mind to focus on all the great rewards that instantly inspire you to take action. So ask yourself empowering questions and the motivation will come.
- Make Positive Declarations
Affirmations work just like a pep-talk. Take a look at the sports industry, you will discover that before the game begins, the sports players will usually gather around and shout out loud. This is called a pep-talk, and positive declarations work the same way.
Basically, you say out loud what you want to do or to achieve to boost your mood. Usually, doing this once may not be enough, and there is no rule saying that you can only do it once. So make your positive declarations a couple of times and with energy until your motivation comes.
- Include the Fun Factor
Some people are willing to wake up as early as 4 am and take a 2 hours drive to get to the golf course for a game. And there are also people who are so motivated that they are able to stay up late just to play computer games or to watch the drama.
This is simply because they associate the activity with fun. And this is exactly what you must do to make your task fun as well so that you will feel motivated and want to do it. If your goal is to exercise in the gym, make it fun by exercising while listening to your favorite songs or invite a partner to tag along. Make the activity fun and you will never be lacked of motivation again.