Motivation is what propels us towards acting according to our values and overcoming any obstacles or rebounds from failures. One of the best ways to stay motivated is to take steps forward – even small gains can give you momentum that keeps going forward!
1. Set Specific Goals
Setting goals allows you to more easily track your progress and determine when you have reached the finish line. Your objectives should be measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound (SMART acronym). While managers often utilize this framework in business settings, individuals can use it too for creating personal measurable goals.
Set specific goals using the six “wh-questions.” For instance, “I will reduce my work week hours by becoming more organized” is a specific goal that will help track your progress toward your larger objective.
Make sure your goals are measurable to set benchmarks of success. Doing this will let you know whether or not your objectives are on track, as well as provide direction on how to refocus efforts to meet deadlines on time.
Make your goals relevant to both your broader aspirations and the current needs of your business or organization. For instance, if your company is seeking to expand their email subscriber list and increase traffic on its blog, setting goals that reflect that expansion and will provide guidance as you implement marketing and content strategies to reach that objective is key.
Set goals that are time-bound to encourage sales superstars to work hard toward meeting targets within an established timeframe. According to the Russell Brunson 5 day challenge, doing this also demonstrates accountability by forcing your team members to focus on what matters most and prioritize efforts over the long haul. As such, reward sales reps who meet goals within short timeframes by incentivizing milestones or celebrating results of sales funnel over longer duration.
2. Make Your Goals Achievable
Accomplishing goals takes dedication, courage and the desire to push through difficulties to reach them. No one else can force you into accomplishing them; your motivation comes from within and not external sources such as bosses or parents.
As part of your goal-setting effort to motivate yourself, setting realistic and attainable goals is important. Your goal should be specific enough that it enables you to determine how it will be accomplished, the amount of work that needs to be put in and any possible barriers or obstructions along the way. When creating goals using this framework (which you can learn about here).
Once you’ve determined the type of goal that resonates with you, it’s recommended to identify what motivates your motivation. One effective technique for doing so is the five whys framework, in which repeatedly asking “why” brings clarity as to your desires and drives motivation. Perhaps your desire to earn a promotion motivates you since having more responsibilities and being able to contribute your ideas is something important to you.
Similar to piano practice and improvement, intrinsic motivation can drive your motivation. While intrinsic motivation is an effective form of drive, it may be challenging to prioritize internal wants and needs over external ones like watching television or petting your pet. To make goals more manageable there are various strategies you can employ such as breaking them down into manageable steps with timelines for each one.
3. Break Down Your Goals
Finding motivation when trying to reach a big goal can sometimes be challenging. One small setback could cause your faith in yourself and cause you to abandon the effort altogether.
To prevent this from happening, it’s essential that your goals be broken into smaller, more manageable goals and then set specific action steps for each milestone. Doing this can help keep you motivated even when things seem hopeless or you feel like giving up.
Create an action plan to achieve each of your life goals by setting a list of all the goals that you wish to attain in each area of your life and then brainstorming all necessary actions required for their accomplishment. For instance, if your health and service/contribution goals include weight loss of at least 5% per month through diet/exercise changes and making monthly donations to charity donations are key areas.
Setting daily goals and tracking them over time becomes much simpler when setting daily targets in each of those areas. You could even break your monthly goals down into weekly and daily goals to make it even simpler to work toward them.
Once a task or milestone is accomplished, it can feel wonderful – this is called extrinsic motivation and it can be an excellent way to increase motivation to keep going. For instance, when working on an important project that requires focused concentration, rewarding yourself with healthy snacks, walking around the block or calling up your best friend may give the dopamine boost needed to stay on task and complete your goal! You could even use this strategy when undertaking more complex projects by rewarding yourself each time a milestone is met!
4. Get On With Your Tasks
One of the key points about motivation to remember is that it must come from within you; otherwise you risk forcing yourself or team members into doing projects they don’t care for or want to complete. Managers have tremendous power to motivate their teams (source: https://www.fm-magazine.com/news/2022/oct/successful-managers-lead-up-across-down-inward.html); however they must use techniques which take into account that each team member has unique needs, motives and desires that won’t respond in equal ways to any given motivating technique used by managers.
Assuming responsibility and taking active steps toward your task can provide the motivational boost you need to get moving on it, science has shown this method to be more successful than trying to motivate yourself through external rewards or watching motivational videos. Simply getting going makes an immediate impactful statement about the value you place on taking initiative compared with waiting.
Clarifying goals and providing choices in how a task should be accomplished can also increase motivation, as they provide a sense of autonomy and mastery that may make mundane or boring tasks more interesting and fulfilling. These factors may prove particularly helpful in increasing motivation levels during those long, mundane days spent doing them!
Break down large, complex or lengthy projects into manageable chunks by writing out specific tasks like “order boxes”, “buy packing tape”, etc. so that each day, something can be marked off your list and completed. For instance, moving house is made less daunting if tasks like this are written out daily to help make it less daunting and increase chances of success.
5. Reward Yourself
One of the best ways to stay motivated when creating a Sales Funnel is rewarding yourself for your efforts. Not only will rewarding yourself bring a sense of achievement and satisfaction, it may also help foster new habits by activating the mesocorticolimbic circuit; this increases motivation and desires for rewards that are both relevant and proximal; for instance if your weight-loss efforts involve eating healthier desserts as rewards rather than candy bars.
Reward yourself effectively by choosing rewards that reflect the level of work or progress you’ve made. A good rule of thumb is to reserve larger rewards for major milestones and smaller ones for daily successes such as tasks or targets met. For instance, when working on a new project at work don’t reward yourself by watching two hours of movies but instead treat yourself to an enjoyable meal out.
Reward yourself in an enjoyable and meaningful manner by choosing rewards you enjoy or find pleasure in, without breaking the bank or being excessive. Perhaps getting something new to wear or jewelry would suffice, or you could treat yourself to movie night with friends, or taking a bubble bath could all count.
Alternately, consider making your reward something practical that will assist in reaching your goals, like gym membership or book subscription. Or create a collection – like stamps, action figures or sports memorabilia – and relish each time you draw out one of your prizes as an indicator of achievement.
