How to Keep Grinding Even When You’re Not Motivated

Following Through and Staying Motivated

Everyone wants to be successful. But, wanting to be successful doesn’t always translate into success. There can be both internal and external blocks in life that prevent you from reaching your goals. However, your success depends on your ability to find the motivation to follow through and take the steps needed at each level to reach your ultimate goal.

Motivation and follow through go hand-in-hand throughout the process. Something motivates you to take action or follow through, to reach a goal. Every time you reach a goal, no matter how small it is, you are successful and feel motivated to continue on your path. Let’s look at some factors that will help you find the motivation to follow through and achieve success at every phase of the process, until you reach your ultimate goal.

Know What You Want & Why You Want It

 One thing that affects your motivation level is your ability to identify what you want and why you want it. If you can’t do this, it’s very difficult to get started, much less stay motivated. It doesn’t matter if you want to write a book, lose weight, start a business, or something else. If you don’t know what you want to achieve or why, you certainly can’t make a plan or take steps to be successful in your endeavor.

Clear objectives are essential to motivation and achievement. Understanding what you want and why you want it enables you to make and take the steps to reach your goals. When your goal or objective is unclear, it’s like trying to go to the mall in a new town, without directions. You may wander around and accidently find the mall, but you probably couldn’t find it again or repeat the exact route.

How to Set SMART Goals Can Help You Stay Motivated

One of the ways you can define what you want is to learn about setting SMART goals. These goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. They remind you to spell out the details of your goals in a very specific way.

For example, “I want to write a book.” This is not a SMART goal. There is no topic, deadline, page goal or anything. With a goal like this, you could start today or next year, or more than likely – never.

If you said, “I want to write a 40,000-page book about Family Financial Planning for large families. I want it to be published and for sale within 365 days from today.” This gives you a very specific topic for a particular audience, and a time limit to finish everything that needs to be done. Now, you can begin to make step-by-step plans with goals to follow through on creating and selling the book.

 Understand the Cost of Getting What You Want

When you know what you want, there is always a price involved. The price could be money, time, and potentially even relationships. There are ways to mitigate some of the cost but only with very thorough planning. For example, starting a business has costs. Some are financial but some are time. You may need to take a class or go back to school.

You might need to learn new skills, find contractors, or hire employees to help. You may also need to prioritize and allocate your time differently, to get your business off the ground. All of this involves some sort of cost or price for getting what you want. It’s a good idea to write down all the costs so you’ll be aware of possible issues that may arise, as your dream becomes a reality.

If you don’t know what it takes to get what you want, you’ll have a hard time succeeding. If you’re inconsistent, have too many goals, and have unclear objectives, how can you expect to succeed? Take the time to define these factors for yourself so that you know how to reach your destination and the cost.

 Create Systems That Prepare You for Success

Once you know what you want, what it will cost you, and how to create SMART goals, you can start creating systems that help prepare you for success. For example, if you start a business that needs to collect leads, you need to spend money and time setting up a lead generating system because without leads you can’t have that business.

If you want to be a writer, you must set up space and time to practice your craft. This might consist of buying a laptop, setting up an office space, or finding a quiet place where you can write. If you want to have a clean house, you may need to purchase the right tools and supplies to ensure that you have what you need to clean the house.

When you can automate things, do so. Put diaper delivery on auto-ship on Amazon Prime, for example. Avoid having to run to the store at the last minute. Set up a cleaning schedule to mop on Tuesdays, and dust on Mondays. You’re going to be a lot more likely to succeed with systems set up because they are automatic, like collecting leads in a business, while some simply help you develop a habit, like mopping on Tuesday.

Know What Your Deliverables Are

Any goal you make has some sort of deliverable or result that signifies it’s done. For example, when you get a lead through your automatic lead generation set up (Facebook Ad > Landing Page > Capture Page > Freebie > etc.) it’s not over. You now call them, or they are put on your email list, where your emails nurture them until they become a customer.

Perhaps your deliverable or result is a clean home. If you systemize cleaning your home, it will seem to be done almost automatically even though you are physically doing the work. You’re done when you’ve done each task for the day. Identify what constitutes finished, done, progress so that you can check up on yourself and you know your systems are working.

 Break Down the Steps

The first step toward creating any system is to break down the steps of what needs to be done to get to success. Is it a clean house, a finished product ready to launch, losing 40 pounds, or is it writing a book? Whatever it is, you should first write the SMART goal. Then use that to help you break down the steps.

Let’s look at some of the steps involved in writing and publishing a book.

1. Conduct Research
2. Write A Detailed Outline
3. Write Chapter Synopses
4. Write Character Interviews
5. Write the First Draft
6. Edit 3 Times
7. Send to Editor
8. Get Book Cover Made
9. … more

There are much more steps than that but you get the idea. Write down everything you need to do to get that book written, published, and marketed. Once you write your chronological list, then you can go in and write the steps involved for each part of the list. Once you have all of that fleshed out, you can then determine how long each part will take you to complete, compare that with your availability in your calendar, and schedule the due dates for each.

Let’s talk about due dates for a moment. A due date is great, but what you should also do is go backward from each due date and put actions into your calendar of what you’re going to do each day leading up to the due date so that you’re finished on the due date. If you only have a due date in your calendar, you are more likely to keep putting things off until the due date. Don’t do that. Write down everything you need to do each day, at the time you will do it. You’ll do this for each day and task until you reach the due date.

 Set Firm but Realistic Deadlines

 Most of us think we can accomplish far more than we really can. We think we’re awesome multitaskers. We think we can write 10,000 words in one day. We think that we can clean the house and cook dinner in only an hour. This is just not the case, so we tend to fall short of what we want to accomplish. However, when we set realistic goals and have realistic expectations, we can achieve our goals and dreams.

When you set a deadline, you need to estimate how long it will take to complete a task and when you can schedule the time to do it. As mentioned before, set a due date, then work backward filling your calendar with tasks to accomplish each day, leading up to that due date. Give yourself breathing room because things happen. You have heard of Murphy’s Law — “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Now, you don’t want to indulge in negative thinking but you do want to be realistic and factor in uh-oh time.

If you have a toddler, you’re going to have less time to focus on your goals. If you have an 8 to 5 job, you’re going to have less time to focus on your goals. If you have a spouse, friends, or family, things are going to get in the way of you accomplishing your goals. But the good news is that if you set up a good schedule with realistic, firm deadlines you are more likely to succeed. If you only have one hour five days a week to add something new to your life, it’s okay. You can still accomplish a lot by acknowledging this fact and planning accordingly.

 Stay Focused

 One issue that plagues us all today is distractions. It’s hard to stay focused. Also, most people think they’re great at multitasking. However, the science does not back that idea up. In fact, some test results suggest that multitasking is an illusion and stunts productivity more than you think.

Follow these tips to help you focus on your goals and get more done. Remember, everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. You’re not special. But, you can be special by acknowledging that, and finding ways to focus on one thing at a time.

• Eliminate Distractions – Facebook, social media, Television, Netflix, your telephone, the doorbell, kids… all of it can be a big distraction from accomplishing your goals, following through, and staying motivated. If you think you can do more than one thing at a time and do it well you’re fooled. You can’t. Find a way to eliminate distractions when you’re focused on a task. Even if the task is watching a movie, you’ll enjoy it more, get more out of it, and feel more relaxed if you only focus on just that one thing.
• Take Up Meditation – For some reason it’s hard to make their mind focus on one thing at a time. Studies have shown that meditation can help. If you can meditate for even five minutes before doing the task, it will help you become more focused on what you need to do. Even just staring at one object without any distractions for one minute can help you focus on what you need to get done.
• Get Healthy – Sometimes a lack of focus is directly related to not being healthy. Try to eat right, drink plenty of water, exercise, and sleep enough hours at night. If you’re not doing that, you will tend to peter out faster and lose your focus. You may as well give yourself the best chance of success by staying healthy.
• Stick to Your Task List – Once you set up your task list you should be able to open your calendar and see what you need to do that day. Your list should include work, family, and leisure activity. The task list should include everything you’re going to do that day. That includes cooking dinner, cleaning up, working, and everything else. For some, it helps to go so far as to include cuddle time with your spouse or kids.
• Take Breaks – One thing people often forget to put into their calendar is break time. If you fill your schedule so full that you don’t have time to use the bathroom, you’re going to have a hard time staying motivated.
• Schedule Everything – This has been mentioned more than once because it’s essential to your success. The better you are at putting everything into your schedule the better you’ll be able to determine smartly whether you have time to do something or not. Looking at your calendar before saying yes will help you avoid distractions that cause you to lose your focus.
• Compartmentalize – One thing that some people are good at doing, and others aren’t is compartmentalizing. What this means is that when you’re working, work. When you’re with your family be with your family. When you’re writing the next Great Best-Selling Novel, write. When you’re done, brush it off and move on to the next thing.
• Set Up a Good Environment – No matter what you want to accomplish in your life, setting up the right environment to the best of your ability will help you follow through and succeed. Motivation isn’t a magical resource. Motivation comes after you succeed. The memory of that feeling will propel you forward in every goal you have, but first, you need to stick to something long enough to experience that feeling. You do that by having the right environment and following a task list to completion.
• Let Yourself Be Bored – Always put some down time into your calendar. Not TV time, not playtime with your kids, but true “there is nothing whatsoever that I have to do in this time slot” time. Having free time when you can choose to do whatever you want is the best thing you can do for your mind, body, and spirit.
• Stick to Your Timeline – Once you put something your calendar it should be considered set in stone. The only tie that should change is in matters of illness, life, and death – yours or your immediate family’s.

Being able to stay focused is essential to your ability to follow through and stay motivated no matter what you’re working on.

RELATED: How a Brain Dump Can Help You Focus

 Incentivize Yourself

 Everyone likes to win. Within your schedule, you can work in ways to reward yourself for sticking to your plans and following through. If you’re trying to lose weight, each time you reach a milestone give yourself a nonfood related gift. If you’re writing a book and finish a chapter, give yourself a nice gift like a massage or a facial.

Anything that you really want and can afford to do is game when it comes to giving yourself something to look forward to for sticking to your guns and following your timeline for events. Incidentally, you can use this to help your family and friends as well. “If you let me work uninterrupted for the next 30 minutes, I’ll speak to you about that issue for five minutes.”

 It’s OK to be Uncomfortable

Anytime you make a change in your life, it’s going to feel a little strange and uncomfortable. But, this is a good thing. If you feel too comfortable, you won’t be able to stretch yourself and go beyond where you are now in any aspect of your life. It’s uncomfortable to change.

It’s uncomfortable to learn something new. But that feeling is okay because soon that feeling will convert to comfort and it will be time to find something else to be uncomfortable about. Change only comes in this manner. When you feel those butterflies or even fear, it’s okay. Remember that fear can’t hurt you unless you allow it to stop you.

Understand the Positive Results of Your Efforts

It’s hard to keep following through when you don’t understand how your efforts reap positive results. So much of what we do seems to take a lot of time to see results. Losing weight is an example. If you have a significant amount to lose, it’s likely you will lose the first 10 pounds without anyone noticing. You will see it on the scale but it might seem like it’s slow coming. It might take you 20 weeks to lose 10 pounds if you’re working with small lifestyle changes, trying to avoid loose skin, and not going for the fad crash diets.

You must convince yourself that this is okay. You can do that by understanding the positive results of your efforts scientifically and statistically. In the weight loss example, you’re going to stick to a healthy lifestyle longer if it’s not too difficult to maintain. It doesn’t matter if you lose 10 pounds a year or ten pounds a month. If you can maintain the changes, they will become habits, and eventually be part of your long-term lifestyle.

This line of thought can work with any type of project you want to follow through on. Because the fact is only following through is going to give you the success you seek and the motivation to try new projects and new things.

Let Go of Limiting Beliefs

 Another thing that tends to stifle follow through and make you lose motivation is your subconscious. Your subconscious tells you that you’re not good enough, not smart enough, not worth it and a whole host of other types of things that limit your ability to succeed. If you have many limiting beliefs you should try to work on eliminating them from your life.

The fact is that successful people aren’t better than you. They aren’t smarter than you and they aren’t more worthy than you. They just did one simple thing differently. The followed through. They stuck to their plan of action to the end. They did not allow doubt to stop them.

Everyone has doubts. Everyone has limiting beliefs. But the successful people hold their heads high and follow the path toward success without letting fear stop them. Many times, the only difference between a successful person and someone who hasn’t achieved success is the person’s determination to follow through.

RELATED: End Self-Limiting Beliefs and Start Loving Your Life

 There are No Real Short Cuts to Success

Contrary to what some people say, there are no real short cuts to success. The road to success is different for everyone. By that, I mean that each person begins the journey at a different point, and with different backgrounds, experiences, skills, and knowledge. You learn as you go down the road to success. Taking shortcuts can get you farther down the road but you will likely miss a major learning opportunity. At some point, you will need to back track to learn that missed lesson. Shortcuts just aren’t worth it in the end because there are no real short cuts to success.

Look at the successful people around you. Do you really think they achieved success over night? Even if it looks that way, it’s not true. They all worked hard, to reach their goals. They experienced setbacks, made mistakes, and gained knowledge from those mistakes. They learned and changed things that needed to be changed, all along the road to success.

While there are no shortcuts to success, you can avoid making the mistakes successful people have made, if you find an expert in the field or area where you want to succeed. If you want to write a book, find a mentor who writes books. If you want to lose weight, find a weight-loss mentor. If you want to start a business, find a business mentor.

Following through and staying motivated are important factors in creating success in your life. It doesn’t matter what part of your life you want to change. The keys to success are staying motivated and following through. Getting the motivation to follow through is done by remembering a similar, previous success and implementing the strategies you used to achieve that goal. Build on your previous successes and they will give you the motivation to repeat the process and succeed.

Get Started

Now that you have a few ideas to help you follow through, pick one small thing that you want to accomplish. Write your SMART goal, fill in your calendar, and get started. If you need extra help, contact a mentor, coach, or expert in the field that can guide you and inspire you, to reach your goals.

 

Click Image for FREE resources of Simple Workflow Management to create a powerful way to manage your recurring processes and procedures.