Yesterday, I wrote a post about getting motivated to start on your goals – Getting Motivated: 5 ways to start on your goals.
Today, I am sharing with you my tips for staying motivated. I sometimes think staying motivated is even harder than getting motivated, especially with long term goals.
Whenever I start to lose motivation, I follow these simple tips:
Staying Motivated – Tip 1: Remember Why You Set This Goal
If you are starting to feel your resolve slipping a little, think back to why you set this particular goal. What would achieving it mean to you? Maybe it would mean a career advancement, or feeling better about yourself or any one of a million other reasons. Try to focus on what you hope to gain by completing the goal, and keep this aim in mind.
Staying Motivated – Tip 2: Do Something Easy
Remember in yesterday’s post I talked about splitting each goal up into a series of mini goals? If you find a goal is dragging a little, and you feel like you aren’t making any progress, choose a mini goal that will be quick and easy to complete. Once you are able to tick that off your list, you will feel like you are making progress again.
Staying Motivated – Tip 3: Check Your List
Every time you complete a mini goal, tick it or cross it off your list. As you achieve them, you will have a visual representation of how far you have come. When the road ahead looks too long, look back on it and remind yourself of how much distance you have already covered.
Staying Motivated – Tip 4: Reward System
When working on a long term goal, it can sometimes feel like you are putting a lot of work in and getting nothing back. Obviously, you know the end result will be worth it, but sometimes we just need that instant gratification. A good way to combat this is with a rewards system. Every time you complete a mini goal, have a little treat. Or put a pound in a jar and when you have saved up say £20, have a bigger treat.
Staying Motivated – Tip 5: Enlist A Friend
Enlist a friend to help keep you on track. Ideally, choose a friend who is also working towards a goal. They don’t have to be the same goal, but you have to be willing to listen to each freak out if it’s not going so well and push each other to keep going.
Do you have any tips for staying motivated? Let me know in the comments 🙂
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This is a great post, Debbie, thank you for sharing, there are some really useful points here and I love your idea of saving £1 and then treating yourself! The only tip I have is about how you keep track of your goal really. You need to make them accessible at all times so you can reflect on them and remember the outcome – why you set that goal and why it’s so important? I thought I would share what I do myself: I use index cards – I have a notice board above my desk as I work from home. I write my goal on the card, and on the back I write objectives of the steps I will take to reach the overall goal and set deadlines. I keep the cards pinned on my notice board and reflect on them daily. I always enjoy reading your posts and can’t wait for tomorrow’s! 🙂
That’s a really good tip! If you don’t keep your goals in easy reach it is easy to forget about them and by seeing them every day it pushes you to get things ticked off. Thank you 🙂
I always find getting a friend on board is the most effective method for me – having to justify my slip ups is motivation to stay on track for me. 🙂 #bloggerclubuk
This one works with me too. It’s because I’m too stubborn to give in if someone knows, where if I only have my self to answer to its easier to make excuses.
Very good tips! I’ve recently cut out all chocolate and it’s been easier than i thought to stay motivated! I feel so much more healthy now x
Thank you 🙂 Well done for sticking to it, it must be helpful to feel healthier, makes it less tempting to go back x
Fab post I am really struggling to stay motivated recently with regards to loosing weight so this post is a great help. I like the idea of the reward system.
Thank you, I’m glad you found it helpful 🙂 The rewards system is good as you feel like you are gaining something short term as well!
This is a fabulous post and very great but simple tips. I think having support is really important and also a reward system. I am rewarding myself with stationary and other nice things every time I lose 1/2 a stone in weight to keep me motivated in that area of my life. 🙂 Angela
Thank you 🙂 Great idea for a reward Angela, nice stationery is a great mood lifter for bloggers! Good luck with your goals
I think staying motivated for long term goals is definitely a tricky thing. I usually break them down into smaller goals that I can reward myself for. And telling people that you are working towards something is also really good for keeping on track!
Me too, if I just look at the massive, far off goal I get disheartened, but the little ones are easier to see the end result. Telling people is a great tip. Last year I decided I wanted to go self hosted and I set a date several times then backed out. The third time, I put the date on my blog and all over my Twitter so I couldn’t back down because too many people knew about it!
It’s definitely a good idea to have a support network for accountability and of course, support! It really does make a difference.
It does! When you only have to answer to yourself, the excuses are much easier to make than when you have someone else to explain to 🙂
I totally agree that it’s good to have someone to be accountable too. It’s quite hard to find people that are up for it sometimes though. I’m a massive fan and have found some really good personal develop/motivational things on line this year that have been a little different that I’ve enjoyed doing and hope to stick to. I am being very strict with myself this year #abitofeverything
Yes, I know what you mean. It’s no good having someone who won’t kick your ass when you need it lol 🙂 That’s good, something a bit different keeps it interesting 🙂
I really love this post. I think having rewards is a great boost for keeping on track and I’m going to start using this to keep me going
Thank you 🙂 I love a little rewards scheme, it makes each mini goal feel like an achievement in itself
Great tips! I’m personally a big fan of the reward system – maybe a little too much! I also looooove checklists!
Amelie xo
Thank you 🙂 There’s nothing wrong with a bigger reward, whatever works for you. I love any sort of list – I get way too much pleasure from ticking things off them lol!
What a great post! Something I really needed to read today. It’s easier to stay focused when you break things down into smaller achievable steps and building up patience! Thanks for sharing with #abitofeverything
Thank you, hope it helped you 🙂 I’m really impatient so breaking things down into smaller things I can achieve more quickly really works for me. Thanks for hosting 🙂
This is such a great list of tips, I don’t know about blogging goals but I can see me using these for my work goals too!! Epically like the one of breaking them down :). Thank you for joining us at #BloggerClubUK hope to see you again next week xx
Thank you, I’m glad you found them useful 🙂 I think they can be used for goals in all areas. I love breaking things down, I’m so impatient so feeling like I’m getting somewhere quite fast is a big thing for me. Thanks for hosting, I’ll be there 🙂 x