5 Tips to Stay Motivated!

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Rohn

Okay, so you believe that a positive living approach is the way to go. You’re meeting and greeting the world with a whole new positive attitude and your life is starting to show the signs of success. People are actually being influenced by your new positive attitude and are sending positive vibes your way.  Positivity is contagious after all and spreading joy really works!

Then something happens…

You receive some not so pleasant news and you feel like you’re right back where you started! The negativity spiral begins…

The grey days are there to check your resolve – remember stay focused – the sun will shine through the dark clouds and create a RAINBOW!

What can you do to start doing on a regular basis to stay motivated?

Putting together a personal motivation plan can definitely keep you on track. Motivation is, as the word itself suggests, a MOTIVE for ACTION.

Below are a few suggestions to get you started:

1) Incorporate  Motivation Daily

Is it possible to be positive and optimistic all the time? NO WAY! 

It’s true that motivation doesn’t last forever, however,  if you work at it by keeping yourself on track, then you will have many more UP days than DOWN. If you want to stay continuously motivated, you’ll need to integrate motivational tools into your life. Just like we need daily food for physical energy, we also need daily motivational tools like affirmations, positive quotes, meditations, etc. to feed our mental health.

2) Build A Motivational Base

Read or listen to motivational material daily. Check out the online bookstore or Amazon to find yourself some inspirational books, poems, or workbooks. A well-written book that offers sound advice is more motivating than reading about the latest pandemic news or market decline. Alternatively, If you have no time to sit down and read a book, then try audiobooks. Audio is valuable to listen to, simply because you have the ability to multitask while you’re listening. Spending half an hour every day listening to motivational CDs or MP3s in your car or while working out.

Check out the Happy News website or the Bobby Bones radio show (listen to the Tell Me Something Good segment!)  They will start your day with a smile and positive feeling with their fresh outlook on what’s going right in the world around us 🙂

3) Have A Healthy Lifestyle

Exercise regularly. It helps your body to work more effectively and efficiently. When the body moves, the mind shifts even more. An active body promotes a healthy mind. Set aside time each week to exercise your body. You’ll be more productive when you return to work.

4) Participate in Enjoyable Activities

Determine which activities give you real pleasure, excite you, and allow your talents to shine. The activity should make you feel good about yourself and promote positive emotions. When you enjoy what you do, you tend to automatically excel and succeed effortlessly. With each success, your self-esteem will grow and will motivate you to greater heights. 

5) Remind Yourself of Your Goals

You should have clearly written down goals or an action plan with concrete deadlines. Jot down the necessary steps to achieve your goals. Remind yourself constantly of these goals. Place sticky notes on your bathroom mirror or create a vision board to have visual reminders of your goals. You will develop a strong desire to attain your goals. Your subconscious mind will steer our daily activities and action towards attaining these goals. If you know what you want and want it badly enough, then you will surely get it. Strangely, what you do today has everything to do with where you’ll be in 6 months.

In order to get ahead, you must always be motivated. All the motivation in the world won’t do anything for you unless YOU ACT NOW and apply these steps, believe in yourself, and then let the results inspire you!

Along the way, count your blessings at every opportunity, every obstacle or resistance you encounter, and be grateful for the journey.

Inhale. Exhale.

Violet Buddha

P.S Check out these great motivational quotes to get you started!

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5 Step Goal Setting Plan

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. – Lao Tzu

You don’t need to have a structured SMART goal to make changes in your life.  Simply start with a vision of where you want to be or what you want to change, then set a realistic goal, stay on track with the easy steps listed below.

1. Know Your Goal

Your first task is to discover exactly what your goal will be. What will you achieve to demonstrate you reached your goal? What does that goal really look like? Be very specific about what your desired end result is and by when you hope to see changes in your life. This step should result in a clear mental picture with lots of details.

2. Create Time to Plan

In the beginning all you have is a rough concept, a glimmer of a dream. When you develop a complete set of tasks, you immediately move closer to success. The plan also needs to include what you are going to give up.  If you already have a busy schedule, you will need to delegate responsibilities to other family members, decline a few social activities or even miss watching your favourite show on TV to make room for the new tasks you will need to implement. However and wherever you can carve out the time to work on your goal.

3. Focus on your Goal Everyday

I’m sure you probably want to achieve your goal as fast as possible. So focus on the goal daily, visualize the end result, and do a little something everyday to move you to the new goal. Without daily focus, bad habits that have kept you from your goal in the past may take over and make you feel discouraged. The only way to override negative subconscious messages is to consciously target what you DO want! Don’t let distractions take over. Life WILL try to get in your way!

4. Be Passionate

One of the most powerful tools in your “Goal Planning Tool Box” is having real passion for your goal. Strong desire for your goal will help you ingrain the goal into your brain and new routine. Intense passion for your goal will also help you squash any inappropriate old “failure” messages that are lingering in your subconscious mind.

5. Ready, Set, Action

In many ways, actually taking action can be the hardest step. You need to remember that a goal is built by taking one small action after another to create positive change. If you can commit to do at least one small action per day, then your actions will add up and make a difference. Avoid sitting back and waiting for everything to magically happen.

One of the keys that works for me is to brainstorm using different colored pencils or actually create a vision board using magazines and craft supplies I have lying around the house. I am a visual person, so these types of activities help me create a visual reminder of what I’m working towards and all the pieces that will help me be successful.

Share your goal on the Violet Buddha Facebook Page and the Tribe will cheer you on!

Inhale. Exhale.

Violet Buddha

Establishing your Motivational Baseline

Do What You Can With All You Have, Wherever You Are – Theodore Roosevelt

Making changes in life is not always easy, however it is the way we grow, learn and challenge ourselves to develop as human beings. Change is an ongoing process and will always be a part of being human. When you embark on changing anything in your life you have to start from where you are. Until you know where that is it will be difficult to effectively make the change. You have to start with a baseline to measure your progress. Starting with a baseline is about determining where you are and what you are currently doing so that you will be able to know exactly what needs to be changed. It may sound weird, but many of us are unaware of what we do.

Whenever I need to make a change, the first thing I do is start a journal for a week just to get a baseline. Whether it’s losing weight, being grateful or being more active. The next week I review my notes to see how many times I repeated the habit or did not follow through. Many of us go through life on autopilot and we just are not aware of what we are doing on a daily basis. When you keep track of it – and this works with anything – you have a better picture of where you are and what needs to change.

X marks the spot!

The first step in change is awareness. You have to become aware of what you are doing and exactly where you are before you can proceed forward. Keeping track for a week or two will provide you with valuable information that will support your change effort. Before you launch yourself into any type of change effort, you have to know where you are. Figuring out where you are is like a travel map that have an X saying “You are here” and you get to decide where your next stop on the map will be.

So now you just need to pick the destination:

• Sleep
• Weight (Gain or Loss)
• Gratitude
• Exercise
• Water or Alcohol Consumption
• Meditation
• Money/Spending/Budget
• Self Care (“me Time”)

What will you be tracking in 2020et inspired by some great motivational quotes and share your Goal on Instagram using #VBTribeGoals

Inhale. Exhale.

Violet Buddha

The Golden Rules of Motivation

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined. – Henry David Thoreau

Why is motivation so important? Let me tell you…It is the fire in your soul that keeps you yearning for the heat of accomplishment.

Whether you’re trying to achieve something yourself or lead others towards a goal, the ability to be self-motivated or to motivate others is crucial. When we meet people who are regarded as successful or high achievers, it’s tempting to assume that they are innately self-driven, or are natural leaders with high levels of motivation. This might be true, but it is just as likely that they learned and applied some motivational techniques.

The benefits of motivation to an individual are fairly obvious, since people who are motivated tend to be more successful in achieving their personal and professional goals,this internal motivation has benefits to self-esteem and confidence. 

Three Golden Rules of Motivation

Motivation does not take place on its own. In order to be motivated or to motivate others, it’s important to remember three golden rules of motivation before considering any specific approach.

Rule 1 – Motivation with Clear Goals

Motivation and goal setting are inevitably linked. Without a goal or purpose, motivation is meaningless, at the same time motivation is a vital part of intentionally achieving any goal. Two of the most basic motivators are: knowing exactly what you are trying to achieve, and striving to achieve it. Not having a clear idea of your goal or not believing that the goal is attainable will negatively impact your levels of  motivation.

Rule 2 – Motivation and Goals need to be Aligned

In order to achieve your goals, you need to be passionate about what you are working towards but more importantly, you need to do something daily that is linked to your goal.  Whether you spend time visualizing, planning, reading or just talking to someone about your goal, it will all add up to keep your motivation high and the goal at the forefront of your mind. I find it useful to keep track of my accomplishments toward my goals in a journal.  I even write down the things that got in the way that day and make a plan for how I will avoid the disruption the next time it pops up.

Rule 3 – Motivation is Fluid

Motivation is not a one-time event. Something that motivates you at one particular time may not work in the future, which is usually due to changes in your environment or circumstances. Even if circumstances stayed the same, the most powerful motivational factors will lose impact over time. For example, you may watch a Ted Talk and feel energized by a particular speaker, and feel highly motivated afterward to put what you heard into action. How long will the impact of what you heard last before you go back to your old ways of doing things?

A great place to start is by figuring out your vision, creating a plan and setting manageable goals to keep you motivated. You can find out more about Motivation and Vision or explore the FB group for support from the Tribe.

Inhale. Exhale.

Violet Buddha

10 Motivational Quotes to Fire you up!

Do you know why we read motivational quotes? For motivation, of course! You might need a little bit of motivation, when you realize that last year’s list of goals also apply to this year. It’s important to get off on the right foot, know your baseline (add link), have a plan (add Link)  and be ready to stay on track. All of us can benefit from inspirational thoughts, so here are ten great ones that will help motivate you to make the changes your desire.

Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are. – Dale Carnegie

Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. – Napoleon Hill

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

For Every Reason It’s Not Possible, There Are Hundreds Of People Who Have Faced The Same Circumstances And Succeeded. – Jack Canfield

Opportunities don’t happen, you create them. – Chris Grosser

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. – Carl Bard

I’m not telling you it is going to be easy – I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it. – Art Williams

There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. – W. Clement Stone

All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. -Michael John Bobak

You Are Never Too Old To Set Another Goal Or To Dream A New Dream. – C.S. Lewis

Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning. – Mahatma Gandhi

These are quotes that mean something to me. Hopefully one or two of them is also inspiring to you. If not, maybe they will motivate you to create a list of your own motivational sayings. Need some more support, join the Violet Buddha Tribe Facebook group.

Inhale. Exhale.

Violet Buddha