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