Finding Motivation

So you made a bunch of resolutions and am already finding yourself losing the motivation to conquer them. I have definitely found myself here before, so I wanted to figure out how I can stay motivated when all the newness of the year wears off.

We’ve got to dig deeper into our resolutions if we want to really change anything. Don’t let them just stay in a notebook. Flesh them out. I did this yesterday and was amazed at how motivating it is. Here’s how it works:

1. Review your resolutions’ list. If you haven’t made any yet, now would be the perfect time to do it! ; )

2. Write WHY you want this. Write the benefits, write the cons if you don’t do it. Reminding yourself of this will help, I promise. We can make goals all day long, but it’s knowing WHY we are doing it that is most important to making it happen. If the WHY is not convincing enough, what keeps us trying when things take work?

3. Ask HOW you are going to do this. This is setting yourself up for success. It’s taking the first step. Something small can help you gain momentum and build motivation. Even during those moments when your to-do list paralyzes you. This happens to me when I’ve got a LIST of Priority Number One tasks. I’ve convinced myself that I should check Facebook and then it will all fall into place. Not true.

I’ll let you in on a big part of my HOW. I was made for more. Repeat that saying your name. Valerie was made for more. More than checking Facebook statuses. More than hitting snooze. More than chronic sickness. My HOW begins with the person who made me. I was created by God, who is at work in me daily. We are growing constantly. His Power is inside us giving us the strength to be more than we can be on our own. If I thought I had to do this by my own strength, I’d probably never grow, but knowing I have MORE inside me than just me fuels me. 

4. Study this. Yesterday my evening was so much different than it normally is because I knew my purpose and was living it out. If you are in search of joy, living out your purpose is one place to start the search. It also revealed what things don’t matter to me and kept me from wasting time on that.

Here’s an example of my answers to my WHY and my HOW.

How are you staying motivated this year?