Do you feel like there is just not enough hours in the day to do what you want or even complete the things you need to? Do you wish you just had that extra push to get you through the day? Do not worry you are not the only one, Harvard Business School recently did a study that explained that not only are employees feeling more distracted but also feel less motivated. They also looked at the perspective of 600 CEO’s and noticed that even business owners are preoccupied with keeping moral and motivation up while decreasing stress and potential losses (Groysberg, 2020).

What is Motivation?

Motivation is the driving force that helps us achieve our daily goals and strive to excel in our life goals. Motivation is the “why” behind someone’s thought, feelings and actions. There are two types of motivation extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is fueled by external rewards and/or punishment. An example of extrinsic motivation would be competing in a sport for trophies or very similarly competing at work for money. Intrinsic motivation or internal motivation would be doing an activity because it is internally rewarding, going back to our previous examples would be to compete in a sport because it is fun or doing a good job at work because you feel a sense of pride with a job well done. For many people either type of motivation can have long lasting effects and can create healthy habits. The only thing is, we must be mindful about how we are going to start these habits. We also must make sure we know how long and how often we want to practice these habits. While also holding ourselves accountable with either following through or not with the habits we deem are important.

Easy Tips to Help Increase Motivation

  1. Journaling– I know we have heard about journaling in vlogs, self-help books and all our counselors alike. The University of St. Augustine (2020) recently wrote about the benefits of journaling; not only did they find that it actually helps with managing anxiety and depression; but they also found that with journaling, individuals had an easier time with gaining a deeper understanding of their own internal conflicts. Journaling can also help with achieving goals; just the process of writing down your goals can motivate you to start making steps toward your goals. Think the process for journaling is too hard or just not your thing? Ask your counselor or reach out to Charmed for some more creative ways to get engaged with journaling.
  2. Creating and Maintaining Relationships-Sometimes motivating ourselves can be difficult, leaning on our support systems can get us out of a rut and propel us in the right direction. Also, having a soundboard or other’s opinions can help with having to make difficult decisions or helping us try new things, which fuels our motivation. Giving a friend a call and laughing with them can be the best medicine. Not sure how to feel supported or feeling a little bit lonely, some great places to visit would be Facebook groups, meetups, or joining a local support group.
  3. Exercise– Moving our bodies and getting the blood flowing can decrease stress and increase energy levels and our mood. The runner’s high is absolutely no lie and can actually keep us motivated on our work and relationship goals. A healthy body contributes to a healthy mind. Some tricks to be more active can be taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Taking a quick walk on your lunch break. Parking a little further than usual. Cleaning up your space. Visit this link for an activity calendar: Track Your Activities (nih.gov) .
  4. Meditation-I know this is another one that some people have a hard time with, but the research suggests that mediation can reduce stress, improve memory, lower blood pressure, enhance willpower and increase attention. Meditation is not supposed to be creating the perfect atmosphere or to have a yoga-aesthetic experience, mediation is arriving in our present situation as it is. (not to say you can’t have the prefect yoga experience while meditating). Here are a few examples: visualizing, chanting mantras or affirmations, counting out each breath, laying down, and focusing on physical sensations.
  5. Practicing self-care– Reminding yourself that you are also important and do need attention and care is the best thing. Practicing self-care can give you that extra motivation boast you need either throughout the day or week. Check out our other blogs and the importance of self-care to learn more about the topic here: The Truths About Self-Care – Charmed Counseling.

Going Forward

Trying to keep ourselves motivated is no simple task, especially amid a pandemic and all the other external stressors going on in the world. Feeling drained or tired can be very normal and resting can be the best thing you can do. If you feel you are struggling or just need some new tools; give us a call at 509-768-6852 or email us at info@charmedcounseling.com.

References

10 ways journaling benefits students. University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. (2021, January 5). Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.usa.edu/blog/ways-journaling-benefits-students/

Goldin, P. (2021, January 5). https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/10-health-benefits-of-meditation/2019/06. University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.usa.edu/blog/ways-journaling-benefits-students/

Groysberg, B. (2020, October 8). Keep your weary workers engaged and motivated. HBS Working Knowledge. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/keep-covid-weary-employees-engaged-and-motivated