Jeremy wrote…
How do you stay motivated even when everything isn’t going your way or things seem to always pop up? Or is there a way to create motivation even when it is hard for a person to get motivated?
Kimora’s Advice…
Motivation I believe is the key to success. Well, motivation and determination, but you need to feel motivated in order to be determined to reach a goal, and you also have to be determined to reach that goal in order to have some kind of motivation to get there. So essentially the two go hand in hand, you can’t really have one without the other. With that being said I believe there are a couple of ways you can stay motivated and create motivation regardless of what your current circumstances may be.
…How to stay motivated…
One of the biggest ways to stay motivated is to have a goal that you ultimately want to achieve. What are your long-term goals? You need to know this and be very clear and specific about them in order to know what you are working for. For example, you can’t have to goal to one day own a nice car. Why? Well because a “nice car” can be defined in many different ways. Everyone is going to have a different opinion about what makes a car nice, which doesn’t make this goal clear nor specific. In order to do that you need to know what you consider to be a nice car that way your determination to get that car some day is deeply rooted in your motivation to make it happen.
If you don’t have a clear vision of what you ultimately want to get out of life, then it will only be that much harder for you to work towards something. Short-term goals are good to have too because they can serve as the baby steps that may be needed to get to those long-term goals. However, you want to be sure that with every little step you are taking towards something bigger in life, it’s in the right direction towards your long-term goals. That way no matter how long it takes you to get there you never feel as though you are not making any progress towards those goals.
Plus, so long as you are working towards those goals you will get there eventually.
Another way to stay motivated is to have factors in place that will hold you accountable for a bigger purpose, such as your long-term goals. Accountability can almost always serve as a big motivator to see something through. Why? Well I think it’s very simple. Either you put all your time, effort, and investment in resources into something and get one step closer to your goals or, do all of this and basically let it go to waste.
…Take this scenario for example…
Say for example that you have a long-term goal to one day become a successful model. You want to be in big name magazines like Vouge and Cosmopolitan, be represented by IMG Models, and to one day own a beautiful mansion in Calabasas, California.
During an open-call casting call for IMG Models (the agency you would love to be represented by) a model agent approaches you. The agent tells you that they like your look, they think you have a great runway walk, and wanted to see your modeling portfolio to see how well you photograph. However, you don’t have one because this is the first time you’re actually stepping out of the shadows to work towards this goal of yours. The agent suggests that you begin to build a strong modeling portfolio, get some modeling jobs to put on your resume and come to their next open-casting call in January next year.
Sounds like a chance to really make your dreams come true, right? Well I’ve got news for you, if you really want it you’re going to have to work for it. So how do you hold yourself accountable for something like this? You take the advice of the modeling agent by going back home and immediately start working on your modeling career. You find photographers to work with, runway shows to audition for, and you share your journey with the world on social media. You do this as often as you can to not only show that you are actively working towards this goal, and that you took the model’s agent advice and put it into effect (which is always important), but to also begin to learn about all the hard work that actually goes into being a successful model.
Doing all of this (actively working towards your goal) will not always be free. Therefore, understand that there will be money you may have to spend in order to get further along with your goal. It seems pretty simple, and even in the act of doing all of this it may not seem like much, but whether you are aware of it or not you are holding yourself accountable for this goal by doing things that must be done in order to get to that goal.
…End of scenario…
One final way you can stay motivated is to just simply know not only what you’re working towards but have some kind of game plan for how you are going to get there. Taking the example from above, if modeling is indeed your long-term goal, you need to know how you’re going to there. Also, as mentioned above your game plan would be to participate in photoshoots, runway shows, and begin to make a name for yourself through social media. Keep in mind that the design of your game plan is going to be dependent upon what your long-term goal(s) may be. If it’s not modeling but instead it’s to become a licensed therapist, you’re going to need to focus more on education and real-world experiences and not so much doing photoshoots with professional photographers. Catch my drift?
A recap of how you can stay motivated is to…
- Know what your long-term goal(s) are
- Hold yourself accountable for those goals
- Have a game plan for how you will reach those goals
Of course, this is only a few ways in which you can stay motivated. There are plenty of other ways to keep your motivation going, but I find these three things to be the most effective in goal setting.
…How to create motivation…
As I mentioned above motivation and determination go hand in hand. I don’t think you can really have one without the other. Think of them as push and pull factors. Your motivation is going to feed your determination (push), and your determination is going fuel your motivation (pull). Or another way to think about this is how a car needs gas in order to drive. If you have no gas in your car (motivation) it will be almost impossible for you to ever get anywhere (determination). With this in mind think of the creation of motivation as something that already exists within your environment and you all simply need to do is know how to use it to your advantage.
Believe it or not there are plenty of things you can find in your environment that you can use as motivation to reach your goals. This can be anything from your housing situation, the kind of car that you drive, to your educational goals (such as where you would like to go to school), or perhaps a specific type of climate you simply prefer to live in (am I the only one who loves rain?). Regardless of what your reasons may be never take your environment for granted as a means to create motivation to help you get to your long-term goals.
You can also create motivation by again knowing what your long-term goals are, having a game plan for how you are going to achieve those goals, and actually actively working towards those goals. This is much like the accountability factor for achieving goals. You have to be actively working towards reaching your goals in order to believe that you can one day achieve them. This means that you can’t be aimlessly standing by waiting for someone to make all your dreams come true. You have to put in the hard work that is needed in order to make them come true. You can’t rely or place that responsibility on anybody else. It is your truth to hold and your life to create, so don’t let those precious moments slip by simply because you lack the motivation to get it done.
Create your motivation by actively working towards your goals.
Life happens. Sometimes it’s for the better sometimes it’s for the worst. Whatever the reasoning may be, we can’t let those obstacles stop us from achieving our goals. It’s completely normal to lack the motivation to work towards our goals from time to time. Don’t beat yourself up when this happens. Instead just remind yourself of what the bigger purpose is. Remind yourself of why those goals mean so much to you, why you want to achieve them, and why you created them to begin with. When you lose your motivation don’t sit with it for that long. Do things that will help spark that motivation back up and keep you on track with achieving your goals.
A recap of how you can create motivation…
- Find things within your environment that you can use to your advantage
- Actively work towards achieving your goals
- Remind yourself of the importance of your goals
Hope this helps you with staying motivated and discovering ways to find motivation in order to stay motivated!
See you soon love bug.
-Kimora