12 Unique and Easy Ways to Stay Motivated for Long

 After all the fussing around, It comes down to one point and one question, How badly do you want it? The distractions might be pleasant ones, making you all happy and cheery, but just for the time being...

You would never want to let anything come in between you and your goal, that's how you succeed!

                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                       - Shruti Bevara

Motivation, a temporary desire;

One thought that always kept me curious was, How are people consistent with their motivation game? What is it that they are doing right and I am lacking? It is like a 24*7 desire that drives them to the right path, to success! Years of self-analysis and numerous trials and errors brought me to this solution - 

"Motivation is a temporary desire" 

What drives a successful person is Consistency and Discipline. Although these 2 play a vital role in success, they start from the seed called "Motivation". 

Motivation is a desire, a feeling, and can be considered an emotion as it fuels vision and imagination. It is sometimes like an adrenaline rush, a rush of sudden motivation, wanting to fix everything, mental health, fitness, and career, a 360-degree flip! Although the thought seems so enriching, the reality is far from it. Changing everything takes time, and a consistent motivation to be better, an inner calling to be better than what you are today.

My story -

My motivation story is a short one, I never imagined my writeups to be more than just a hobby, always saw them as a way to express my mind, to be heard. As kids, we are very much curious about the working state of everything (I still am curious), what fascinates me the most is our minds, and the way it paves our actions, decisions, emotions, and reaction. Mental health is considered to be either unimportant or straight-up taboo! There is no in-between. 

This space, talks about those 'taboo' topics. 3 years of consistent efforts created this 'safe space' for us, where we focus on our mental health and our mental well-being. Where we are heard and understood. Where we belong. Where we are not led by fear, self-doubt, or self-sabotage but are led by our voice, our spirits, and positive minds. Where we find our purposes. 

So, what I am trying to say in the longest-ever introduction is, 

"It's never too late to find yourself, to find your voice." 

Once you do, hold it tight, work on it, and never let it go. It defines you and makes you who you are.

One of the most common questions I ask around is - What keeps one motivated? And I realized. every successful person must once in their lives feel the urge to give up, but what made them successful is not giving in to the urge, never giving up on their ideas and beliefs.

"For anyone who is driven by their passion, giving up is never an option."

The question remains -

How to stay motivated for long?

I stand by my statement - Motivation is just temporary, what keeps us going is consistency and discipline. These two come when we are motivated to do a certain task. It can be anything, the best example would be, EXAMS! studying for exams is a literal task (you know what I mean), it never ends! what keeps us motivated is the end result, when we step a stone above.

Motivation is the ladder, we climb to reach the top of the world. It is like water to our seed (vision/imagination). The seed grows into a sapling, a plant, and, then a tree because of the constant water (motivation) and care (consistency) we provide. Whatever task we do, we do it with a purpose, that purpose is either selfish or selfless. Believe it or not, we tend to work better on a selfish purpose and make it a reality way sooner than the selfless one.

Our mind works in the most mysterious ways, one of which is, our mind acts just like a distracted runner. Wants to achieve everything it finds, pulls, and pushes thoughts, like a bunch of tangled strings (don't deny you are imagining tangled strings). It plays with us and is stingy in the production of chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin (the happy and good hormones). 

I call them biased brains! But a brain actually works on command, a chain of repetitive commands, given to the subconscious mind. The day-to-day tasks, or what we like to call "normality" of our lives the work of the conscious mind. 

The Subconscious mind comes into the picture when we have an uncommon purpose, say, exams, interviews, or a celebration, something that takes extra effort, planning, strategizing, and execution. 

Purpose needs motivation and consistent action to be brought to reality. It needs determination, above all. Let's talk about exams only - 

The first phase of the journey of making the idea into a working reality is the best, one is highly motivated, gives their 100% best and the production levels are at the highest. One runs like Usain Bolt toward the purpose. 

In the second phase, the productivity declines gradually because one is doing the same thing on repeat, nothing is exciting, and no rush of adrenaline, the purpose(exams) now seems like a routine, something one doesn't want to continue, this happens because the mind creates this feeling of boredom, creates a constant hunger to be fed with new things, all the time, repetition for the mind is a lullaby, only makes it sleep. 

One tries hard, harder than ever to bring back the first 'adrenaline rush' phase, but fails, most of the time.

The third and final phase is the last efforts phase, which now has 2 sides, one is where they realize, and remind themselves of the sole purpose of their efforts and give their best, and the second side is, to continue declining with 0% motivation and eventually giving up. 

No one wants to fall in the second side, do we! So, here's how we ensure we don't end up with nothing; 

12 Unique and Easy Ways to Stay Motivated -

• Constant Envision: No doubt we envision our purpose when we first start our journey, but the question is How long do we envision our purpose? Successful people imagine their ideas as reality, yes, but what we don't know is they envision their idea throughout their journey from zero to success and beyond. A successful person never stops envisioning or adapting or growing. 

• Elimination of distractions: Let's ask ourselves this, Do I have the power and control over myself, or have I delegated that power to electronic devices? Distractions are toxic, toxic as the ex! Never let it have power over you. 
  
  
• Constructive Mindset: Having a constructive mindset, ensures the constant need for updation, growth, and consistency. The destructive mind always brings chaos and demotivation. Work on your mind to make it constructive, always focused on hustling.
  
  
• Creative a positive space: Create a positive space, a 'safe space' in your house or room, and eliminate the destructive thoughts, and distractions if any, just try to focus on yourself, your ideas, your visions, and your motivation to achieve them.
  
  
• Create a safe space: Always have a safe space, it can be a mental space or a physical space, someplace that brings peace to you, it can be anything to help you think straight, that helps clear a foggy mind.
  
  
• Set an Attainable Goal: I cannot stress enough "attainable" because we tend to have imaginary goals, like "I will lose 10 kgs in 10 days" Now that's possible to some extent when we stop eating for 10 days straight, ending up in a hospital on 11th day! No, we don't do that here. Have realistic goals. Something you can achieve. You believe in it.
  
  
• Planning your goal: It might sound silly but yes, always plan your goal, it is important to plan your goal before you make it a goal. Ask yourself, Am I ready to perceive it? Am I ready to give it whatever it takes? Mentally and physically?
  
  
• Talk to yourself: I am not asking you to go crazy, don't worry, I am asking you to communicate to your brain, talk to it like a third person, ask it to stay determined, and help you to push through every obstacle. It works, command your brain to be at its best.
  
  
• Reflect and Reward: Reflect on your past actions and track what went wrong, work on it, note it if needed, and also don't forget to reward yourself for being a determined hard worker. Reward the smallest of achievements, and record it.
  
  
• Commit to your goal: Whatever you choose to do, do it with 100% commitment and action. There is nothing worse than a half-baked cake! Give it your best, then expect the best. Be honest with yourself, never expect the best if you have given half of the commitment required.
  
  
• Seek help, when and if needed: There is no shame in asking or seeking help if you feel heavy on the heart, vent it out, find ways to lighten your mind and heart, watch your favorite movie, play a game, talk to your loved one, spend time with your grandparents, or your pet. Just find a way to let it out.
  
  
• Take breaks: I cannot stress enough, some of us are so invested in our goals that we forget to take a break, resulting in burn-outs. The worst 'distraction' is burnout. Instead, take a short break to come back with more energy and focus. 

Always push yourself to think positively, and surround yourself with your kind of people, those who bring joy, strength, and a sense of belonging. Remember it is all in the head. All the self-doubt, negativity, self-sabotage it is all in the head! 

There is nothing worse out there, than what's in your head.

Always be aware of your body and mind, and give what it needs, embrace every bit of you! there is no one else like you, in this entire world! Trust yourself and work! Work until you get it. 

Here's to the completion of 3 years, and many more years to come! 

Keep liking, and keep supporting check on your mental health, always!

Stay True! Stay Positive! Stay Safe!

Until next time!