MOTIVATION...
It's the topic I get asked about most frequently...
'How do I get motivation back?'
'How do I stay motivated?'
'Why do I keep losing motivation?'
While its a great question, in my experience, the answer has much less to do with motivation than it does clarity. Especially the clarity of your goals.
Whenever I'm working towards a goal, I have always found that I 'lose motivation' when I'm unclear on what I'm working towards and why I am working towards it.
After a long road of being frustrated and confused as to why nothing I was doing was working, I slowly learnt some strategies that helped me understand why I didn't stay motivated, and what to do about it.
So, over time, I developed a process that helped me (and my clients) get really clear on my goals and my reasons, and stick with them - day after day, week after week and month after month.
This process is broken down into several bite-sized steps, but it comes down to getting really clear on these four things:
1. Who you are now
2. Where you are now
3. What you want, and
4. Who you want to be
(P.S. The how comes later and how is easy when you know the who, what, where and why!)
In this process, I ask a series of questions to help you clearly answer the above 4 questions... When I do this with a client or in a group, we go through a workbook (which you can sample here), but you can always just get started now and answer the questions as you go!
#1: Knowing who you are now:
In the study of habits, it's been proven that long-term habits are much easier and are more effective if they match your identity- your belief about who you are.
Knowing what is important to you is an essential part of being able to set clear and inspiring goals that match your identity and values and keep you motivated when the motivation of a new goal has worn off.
Below are five questions to ask yourself to help you understand who you are now:
What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?
What do you always make time for (that you love doing)?
What legacy do you want to leave behind when you're gone?
What brings you joy?
What would you do with your time if you had all the money you needed?
#2 Knowing where you are now:
Imagine opening your maps app and putting in your destination to find directions, only to realise your location settings are off and you have no idea where you are right now.
You wouldn't know if you need to go north or south, east or west, or even up or down!
The same is true for setting goals - It's essential to know where you want to go and what you want to achieve, but without knowing what areas of your life are currently taking up your time and energy, or which ones need the most attention to function properly, it's much harder to map out an accurate plan.
For this step, there's only one question, repeated for each individual area of your life: On a scale of 0-10, how satisfied am I currently with this area of my life?
Score yourself on the 10 areas of life below based on how satisfied you are with each area in this moment (not how 'perfect' you are based on what you believe is expected of you).
For example: scoring your fitness levels isn't on a scale of 'couch potato' to 'Olympic athlete', it's on a scale of your worst to whatever your ideal is.
1- Money/Finances
2- Career/Mission
3- Health/Fitness
4- Fun/Recreation
5- Environment
6- Community
7- Family/Friends
8- Partners/Love
9- Growth/Learning
10- Spirituality
Once you have done this, you should be able to see what areas of your life need attention and which are working well. Consider which areas would have the greatest flow-on effects on other areas of your life, and from there, choose which area(s) you'd like to focus on. (We'll set goals around these later!)
#3 Knowing what you want
Getting very clear on the kind of life you want to live, as if you were already there, is a great way to set inspiring goals.
Your next step is to write down, in as much detail as possible, what you want your future to look, feel, sound, smell and taste like. Dream big and notice who and what is in your life with this goal.
Use the five questions below to write a detailed description of what you'd like your life to be in 10 years time.
What would you like to achieve in 10 years if there were no realistic barriers to achieving it?
What would your life look like in 10 years, if you achieved everything you wanted?
Who (or what kind of people) would you spend your time with?
What would you spend your time doing?
What things and people surround you in this 10-year vision?
#4 Knowing who you want to be
The last step before actually setting your powerfully motivating goals, is knowing who you want to be. Or perhaps it's more accurate to ask who you need to be to create the future you've envisioned for yourself.
Below are five questions to ask yourself to know who you want to be...
What impact are you making on the world and the people around you?
What do you prioritise in life to be that person?
What kind of problems does that person have?
What kind of problems doesn't that person have?
How does this person feel about the problems you currently have?
#5 BONUS! How to achieve your goals
We go into much more detail with a step-by-step system that answers these questions in the workbook and workshop, but some practical questions to ask for this stage include:
Have I mapped it out?
Do I know what my big steps/milestones are?
Do I know what my necessary daily actions are?
Do I know what my obstacles are likely to be and how I'll resolve them?
How would my future-self solve this problem?
Achieving your goals is almost the easy part once you have clear answers to the above questions... all you have to do is be your future self now!
Act like you're already living that life, make decisions now based on how your future self makes decisions.
Imagine that you're giving your younger self advice from your older/future self perspective. You'll probably find you have more of these future skills now, than you thought you did.
Thousand Reasons run in-person goal setting and planning sessions every quarter...
so whether you're a go-getter, wanting to find the fastest way to your dreams,
a planner who loves a daily checklist, or you love personal development and self-mastery, always striving to be the best you can be, these sessions are for anyone who wants more for their lives and the accountability of working in a group of likeminded people.
Our next session is on Saturday 5th November 9am-12pm. You can book now below!
Tickets are just $30 for members and $50 for non-members.
Hope to see you there :)
Until next time...!
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