Finding Motivation After Holidays

Overseas trips, mini-breaks and time out of our regular schedule are all part of the holiday period. It’s often a time to indulge, relax and break free from the monotony of the daily grind. We recharge, play hard, go fast and take time for ourselves all at once during the festive and holiday season.

There are more spontaneous catch ups with friends, exciting adventures, road trips and general frivolities during the holiday period than other times during the year. More often than not it’s really difficult to come back to reality and get back into the swing of our everyday lives.

Finding motivation again is about having routine, setting goals, and having new personal projects and challenges to work towards and strive for. I use the following plan as a basis for designing goals and setting in place a method to achieve and ensure success in what I deem important in my life.

Reassess Your Purpose

Assess and evaluate what is important to you. For some it is blindly obviously for others it is not so clear. Some of the obvious key areas that bring fulfillment in life are: work, health, travel, spirituality, relationships with friends & family and well-being.

Think about the areas of your life that you bring you the most happiness. Good indicators of important aspects in your life are anything you couldn’t go more than a day or week without. Like that Saturday morning Yoga class, the after work surf or the creative outlet you may have with painting or sketching. These make you feel whole, real, alive. Uniquely you.

Living an authentic life is about doing what is important to you, being true to yourself and your dreams and aspirations. Following your heart will bring you the most happiness and contentment.

Set Goals

Once you have thought about the areas of importance to you. Think about what goals would be satisfying or rewarding to achieve in these areas.
No dream or desire is too big or too small. Write it all down and feel the positive energy flow.

Think about each area of your life and what will bring you the most happiness.

Some goals will be small and manageable. I find that these are the goals that are clearly defined.

They are SMART: Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Realistic. Timed.

Smart goals are the type of goals you want as they set you up to succeed.

Large goals, big picture ideas, dreams, deepest desires, aren’t ridiculous. They just appear unattainable because they aren’t manageable. These need to be broken down into smaller tasks, weekly or monthly milestones that are reassessed regularly. Don’t loose site of the big picture, just make the steps to getting their manageable.

If a goal doesn’t appear to be ‘smart’ reevaluate it. With a ‘smart’ goal you will have more direction, a clear understanding and a better ability to achieve and realise your goal.

Setting yourself up for success

With any goal, dream or desire it is always important to look at the past to get a clear idea of how to move forward.
Did you have this exact same goal last year and failed to achieve it? If so you will need to look at what held you back last time and decide to change those habits that stopped you achieving what you wanted or you may need to reassess your goal. Is it really what you want and is it truly aligned to your authentic self? If it’s really hard to incorporate into your daily life it is either not really for you or your are setting yourself up for failure. What I mean by this is self sabotage. Not giving yourself the best chance to succeed.

If your goal is it to hit the gym three times per week and your plan is to do it by setting your alarm for 5.30am and being at the 6am bodypump class but you’re not a morning person, chances are you will hit snooze, several times, not make the gym (ever) and start with some serious self hate and negativity.

Instead of starting at the extreme, ease in slowly. Go to the gym after work or during your lunch break and form a positive relationship with fitness. Start setting your alarm 10 minutes early each day to get your body used to the early start. Then go to the gym one morning per week, after a few weeks have passed head to the gym two mornings per week. Change your routine gradually. Baby steps to the bigger picture. Before you know it you will have made a positive change to your routine and it will be second nature.

Motivation: Ebb and Flow

Realise that there is an ebb and flow. In motivation and in life.

We are not always 100% motivated. We will have days when we feel flat, tired or disinterested. Reassess your goals, inspiration and most importantly your progress and achievements again to find motivation.

Life is not always 100% perfect, good times and smooth sailing. Sometimes we have to knuckle down and work hard. We have to face things in life that we aren’t completely interested in. But without these low points we wouldn’t appreciate the happiness we feel when we are completely engaged in the things we love.

Originally published on Fourkicksstyle.com