15 Ways to Get More Motivation, ya Filthy Animal

A should-be comedian friend of mine recently reminded me of the timeless words of Mr. Motivation himself, Zig Ziglar: “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.”

And then she added to me — “so quit figuratively smelling like shit already.” Wise words, my friend. Thanks.

But HOW does one metaphorically bathe in motivation daily?

Understanding the science behind motivation can give us our initial clues. And knowing more about the hero of our story means we have to unmask its nemesis, “resistance”, though first.

In his 2015 Forbes article, Sujan Patel tells us there are three primary sources of resistance:

• The “I have to” resistance
• The “I don’t feel right about this” resistance
• and the “I can’t do this” resistance

This hindrance trifecta can sum up most any pang of resistance that’s been eating away at your motivation. But as we know from G.I. Joe, the benefit of knowing is truly half the battle.

Patel goes on by rolling out the ways to effectively counteract each of these three types of resistance.

• Replacing “I have to” with “I choose to” (changing perspective)
• Cleaning up “I don’t feel right about this” by realigning your tasks (cutting out the crap)
• Chucking the “I can’t do this” whining for “actually doing it, until you do it well” (just freaking do it already)

But these scenarios are never clean-cut black and white, so let’s say motivation is a sliding scale. The more resistance you have would be the negative, or deficit, and the more motivation you have would be the positive, or surplus. The middle-ground is neutral.

On any given day, we’re spinning the roulette wheel to see which end of the motivation/resistance spectrum we land on (feeling lucky, punk?). All of the following are contributing players in the day’s outcome: our willpower, our health, our emotional state, anything affecting our Hypothalamus, external distractions, and the list goes on, blah, blah, blah.

So what practical applications can we cache away for those days when we don’t roll favorably? (In other words, here’s the party in the back you were promised, the listicle portion)

1. Start a good conversation with a stranger. Perspective can change a lot, as Patel points out. Talking to someone new can give you that fresh, unbiased feedback or missing piece of insight you have been needing to complete the puzzle.
2. Find three things you’re grateful for daily. Why does this help? It eliminates the “have to” feeling of resentment (resistance’s ugly second cousin that borrows all of your stuff without asking). If you are grateful for your job, you’ll choose do well at it because you value the opportunity.
3. Flex your strengths. Nothing is more energizing than doing something we know we are good at doing. Experts tell us the key is to refine our strengths rather than wasting time trying to improve our weaknesses. And what better way to feel empowered and motivated to do more than by *gasp* doing something we excel at doing.
4. Do NOT give in to the “Ah-screw its”. Gregory Ciotti (my favorite writer, http://www.sparringmind.com), sheds some light on this and more in his 99U article.
5. Pat yourself on the back when you use willpower. Repetitious positive reinforcement is key to promoting good habits and behaviors, even on the most seemingly insignificant things (yay, I showered and made it into work today on time! Well done, sir.).
6. Relive a glory day or two. Fuel the fire by proving to yourself that you CAN do the task ahead of you because of the obstacles you’ve accomplished in the past.
7. Embrace the fact that you’re going to suck at it sometimes. It’s just part of the process. Sometimes people will like what you do or they won’t. All that matters is you did it and that you learned something from the mistakes.(Trouble with perfectionism? Hint: There’s a post coming out for that.)
8. Identify imbalance and take action. This goes hand-in-hand (aww) with realigning your tasks. Only getting 5 hours of sleep each night is absolutely going to affect your ability to want to get things done. Find and maintain the balance to stay on track.
9. Put your phone down. Now. (I mean, after finishing this article, of course.) Eliminate the time and effort you waste on the sly. I bet you didn’t even know how much time you put into scrolling through that endless Facebook nonsense about “Be like Bill. Bill is a smart cookie.”
10. Get revved up on endorphins. In the words of Miss Elle Woods, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t!” There’s at least some hidden gem of truth to this statement. Exercise pays dividends (dopamine) which tah-dah, is directly linked to motivation.
11. Promote healthy competition (if that’s your thing). Got a friend that has a mission as well? Challenge one and another and race to the top together. If you’re the type who doesn’t like to be beat, chances are you’ll kick it into gear stat.
12. Commit publicly. You don’t want to disappoint your eager fans, do you? It’s a heck of a lot harder to back out of something once you’ve told people you’re going to do it (or when you’ve posted it on the internet for all to see). Honorable mention goes to Leo Babauta on this one.
13. Ditch the monotony. It doesn’t have to be life changing. Heck, go to Trader Joe’s instead of Whole Foods for your groceries this week. Stepping outside of the mundane can instantly give you more energy by engaging your senses in a new way.
14. Go with the 90 on, 20 off rule. The science of flow itself is an entirely separate read (and some documentaries) on its own. To give you the short and sweet though, “flow” is the mental state we’ve achieved when we are fully focused and engaged in the activity we’re involved in. This state of mind is not sustainable forever though, so the best way to leverage it is by immersing oneself in flow for 90 minutes and then deliberately breaking the flow for 20 minutes before going back to it. This pattern has proven to be the most effective means of sustaining and maximizing flow over longer periods of time.
15. Repeatedly visualize your end game. In chess, a good player establishes their strategy for opening even before it happens, their middlegame strategy when they open, and their end game strategy as early on as possible. Where’s your strategy taking you? (Checkmate, mate.)