Secrets of Motivation and Emotion

How to win the fight against your mood.

When I was an undergrad studying psychology, I eagerly took almost every elective offered in my major. Almost. There was a class titled Motivation and Emotion that for some reason didn’t appeal to me at the time.

If only I had that opportunity today!

Recently I’ve come to recognize that, try as I might, I live my life at the mercy of my emotions. If I’m feeling positive and hopeful, I can almost always get things done and advance toward my goals. If not, I get caught up in too many small, worrisome details, feel increasingly worse, and make little if any progress.

Why does it have to be that way? Why should how I feel about my business, my writing, and my life change so drastically from one day to the next, or sometimes even one hour to the next? How can confidence be so frail and fickle?

I won’t pretend I’ve found the answers to these questions: after all, I did miss out on that class! Thankfully, I have discovered a few remedies for improving mood and thus increasing motivation and productivity. These methods aren’t magical pills; they still require some action when action is hard. But my own experiences and those of others have taught me that the following “secrets” truly make a difference.

Small Actions Are Worth a Lot

When it comes to motivation and emotion, making small strides really counts. Doing something small and easy may not seem to matter much, but consider: it’s the difference between something and nothing. It’s progress, a step toward where you want to be.

Not only that, but accomplishing something small can have huge impact on your mood. It can give you the energy you need to propel yourself forward, or make the difficult seem a little more manageable.

I chose this quote to write on the chalkboard in my kitchen:

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” ~Francis of Assisi

I try to honor these words it by prioritizing, and when a task feels overwhelming, by breaking it down into smaller chunks. Do the next right thing. That “thing” doesn’t have to be huge, it only has to be positive action.

There’s No Universal Formula

It’s so easy to see other people’s success — and even read exactly how they accomplished it — and then compare yourself unfavorably. But the truth of the matter is, for many reasons, what worked for someone else might not work well for me or you.

I’m in the midst of this now with my Amazon FBA business, which is not going well. I’ve read advice and watched inspiring videos from so many successful sellers, but somehow I feel I’m not even on the road to reaching their level of accomplishment. It’s crazy frustrating, especially because my family really needs the money. I can’t afford to fail, but many days I feel like giving up.

One thought keeps me going: that eventually, I’ll find the “thing” that works for me. I really believe that. Some of the best advice I’ve read lately is to keep moving forward, however slowly, and I have to believe that someday soon something will click and it will begin to pay off.

Right now, though, I don’t know what that “thing” is. Even if I did, my “thing” will be different from yours, and so will the methods I use to get there. To quote an anonymous author I once admired, “I am a unique and beautiful snowflake*.” And so are you.

Find your own thing. Find your own way. The wisdom of others is a wonderful guide, but it can’t give you your path, because your path and destination will be as unique as you are. This is good.

Maximize Your Mornings

I’m not going to be like everybody else and tell you to wake up early and follow a routine, because to be honest, I haven’t quite mastered that myself. My mornings still look a lot more like “wake up to my toddler screaming. Bring her into bed and try unsuccessfully to sleep while she crawls all over us.”

Seriously, though, mornings are where success is at. Your mind is freshest after sleeping, but more importantly, it’s early. There’s a sense of time and opportunity and a fresh start. When you accomplish something in the morning, you set a positive precedent for the entire day.

Mornings are a golden opportunity to make wise decisions, to be productive, to win the day. Do some little thing, then another and another, and you’ll start your day off right.

Some ideas to win the morning:

• If you live in a warm climate, it’s probably coolest in early morning — perfect time to go for a walk or run!
• Challenge yourself to get your entire to-do list finished by noon.
• Follow Benjamin P. Hardy’s advice and take a cold shower.
• Read something inspirational.
• Take time to sit quietly, or meditate.

There’s No Way to Fail

Google the word “failure” and you’ll see that there’s a multitude of definitions. Take heart, however, in one of my favorite truths: so long as you continue moving forward in a positive manner, there’s no real way to fail.

Your actions may fail to achieve their desired consequences, yes. But what do we know about what results are most desirable, or valuable? As Thomas Edison said,

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Not everything we do in life is going to work out the way we want it too; that’s a consequence of murphy’s law. It thus stands to reason that the best paradigm to adopt is one that focuses on the silver linings — the lessons you’ve learned, the people you’ve helped, or the options you’ve narrowed, to name a few.

I can choose to accept that I’ve failed in my business, or I can look at it this way: I’ve learned a lot about what not to do. I’ve discovered a few things that work for me, and a few that don’t. I’ve conquered my fear of trying something new and risky. I’ve gained a community of friends. And I’m still going; the gig’s not up until I say it is!

From a perspective of optimism, failure is truly not an option.

Takeaway

The next time you’re feeling like a victim of your mood, try these tricks to turn it around:

• take action, however small
• remember that you’re unique: you can’t copy someone else’s success because you have to build your own!
• focus on mornings to build positive momentum
• find the success in your “failure”

*note: this is not a misquote from Fight Club!

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Anne Marie is a writer and entrepreneur. She lives with her husband and daughter in PA. You can find her at her online home, www.inspiration-kindled.com, or follow her on twitter @InspireEach_Day.