Have you ever set goals for the New Year and start to put them off as early as before January even ends?

The excitement of the new year and the promise of the fantastic things it brings is, well, not so exciting anymore and the celebrations of the New Year seems so long ago and we are trudging our way through a muddy life as we do as per usual.

Life has gotten in the way, much like every year before this coincidentally.

Do you need a mind boost to your goal-achieving machine? Read on and find out how.

The procrastination you face towards achieving goals is not because you are “lazy” and “not-disciplined”. It is there because you, like everyone else face the dreaded dip in motivation when the initial excitement of a new mission wears off.

Not surprisingly, you already know about lack of motivation but the difference is that today you are going to find out how to manage the factors that influence your motivation and productivity and thus maintain your progress the whole year round.

Here are 10 ways you can shift your mind in order to keep motivated:

1. Accept the unexpected.

You know what? Life happens. Crap does too. You must be able to accept that not everything will occur as and when you want it to. Best laid plans are the plans that cater for adaptability.

2. Accept that you cannot be perfect all the time.

You and I are not perfect all the time. We can be perfect sometimes, at some things but we cannot be so the entire time. This means you cannot be sticking to your perfect diet, your perfect workout routine, your perfect sleep schedule and your perfect productive day every single day and that is OK.

3. Accept that change will take time.

Change takes time to achieve. We all know that and accept this for others around us and yet when it comes to our lives, we want it NOW. Not all good things have to take a long time but often good things are worth waiting for.

4. Accept full responsibility of making changes in your life.

You are the master of your own life. No one else. When you make changes and things do not go as well as planned, well, you simply need to own up and move on. It is meaningless to point your blame finger at others, the sooner you own up, the sooner you can come up with Plan B.

5. Celebrate the changes you have made. No matter how small.

You might have overlooked some of the small changes already made. Say if the change you want to make is going to the gym 3 times a week but you have only managed 2 so far, then you need to celebrate the fact that you are going 2 more times than the 0 times you have been to the gym before you started. Pat yourself on the back as per necessary.

6. Be grateful for the changes you have already made. No matter how small.

You might have pat yourself on the back for the strides you have made but are you truly aware of just how much it took your willpower and body to make that change? Think about it and be grateful.

7. Keep your mind and heart open to the actual result of your change.

Sometimes we get more than we bargained for. Very often what we receive as a result of a life change is different from what we had originally set our eye on. Be open to unexpected results, you might just enjoy it more or be able to learn from it.

8. Be conscious of the process and enjoy it.

Sometimes it is far more important to enjoy the process than be obsessed with the outcome. The outcome is nevertheless important but the process also provides a platform for your mind to grow and you might find that you will learn so many things along the way if you choose to be conscious and enjoy the process.

9. Allow yourself to grow with the process.

During the process of change you might find yourself a different person at the end of the journey from the beginning of the journey and that is OK.

10. Embrace the fact that this is only one goal amongst many others

If this was the first goal you have consciously set or perhaps it was one of many, know that this will not be the last and even if it didn’t go as planned you will have other goals to achieve and thus other chances to do it “right”.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, you (and everybody else!) will suffer from a lack of motivation and procrastinate on what you know you ought to do from time to time. As long as you don’t let that become a habit and kick your arse back into high gear, don’t be so hard on yourself and let yourself “be lazy” now and then.

Remember, you now have the tools to shift your mind when you need help staying motivated and on course.

Life may not always be perfect and you may not always get the outcome you expect but you will nonetheless grow from the process and set another goal and another goal until you what you really want and where you ought to be.

So how do we get out of our rut?

First things first, you need to be honest with yourself and ask yourself these questions:

1. What are the activities that no longer fulfils me?
   – For many it will be things like binge-eating or eating unhealthy foods too often, drinking too much and too often, shopping or spending money too much and too often or even going out socialising at any given chance even when you have other things to do. Don’t confuse this with addiction although this may lead you onto the path of addictions if you do not resolve this early enough.
2. Why do I do these things?
   – This is the key to figuring out how to change your behaviour because this is the core reason and once you find the root, you can replace this activity with something else that fulfils this need. How does doing x activity make you feel? What need does it fufil for you? Other than boredom, are there any other reasons such as loneliness or unhappiness with what’s going on with the other parts of your life?
3. What other things can I do that will give me the satisfaction I am looking for?
   – This is about replacing the activities that are meaningless to you with activities that will provide you the fulfilment and enrich you in other ways. For example, if you shop way too often to stave off boredom and loneliness you might find that meeting with friends perhaps for a chat over coffee or dinner may do a better job of fulfilling the need than spending hundreds of dollars on a dress or a gadget you will never wear or use.

In Conclusion:

Life is not always about doing the latest things or being productive all the time which is what modern living has conditioned us to strive for. We need to be fulfilled emotionally, physically and mentally in order to thrive so this is not about stopping a not so great activity and doing nothing else in its place because we just don’t work like that. The problem I think is that too many of us do not even question what fulfils and what does not and instead choose to believe that life should just go on as they are and we should be content with what we’ve got and nothing more. That is not living a life people! You need to be more than “just ok”. You deserve more fulfilment wherever you can get.

Think about the things you are doing now and determine for yourself whether they do you any good at all or do they make you even more miserable. When you get stuck just think about the 3 simple questions above and I am sure you will be able to achieve more fulfilment from your life in no time at all.