How to Stay Motivated - Christine Kane

How to Stay Motivated Beyond the Initial Jolt

It happens all the time. You can’t figure out how to stay motivated beyond the initial jolt of excitement.

Here’s what happens”¦

You go to a conference and get SUPER pumped about starting something new.
You feel charged, and inspired, and ready to take on the world.
But, A couple days later”¦meh.

It’s like you “lost” something. You can’t figure out how to stay motivated and on task, and so you start undermining yourself. Then you start shutting down. And then you’re really in trouble, because you feel completely stuck and lost and blocked and then you REALLY can’t get anything done.

Ugh.

Sound familiar? I call this the Day-4 Syndrome.

My clients ask me all the time how to stay motivated when they’re just not feelin’ it.

Now, here’s the thing”¦
The problem ISN’T that you don’t know how to stay motivated.
The problem is that you expect to FEEL motivated before you take action.

You get me?

 

How to Stay Motivated: No Muse Required

We’ve all been there, fretting about how to stay motivated as the clock ticks on and the days pass by.

And what are we waiting for? You think the secret of motivation is to maintain a feeling of inspiration. The eureka, a-ha moment comes, and that’s when you seize it, right? You never question how to stay motivated when the muse is perched on your shoulder.

The problem with consistent motivation is the way we think about it. We wait for peak motivation experiences to propel us forward into taking action. But if you’re simply waiting for that feeling of how to stay motivated to come back around, you’re missing the point. You’re setting yourself up for failure.

You can invite the Muse in, but, ya’ know, the Muse is busy, too!

You can keep waiting for the Muse to show up, or you can let me coach you on how to stay motivated by rethinking the “how.”

 

How to Stay Motivated with a Vision Board

So there you are, confused with how to stay motivated, and losing sight of your vision and goals along the way. This is a natural part of the process. It’s when the excitement of something new dies down and the reality of all the hard work ahead sets in.

So take a step back and get clear. Put aside your worries of and focus on your goals. One of the best ways I know how to do this is to make a vision board. In fact, I wrote a whole eBook on the topic, and it’s yours, free, for the taking.

Creating a vision board can help you with how to stay motivated, because it’s a physical reminder of your intention. And when you look at it every day, that attention brings your intention into sharp focus. A vision board will help you with how to stay motivated because it’s a highly personal representation of the feeling of your intention. Think of your vision board as your on-call Muse!

 

How to Stay Motivated: Learn How to Show Up

The most important lesson I’ve learned about how to stay motivated is this:

Motivation is created by showing up. Not the other way around.

When I coach people, I tell them that THIS is the state of the reward. NOW is where you’re most alive. It’s not about the lightning bolt feeling of motivation. It’s about showing up for yourself, right here, right now, even if you feel like you don’t know how to stay motivated.

Once you accept that the struggle of how to stay motivated is part of the journey, you can relax a little. You’ve got the awareness, and you’ve set your intention, so don’t derail yourself because something isn’t easy or not working out the way you thought. Some days you WILL be challenged. Many days, you’ll feel like giving up. That’s normal!

So here’s what I’d suggest”¦
Take a deep breath.
Spend a few minutes soaking up your vision board.
Get back into the mindful place where you set your intention.
Now, let your intention guide you.
Keep going!

Each day you’ll get to see which voice or excuse is showing up to challenge you and question your intention with how to stay motivated. And you’ll learn how to move around it and move forward.

Yup, even when you’re not feelin’ it!

ONE COMMENT ADD A COMMENT
  • Nikki

    Christine,

    I was almost in tears reading this. Tears of joy and realisation. I have been feeling this way a LOT through the past few weeks as I have reached my first 3 month market in my new business venture.

    I’m passionate about educating women in the most basic of nutritional principles to empower them to understand what they are doing wrong and give them the tools to help them build their own nutritional future…sound exciting!? Well I thought so too but I’ve been losing that “motivation” and it’s been killing me!

    To read this, I can’t explain how much what I have been feeling has been realised to me and within 5 minutes I now realise a few things I need to do! I’m BY NO MEANS perfect and neither is my business right now but I have to make this work!

    I’m excited to receive my DVD and subscribe to your blog!!!

    The future is awesome!

    Nikki “hEatasaurus” Heaton
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