We’ve all been there — we feel really excited and ambitious heading into the new year. We know what we want to accomplish: we’re drinking our water, going to the gym daily and becoming our best selves. Sounds great, until baby is awake all night, you miss the gym in order to sleep, forget about your water because you’re so stressed…then it happens again the next day. Soon enough, you realize it’s been two weeks since you’ve gotten movement in and you start to lose your motivation and new year excitement.
I give this example because I have lived this, sis. It’s hard to get back on track after you’ve fallen off, regardless of the reason. I get it! That’s why I want to share my best tips for how to stay motivated. Ultimately, it comes down to being disciplined enough to keep going even when it gets hard.
1 // Is your goal defined? Did you write it down?
Listen. It’s hard to attain a goal if you don’t actually sit down and define what you’re trying to accomplish. It doesn’t matter if it’s small or big. You want to drink water daily? You want to exercise for 30 minutes every day? Eat healthier? Take a new class? Learn a new skill? Read more? Write it down every single day. It can be as simple as listing it in your notebook or you can use my Start Today journal and make it a more formal process. The key is in the consistency of calling your shot and maintaining your focus. You’d be shocked if you saw my daily list of dreams I’ve been writing down over the last decade… it is literally the life I’m living today. It’s incredibly powerful to add this habit to your daily routine.
2 // Think about your WHY.
Why did you choose this specific goal? Why do you have to achieve it now? It must be something really powerful or it will be too easy to talk yourself out of doing the hard work. Make a point of journaling often about why you want this so badly and spend plenty of time daydreaming about how your life (or the lives of those you love) will be made better when you stick to your word and accomplish this goal.
3 // Consistency is key.
Y’all. Your goal can’t be attained with a few attempts no matter how incredible those attempts are. There’s this old quote that says, “Consistency is more important than intensity.” Remember that! It doesn’t matter if you try super hard at the beginning of the new year… it matters how you show up every day after that. You gotta keep at it. You gotta bring it daily.
It also won’t happen overnight. Especially if it’s a new habit you’re trying to form. They say it can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks for a habit to completely become second nature. Achieving goals isn’t about what you do occasionally — consistency is everything.
4 // It’s ok if you fall off the wagon. Get back up. Give yourself grace.
You missed a day or two? Setbacks are 100% part of the process; only you keep fooling yourself into believing that if it isn’t perfect then it isn’t powerful. Read that again if you need to. You need to release yourself from this fear of failure that is holding you back! You’ve got to rise up and go again. Give yourself grace and keep going. Remember, warriors expect to get knocked down and they understand that their true power is in their ability to stand back up when most would stay down.
