How To Get Back On Track After Losing Motivation: 17 Tips
In this new article, you will find out how to get back on course after losing motivation.
Once you are motivated, the next step is to stay motivated when you aren’t any longer feeling as enthusiastic as you were at the start.
Maybe something new has come into your life and your previous goals aren’t any longer important. Maybe you took a break for a day or two, and now you cannot muster the energy to get back out there. Maybe you made a mistake and fell into despair.
You will succeed one day if you reignite your enthusiasm and keep going. You won’t succeed if you give up. You have the choice to complete your goals or give up.
Here’s how to avoid giving up and achieve your goals.
How to get back on course after losing motivation:
1. Take a step back.
When you start a new fitness program, or any new goal, you are normally excited to start, full of joy and boundless energy. You haven’t any concept of self-limitation and believe that you can do anything.
However, this continues until you realize that you have your limitations and your excitement starts to fade. Holding back when you have so much energy at the start of a program and want to continue all the way through is bad motivation.
On the other hand, letting yourself achieve everything you want is not a good idea either. Instead, allow yourself to do only 50–75% of what you want, and develop a technique to gradually increase your efforts over time.
If you want to start running, you might think you can run 3 miles (4.8 km) at first. Instead of letting yourself try this, start by running a mile.
Tell yourself that you can do so much more when you run that far! But do not let yourself fall into this trap. After this session, you will be excited for your next workout when you can run 1.5 miles (2.4 km).
Maintain that energy, tame it, and you will be capable to run farther.
2. Set mini goals.
Big or long-term ambitions can sometimes be scary. We can lose motivation after a few weeks, even although we still have months, if not a year, to complete a task.
It can be difficult to stay motivated over a long period of time towards one goal. The solution might be to break it down into smaller goals.
If you are having trouble achieving a “exercise more” goal, for example, break it down into mini-goals that are tangible and achievable to keep the momentum going.
“Walking 10 minutes three times a week” and “Running with a friend three times a week in the afternoon” are more focused and achievable goals than larger, more general goals.
3. Just get started.
Some days you just do not feel like running, going to the health club, or doing whatever else you should be doing to serve your goals for the day.
Instead of focusing on how hard it’s or how long it will take, convince yourself that you must get started. Don’t put off doing what you need to do until you “feel” like it.
For example, just put on your trainers and shut the door behind you. After that, everything will occur by itself.
It’s hard when you are sitting at home, thinking about jogging and feeling tired. It’s never as hard as you think until you start. This advice is at all times effective.
To get started, you can use the “if-then” strategy. If I feel the urge to sit down and watch TV, I’ll pre-run for 10 minutes, for example.
4. Take ownership of your actions.
Take responsibility for your words if you have made a public commitment through online forums, blogs, emails, or in person. Make a commitment to report your results daily and stick to it! Since you do not want to be seen as a failure, this responsibility will encourage you to do well.
Consider taking even more extreme steps to force yourself to commit. Give someone some money, and they can only pay you back a small portion every time you go to the gym, for each pound you lose, or for each mile you run.
You might even be capable to make a contract!
5. Make friends with people who share your interests.
It can be difficult to stay motivated alone.
However, if you meet someone who has the same goals as you (running, dieting, budgeting, etc.), see if you can partner up with them. You can even partner with a spouse, sibling or close friend to accomplish the goals they’re pursuing.
You haven’t got to pursue the same goals so long as you both encourage and support one another to succeed. Other helpful options include local clubs (such as track clubs) or online forums where you can meet people who share your goals.
It can be difficult to accomplish something alone. It’s important to find your support network, whether in the real world, online, or both, whether you are quitting smoking, running marathons, or writing a master’s thesis.
6. Track your progress.
This could be as easy as putting an X on your calendar, creating a straightforward spreadsheet, or using online tools to track your progress.
However, looking back on your progress and seeing how far you have come can be very rewarding and can encourage you to keep going-after all, you do not want to go too long without an X! There will now be some red markers on your chart.
It does not matter.
Don’t let a few bad grades ruin your progress. Instead, work hard next time to get a high score.
According to research, documenting your progress makes you feel more competent. People who are confident in their abilities are more motivated.
7. Give yourself regular rewards.
Celebrate your achievements (1) and provide yourself a reward for each step you take towards your goal. It’s a good idea to set yourself an appropriate reward for each step so you can anticipate it.
When we say fit, we mean that they’re 1) proportional to your goal size (do not reward a 1 mile run with a luxury store purchase); and 2) do not sabotage your goals (do not celebrate a good nutrition day by eating dessert if you are trying to lose weight).
8. Get rid of procrastination.
Sometimes it is easier to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow!” You might mistake procrastination for laziness, and you would be right.
But in many cases, it is about setting goals so ambitious you know you will never achieve them, so you do not want to even try. Instead, try one of these strategies to combat procrastination:
See details. Don’t think of a paper as a “big paper” if you are having trouble completing it.
Break it down into manageable sections, such as “research,” “write an introduction,” “edit paragraphs,” and so on. Taking one of these is a lot less scary than picking up a “big paper.”
Remember that whatever you can do, try to do the best you can. If your goal is to “get all the A’s,” you may be so scared you never get started. Instead, set a goal to “do your best at all assignments.”
Forgive yourself. According to research, those who punish themselves for procrastinating spend more time feeling guilty and fewer time really working.
You let go yesterday, and now you have extra things to do, but you can move on.
9. Hire a trainer, or take a class.
They will motivate you to at least get up and perform. It can be used to accomplish any goal.
This is among the costlier methods of self-motivation, but it works. And if you do your homework, you may be capable to find some inexpensive courses in your area, otherwise you may know someone who can coach or tutor you for free.
10. Negative ideas must be discarded and replaced with good ones.
This is among the most vital motivational skills to master, and it is so important to do it regularly. The key is to start paying attention to your thoughts and recognizing bad internal dialogue.
Spend a few days realizing every nasty idea that comes to mind. After a few days, try to eliminate negative ideas like bugs and replace them with positive ones. “This is too difficult!” should get replaced with “I can achieve this!
It’s easy, but it works. It really does.
Use affirmations. Try reminding yourself that “I’m not feeling very athletic today, but I am strong!” I’m confident I can complete this exercise.
11. Think about the advantages.
For most people, imagining how difficult something is is a big deal. Getting up early seems so hard! Just thinking about it makes you tired. Instead of focusing on how difficult something is, consider what you’ll gain by doing it.
Make a list of all the reasons why you want to accomplish your goal and what you’ll gain by doing so. Instead of focusing on how hard it was to get out of bed early, consider how good you feel when you are done and how far better your day will be because of the extra time you have.
Either benefit will make you feel more energized.
12. Rekindle your enthusiasm!
Consider why you lost your enthusiasm, and then consider why you were so enthusiastic.
Is it possible for you to get it back? What inspires you to pursue your goals? What sparked your interest? Try to bring it back, distract yourself and energize yourself.
Consider reading motivational stories (2). Other people who have achieved or are doing what you want to accomplish can provide inspiration.
Blogs, books, and other magazines are also must-reads. Find your goal online and read success stories. You will quickly find that you’re feeling more enthusiastic than ever.
Find a place that inspires you. Some people do best in coffee shops, while others prefer to be isolated from the outside world. Try to find something that makes you feel energized and try to incorporate it into your daily routine.
13. Build on your accomplishments.
Every small step forward is a victory; glad you started at all! Then repeat this for the next two days. Every small success should be celebrated.
Use that sense of accomplishment and build on it with baby next steps. For example, add 2-3 minutes to your exercise program. With each step (each step should take a few week) you’ll feel more successful.
You won’t fail if you make each step as small as possible. After a few months, your small steps will lead to big growth and success.
14. Push yourself towards a set goal.
Motivation is not something that’s at all times available to you. It comes and goes, like the tide, then comes and goes again.
But remember that even although it may fade, it isn’t gone eternally. It will return. Hang in there and wait for the motivation to come back. While you are waiting for your motivation to return, learn something about your goals, ask for guidance, and do some of the other activities proposed below.
One way to accomplish this goal is to stop thinking of your failures as “failures.” This magnifies and prolongs the absence of short-term motivation, weakening the will to try again.
Instead, “I had a bad day today and don’t feel like I want to achieve my goals.” You say to yourself: “It’s okay to have days like this every now and then. Tomorrow I can start over. I haven’t got to live with the implications of today’s failure tomorrow.
15. Use visualization techniques
Create a detailed mental picture of your successful outcome. Close your eyes and imagine how your success will look, smell, taste, sound and taste.
When you achieve success, where will you be? How do you think you look? What are you wearing?
Create as clear a mental picture as possible. The next step is to do this every day, for at least a couple of minutes. This is the only way to stay motivated for a long period of time.
Visualization alone is not enough to keep you motivated. You must try hard too. According to research, people who mix imagination with real work are more likely to succeed than those who only do one thing or the other.
16. Develop a contingency plan in case something goes wrong.
Develop a technique when the urge to give up reaches your goal. Write down your strategy because you will not feel like making it up when the urge to act strikes.
One of the best things you can do is bear in mind of your strategy for action.
Once you learn to write down your action strategy, you’ll be capable to choose when to use your emergency plan.
For example, if you notice that your energy levels drop after 5 p.m. and you are considering breaking up your exercise routine, do your backup plan: exercise right after you wake up, before work!
17. Reclaim your joy.
If something is not enjoyable, nothing lasts long if the rewards only come after months of hard work. According to research, if there wasn’t any fun, fun, or excitement in it, you would not want to do it.
Find the joys in life, like the joy of running in the morning, the joy of telling others you have completed yet another step on the road, or the joy of eating a nutritious dinner.
Focus on the now. Then consider your future and how you can realize your ambitions at any time.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my article on how to get back on course after losing motivation. I actually hope that its content has been of good help to you.
