What motivates you?
Have you ever had one of those days where you just don’t feel like doing anything? Work isn’t exciting you anymore and you feel lethargic & uninspired?
Haven’t we all! One of the keys to unlocking motivation is understanding your personal values i.e. what truly energises & excites you. Once you know what these values are then it’s simply a matter of planning your life around them. A quote that I love to demonstrate this idea is:
“never let the things that matter to you most be at the mercy of those that do not”
The most successful people on the planet all understand what their values are and live their lives in accordance with them. You’d be surprised how many of us though, live our lives according to other people’s values. We end up devoting a large amount of time to things that genuinely don’t matter to us which results in those feelings of de-motivation & sluggishness. If you’re living your life according to your values then you should feel naturally energized, positive & excited!
Simple Life Strategy: how to get motivated
Start by thinking about what you love spending your time doing, the things you love in your home, the things you always have energy to do no matter how tired you are, think about the things you find it easy to spend money on and look to see where in your life you are focused and disciplined and reflect on what the common things are that you love to think and talk about.
You might ask yourself the following types of Qs:
- What parts of your life are you most satisfied with?
- What characteristics do you admire the most in other people?
- What brings you the most joy in life?
Once you’ve written down some of these ideas, you then need to spend some time analyzing which words seem to mean the most to you until you have a list of 6 or 7 values. Then you need to put them into order based on your personal priorities.
Some of my personal values are:
– health
– innovation
– learning & insight
– fun & adventure
I make a concerted effort to ensure I am factoring in these values every day in some way. When it comes to planning my week ahead I will refer to my values to ensure the decisions I’m making are in line with my values. For example if a friend invites me out to an event, I will assess how spending my time with that friend will allow me to live my values? Should my time be better used doing something else? And be careful not to confuse values with ‘pleasurable activities’. Values are not always about instant gratification – but they assist you to grow as a person in the long run.
If you’re keen to understand exactly how to identify your own values & unlock your motivation Contact me to find out more about my Values & Motivation Coaching program.
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Zoe,
nice article. Today, at a Friday afternoon I just feel like going home!
I can definitely say that I know quite well how to motivate myself on a daily level however I like your ‘values’ approach which I have never thought of it from this angle. Perhaps I just was not concious about how I actually motivate myself usually. Something to think about. Thanks – I love reading your little blog posts.
Mannie
Hi Mannie,
Glad you’re enjoying the posts! In my experience, it’s true that many people don’t spend time thinking about what motivates them. I guess this is something we’re not ‘taught’ to do as we grow up! I have found it’s a really useful thing to do though. Often people can also find they live their lives through other peoples values (commonly parents or partners) instead of what they truly want to be doing. I guess it’s a simple concept: if we don’t know what excites us, how can we expect to get more excitement in our lives?! Have a FABULOUS weekend! 😉
Zoë B
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I have a business now. This article will definitely help me to get motivated more to work and succeed.I’ll definitely consider what you said here. Thanks for sharing this article.
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