Inspiration comes in waves. When we feel that initial swell of inspiration, like a surfer, we ride the wave. But the wave doesn’t always last, and just like the waves on the ocean that break and crash into the shoreline, the inspiration we feel also begins to break and crash.
As our inspiration fades, it becomes harder to stay focused on achieving our goals. So, how can we ensure that we stay inspired and motivated? Below are some tips to keep ourselves inspired.
Define Your Goal:
First and foremost, it’s important to have a specific goal in mind that you want to achieve. Take a moment to consider what you are working towards and create a goal that is aligned with that. Once you’ve created your goal, write it down.
Break it Down:
After deciding what your goal is, the next step is to determine how you can achieve that goal. To do that, you should break down our main goal into smaller goals and work towards completing each. By breaking down your main goal into smaller goals, it helps you to avoid becoming overwhelmed and losing motivation early on.
Create a Realistic Timeline:
Take a look at each goal you’ve set and consider how long it will realistically take you to accomplish that goal.
Just like breaking your goal down helps you to avoid becoming overwhelmed, so does coming up with a reasonable timeline. Make sure you give yourself enough time to accomplish the goals you’ve set for yourself. As much as you’d like to get to the end result as quickly as possible, rushing through the process could cause an increase in stress and anxiety, and could lead to burning out more quickly.
Save Inspirational Quotes & Messages:
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One of the surefire ways to keep yourself inspired and motivated is to have a collection of inspirational and motivational quotes, messages, or affirmations handy. You can find positive quotes and messages nearly anywhere you look or you can create your own personalized messages.
Pinterest is one of the best destinations to find uplifting quotes. With millions of Pins to choose from, you can add them to your own personalized album or save them to your phone or computer. To create your own uplifting quotes and messages, you can use Canva which offers free templates to be designed and edited however you choose. Of course, a good old-fashioned Google search isn’t a bad way to go either.
Sometimes, all you might need is a small dose of positivity to give yourself a boost and keep you focused on meeting your goals, and with a collection of inspirational quotes and messages so easily accessible, you can tap into them at any time, anywhere.
Make Time For Fun:
To resist stress and anxiety, be sure to make time for fun. Take breaks and take them often. Engage in activities that you enjoy to give your mind and body time to decompress. Taking time for yourself doesn’t mean you are procrastinating and putting your goal on the back burner. Remember, you don’t have to accomplish all of your goals all at once.
“Where people aren’t having fun, they seldom produce good work.”
David Ogilvy
Find a Community:
Find a group of people who are working towards the same goal as yourself. There are a number of communities on Facebook and Instagram with like-minded individuals who want to accomplish the same thing as you. Being part of a community can offer support, guidance, and inspire you to keep growing and reach your goal. Not only that, but they can also help keep you accountable.
Envision Your Finish Line:
What is waiting for you at the finish line? Imagine how you’ll feel once you get there. Happy? Excited? Elated? Good! Keep imagining what that feeing is and let the vision of you crossing that finish line inspire you and ignite the fire within you.
What inspires me to keep working towards my goals is the vision I have of my future. A future where I am no longer severely and adversely affected by my anxiety. A future where I am successfully doing what I do love to do, and creating a happy life with the person I love and our family of fur-babies (and hopefully little human babies too)!
Seeing how far I’ve come and how the future I’ve envisioned is already beginning to take shape also keeps the fire within me burning. I am determined to reach my finish line!
With love and support, Molly
