Motivation: When you don't feel like it...

Everyone has experienced those days: days when you don’t feel like it, days when you are flat, when you have no motivation to do anything. Yet as Jerry West, an American retired basketball player, said “You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good”. Waiting for that day when you feel super motivated may take some time and the world doesn’t wait, the work has to be done. Therefore, in the meantime, we would like suggest a few ways to create your motivation.

CHALLENGE

If there is none at hand, create your own challenge. They can be small: making 10 calls instead of 5, finishing a report well before the deadline, providing 3 different solutions to the same situation. They can be more ambitious: you may aspire to achieve a certain position; or you may challenge yourself to be your best self this week, today, this hour. Make sure that the challenges are work related and based on your priorities. There is nothing worse than being the best in something that no one needs. Challenges will keep you focused and becoming successful is a side effect.

GOAL

Defining your goals works similarly as challenges. What is it that you want to achieve? Is it a promotion, career move, mastering new area, or buying a house, holiday, car; or simply a job satisfaction. If you have a clear and exciting vision of your WHY, and ideally have it in front of your eyes (on your desk, desktop, in your wallet), you will get that extra surge of motivation in times you need it.

CONTRIBUTION

The WHY that will motivate you doesn’t necessarily have to be personal. You may start seeing your job as a mission, you may notice how your work contributes to a greater cause, makes people happier, makes the world a better or easier place to live in. A sense of contribution is very rewarding and for many it is the reason they get up in the morning and do their work.

REWARD

We forget to reward ourselves. We do the job and then we are off to another task. Yet, a small and meaningful reward that you give yourself after accomplishing a task is a nice pat on the back for a job well done. This feeling of accomplishment and appreciation can keep you motivated in your work.

CHANGE PERSPECTIVE

When you see your work as same-old-been-there-done-that you can easily get disheartened. If you cannot change your job, change perspective. Use challenges, goals or contribution, think of it as a mission, a game or movie; or simply move your seat, rearrange your desk, change your daily routines. Change is good, change brings freshness and encourage to do more.

TAKE A BREAK

There will still be the days when even the above will not be able to ignite the spark of motivation and enthusiasm. Just take a break then, step away from your desk, do something different, recharge and then go back to work. Remember: