SIGN Me up
get weekly emails with the latest tips to help grow your business
VIEW OUR SERVICES
Lollipop jujubes jelly cupcake caramels topping muffin.
type below and hit enter
Insert Category Link
Insert Category Link
Insert Category Link
I'm Mackenzie (my friends call me Kenzie) and I help biscuit chupa chups candy candy canes bear claw.
Read more about me
We are already midway through January 2021. What an insane last year this has been for us all. It’s so hard to process all what we are feeling and all what is happening in politics, race relations, and the public health crisis. Life is happening at a rate we can’t fully take in each day, and then it happens all over again the next. It’s a wonderful and amazing time to be alive, but is also an exhausting and emotionally challenging time. Take a moment to just be thankful and proud of yourself for making it this far.
Have you made any goals for 2021 and how do you feel like your progress is going so far? It’s okay to not have made any, or to have not made much progress. We all lose track of time, we all lose motivation sometimes. Those moments of lost motivation are often confusing. You think: Why do I have no motivation? Why do I suddenly feel so low? Why do I feel no interest in something I know I’m passionate about? Why do I just want to lay here and binge Netflix when I know there’s so much else I need to be doing? I think we can lose motivation when we aren’t seeing progress, have lost focus on our purpose, or are just burnt out.
Here are a few steps to help you build healthy habits, stay on track, and take care of yourself at the same time while you’re chasing your goals this year.
There’s simply no way taking a “mental note” of everything you want or need to do is going to ensure that you actually remember and do those things. Not only does writing stuff down help you remember it later, it also helps solidify your plans. The act of releasing my thoughts into the world, whether speaking it out or writing it down, is so satisfying to me. It takes away your mental limits you put on yourself, such as that you think you can’t do something because it’s too unrealistic or you worry people might not take you seriously. Once it is out of your head, you can start making actual plans to achieve it, and it doesn’t seem so unrealistic after all. Describing your goals in writing is strongly associated with goal success, and people who vividly picture their goals are 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to successfully accomplish their goals.
Writing things out is also therapeutic as it helps you release anxious thoughts. Organize and write out your goals, your todo lists, random inspiring thoughts, something that’s bothering you, and anything else that comes to mind you want to express or feel is important.
Don’t just stare at your evergrowing to do list, anxiously overthinking and making and remaking plans for how you are going to tackle the list. Plans are important to make, but sometimes you just need to start taking action. Start knocking things off one thing at a time. The “Snowball Effect” is a process that starts by doing small tasks that then build upon themselves, like a snowball that starts small but as it gets rolling grows larger and larger. I’ve heard this term used a lot for tackling debt, you start with the small things and work your way up. But it can be applied to your everyday life as well. You’ll gain momentum as you finish each task, and gain motivation as you satisfyingly start checking things off.
Find a time that will work for you on a consistent basis for checking in with yourself. Once a week or twice a month, ask yourself: Does this still feel like the right path for me? Are my goals still aligned with my values? Am I starting to feel burnt out? How is my progress? How am I feeling this is going? Is this working or do I need to re-strategize? Maybe you need to take a break, get some fresh air or engage in some healthy fun. Call a friend or journal alone for a bit. Checking in with yourself to recenter on your values, allow yourself to feel your emotions, and remind yourself of your progress are important for maintaining a healthy mind.
As mentioned before, we can lose motivation for a number of reasons. Everyone experiences the ups and downs of motivation. It doesn’t mean you are bad at what you are doing, it just means you are human. And our moods change constantly. Sometimes it’s not fun to be patient, to be persistent, sometimes we stop and start questioning our purpose and think “what’s the point anyway”? Change is hard and sometimes that makes us lose ourselves too. It’s okay to take a break from work and do something just for you. Just try not to let your one fun and relaxation day turn into several days, where you end up sitting in your lack of motivation. Keep in mind the habits you want to develop and why. You can be unmotivated but still have the strength to make yourself get up and do at least one thing from your to do list. And then another. And another. You can’t achieve difficult goals without making a commitment to yourself. I believe we get inspiration and motivation from working and doing. If you need a break, take it. Then get back to work. Your motivation will come back!
This may be challenging depending on your lifestyle, but making a routine will help you have organized, focused times dedicated to yourself. I’m not really into making rigid schedules for myself, but I find that sometimes my days are just too busy and if I don’t dedicate specific time to do something, it probably won’t get done. This will especially help when you are trying to establish better habits. It will also help you avoid wasting time.
If you treat these set times like you do a meeting for work, it will ensure you make time for yourself and not get distracted scrolling on your phone or doing random household tasks when you have a few minutes of free time. If you want to build healthy habits, things like going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time everyday, and setting aside focused time in the mornings or evenings to read, pray, meditate, journal, practice a skill, make healthy food, exercise, or whatever habit you are trying to maintain, will change your life.
When your friend makes a mistake, do you yell at them and tell them how stupid and unworthy they are? You would probably show them kindness and forgiveness, and try to cheer them up. You should also take this approach when talking to yourself. When I make a mistake, I sometimes treat myself harshly, and allow my shame or sadness to take over. Allow yourself to feel sad, do what you need to do to let it out, and don’t suppress it. But don’t let yourself stay there in that low state of mind, and don’t continue to beat yourself up. If you want to get up after being knocked down, help yourself back up.
Growth is so important, and as human beings on an ever changing earth, it is inevitable. We are always changing, and we are always chasing new dreams. Instead of focusing so much on the outcome of your goal, and getting what you want, try to focus on the journey and the growth that will happen as you work to get there. This is important because it is those small habits you do and build upon every day, that will lead to your success. This can be challenging when you’ve got your mind set on making those achievements for yourself, but it is also important to value the journey more than the destination. When we’re focused on the destination, the future, we aren’t living in the present. This takes away our ability to have gratitude and enjoy the present moment. I believe the present needs to be appreciated the most because it is something that we’ll never have again. Once we reach one mountaintop we make plans to climb another, and along that journey it’s important to slow down and appreciate how far we’ve come.
People who are genuinely happy and successful aren’t perfect. They don’t have some magic technique or superpower secret. They just find healthy habits that work for them, they stick to them, check in with their goals, progress and feelings often, and find ways to appreciate the journey. If you follow that recipe, you’re bound to grow in all the good ways you want to this year!
Author: Destanie Martin-Johnson
Destanie is a writer from Minnesota and is based in the Twin Cities area. She has a background in journalism, communications and public relations.
If you’d like to receive weekly motivations, blog post updates and FREE gifts, then sign up below. Let’s beautify your life, today!
Hello!
Instagram, Tiktok, and LinkedIn as @angelmarieofficial
Let's drop the burnout by becoming mentally and financially free...God's way! It's time to develop into the person that God is calling you to be in your industry. One step at at a time.
© 2021 Empowered Mission, LLC all rights reserved.
TUNE IN NOW
Now podcast episodes out now!