We all know that developing positive habits and staying motivated isn’t always easy. In fact, for many of us it can be downright challenging! But what if I told you there were a few simple things you could do to make the process easier on yourself? Believe it or not, by following the tips we’ll explore below, you can boost your motivation and form positive habits without even realising it! So whether you are just starting out on your journey to change or you’ve been struggling to stick to your goals, read on for some helpful advice. Trust me, these tips will make all the difference…

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome when trying to form positive habits is procrastination. We all do it, but why? Often times it’s because we don’t have a clear plan or we’re trying to do too many things at once. If this sounds like you - Don’t beat yourself up, we’ll get under the skin of this frustrating behaviour (AND you may be surprised to discover some of it’s pretty positive…)

Staying motivated and on track, how hard can that be!?! Well, VERY it seems, for some! You’d think that by simply setting small, achievable goals and appreciating you can’t change everything about yourself overnight would be an easy place to start - so why do so many of us begin with great intentions such as working out three times a week, quitting smoking or cutting back on sugary drinks only to then fall back on our old ways. Well don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of that and you can establish a plan of action you’ll stick with…

…And how come other people seem to be utterly laser focused when it comes to their personal commitment to change and we’re not!. They seem to have steely self-discipline, they make commitments they stick to and they’re unwavering in their decisiveness to achieve - So why is that? How can we tap into their mindset, learn from it and apply it in our world? Well one of the best ways to maintain your motivation is by finding what works for you (from a motivational perspective)…Any idea what that is? Don’t worry - You’ll find out…

1. Why procrastination isn’t ALL bad…And what to do to make it work for you.

So lets start with procrastination. Seems appropriate given without getting past this stage we’ll struggle to make progress! So how do we overcome procrastination and embrace the positive aspects? (YES there’s positive aspects :)

I totally understand, overcoming procrastination isn’t easy, but IT IS possible. By understanding the causes and effects of procrastination, we can begin to develop strategies for overcoming it. And, while it may take some time and effort, the benefits of overcoming procrastination are worth the struggle. First up. The basics. As human beings we’re not “designed” to think ahead - When we lived in caves, our primary thought was to survive the day, not plan for the future. Hence why in our worlds today it’s not our “natural” thinking. That said, it's worth highlighting, procrastination isn't always a bad thing. In fact, there are positive aspects to procrastination in that it can be seen as a time management strategy. Studies have even identified higher EQ and greater persistence and self-directedness in those who actively procrastinate.

What this suggests is that for some procrastination is actually a choice. A strategy for success, through the creation of having to work under pressure, introducing a time challenge, thereby inducing a motivation to HAVING to get things done. An example of this “time” motivation could be completing your tax return. Perhaps you’ve found you’ve put this off until the impact of not getting it done was a greater motivation than putting it off, ie you’d get a big fine! There’s actually a term for this “arousal delay” which is the need to feel pressure to get things done - If that’s you, embrace it. You’ve found a technique that works for you. The only watch out and it’s a big one! If it’s an approach you’ve adopted but it’s affecting your wellbeing. Then you might want to rethink. In which case, follow the tips here and make some changes.

OK, so if you're finding that procrastination is impacting your life in a negative way, there are steps you can take to overcome it. Here’s four tips:

1. Identify your triggers: What sets off your procrastination? Is it certain tasks or types of tasks? Once you know what your triggers are, you can develop a plan to avoid or manage them.
   
   

2. Break tasks down into smaller steps: When a task seems overwhelming, it can be helpful to break it down into smaller, more manageable steps. This will make the task seem less daunting and increase your chances of taking action.
   
   

3. Set deadlines: Having a deadline can help motivate you to take action and get the task done.
   
   

4. Eliminate distractions: Remove anything that might distract you from completing the task at hand. This may mean turning off your phone, closing your email browser, or working in a quiet place.

5. Finally, reward yourself for making a start!

Procrastination CAN be overcome. Understanding its causes and effects is the first step to overcoming. This is backed up by research done by Pychyl who classes procrastination as "a complex multi-dimensional phenomenon" (Pychyl, 2013). The simple truth is we may procrastinate because we're perfectionists or because we're afraid of failure. Or, we may procrastinate because we don't know how to get started on a task. Whatever the reason, once we identify the cause, we can begin to address it.

Which leads us onto our next theme. Habits. Sure you may take action and start applying the techniques above but what’s going to stop this from being yet another of those situations where you begin with good intentions only to find yourself slipping into your old ways? Read on…

2. How to develop new habits AND make them stick.

Build good habits! Easier said than done right? These first two themes are intrinsically linked you need them both…To get past procrastination AND making THAT become a habit…What to do, when neither is easy? Here’s where motivation comes into play, BUT before we get ahead of ourselves lets explore habit forming and how we can at least begin the journey…

Take a walk into any high street book store, go on-line or trawl through endless posts from self-help gurus and well meaning individuals and you’ll find a ton of advice on how to set yourself goals, create five year plans, stay positive, use affirmations, build mental strength all seemingly promising that doggedly persevering with an open-mind, a willingness to be flexible and appreciating that luck is simply “labour under correct knowledge” to coin a phrase, you’ll one day reach that moment of reward.

Clearly to achieve anything, you need to take action, have some form of strategy in place and know what it is you’re aiming for, all the while be willing to dedicate, time, energy and some personal sacrifice to your mission. But have you ever stopped to think why there’s only a few individuals at the very top of their game? Why so many of the self-help books and wise insights from motivational gurus, all seem to actually say the very same stuff? Is it at all possible that thousands and thousands of other people may well have taken this same sage advice and applied it to their worlds, but didn’t quite get the results they wanted? You don’t get to hear about those stories, and it’s hardly surprising, it’s not massively inspirational to read or watch about the would be business owner who strived for years, gave it their all and still didn’t get to where they wanted. Or the bedroom musician, creating volumes of content to post all over social media never to gain a contract.

While well meaning, many of those sharing their self-help advice don’t lean on science or psychology to back up their claims – leading to frustration, anxiety and poor decision making for those reading/watching/listening - Let’s not kid ourselves, the key to developing any habit is to make it as easy as possible to get started. Habits are hard to form, but with some planning and effort, they can become an integral part of your life. Ignore the nonsense about a habit taking a month to form, evidence suggests depending upon the habit it’s anywhere from 3 weeks to 8 months! So remember, the goal is not to achieve perfection overnight; it’s about making gradual progress over time.

I’m assuming if you’re reading this you genuinely want to make some shifts? In which case it’ll come as no surprise It’s going to take some planning and effort, habits CAN become an integral part of your life but you’re going to need to set yourself up for success. Following these simple tips, you'll be well on your way to developing healthy, long-lasting habits.

1. Make things easy. If you want to make a habit of going down the gym. Have a gym kit by the front door or one in the car / in your backpack / whatever means you won’t be able to make any excuses. (obviously make sure you’ve more than one kit, so you can wash it and replace with another, so you’re unable to use “my kit’s dirty” as an excuse!)

2. Start small. If you’re trying to establish a daily meditation practice, for example, start by meditating for just one minute a day. That means breaking your new habit down into small, manageable steps. This works because your brain tells you “hey that’s easy I can do that’ which builds motivation and once that becomes part of your routine, you can gradually increase the length of your sessions. Don’t fall into the trap of being overly ambitious, you’re more likely to get discouraged and give up altogether. The key here. Establish the habit BEFORE improving it. As James Clear author of “Atomic Habits” stresses. Master the art of “showing up”

3. Don’t break the chain. Get yourself a visual tool, say a calendar you can stick on the wall. Everyday you do what you said you were going to do, cross it off your calendar so you can easily see the progress you’re making. Again this creates motivation, it’s a visual reminder of progress. We’ll explore this later - but motivation creates motivation! The key here. DON”T break the chain! What do I mean by that? Just because you’ve vowed to go to the gym at 5pm everyday but 5pm isn’t possible TODAY. Be flexible. Change it. Go at 10am or 2pm. The important thing is. If you’ve planned to go to the gym on this day - GO. Don’t let a small change to the routine “break the chain.”

4. Create a support system. Tell your friends and family about your new habit and ask them to hold you accountable. This is an incredibly powerful influencing factor. Can’t stress strongly enough how impactful this can be.

5. Delayed rewards suck. For some taking before and after pictures is a motivator to visually see the progress when losing weight or building muscle or making some other form of change physically. Thing is as we’ve already identified following through on our desires for change doesn’t always happen. Waiting to celebrate the changes we seek 3 months down the road may NEVER happen, so what can we do to reward ourselves on the journey, rather than waiting for some end result that may or may not ever happen? Well I’m going to hand over to James Clear to answer this. His relatively recent research into this theme is incredibly insightful. Take a look at his talk at TED…(and go buy his book “Atomic Habits”).

3. What motivates you? And how motivation creates motivation!

Just think about those fancy houses, luxury cars, gorgeous restaurants and amazing holidays that’ll be yours if you work hard and smart enough, commit yourself and persevere.  All clearly obvious reasons why everyone should be motivated – right?  Surely everyone thinks that way?  Ever found yourself trying desperately to motivate people around you with visions of the future, the amazing shiny things on offer if only they’d embrace your ideas and commit to action? Thing is, everyone’s motivated in different ways.  This example assumes someone’s motivated “towards” something, so if they focus on their goals look what’s on offer.  However some people are motivated by avoiding things, so that conversation would go a little like – “If you’re not focused on your life goals, look what you’ll miss out on….you’ll never have that big house, go to beautiful restaurants, have a desirable car or enjoy amazing holidays - in fact you could find yourself on the streets” – So not wanting that situation, the pain of even contemplating it spurs them into action.

Thing is, there’s even more layers to motivation, some people are “internally” motivated – as an example if you were needing to catch a flight at 4am and you needed to be up at 3am, setting your alarm and getting there on time wouldn’t be a problem for you.  However your partner for example responds better to external motivation, so they’ll require a nudge plus you bellowing in their ear “get up!” to invoke the same action.  Neither is right or wrong, just different.  

Author Daniel Pink’s recent research into motivation identified three areas universal to all humans as motivators. Autonomy, mastery and having a sense of purpose:

Autonomy - Doing what you like, when you like, however you like. Enjoy that at times?

Mastery - The intrinsic desire to grow, expand and become better at something, even when there’s no other reward other than that feeling of personal improvement. Take a moment and think of a hobby you’ve got? What’s the potential of it ever paying the mortgage or putting food on your plate? Yet you still return to it - simply because it gives you pleasure?

Purpose - Only you’ll know what this is to you. But having a sense of purpose can be defined as “something that is meaningful to you and consequential for others / the world.” If you’re finding this one a struggle to identify then ask yourself these questions taken from Psychologytoday.com and created by Andre Bonior Ph.D. When are you in flow? What faces do you see when you think about love? What are you most willing to put effort into? If you were to write your own obituary, what would be most important to include? If you had a bonus day, free from all responsibilities and commitments, and you were fully rested and recharged and could do anything you wanted for 12 hours - what would you do?

So, where does YOUR motivation come from? Perhaps its something as simple as a desire to do well, or a fear of failure. For some people, it might be a need for approval or recognition. Others might be motivated by a sense of duty or responsibility. Interestingly in his book “The Motivation Myth” by Jeff Haden he debunks the common myths about motivation. For example, many people believe that motivation comes from external factors like awards or recognition. However, Jeff explains that true motivation comes from within. It's based on our own personal values and goals. This internal motivation is what drives us to achieve our highest potential.

He explains that motivation is actually an inside job. It's something we have to create for ourselves. This means that we need to be proactive in our own motivation. We can't rely on others to motivate us. The simple truth is motivation does not come from what we do occasionally but what we do consistently day in day out, regardless of whether we feel like it or not. The bottom line - our motivation needs to be greater than our desire to stay comfortable.

So if you want to become EVEN MORE motivated, start here. First, find something that you're passionate about. When you're passionate about something, it's easier to be motivated and take action. Second, set goals for yourself and break them down into smaller steps and keep a visual track of your progress. Finally, surround yourself with people who inspire and support you. When you have a positive support system, it's easier to stay motivated and achieve your goals. With these tips in mind, anyone can become more motivated and achieve their dreams!