After speaking to coaching clients recently, it was clear that many of us were going through a lull right now and were in need of some Monday motivation tips and tricks. There’s definitely a common feeling of being stuck in a funk. Which let’s face it, is completely understandable in the current climate. But I think you’ll agree, having some form of normality, structure and space to plan is exactly what we need.
Which is why I wanted to help you feel motivated for the new week again, but instead of a raft of scientific stats about how the brain works in terms of feeling motivated, I wanted to talk more about my personal experience of feeling in a funk and how I pull myself into a more motivated state of mind.
However, I’ll begin by saying this. This blog post isn’t designed to make you feel guilty for having a quieter season in life. We absolutely need those. I can share all the Monday motivation tips I want, but sometimes even I take a days off life and hide away to recharge. But this is for you if you feel like you’re ready to start afresh and need a boost to do it.
Let’s talk about motivation for a second and see if you agree with any of these statements:
- You make promises to yourself that tomorrow will be different but then tomorrow comes and you feel deflated that you’ve not summoned up the motivation…again.
- You come up with ALL the ideas, but you’re just not so good at following through with them.
- Everyone else just seems super motivated and here you are struggling to find the next series to binge on Netflix.
Agreed with any of the above? I think I might be able to help…
Emotions
Emotions affect our productivity. The strongest and most powerful motivator is fear but I can speak from experience recently that fear did not motivate me. At the start of lockdown, I lost all of my clients from my content creation business in the space of 3 days, which subsequently meant I had no income for the foreseeable future. Was I fearful? Absolutely. And I was frozen by that fear, and motivated couldn’t have been further from what I felt.
So, I gave myself a timescale of wallowing in this lull for a couple of weeks, and after that, I was taking the control back. The first of my Monday motivation tips is to realise we have far more control over our emotions than we know. We cannot always control what happens to us, but we can control how we react and how we let that affect our future path.
It’s proven that when we feel in a higher vibrational state, we feel more motivated. Who feels productive when they’re feeling low? I know I certainly don’t. So, the first port of call is to move up the emotional scale.
Ask yourself where is this feeling coming from? Something I like to do is to continually ask myself why, when I’m journalling. I feel low. Why? Because I feel rubbish in myself. Why? Because I’m not looking after myself? Why? Because I’m eating crap and not getting enough sleep. By asking why, you actually get closer to the root of the issue rather than a surface level response.
I read a quote recently which stuck with me, which said “We need to think to plan, but we need to feel to act”. I want you to move into a more positive frame of mind to begin with and I’m not talking about false happiness. I’m talking about optimism, excitement and hope. But before we get into getting excited about our goals again, I want to declutter for a second.
Declutter
When we feel unmotivated, it can often be down to feeling overwhelmed. It’s a little thing called analysis paralysis, where we have so much going on in our brains that we switch off completely and do nothing. I want us to reconnect to our goals and cut down on the noise. For now, I’d love for you to pick just one goal to concentrate on.
Get clear on that goal. Spend some time writing about what you really envision, how it makes you feel, what you have planned for it, what you want to achieve from it. When we get laser-focused and specific, it really enables the universe to see and understand how she can help us reach our goals quicker.
Excitement, Optimism & Hope
If we take a look at the emotional guidance scale, it can seem almost impossible to jump from low to happy because we have so many feelings to navigate in between. But what we can do is slowly move up the scale to hopefulness and optimism. Do you have something to feel excited about right now? If not, then let’s make something happen. Start a new project, plan a road trip, plan a room to redecorate, even do something as small as start a new Instagram hashtag or photo challenge. By feeling excited about one area of your life, you’re able to build on that enthusiasm for other areas that might be lacking.
One of the best ways we can feel hopeful about a goal is to visualise it. To help lift me from the funk I was in after lockdown was announced, I created a vision board about my future plans for an area of my business. Not even my business as a whole, but a small section of it which is my monthly digital magazine, 4 Magazine. Creating this vision board was joyful rather than feeling like a “task” I had to complete, and by picking emotive images that raised my vibrations every time I looked at them, I was able to part the clouds a little bit and feel slightly more motivated to start.
Break It Down
I would like you now to take your goal and break it down into smaller chunks. My goal, for example, is to reach 10,000 subscribers to my magazine, which means I have 7500 to go. Do I feel overwhelmed by this goal? Absolutely, but by breaking it down into say, 300 subscribers a month, and even smaller into 10 new subscribers a day, I’m able then to really hone in on how to make that happen.
My goal has gone from 10,000 subscribers, to 10 subscribers a day, and a daily goal of shouting about the magazine on social media and adding the sign up form to 5 blog posts.
Can you see how breaking it down into much more manageable chunks doesn’t feel so overwhelming and we’re less likely to procrastinate, because the jobs are much smaller and, ultimately, quicker to tick off the to-do list? And once you start ticking off jobs, you’re more likely to continue ticking.
Accountability
One of the biggest pluses my coaching clients talk about is the accountability aspect of working towards your goal with someone else. Make a note of people who you might be able to share your goal with and who could give you a pep talk if needed. The key is to not share with anyone who might be an energy vampire, but rather, ask yourself who inspired you and leaves you feeling pumped when you speak to them?
You could even share your goal inside The Manifestation Collective Facebook group and let us be your accountability partners. Plus, when you hear about others and their Monday motivation tips, it can give you the boost you need to match that energy.
Reframe Our Narrative
I often speak about reframing the language we use and how powerful positive affirmations are. Generally speaking, affirmations are used to reprogram the subconscious mind, to encourage us to believe certain things about ourselves. We are surrounded by so much negativity and we can often fill our minds with so much negative self-talk, that we start to believe the thoughts we think – regards of whether or not they are true. When you think a negative thought, your brain will pull a piece of evidence forward to prove that this must be correct, which only reaffirms the language you use further. However, let’s spin this on its head start to use more positive affirmations such as:
I am determined to reach my goal
Every day I wake up and feel motivated for the day ahead
I am driven to create the best possible life I can
The small progress I make today will add up to big results tomorrow
I have the power to reach my goals
Let’s talk about the word “determined” for a second. I will often swap the word motivated for the word determined and here’s why. When we speak about motivation, we can often become reliant on external sources, such as our vision board, or our accountability partner. However, when we are determined, that is coming from an inner source of power. When you are determined to achieve your goal, it really does take on a new level of the control you have over your future.
The final point in reframing our language is to stop running the same narrative through our heads that we are unproductive. If you tell yourself that you never follow through with an idea, well guess what, you will prove yourself right. But if you start a new story and change the narrative, amazing things will happen, trust me. You are motivated and you are working towards your goals to create the life you dream about.
Surround Yourself With Uplifting Energy
In the final of my Monday motivation tips, I wanted to share examples of how you can surround yourself little boosts of positivity to help you feel motivated again. By building a toolbox of things you know will motivate you, you’re able to dip in and out when you feel a lull coming.
- Find inspiring podcasts to listen to and don’t become consumed in solely listening to “motivational” business related topics either. Some of my most inspiring podcast episodes have come from Second Life, a podcast from the team at MyDomain who talk to inspiring women, handling a change of direction – hence their second life.
- Create a phone screen or laptop wallpaper vision board so you can feel get that hit of excitement and high vibes throughout the day.
- Pull together some inspirational videos on Youtube. I love creators such as Erin May Henry, Carrie Green, Patricia Bright’s The Break Platform, and Ashley Brooke.
- If motivational quotes are your thing then save and print your favourite from Pinterest and place then around the house. I have a few in my office, one in particular which says…know your worth, and then add tax, which I love.
- An amazing way to raise your vibrations and in turn feel slightly more motivated is to move your body. And it doesn’t have to be a gym session, I’m talking about playing a high vibe playlist and dancing in your kitchen. It’s such an amazing way to release those endorphins.
I really hope this post on Monday motivation tips has helped you in some way feel ready for the week ahead, feeling slightly more in control and optimistic. Do you have any Monday motivation tips that you can share with me that help you get out of a slump? Leave me a comment below and let’s chat.
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