Do you sometime get fed up with people saying to you, “Keep going, if you keep trying you will do it. It’s going to get better. You can do it. It will happen!” Well, to be honest, if you keep pouring from an empty jug, you won’t be saying, “My cup runneth over” at all.
Have you been really trying hard at something but not making headway? If it’s getting you down, is it because:
· You’ve been in the job market for a while and things are moving along far too slowly?
· You’ve been trying to talk to your colleague, boss, spouse, flatmate, best friend about something important and they just don’t or won’t listen?
· You’ve been organizing something and it’s just not working out?
· You’ve been doing everything that you think is right and its turning out all wrong?
Well, of course you will start to feel unappreciated, unrewarded and, ‘Oh, no, here comes another lousy weekend!”
When your efforts don’t yield the desired results in what you consider to be a reasonable timeframe, it’s natural to feel frustrated and de-motivated. Consequently it will be your state of mind that will hinder your ability to act and take charge of your life and then it will be even harder to uncover the solution.
Therefore the key to maintaining motivation and momentum is to create a stress free state of mind. You will then be able to put in a sustainable effort to get creative and resolve those sticky problems.
What works? These three simple steps work for me:
1. Meditate
2. Look for inspiration
3. Write
1. Meditation
This is one of the most effective and easy to learn techniques to calm yourself and feel relaxed. The benefits of meditation are now scientifically proven.
The great thing about meditation is that it doesn’t require you to change your beliefs, buy any equipment, or cost you money! You don’t even have to really ‘DO’ anything. There are many different ways to meditate but for now, let’s use the K.I.S.S. principle and try this:
Sit in a quiet place. Get comfortable. Close your eyes. Slowly take deep breaths and focus your attention on your breathing. If your mind starts to wander, it’s ok, when you notice your thoughts taking over just take it back to the breathing . Keep doing this for about 20 minutes. Twice a day, morning and evening.
How easy is that?
For a scientific analysis of how meditation really works, read this fabulous Time Magazine article Meditation
2. Look for Inspiration
Just imagine you didn’t shower for several days. Wouldn’t you feel dirty, old, tired and maybe even a little sick? We shower daily to keep ourselves clean and fresh. We need to clean out our mind too so it’s not clogged with negativity, worries, dark thoughts. If we don’t clean it out from time to time it could lead to a kind of sickness – lack of motivation, a feeling of hopelessness, lack of confidence, everything a bit of a dark tunnel.
Shower your mind with inspirational thoughts. Just the way that good jokes can make us laugh and tragic stories can make us cry, words of inspiration lift our spirits.
Give your mind a helping hand to become balanced and positive by reading something inspirational every day. There are plenty of inspirational stories in bookstores and on the internet – a good place to start could be at www.greatday.com where you will find a wealth of inspirational quotes to keep you going.
Read one before you go to sleep each night and focus on it as you fall asleep. Wake up and tell yourself it will be your mantra for the day. What a great way to start your day!
3. Write it down
Writing makes you focus. It’s a great way to get rid of negative thoughts and worries. When you feel too worried, write about it, jot down anything that comes to mind. Don’t think, just write and keep writing for 15 minutes or longer. Getting it all down will lighten your load. You may find that things don’t seem quite so bad after all.
You can keep it all in a journal or you can tear it up afterwards and symbolically put it in a garbage bag and throw it out. Do whatever feels good.
Give these Three Simple Steps a go. They will lead you to an oasis of peace and be a catalyst to you feeling more powerful, hopeful, motivated and creative so you can put in the effort required to achieve success.
For practical assistance through coaching to manage and maintain your momentum in your job search or work towards your life goals, give me a call or email jane@janejacksoncoach.com.
