How to stay motivated in life?

As the famous saying goes, “motivation doesn’t last.” Unequivocally, this statement is true. It’s tough to sustain motivation. Staying motivated is crucial to achieving whatever goal you may have set out for yourself—motivation in humans linked to the drug in your system. After taking medicine, you feel its effect on your body system. After some time, all the results die away, and you are back to normal. That’s how motivation works in most people. One minute you are feeling like a wounded lion, roaring and eager to put in work, the next minute you are left broken and clueless like a lost puppy.

Life’s roller coaster can make you doubt everything that you have ever believed about yourself, no matter how tough you are. Experience can make you embrace mediocrity not because you lack the minerals to be a top dog but because you can’t find any motivation to carry on. Picking yourself up after going through a series of failures and rejection is never near easy. Think of many world-renowned top shots entrepreneurs and celebrities, most of them have been there. We all have been there at some point in our lives. However, regardless of how life treats you, you must maintain your fire and keep up the good until you bring home your coveted goal. How do I do that? Below are some essential tips to follow:

Draw out your plan

The Key to every successful thing in life is a solid plan. If you don’t plan adequately, there’s every chance your goal may never see the light of day. Set out your goals; back them up with a workable plan. Avoid setting unrealistic targets. Don’t be in a hurry to achieve everything at a single shot. Having too much on your plate can leave you frustrated when you have a breakdown. Break the goals into units; take it one step at a time. You will get there as long as you are making progress. Youths of this generation lack patience; most want to achieve massive success within a short timeframe. Things don’t work like that; good stuff takes time to build.

Visualize your goals down to minute detail. Not everything will go according to plan, so prepare for contingencies. Always have a plan B in place in case things go sideways. Master your project and follow it religiously.

Have a purpose

Everything we do in life has a meaning behind it. What is your goal? Why do you want to achieve the targets you set out for yourself? Is financial freedom that is your endgame? Providing for family and loved ones?  Making a difference in your community? Are you aiming to retire early? Name it, write them down and pin it somewhere you can view it daily. Having a constant reminder of why you want to achieve your aims will make you relentless even in your darkest hours.

Learn to let go

There are things in life; you can’t control, no matter how hard you try. In the course of your journey, there will be trials and tribulations. It’s inevitable, you can’t beat that, but you can overcome it. How do you? By recognizing you are human. We all make mistakes, sometimes genuine efforts fail, but you must never fail to make efforts. If you succeed, fine. If you don’t, let go and give it another go again. Excessive worry kills motivation and solves zero problems. So why not reserve your energy for the next round and live to fight another day?

Chose your squad wisely

If you want to achieve big things in life, you must never hang around negative energy. Keep your circle small and make no room for short, sighted people. People who lack the courage to attempt something will always feed you the negative vibe that it is not possible. Folks with paycheck mentality will tell you there will never be another Jeff Bezos or Zuckerburg. Know thy squad. Hang with people who motivate you. Go for friends you share things in common with you. Cut loose friends who do nothing beyond clubbing at night. Have coffee with friends who challenge to be better, friends you can share ideas. Avoid a partner who doesn’t share your thoughts.

Cut out all distractions

We live in an age of distractions now. The social media notifications blowing your phone every minute, entertaining televisions show all the time. Night clubs located almost everywhere around you. Social events staged all the time. If you allow your whole life entangled in all these distractions, you may lose your focus without even realizing it. You have to do away with distractions if you want to stay motivated. It’s okay to enjoy the ride, and you are not a robot. But if you don’t maintain a certain level of control over distractions, your goals are doomed.

By all means, avoid procrastination

One of the leading causes of failure in life is procrastination. Whatever can be done today, don’t leave it for tomorrow. The moment you let procrastination set in, you have opened yourself up for failure. You lose every motivation you have in you when you keep postponing schedules. Accomplish things at the right time and moment. Time is priceless. You don’t get it back when you lose it.

Study successful people

We all have idols. As an entrepreneur, your icon might be Warren Buffet. Always make time to study him, study his life struggles, highs, and lows. Knowing all that your hero went through in the course of his or her journey to stardom will keep you motivated most importantly during your darkest moments. Also, visualizing yourself in your hero’s position can help increase your fire. It makes you see the bigger picture.

Reward yourself

The reason why you wanted to graduate top of your class was that there is a reward attached. Rewards come in different forms and perspectives. It could be a recognition or material reward. However, we all love compensation for good jobs done. Try rewarding yourself after accomplishing a particular milestone. You need such a feel-good factor to help keep you grounded. It feels good to get paid.