I think we can all agree that a new year comes with new goals and intentions. Like I mentioned in this post, I don’t set new year resolutions and actually haven’t for years – I think they’re a bunch of crap. I found them doing more damage than good. Often leaving me unsatisfied and with zero motivation to take on the year ahead despite what they’re intended for.
In this blog post, I chat about ways to keep yourself motivated going into the months ahead. It’s important to set goals and plan what you’d like to achieve that year. That alone will provide you with all kinds of motivation. Take a look below on some tips to help keep us going all year long.
Set Your Intentions Daily
Setting intentions is new for me and I’ll be trying that out for this year. Setting intentions is something you can do to actively make changes in your life through your actions. Similar to manifesting your thoughts, setting intentions is all about putting your words and thoughts into motion to help achieve whatever goal or journey you’re working towards. Setting intentions for each day can help you stay on track with what you want to achieve everyday and in the end, keep you motivated for your longer term goals for the year.
Write Down Plans for the Next Day
Somewhere in the middle of 2020, I began writing down my list of things to do for the next day. Guilty as charged that when I make an overwhelmingly long to-do list, I procrastinate like no ones business. But I found that making smaller, more manageable lists each night better helped me prepare for the next day. You know the feeling where you have so many things you want to accomplish in a single minute but you don’t know where to start your head begins to spin? Doing these nightly to-do lists completely eliminate that feeling and make for more productive days. The lists give you that motivation to even begin tackling what you wanted to get done but with less overwhelming feelings.
Have an “End of Month” Check-in
I began doing this when I started using my Content Planner in early 2020. It was solely because of this planner I began to look at the finished month to see where my productivity was and wasn’t. I began to notice patterns about my work that had holes and could be fixed. Doing this helped me better prepare for the month ahead and keep me motivated to continue working and planning on things I had going on for the months ahead.
Utilize Inspirational Quotes & Read Them
We see them all the time but have often do we really stop to read and take them in? I see inspirational quotes all the time but I quickly read them and then move on with my day. But as someone who very much loves seeing them, I wanted them in my face more. I found inspirational/motivational quotes I loved on Pinterest and downloaded the widget, Photo Widget on my phone to ensure I saw them every single time I picked up my phone. Every time I swipe through the pages in my phone now I see them, read them, and let them resonate with me to give me that extra little push I may have needed if I wasn’t feeling motivated to do much.
Check out one of my fav Youtuber, Nicole Guerreiro’s video on how I did it.
Do Things That Make You Happy
I think we all learned some lessons in 2020 and a big one that stands out to me is that we need to do more of what makes us happy and less of what doesn’t. Doing things that make you happy will light a fire within you and release those feel-good emotions. If you feel good about what you have going on around you, you’re more likely to stay motivated in what you’re working on, too.
Remember to Recharge
All of these are great ways to keep yourself going throughout the year, but nothing will keep you motivated if you don’t rest and recharge. Another lesson we can take away from 2020 was that we need to listen to our bodies more. So often we’re jumping from one event to the next and we need to ease up on that. No one got anywhere with being burnt out and drained.
I hope these tips helped give you some encouragement and maybe even a reference to look back on when we start feeling sluggish!
These are all such great ways to stay motivated — thanks for sharing these, Alex! I do quite a few of these as well — I especially love check-ins at the end of the month and setting daily intentions
Thank you!! Love that you do these, too. I find them super helpful, especially the end of month one, yes! <3
These are great suggestions Alex! I love them, and I actually working with my kids on a “gratitude journal”. Every night I ask them to write down 3 things for what they feel thankful for and also write in a short sentence something really nice from that day. You know what, they like to do this a lot and I didn’t expect that , and that’s great! I like to do this as well. If there is something that I learned from last year is not taking a single day for granted. So, we try to enjoy it and keep a record about it. ☺️
I love that you’ve started doing gratitude journaling with your kids! What wonderful lessons to teach them at such a young age. And I totally agree with you that if we learned anything from last year it’s just that and not to take it all for granted. Thank you for our comment <3