The only thing standing between us and what we want or need to do is our brain, or rather our mindset, so it stands to reason if you can change your mindset, you can motivate yourself to do anything. Practice these top 5 mind tips and take control.
I was having a conversation with a friend recently who challenged this logic saying, “we can’t do anything, I can’t fly”, to which I replied “yes you can”, you can learn to fly, get a pilot’s license and fly! The same goes for just about anything, we go around believing something isn’t possible, then one day someone somewhere decides they are going to do it and so the journey begins to achieving it – who was it that looked up into the night sky and decided that it was possible to stand on the moon?
We achieve so many things in our own lifetime and looking back we would have considered impossible at one time or another or completely out of our reach – we do it all the time. What stops us being motivated is the negative thinking putting barriers in our way, what gets us motivated is the positive thinking stepping through those barriers that are not even there any more.
So, what can we do to change our mindset and get motivated? Here are my top 5 tips
Serotonin
First off, you need to get some serotonin flowing through your mind and body, so do something which will create it, namely – POSITIVE ACTIVITY: exercise is brilliant, but anything you have fun doing – cautious word of warning, don’t use this as procrastination, do it with the POSITIVE THINKING and purpose that you are creating serotonin to do xyz.
Bounce It
If it is something you are having trouble figuring out your first steps, bounce it off someone else, go and talk to someone. POSITIVE INTERACTION also creates serotonin and you can bet that you will talk yourself into the first actions and go and do them. (Make sure you talk to someone who is going to be positive and not doom and gloom and put you off altogether!)
Baby Steps
Take whatever it is you are trying to get motivated for, however big or small, and break it down into small steps, you will find it easy to keep going once you have started. Take doing the washing up for example; 1 – Clear the sink of all the dirty plates. 2 – Fill it with hot soapy water. 3 – Just wash the glass things. 4 – Wash the cutlery. etc Give yourself permission to stop at any point, just as long as you’ve achieve something. I like to run, but sometimes I have to practice getting motivated to do it and my 1. is ‘put running kit on’, 2 – go outside and walk to the end of the road… I don’t think I have ever turned around and come home after that, it has always turned into a run – not the longest run every time, but that doesn’t matter. If it’s something big in your life, work out those first steps and start your journey towards it; it may be that you’ve got 5 years training ahead of you to change careers from a job you hate, but the sooner you apply for the first course which starts you on that journey, the sooner you will be where you want to be.
Imagination
Use your imagination to imagine what will be different once you’ve achieved it. Our imagination is so powerful and it’s those pictures in your mind and thoughts of how your life or circumstances will be or how happy someone else will be even. When we imagine, we don’t just imagine pictures, we imagine emotions as well. If you’ve read any of my other blogs you will have heard me say many times “how we think determines how we feel and how we feel determines how we behave” this is the same for our imagination, so use your brain to imagine the positive outcomes, you will create serotonin and you feelings will become positive and then you will be motivated into doing something.
Do it badly!
I know that sounds a bit mad, but one of the biggest excuses for not doing something is because you don’t know how, or you won’t be able to do it well enough for your own high standards. How are you going to get up to those standards is you don’t have a go and work out how to improve it. To learn anything or do anything for the first time, its a journey of discovery. Be amused with yourself at your efforts, learn to laugh at yourself and view it as a learning experience. It’s ridiculous to think you have to be great at everything, you can learn to be great at everything you decide to do, but that often start with being rubbish at it. “I can’t do it” – what would you say to a child if they said that to you?
But above all, don’t give up, it may be that you need to take a step back, perhaps clear the clutter first, but if when you change your mindset from ‘I should be doing …’ or ‘I want to …’ to ‘I’M GOING TO….’ and really mean it, not just say it, then you’re on the right track – it’s then just a matter of doing it!
It you need help with motivation, hypnotherapy is very useful in helping you to let go of the barriers and find that way forward. If you would like to learn more about hypnotherapy and how it can help we offer a free initial consultation at any of our branches in the UK.
NOW – GO AND GET ON WITH WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING!! 🙂
If you found this interesting or helpful and would like to receive more useful practical tips and self help practices just enter your details below and our e-zine will land in your in box with a link to a free hypnotherapy download once a month.