You’re either here because you lost your drive to finish something, or you finally gave up on it. Well, luckily I’m here to help you never get stuck again.

We have all had it happen to us, we start something with so much motivation, and then somewhere down the line we lose it. It might be the stress of seeing it to completion that pushes motivation out the door and makes room for more stress. Then again it could just be that the project doesn’t look as appealing as it did two weeks ago. Whatever the case, you need to make change, and you need to make it now. Stop making excuses about difficulty, learning curves, expenses, etc… If you have a will and a passion for it, you can do it.

Here are some things that I do to stay motivated when I feel it starting to slip and fade:

Take a Break

Even though you’d like to show the world how quickly and efficiently you can complete this awesome project, take a break and recollect on what you have already done. Your mind needs time to process what you feed it. So go for a walk or do something off topic for fifteen to thirty minutes. Not only does it strengthen you ability to return to the project again and again, but it might just pop another amazing idea in your head while you relax.

Reinforce by Redefining

Pull up your word processor and outline your goals again. You might have already have done this when you first started the project, but your mind changes and so do your goals. Reevaluation helps you stay on track while you tediously work into the wee hours of the night. When you set goals and complete them, you have achieved something. You have achieved something that you had written or planned- that my friend is one of the best feelings in the world.

Journal

I have learned that it doesn’t matter when you do it, but only that you do it. Journaling is the best way to archive your thoughts away and make sense of everything that happened that day or week. Instead of carrying a burden, stress, or thought with you all week, you can instead write it or type it out and always come back to it later. You wouldn’t believe what a relief this will give your mind after you do it for a day or two. Another thing to realize about journaling is that you don’t ever have to share these thoughts with anyone. I have a folder on my computer called, (as you would have guessed) “Journal.” I never go back and read my previous entries, but just keep adding to the folder.

Well I hope this information has given you some proven steps to making you motivation muscle stronger than ever before. If you have any other ideas or tricks that work for you to stay motivated, feel free to comment below.