Ways I Stay: Motivated

Welcome to a monthly series I will be starting called “Ways I Stay…”. This month I’m sharing all of the ways I stay MOTIVATED! Let’s get to it!

As we round out January, it seems fitting to discuss “motivation”. I think we can all agree that we want to change at least one thing in our life. It can feel challenging to know where to start though. I’m certainly not an expert, but I can share what works for me.

The definition of motivation, to me, is the drive to achieve my goals. I place a high value on learning, growing, maturing and healing. I want to live an abundant life! The goals I set for myself are usually centered around a need I have (to have more energy, to feel more joy in my life, etc.), or to be more authentically connected to the people around me.

January is the perfect time to evaluate my life and ponder what area of my life (or habit) do I want to change? I would say my main LIFE GOAL is “how do I have more energy to live each day with passion and purpose, while enjoying my family/friends and loving them well?” Each year, the road to get to that life goal looks different.

For 2022, I have four areas of my life that I want to focus on, with each one I have a distinct “why”, a game plan as to what I need to do to make it happen, and then I break each goal up into smaller, achievable tasks that I can set monthly or weekly. I also tell my family and friends about my goals and lean on them for support, accountability and encouragement.

As a visual learner, creating a vision board is so important. Not only to remember what I set out to do for the year, but also to remind me of my “why’s” and “how’s”! I always say, my why has to be sustainable to combat when I “don’t feel like it” and has to be louder than my critics. A vision board is also a fresh reminder for what to pray for and a trigger to open myself up to creative ways that God wants to partner with me in these goals/dreams.

My vision board for this next year includes:

ADVENTURE – my “why” aligns with my life goal of more joy in my life and enjoying more fulfilling relationships with my family and close friends.

My “how” is to prioritize traveling. The smaller, achievable tasks I created include: organize a monthly travel calendar for the year, date each of my kids through getaways, travel to visit friends, and travel with friends!

FINANCE – my “why” aligns with my life goal of living each day with purpose. Since I want to prioritize traveling, I have to manage my spending. I also enjoy nice things, but personally need clear boundaries for budgeting. How much I allot to different categories changes with seasons of life, and I am certainly a spender versus saver, but budgeting has been super helpful for me to be intentional and mindful about where my money is going.

My “how” is to cleanup my budget, reorganize the budget to support my goals for the year. I also am in need of setting up a new budgeting system (I’m researching apps, feel free to send your suggestions!).

GROWTH/BUILDING – I am extremely motivated to build something. I have a lot of dreams centered around this goal. Big dreams and smaller dreams, but this is where my imagination gets to run free! I am very motivated to partner with other people that dream, because I love the synergy that comes when I surround myself with risk-takers. It is mostly scary, but also encouraging and motivating! For this year, my goal is to build a website. My dream is to build a team (for what? I have no idea yet!).

My “how” is to set aside blocks of time where I can learn through videos, sign up for seminars/webinars, and set up meetings with people who have already built a website and/or built a team.

High Performance planner

A friend gave me this planner a couple years ago, and I have loved it! It has been a super helpful resource for dreaming, planning and reviewing goals.

HOSPITALITY/SERVE – This goal falls in line with my life goal of living each day with passion and purpose. It’s hard to balance what I want to do with what the people around me need. Hospitality has been more something I have had to learn and practice, and there are seasons where I have needed to push pause. I do recognize how life giving it is to others and to my family, to share a meal around the table. And it creates space for me to share my gifts and strengths, which is always helpful for feeling purposeful.

The “how” is to plan to have people over for a meal once a week. I don’t feel the need to be a stickler with this, but it is more to position myself to be open to the possibility of a last-minute invite, and to practically plan for enough food to feed an extra family. I also want to seek advice for what it looks like to invite other families over now that we have teenagers who have opinions and preferences (lookin’ at you, Molly!).

Where do I want to be ten years from now? Five years? Next year? As my kids get older, I realize how much can change in a year, let alone five! The wild reality of my girls going off to college within the next five years is a smack upside the head! However, it really does help to think through what I need to prioritize and serves as way of providing me with goals to work towards.

I’ve always had a dream to play the violin. So last year, I set a goal of learning to play and setup weekly violin lessons. Josiah would have his piano lesson, then I would have my violin lesson right after. I especially loved this, because not only was it fun to pursue a personal dream of mine, but it was teaching my kids that we are never too old to learn. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks, ha!

I also wanted to share a few ways I stay on track with keeping motivated. Self-talk is huge for me. There are always setbacks, unmet expectations, and just plain crappy days. What I choose to tell myself over and over in response is something I have to pay special attention to. Instead of saying, “I can’t do this!”, I try to correct myself and say, “This is really hard right now. But I can do this. There will come a day where this feels like second nature”. A reward system is another biggie. Since I am an enneagram 7, I tend to want to reward myself first, then do the hard thing (or not). Buuuut, I operate best when I set up little rewards for myself after each accomplished task. I have time stamps throughout my day, where I try to accomplish certain tasks by a particular time, then I reward myself. For example, with a mid-morning second cup of coffee or mid-afternoon peruse through pinterest with a piece of chocolate.

Ways to stay motivated that I would like to implement this year are, finding mentors (or social groups) that are experienced in the habits I’m wanting to change, as well as staying consistent with working out. This always helps my focus and energy for each day. Reading books or listening to podcasts for personal growth is a must for me, too. I’m currently listening to this audiobook…

What to do if motivation is lost? I review my vision board and say out loud what my “why’s” are. Remind myself of why I wanted to get motivated or reach that goal in the first place. Be intentional to meet up with friends to talk about dreams and goals, to be inspired again. Review my goals and reevaluate if they are realistic in the timeframe I have set. Is it the right season for that goal? Or do I need to push that one off to another year and focus on a more appropriate goal for this year? And sometimes, I just need to take a break and rest, so that I can start afresh.

So there you have it, ways I stay motivated! Hopefully, you found something useful to incorporate or try in your pursuit of staying motivated! I am not an expert, by any means, but I do feel like I’ve learned a thing or two over the years, as to what motivates me and how I stay on track with moving forward towards growth, more joy and more fulfillment!

We have a winter storm forecasted for us this weekend, so we’re getting the hot cocoa and popcorn queued up! See you back here on Monday, where I will be reviewing the books I read this past month, I can’t wait!! Hope you have the best weekend! xoxo