Accumulating oodles of tasks to do can be fun, inspiring, and motivating all at the same time, but then in an instant, all the life and energy you thought that you had can be drained from your soul leaving you looking at the list and the sunshine outside, and thinking about what social media site you want to check in on and before you know it you’re overwhelmed with this once enthusiastic list of tasks you wish to accomplish that continue to stare at you for days and haunt you in your sleep.
This isn’t good. This is bad.
The secret is to find a balance. To create within yourself first and foremost a drive and a direction that you want to explore, and define it with all the knowledge and motivation that you know and have.
Myself, I write a ‘personal mission statement’ that defines my goals, long and short term ones alike, and breaks down tasks that I must focus on and eliminate from my life in order to more effectively reach and achieve these goals. It works for me. I also keep a white board in my living space where I outline it with key words that remind me what to focus on. I like this, it works.
Once I have this firm understanding, it’s easy for me to know which tasks I should focus on, and which tasks I should remove from my schedule, allowing me to feel free from any burdening tasks that slow me down in the progress of my life.
This helps me in keeping my schedule clear and focused, but what about when I’m on track, but just lack motivation and everything on the list looks daunting?
Maybe it’s a problem that you’re doing something that you’re just not interested in? This can be very debilitating.
Some key things to try to help get that focus and energy back are:
- Meditation – spend 15 minutes or longer just clearing your mind, and then thinking about what you want in life, remind yourself of your goals, and reasons, where you’re hoping to go in life.
- Read your Personal Mission Statement – Part of the reason of writing the personal mission statement is in your time of weakness you can refer to it to refresh in your mind what you’re trying to accomplish, remind you of the reasons that you had written down in a moment of clear bliss.
- Go for a walk – Walking helps increase the blood flow in your body, clearing your mind with its rhythmic trance like motion. I often find myself talking to myself and thinking things through with no distractions but one foot forward after the other. I often find myself returning home with excitement and sped up step with a quote repeating in my mind; usually along the lines of “Focus, and believe; I know what I’m doing.”
These are only a few suggestions that work for me. Everybody has different ones, but part of the process is also learning what works for you. Picking up one of my guitars and strumming out a few tunes works for me to calm me down, inspire those creative juices once again. Lifting weights also helps, so does cooking a meal. The list grows.
The key is to believe what you’re doing. Believe in your goals, believe in yourself, and believe in the way that you think.
Yes, one does find themselves up against what would appear a wall of pressured change, people trying to tell you what you’re doing is wrong, but this is a topic for another post. I will conclude with saying that this is another secret to staying true to yourself; understanding that they are just trying to help, and they can only relate ways that they themselves find success.
Take nibbles of their advice, never eat the whole cake.
Good luck!
