10 Things to Avoid and Do to Maintain Long-Term Motivation: My Personal Journey
Over the past two months, I’ve been exploring the concept of self-motivation and how to maintain it over a long-term period. In this blog post, I’ll share my personal struggles with motivation and how I’ve overcome them.
Have you ever found it difficult to achieve your goals, even the smallest ones? This has been a recurring issue in my life and has left me feeling depressed and lacking confidence. For the past 19 years, I’ve struggled with finding motivation to break free from my lazy habits and accomplish my goals. I’ve always desired a major change in my lifestyle and wanted to live a life based on my true accomplishments, rather than through lies.
Maintaining motivation can be challenging, so here are 10 things to avoid:
- Don’t indulge in your fears
- Don’t doubt yourself
- Avoid negative thinking
- Don’t give up
- Don’t pressure yourself
- Don’t give yourself unrealistic deadlines for your goals
- Avoid being comfortable in your laziness
- Don’t do things you don’t enjoy or aren’t within your ability
- Avoid surrounding yourself with a negative environment
- Don’t take on more than you can handle in your schedule
Throughout my life, I’ve experienced failure repeatedly, and I’ve struggled to understand why I couldn’t change myself into the person I envisioned. Whether at school, home, or church, nothing seemed to go the way I wanted it to. I’ll admit that I’m a lazy person and, to cover it up, I’ve lied. This habit became so ingrained that my mind began to believe my lies were true, which trapped me in a cycle of lies and self-deception.
When I decided to change myself, I had to tear down the walls and false images I’d created. It was scary to make myself vulnerable to the world, but I persevered by encouraging myself to let out the real me, even if it meant being vulnerable. This led me to the realization that I no longer wanted to have a false image of who I am but to be true to myself. I didn’t expect how hard it would be to make the lie come true through action; it took hard work, not just simple statements. It tested my patience, and I soon lost my motivation. I questioned everything and started to quit everything I started, falling back into my old patterns. It was a vicious cycle that tore me down even more than before. I was an ugly, fake, and lazy person who couldn’t accomplish anything, which made me hate myself.
Finally, I found the strength to start fresh, focusing on self-love and transformation. I now have all the motivation I need to keep going.
Here are 10 things to do to stay motivated:
- Be positive and speak positively about yourself
- Be hopeful and have faith
- Set goals and reward yourself for achieving them
- Do what makes you happy and have fun
- Be action-oriented
- Keep doing something every day
- Start your day by accomplishing something
- Have a schedule but be flexible
- Stay determined
Challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone and make things exciting. As we move into a new quarter, let’s challenge ourselves to try new things and step out of our comfort zones. Let’s make 2019 a year of accomplishments and a fresh start for a new lifestyle. I’m ready, are you?
Reflection: Four years later
After four years had passed since my first year of college, I stumbled upon a journal post that I had written back then. Reading through it again as a senior, I was still amazed by the tips that I had discovered and listed. Although some may consider them to be obvious or common knowledge, for someone like me, they were groundbreaking and had a significant impact on my life. Each bullet point was the result of a vital lesson that I had learned. While I cannot claim that I have followed all of the tips throughout the past four years, I have used most of them and they have helped me navigate my college experience.
As someone who once struggled with a 0.9 GPA in my freshman year, I have managed to turn my academic performance around and am now graduating with honors and a 3.8 GPA. This transformation was not due to luck or innate abilities, but rather, I had to learn how to prioritize my goals effectively. Looking back, if I could give advice to my 19-year-old self, I would recommend breaking down my life and identifying my faults, accepting them, and finding solutions. It is crucial to create a list of priorities and determine what matters most to you, whether it is family, social life, education, career, financial advancement, or something else entirely. Once you have established your priorities, it is important to challenge yourself and compete with yourself. Be prepared to prove yourself and do as much as you can. Instead of comparing yourself to others, focus on your own progress and how far you have come. Determination is a key factor in achieving success, and even if you lack ambition initially, keep going and let life unfold your purpose and reveal your desires and goals.
As you continue to grow and develop, I wish you luck in becoming the best version of yourself possible.