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5 Steps to Manifesting Motivation

In my most recent podcast episode, (also my very first hurrah!), I talked briefly, and I say briefly because there is SO much more detail I could have delved deep into in regards to this, about my 5 steps to Manifesting Motivation. 

This is for those who don’t listen to podcasts and would rather read it instead – yay for inclusiveness! You get to see the good stuff minus my fluff and rambling haha (or do you…?).

So, before we begin, I wanted to share with you my fun analogy for the cycle of motivation. Metamorphosis is the process of transformation, from an immature form to an adult form in two or more life stages. The one that I believe is most commonly known, is the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

Your motivation (the caterpillar), is born and begins the cycle of consuming almost everything* in order to reach its full size. This stage is alike when we use external sources of motivation to fuel us. For example, new activewear, buying meal plans, new headphones, new shoes, new fitbit, etc etc. We fill ourselves with this external validation, trust and rely on it to see us through to our goal. Now I’m not saying that this happens to everyone, but it certainly happened to me. 

* excuse the lack of technicality LOL

The next stage is for the caterpillar to spin itself a cocoon or form a chrysalis. This is alike the phase where we grow bored of these material things and start to get lazy, falling back into old habits. 

The caterpillar then releases an enzyme that essentially digests everything within the cocoon into goo; alike the stage where we marinate in our thoughts of self-doubt, loathing, anxiety, depression – just feelings of worthlessness for not being able to see our goals through.

HOWEVER – (I’m straying from the real process of metamorphosis here but damn, let me live a little yeah?) this is also the stage where we must feed ourselves with love and shower ourselves with good vibes, because in order to form DISCIPLINE, we must provide:

  • Commitment;
  • Consistency; and
  • Self-care.
Commitment is knowing what your why is, what your goal is, your resolve.
Consistency is your implementation of a routine to create lasting habits.
And Self-care is looking after yourself – making sure you can be the best version of you.

If we successfully implement the above, we free our discipline butterflies to soar and fly.

 


So, enough mumbo jumbo. What are the 5 steps to manifesting motivation?

1. Acknowledge that motivation is great, but won’t stick around forever. You need to be responsible for your own energy and actions; own them.

2. Acknowledge what’s holding you back. This could take a little digging if it’s deep within your subconscious. But at the end of the day, you shouldn’t run away from the hurdles that are stopping you. Acknowledging them will be the first step, confronting them and then finally jumping them will be your next. Give yourself permission to eliminate the fear: fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of rejection – you have the power within you to get through this. The only thing stopping you is yourself.

3. Create a pre-game routine (as said by James Clear) – Create a routine that begins a ritual for the habit you are trying to create. For example, my pre-game routine for a leg day at the gym, consists of first putting my headphones on, getting an awesome playlist going and rolling out in the corner of the room. I roll for at least 20-30 minutes, sometimes it even goes for 45. But I do it until I feel ready. Once I’m done, I feel all stretched out, loose and ready to do some squats! 
Your pre-game routine could consist of boiling water for tea, or collating your stationery, or gathering your tools. Or it could be setting the room up, like putting things away, or lighting some candles, or playing some music in the background.

4. Identify the things / people around you that motivate you and surround yourself with it / them. On top of this, practice gratitude. I don’t mean bug your mildly successful friend 24/7, or impulse buy all the accessories that will assist your pursuit, I just mean, identify and immerse yourself in their energy. Read books, listen to podcasts (hopefully mine!), attend masterclasses, etc. 
In addition, practicing gratitude will allow your mind to realise how abundant your life really is. If you’re reading this, then you most likely have an internet connection; a mobile phone, a computer, even. There are many people out there that don’t have access to these things which we consider  quite common and almost ‘basic’ amongst ourselves. There are a multitude of other things you could be grateful for. Take a moment to think about what they could be. 

The thing I’m most grateful for are bright, blue skies that embrace our golden sunny days. When you are grateful for the things that you have, you will realise that the superficial things that you think you want are really quite, well, superficial. 

5. Practice self-care. This sounds so self-explanatory and kind of lame, but seriously. We all go through so many years of education, yet no one taught us how important it is to love ourselves… When we starve ourselves of the care and attention that we need, we end up running on fumes and burning out. In the podcast, I use my “self-care cake” analogy here, but for the purposes of this blog, I’ll just refer to the car analogy instead; when your car runs out of fuel, do you keep driving? No. You don’t. Because you physically can’t. So the same goes for our bodies. When we’re out of energy and fuel (both physically and mentally), why do we keep pushing ourselves? 

Self-care is not a luxury – self-care is part of the process. It often feels like a luxury, to take a proper lunch break, step away and take a breath. But this is what we need as human beings. Don’t worry about what others are doing. Worry about what you’re doing, or better yet, what you’re NOT doing here.

All of the above help us to develop and nourish our discipline. Sometimes it feels impossible to stick to our habits and form routines, but if we work through all the internal struggles that we bury deep within our subconscious, we tap into so much more power than we gives ourselves credit for. 

And if you find that you still struggle, even after following the above steps, then there is much more internal exploration and discovery to be done. Some questions you’ll need to ask yourself at this point are:

– Are my goals SMART? (google this acronym if you’re not aware of it)

– Why am I doing this?

– Is the outcome what I want, or what someone else wants of me?

– How will achieving this make me feel? Will I remember this in 5 years time? 10 years time?

etc. 

I hope this helps you on your journey! Thanks for reading 🙂

Ophie x

 

 

Photo by STIL https://unsplash.com/photos/b2wZlsyaWvo

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