I’m an optimistic person by nature, and I like to think of myself as driven, but not always. I’ve had trouble getting myself to do things many times in my life. Motivating myself takes a lot of work, and some days I just don’t feel like it. I just want to get away from everyone and do nothing.
It’s okay to feel like you just want to sit around and do nothing, because sometimes you need to rest and get better. The danger is when this occasional feeling of being lazy and putting things off takes over your life.
When this happens, and believe me, it can happen very quickly, you will find yourself making excuses for why you can’t get off the couch and start working out, start a new project, or finish an old one. This is a dangerous place that you should stay away from, no matter what.
So, if you feel like you have no energy and need to get motivated, try some of these 13 tips to get your mojo back and your life back on track.
1. Give yourself some time to relax.
Having no drive drains your energy, and when you don’t have enough energy, your mind starts to get very noisy and cluttered.
Regularly practicing mindfulness is a great way to quiet the chatter in your mind. There are many things you can do to be more mindful, like meditate, work out, listen to classical music, or go for a long walk. You can do anything that gives your mind some space and peace.
2. Use your freedom of choice.
Your ability to choose is the only thing you have that gives you control over how you respond to things that happen and experiences you have. You can choose to live a life of misery, or you can choose to live a life of success.
Nobody else has that power over you, and so if you want to become more motivated about life, then use your power of choice to make the change.
3. Get rid of people who are bad for you.
Putting yourself around negative people drains your energy, and if you don’t have any energy, you’re not likely to live a motivated and active life.
Choose instead to surround yourself with positive people, and when you do, you will find that your energy for life starts to flow.
4. Choose to take small steps first to get your energy flowing.
It can seem impossible to go from feeling tired and unmotivated to having a lot of energy and motivation. In fact, it’s so much that we don’t know where to begin and give up or don’t even try.
The key to moving forward and achieving any goal that you set is to focus on taking one step at a time until you reach your goal.
In her book Pivot, Jenny Blake wrote that if you want to change your life: “Your next move is the only one that counts.”
If you want to get your life back on track, figure out the first few things you need to do or steps you need to take, and then follow the plan, one step at a time.
5. Let go of the things in your life you can’t change.
When we don’t have much energy, we tend to think about the bad things that have happened to us. These hard things happened in the past, and we can’t change how they turned out.
Focusing on these things drains our energy and makes it even harder to start taking steps to change our lives. Focus on the good things that have happened to you, and let those good feelings help you move on.
6. Be thankful and show your appreciation every day.
Commit to showing strangers and people you know gratitude and appreciation every day for a month. Don’t stop when the month is over—keep going for the rest of your life.
Practicing gratitude and appreciation every day brings joy into your life, and when you’re happy, you have hope and a lot of energy, which helps you live a motivated life.
7. Focus on doing activities that bring you joy.
Eliminate the activities in life that drag you down. When we’re down, we tend to do things that require a lot of negative energy.
To get your motivation back, do things that help you move forward instead of things that hold you back. Use your ability to choose to figure out what activities will help you live a more motivated life.
8. Embrace patience in your life.
This may seem like an odd thing to do if you want to live a more motivated life, but being patient doesn’t mean “sitting back and waiting.” It means taking the time to think about what you need to do to keep moving forward.
You can’t change your life in a day; it’s a personal journey that takes time. Patience helps you stay on track and see your life in a more positive light.
9. Take some time to figure out who you are and what you want.
To change one’s life, one needs to be committed and have a goal. You need to know exactly what you want and why. You want to change your life because these two things are important to you.
If you know what you want and why, you have a clear goal to work towards. If you don’t have a plan for how you want to live your life or a vision of what you want, your journey of change can become aimless, and you’re likely to give up.
10. Keep getting better.
People who are very motivated love to learn new things. It is learning that brings energy into their lives. Learning opens up your mind and challenges you to think about different perspectives.
Get out of your comfort zone as often as you can and keep learning new things. Living a comfortable life with no challenges will only drain your energy and make you feel very down about your life.
11. Help people
One of the best ways to get more energy and motivation in your life is to help other people, especially those who are in need. The more you help people in need, the more joy you will find in your life.
An act of kindness is powerful and can change your life when you make a positive impact on someone else’s life.
12. Exercise regularly.
Your body, soul, and mind all have more energy when you stay active. Exercise keeps your positivity, optimism, and hope at a level where you always feel energised and motivated.
Regular exercise is important if you want to stay motivated and happy about your life, even when things are hard. Working out helps you get rid of the bad energy that builds up inside you. When you are feeling really down, going for a walk in the bush, at the beach, in the park, or even around your neighborhood is the best medicine ever.
13. Try very hard to keep a positive and hopeful attitude.
Giving in to all the bad things in your life is the worst thing you can do. If you only think about the bad things in your life, you will lose a lot of energy and motivation.
Life can be hard, and you will make mistakes. However, the tough times are in the past. Stop worrying about the bad things and think about the good things in your life, like what’s going well. What’s going right? What exciting things do you have coming up?
These are the questions you should think about, the ones that make you more sure of yourself, more optimistic, and more hopeful about the future. Here is where the drive and energy to live a happy life come from.
You can live a more energetic and motivated life by using any or all of these 13 practical tips. Right now, take a deep breath, pick one, and start your journey.