What motivates you?
Have you ever had one of those days where you just don’t feel like doing anything? Does work no longer excite you and you feel lethargic and uninspired?
We haven’t all done it! One of the keys to unlocking motivation is understanding your personal values, that is, what really energizes and excites you. Once you know what these values are, it’s simply a matter of planning your life around them. A quote that I love to demonstrate this idea is:
“never let the things that matter most to you be at the mercy of the things that don’t”
The most successful people on the planet understand what their values are and live their lives according to them. However, you’d be surprised how many of us live our lives according to other people’s values. We end up spending a huge amount of time on things we don’t really care about, which results in those unmotivated and sluggish feelings. If you are living your life according to your values, then you should naturally feel energized, positive, and excited.
Simple Life Strategy: how to get motivated
Start by thinking about what you love to spend your time doing, the things you love in your home, the things you always have energy for no matter how tired you are, think about the things you find it easy to spend money on and notice where in your life you are focused and disciplined, and reflect on what are the common things you love to think about and talk about.
You can ask yourself the following types of Q:
- What aspects of your life do you feel most satisfied with?
- What characteristics do you most admire in other people?
- What brings you the most joy in life?
Once you have written down some of these ideas, you should spend some time analyzing which words seem to mean the most to you until you have a list of 6 or 7 values. Then you need to sort them based on your personal priorities.
Some of my personal values are:
– health
– innovation
– learning and insight
– fun and adventure
I make a concerted effort to make sure I keep these values in mind every day in some way. When it comes to planning my week ahead, I’ll refer to my values to make sure the decisions I’m making are in line with my values. For example, if a friend invites me to an event, I will evaluate how spending my time with that friend will allow me to live my values. Should my time be better spent doing something else? And be careful not to confuse values with ‘pleasurable activities’. Values aren’t always about instant gratification, but they help you grow as a person in the long run.
