aksel

so 2017 is here, and that means we’re all going to try to change for the better. we all know that most people don’t succeed, but why is that? my theory is that a lot of people don’t know how to keep their motivation consistent. turns out many psychologists have actually figured out a kind of equation for motivation, factors that play into whether or not we keep our resolutions, habits, and goals. i read this amazing book about this equation and“hacking” your motivation and made notes of some of the main takeaways. enjoy and happy 2017!

take advantage of “success spirals”

set yourself a series of achievable goals and then achieve all of them until you expect only success and failure is no longer familiar. this is a great way to get started living a motivated life. example: start out your new year by changing one habit that’s small enough where success is likely, and use that success to propel you to larger goals.

commit early on

choose now to limit your later options, preventing yourself form making the wrong choice in the face of temptation. signing up for a public speaking engagement that you know you should do is much easier 2 months beforehand, thereby forcing you not to chicken out when the going gets tough.

surround yourself with motivated people

have a workout or study buddy with similar goals as you. you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. example: read or watch biographies of inspirational people whose lives you would like to emulate. go on a social media diet, in which you only see motivating and positive posts by motivated and positive people.

visualize

visualize the success you want to achieve, contrasting it with the life you currently live. Add in implementation intentions and process visualization for more oomph. michael phelps does this for every race, “playing the video tape” of the perfect race in his head. this allowed him to break a world record in 2008 with water in his goggles.

get into flow

flow is a psychological state characterized by being completely absorbed in whatever it is you’re doing. musicians, writers, and other creatives often report this while making their best works. how to get into flow? tasks which are too easy or too hard are not engaging, so find ways to make tasks challenging but possible. compete against yourself, or against others. getting into flow is most achievable when something is familiar to you and you can do it automatically, but it still contains mentally stimulating elements.

connect your goals to passion

look for ways to connect tasks with major life goals, so that you can remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. set up extra reminders of those connections where you’ll see them (ex: every day i make my goal of saving 100 dollars i am that much closer to financial freedom). make sure you’re on a path to goals you actually want and that the journey is making you happy. If it isn’t, consider something more intrinsically motivating.

care for yourself

everything is better when you’re alert. sleep well, eat well, move your body every day, guard your circadian rhythms, and avoid burnout. cure energy lows with quality breaks, movement, sunshine, and good music. match intensive tasks with periods of high energy.

kill perfectionism

if you can’t bring yourself to do your main task, at least get some other things out of the way. it’s not perfect, but perfect is the enemy of good. get used to the act of doing consistently, rather than having things be perfect, so it doesn’t paralyze you. do not be afraid of failure, because it is the fastest way to learn.

use rewards

celebrate your successes with any reward that will motivate you (treats, crazy dance parties, an hour of social media or video games?). we all know the feeling before a deadline where it seems as if our life for the next week is just a never-ending tunnel of drudgery and work. 

play hard

this one is related to rewards – plan times to have as much fun as you can - this leads to more efficient recreation, and it also lets you focused on your goals during the other times, rather than just having low-grade leisure constantly tempting you as an option. ex: rather than taking a “break” every two minutes to check your instagram feed, do something that will actually burst your mood, make you laugh, or release some of the tension in your body.

You are allowed to take up space. You are human.

You are allowed to have a voice.

You are allowed to leave whenever you feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

You deserve more than someone who doesn’t know how to respect you.

You are allowed to put your own needs first.