skeletonstudies

how to stay motivated long-term

trust, me i know that long-term motivation and consistency is hard. long-term motivation might be difficult to maintain, but there are effective techniques to help you stay focused and determined. whether you're seeking personal ambitions, academic achievements, or professional success, here are some strategies to help encourage motivation:

understand the reason behind your goal ☆ does your goal contribute to personal growth or meaningful relationships? ☆ how does your goal impact others? ☆ is your goal meaningful to you? if your goal lacks meaning, it may be hard to maintain motivation.

positive and negative motivation motivation can come from different places ☆ positive motivation: the desire to experience pleasure ☆ negative motivation: the desire to avoid something (an outcome) both types of motivation have their place, so learn to recognise what type fits in where. (post on this coming soon)

set up systems use your initial motivation to set up structures: ☆ create routines, systems and habits that help you towards your goal even when your motivation fluctuates ☆ when your emotions wane, rely on these systems and disciplines to maintain momentum

break down goals ☆ tackle one goal at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed ☆ set achievable milestones and celebrate each step forward ☆ keep the momentum going by focusing on manageable tasks

validate good work ☆ give yourself a little reward, or thank yourself, for completing hard tasks ☆ this reinforces motivation and encourages effort

remember--motivation isn't in a constant state, it ebbs and flows. these small tips will help to stay motivated. i'm going to provide more information in upcoming posts, and i will link them here once they are published.

The sooner you are able to laugh at your own failures, to enjoy the process of messing up, the easier life will be. Because you'll no longer be afraid of learning.

And it can be very hard to learn, especially if you come from a family where a failure is a sign that you are a failure instead of a sign that you are learning.

You're going to fail at failing well. There are going to be times when it hurts, times when your brain is telling you that you should just give up and you'll never get it. Times when a failure is going to frustrate you to no end.

And you can still learn to fail well. You can learn to see it as a sign that you're learning, you can learn to give a little chuckle and say to yourself, well, everyone screws up sometimes, I'm just learning.

The world is less scary and chaotic if you lie down on the floor

Noticing different kinds of light (stars, candles, sunshine or city lights) can bring back the feeling of wonder and hope

If you can’t shower, washing your hands and face will help you feel better and cleaner

If you can’t clean anything else, changing and/or washing your bedsheets can do wonders

Fresh air and being outside in general can help with depersonalisation

Spending time around animals can help you recognise what’s important and calm anxious thought cycles

Techniques for emotional regulation in children can really help adults too

Putting random asortment of food on a plate without creating an actual dish still counts as a meal

Drink something warm

Delete that app

Treat yourself as if you were a kid. Buy yourself a toy, play around, learn about cool new things

Fast paced life isn’t morally better and it’s not good for everyone

There is no good reason to keep yourself hungry

Singing to your full lung capacity can be a great way to let out built up emotion

Tension in the face can cause headaches. Try to massage your face regularly

Nothing is as important as your health

You are a whole person on your own, you don’t need someone else to be there to deserve love and attention. Your life can be full as long as you are present

You should cry things out whenever you feel like it

Slow walks are still movement and they do count

It’s never as bad as you imagine it

Try changing your toothpaste flavor if you hate brushing your teeth

Anything can be a stim toy - one of my favourites is a heavy dragon necklace that has a complicated surfice. It’s fun to touch and hold and it’s not even “actual” stim toy

Procrastinating and feeling bad about it is true waste of time. Learn to truly rest. It takes the same amount of time but it is useful

Sometimes you have to force yourself to do the things that make you feel better

Don’t trust the thoughts you have after not sleeping for a while