Get Off The Couch! How To Motivate Yourself To Be Who You Want To Be

Not feeling motivated today? Well, sometimes you don’t have a choice. Life doesn’t give a shit if you need a break.
Sometimes, it just demands that you step up your game, even if you’d rather just sit on the couch and eat pizza.
If you happen to find yourself in need of some quick motivation, then pull up a chair, stop feelin’ sorry for yourself, and let’s get this damn thing done.

Change how you view motivation

You see, this is the major culprit right here. Most people who are not feeling motivated get that way because they misunderstand how motivation works.
It is not a eureka moment, where you’re just sitting there eating some beef jerky, and suddenly you write the Great American Novel.
Well, let’s be more clear — it sometimes happens that way, but that can’t be your relationship with motivation. While a sudden burst of inspiration is always welcome, you can’t just wait for motivation to show up.
Instead, look at it as something that you can create yourself. Not only is it a more empowering frame, but you’ll learn to create ways of “making” motivation so that you always have it when you need it the most.

Focus on your reasons

This technique is the single most powerful way to light the fire under your ass.
By taking some time to focus on why you want the thing you want, you can create pull, a driving forces that draws you to your goals automatically, rather than push, which requires that you constantly give yourself a kick in the pants to get out of first gear.
Push is mechanical. It’s when you tell yourself, “You better get up and get this done.” It’s uninspiring. Pull is more automatic, and it stems from your reasons.
“I want this thing so freakin’ bad because my life is going to be so much more awesome when I get it. Time to get to work.”
The stronger the reasons, the more you will automatically roll up the sleeves when things get tough. If you want something in life, really take some time to figure out why. That will be your key to achieving it.

Make yourself feel the pain

“Oh, I’ll get to it tomorrow. It’s not the end of the world if I put it off.”
You sure about that?
Here’s the part where you focus on how much it sucks to not have the thing that you want. Think of the pain you feel because you don’t have it. Think of how you’re treated differently. Think of what you’ve had to do — how you’ve had to go without — because you haven’t achieved. Do you want that to be your life forever?
No?
Good, let’s get to work. We can leave “not feeling motivated” to the folks who don’t care if they get what they want.

Pretend like you already got there

Sometimes, the best thing you can do when your goal feels too far away is to pretend like you already achieved it. Take a moment and imagine how your life would be. Would you be happier? Would you feel more free? Would you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment?
Really take some time to play this scenario out. If you do it with enough conviction, you’ll start to feel all of those emotions that you’ve been saving for when you accomplish this feat.
You’ll understand that it’s possible, and you’ll work that much harder to make this dream a reality.

Surround yourself with the right people

We’re all products of our environments. If you’re always around people with low standards, then it’s going to be more difficult to achieve what you want.
They aren’t going to push you, and in some cases, they may even actively try to keep you from achieving.
Instead, surround yourself with motivated people. Seeing them go for it every single day will set an expectation that you will subconsciously try to match.
Without even trying, they will drive you to succeed, even when you’re not feeling motivated.

Produce a small success

Lastly, one of the best ways to stoke those damn embers is to produce a tiny success immediately. Is there a small thing you can accomplish right now that will get you closer to your goal?
If so, do it. It will help you build momentum and reinforce the idea that this thing really is possible.