5 Steps to Stay Motivated Every Day

Your alarm clock rings in the morning: what do you do? How do you react? Aside from being dead tired from a strenuous workout the day before, how are you going to start off your day? Will you groan, hit snooze and roll over? Will you reluctantly comply and awaken from that slumber? Or, will you be so excited, so ready to start your amazing new chance at making a difference today that you already woke up before the alarm had a chance to go off?

Imagine a sense of motivation so great, so POWERFUL, that you literally cannot wait to start your day; you have so many things that you are going to do that make you happy in reaching your goals that hitting snooze isn’t even an option or desire.

Sounds like a fantasy for many, but that’s why I am here, to help turn your motivation to a level you have never experienced! This is what I call a ‘pillar of success’, and here are my 5 ways you can make this state of mind become a reality for YOU:

1. Avoid negative people.

The great Benjamin Franklin once said, “he who lies with dogs, rises with fleas,” basically, if you hang with those who have negative attitudes 24/7, guess what kind of attitude you’re going to have? No sunshine or happy faces with Debbie Downer or Negative Nancy, tell those ladies toodles.

2. Hang with the big shots.

Same principle here as that from above: you become whom you spend most of your time with. Therefore, get rid of negative influences, and surround yourself with those who make you happy, give you energy, and inspire you by their presence. An excellent example would be gaining strong mentors if you are starting a career or business endeavor. Want to make it big in research? Don’t read a book in your dorm, go to the lab and offer assistance just for the opportunity to learn. If you are in pursuit of perfecting a skill set, find someone who you respect and is willing to help you— that has that skill set perfected already. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel— they have made it. Everyone does have different methods, but mentoring someone who is at the place you’re trying to get to makes a lot more sense than trying to write your own instruction manual.

3. Put that smart phone to work.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr, these are a few of my favorite things. You have most of these apps already and I bet you’ve been on them more than once in the last hour, so use them to motivate yourself! Follow a motivational page, an idol, or a group that is focused on your endeavors. For example, “bodybuilding motivation” is a Facebook group that provides videos, photos and quotes daily related to getting you amped up for the gym and sticking with it. These groups update daily, so you will get fresh, continual bit of motivation each and every time you check your feed, so tweet away!

4. Make a list and check it twice.

This is all about prioritizing your day. You have 59,653 things to do before the clock strikes midnight, but ask yourself: what needs done today? Before lunch? Before I leave work? You get the idea ? The more you can sort out the “have-to” vs “want-to” tasks, the easier it will be to start them.

5. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Ok, ok, enough clichés but look at the meaning. You have that huge project, that full-length marathon to prepare for, your doctorate program … and you’re looking at the things to do before that due date/ race/ graduation comes and you get overwhelmed. Well, yeah! Once that feeling comes on, stop and consider this: today’s preparation determines tomorrow’s achievement. If you fully commit to doing some form of work on your endeavor EVERY DAY, and I mean COMMIT, you will be amazed at all that you can get done. The more you accomplish, the more accomplished you will feel. Set up a timeline and stick to it— it’s kind of like a list you can cross off every day, and who doesn’t like crossing things off a list?

If you follow these tips, I’m sure you’ll be fired up to reach your goals and achieve your dreams. That’s my #RX4SCSS for the week!