Staying Motivated in Month 2

The freshness of 2018 is starting to wear off. By now you have gotten used to writing 2018, and not 2017, but are you ready to continue your challenges through February? March? Or even June?

One thing I have noticed that has helped me to stay focused is to reflect on what I have accomplished in my previous month and be proud of it. In January I:

• Posted 9 Blogs

• Recorded 2 Podcasts

• Launched 1 Podcast (The second launched on February 1st)

• Got to the gym 15 times

The way I look at it is if you don’t track what you have done you can’t set a new goal to achieve. You can’t motivate yourself to be better either. Once you stop looking at what you have accomplished or what you want to accomplish you become complacent. Complacency is where we get in trouble.

When we get complacent we get comfortable. It is so easy to get comfortable. To slip on a pair of sweats, with your favorite snack, and binge watch the entire season of Stranger Things, or This Is Us. I have been guilty of it too. But what drives me to not sit and do it is that nagging feeling once the season is over. Once you come out of your post binge haze and you realize, “Wow, I wasted a whole day…”

That feeling of regret and slight depression is what makes me want to do more. To keep pushing and going after my goals. And when I fall short, I’m still proud of myself for trying. Even this morning, after being up late watching the SuperBowl and having a rough night’s sleep, I knew it was going to be hard to get up at 5:30AM to hit the gym. But I did. I pushed through my work out and was happy that I did it. Proud that even though I was tired and unmotivated, I made the choice to go anyway.

Now I’m not saying you can’t watch the newest season of Stranger Things. You should. It is fantastic. You just need to find the balance. I go to the gym at 6AM so that I can get my workout in, get home to take my daughter to school with my wife, get to work, and have a normal day. Was it easy at first? Of course not. It’s not easy to start, I know. And it’s not easy to keep going. But starting is the first step. Then all you have to think about is taking the next step, and the next, and the one after that.

Don’t think about what you need to do 4 months from now. That is a scary thought. You need to stay focused on the now. Be present in where you are and think about what you need to get done today. Once you do that, your actions will become routine, and once you settle into that routine all you have to do is keep doing it. Simple, right. :)

At the end of the day, if you have done your best and can look yourself in the mirror and be proud of what you see, then you have accomplished your goal. Be proud of that person staring back at you.