How to Motivate Yourself to Do Anything

Posted March 1, 2019

Motivation is something that’s difficult to get right. Some virtual assistants think that they can get all the motivation they need from external sources like a friend or family member, a material reward, or something else tangible. But while these things can help, the key to motivation ultimately relies on yourself.

As someone who makes money from home, staying motivated is a big challenge. Since you supervise yourself most of the time, you have to be really disciplined in order to reach your goals. The good news is that there are certainly some things you can do on the subject of how to motivate yourself to do anything. Here are a few helpful tips to get you started.

Be at your prime physically.

You need to take care of yourself physically. Eat a balanced diet, do some workouts, stay hydrated, and get enough sleep. These are simple things that busy workers often take for granted. What many fail to realize is that having a healthy body is essential to achieving more things at a faster pace. If you keep yourself fit, you will have more energy to get things done, and it will be a lot easier to motivate yourself mentally.

Prepare yourself emotionally and mentally.

Now that your body is prepped and primed, you need to focus on your emotional and mental wellbeing next. You probably already know that your mentality plays a big role in motivating yourself. You have to be disciplined enough to resist temptation and focused enough to follow through on your plans. However, your emotional state needs to be in top shape as well. You have to be at a positive place in your life in order to withstand the difficulties you are likely to encounter.

Have a clear end goal.

It’s difficult to stay motivated if you don’t even have a clear view of what you’re trying to achieve. Before you start working on motivating yourself, you need to have a clear end goal first. Make it specific and quantifiable if possible. Also, aside from being clear on what you’re trying to achieve, think of why you’re trying to achieve it as well. A strong reason can drive you even further than productivity apps or lists.

Reward yourself for reaching stage goals.

Do you respond positively to small rewards for achieving something? Then reward yourself whenever you complete a stage that takes you closer to your goals. This can be as simple as treating yourself to a favorite food or sleeping in for an extra hour. Do something that makes you happy.

Punish yourself for poor performance.

Set punishments for poor performance. Missed a deadline? You have to work an extra hour tomorrow. Failed to reach your quota? You can’t have a slice of cake. Some people respond more to punishments than rewards. If you’re one of these people, use this knowledge of yourself to stay motivated.

Build good habits.

In the end, it’s all about building good habits. You can use all the tricks you have up your sleeve, but if you don’t start building good habits, it will be more and more difficult to find motivation time and time again. If you can build a habit of submitting tasks before the deadline or waking up early or finishing each task you started, you won’t even need to motivate yourself every single time you face a new challenge.

Remote work presents VAs with newer, more difficult challenges all the time. If you want to stay on top of your game, you have to really work hard at keeping yourself motivated. Hopefully, the tips above can help you achieve that.