Apparently, today is marked down as Blue Monday, the third Monday of January, when everything is supposedly at its most depressing. In 2005 a television publicist persuaded him to create a “scientific formula” that looked so spectacularly superscience-y that on a slow news day editors were powerless to resist. It was: [W+(D-d)]xTQ/MxNA – where W is weather, D is debt, d monthly salary, T time since Christmas, Q time since failure of attempt to give something up, M low motivational level and NA the need to take action.
But please remember this was developed by a TV publicist NOT by a scientist, and PRs are experts in devising surveys and reports that are headline-grabbing, especially at certain times of year where reporters are crying out for stories that will ultimately sell papers or drive traffic to a website.
So this being the case, feeling blue on a Monday doesn’t have to be that way – we all feel down at certain times. So your choice is to sit and wait for someone else to fix it (unlikely), or decide to DO something about it.
Making a change is a positive action rather than staying stuck in a rut.
Help yourself to get and stay motivated by following these 5 quick and easy tips, today and frankly, every Monday!:-
1.One Key Goal
Knowing where you’re heading allows you to steer a clear path and achieve your goal. Start at the end and work back. A goal gives you a direction to focus on.
One Key Goal: whenever we fall into a slump, it’s often because we have too much going on in our lives. We’re trying to do too much – and it saps our energy and motivation.
It’s the number one mistake that people make. They try to take on too much, try to accomplish too many goals at once. You simply cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things you need to accomplish any goal) if you’re trying to do two or more goals at once. You have to choose one goal for now, focus on it completely. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Key Goal first.
2.Go public
No one likes to look bad or weak-willed in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. So tell friends, family and colleagues about your goal.
If you state that you’re doing something you’ve essentially promised to keep your word. Go public and it will increase your likelihood of doing it by 100%!
And hold yourself accountable. = don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.
3.Start small
Choosing a simple first step gives you encouragement and a positive feeling to keep moving forward to the next step. Get one quick wins under your belt – get some traction and get things moving!
Start small. Really small if you’re having a hard time getting started. It may be because you’re thinking too big.
For example, if you want to exercise, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No – instead do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do 2 minutes of exercise. Commit to 2 minutes of exercise for one week. You may want to do more, but just stick to 2 minutes. It’s so easy, you can’t fail.
Do it at the same time, every day. Once you’ve done 2 minutes a day for a week, increase that to 5 minutes and stick with that for a week. In a month, you’ll be doing 15-20 minutes. Want to wake up early? Don’t think about waking at 5am. Instead, think about waking 10 minutes earlier for a week, that’s all. Once you’ve done that, wake up 10 minutes earlier than that. You see, baby steps!
4.Ask for support
Going to people you know and trust can help you greatly. You already know each other well so there are no barriers to overcome. Forget trying to go it all alone. There’s no need to be such a hero (or victim). Ask for help!
Join an online forum. Get a partner to join you. Network. Call your dad. It doesn’t matter who. Just tell them your problems and simply talking about it will help. Ask them for advice. Ask them to help you get back on track. It works!
5.Ride the ebb and flow
Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes like the tide, and doesn’t have to be determined by a day of the week like a Monday!
But realise that while it may go away, it doesn’t have to do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out and wait for that motivation to come back. In the meantime, refocus on your goal, ask for help and work on some of the other tips here until your motivation comes back.
Think of your goal as a marathon not a sprint and your slump is just one little bump in the road. You can’t give up with every little bump. Stay with it for the long term, ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows and you WILL get there!
Want to read more of the Top Tips?
Visit the Creativedge ‘Top 10 Tips’ mobile App available for iPhone and Android smartphones:-
Appstore – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/top-10-tips/id796349890?mt=8
Google Play – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.elixsoft.creativedge
