To be completely honest with you, my writing has been in a drought lately. More specifically, I lost nearly all my motivation for this blog of mine. After going through tough times in the fall and then seeing my stats plummet, hanging on to my dreams and staying driven about my blog has been arduous. Work has also been quite emotionally demanding lately, so I thought I’d write a list of my best tips to stay motivated when nothing seems to work the way you want to. This can be applied for a blog, but also for a project or any aspect of life, really. For the purpose of this article, I will refer to the situation as a “project”. Enjoy, and let me know if it helps you!

How to stay motivated when it seems impossible

 

1. Write it all down. 

   Make a list of everything: what’s bothering you the most right now, what is making you feel sad and losing your motivation, etc. Make sure you also write the positive stuff like who is there for you if you need a hand, or what future actions you are excited about. In my case, I wrote down the companies I would love to collaborate with in the future. If you feel like it, you can also write down your feelings at the moment: it could help you understand the depth of the situation and why you want to succeed so badly. Keep everything in a notebook and look at your notes every now when you can’t stay motivated. It helps to see the evolution.

2. Remember why you started.

   Sometimes the best way to stay motivated is to remember why we started in the first place. Why did you have this wonderful idea that became a genius project? Where did you see yourself going with this? Do you still want this to happen? And I’m sure you do! 🙂 If you want something really bad, it will happen! Maybe you need to fall in love with your project all over again. Sometimes it just takes a little bit more time, and sometimes you need to learn a lesson that will make you grow before you can finally succeed.

3. Discuss the situation with a trusted pal. 

   You shouldn’t always be the only one trying to figure out how to solve your issues of difficulties. Two heads really are better than one, more often than not! So don’t be afraid to talk about it to your BFF or anyone you trust and explain e-ve-ry-thing, from your fears to your feelings to your goals. Sometimes this is the best way to see clearly that if you can’t stay motivated, this is temporary and it could help you remember why you were so excited about this project in the first place.

   

4. Figure out your goals.

   Part of the reason why you are unmotivated right now could be because your goals aren’t precise enough. Think in terms of number: what do you wish to have accomplished by when and how. Make sure your goals are realistic too, but allow yourself to dream a little too 😉 Sky’s the limit, right? And who knows, while you figure out your goals, maybe it will make you want to achieve them even more!

5. Make note of all the little wins. 

   Personally, when I feel at my lowest point motivation-wise, I try to think about all the small successes from the past. Maybe it was a fabulous collaboration with a brand I love, of a sweet and encouraging comment from a follower. In any case, it always works to make me smile and want to pursue this blog. If I quit tomorrow, I wouldn’t have any of these small pieces of happiness that make me so proud, and that’s a whole lot of motivation right there! Sometimes just talking about it to a friend helps (see #3) and you may even hear them tell you about why they admire your project. And isn’t that the best motivator?

6. Keep investing, a lot.

   No matter how discouraged you feel at the moment about your project, try and keep investing again and again, until you’ve invested so much that you can’t quit so soon. I don’t mean to invest thousands of dollars, I mean hours and days and months. I also suggest that you invest some money too because once money is involved, it is much harder to quit so easily, let’s be honest. Once you realize how much time and effort (and probably money) you put into achieving this dream, maybe it will make you think twice about quitting. And maybe you will want to keep going because now that you’ve invested so much in your project, it probably looks really good 🙂

7. Take a (self-care) break. 

   If none of the above tips work for you, maybe you need to think about something else for a while. Pick your favourite book and read for a while, watch a funny TV show and laugh your heart out, take a bath, cook a comforting meal, or paint your nails. Your brain needs a break. And maybe, just maybe, while you are busy doing other stuff, your brain will come up with the solution to your problem. And before you know it, your motivation is back. 😉

What are your tips to stay motivated and keep working toward achieving your dreams? If you enjoyed this post and want to know more, Bustle has a great article on how to stay focused to achieve your goals.

-xox- Marika