I know what you are thinking! "I am productive and my time is at a premium!"
As human beings, we sometimes find regression easier than productivity. We find ourselves playing victim, subjecting our psyche to negative self-talk and not following through with our goals.
There are a number of reasons why this happens, but it is primarily because of our innate ability to see the downside of situations, rather than the upside. It is believed to be a survival instinct, and whatever the cause, it takes dedication and consistency to reverse.
To get what you want in life and find the motivation for personal development in the New Year, you must take action, regardless of what past traumas or reasons you have for not following through.
When You Don't Feel Like Being Productive, You Must Act Anyway
In order to create new pathways in the brain and fire up those neurons, you have to act and find the will power to be productive.
You will have excuses and dozens of reasons for not doing what you said you wanted to accomplish. It is very easy to set goals for the next day before bed, then wake up and not feel like doing any of them.
See if any of these you may be feeling from time to time:
Maybe you have lost the energy or desire.
Maybe you are putting yourself down for something, such as not waking up at the time you wanted to.
Whatever the reason may be, you have to look past this. If you said you wanted to wake up at 5AM and you overslept until noon, that is a reason to be feeling pretty low, but you have to fight through those emotions.
Push yourself to be productive anyway and make the most of the day. Your success depends on it.
Meditate, Practice Positive Affirmations, and Work on Insecurities
There are a number of things that hold us back and lead to a lack of motivation.
Most of them derive from our thoughts and how we treat ourselves. To accomplish your goals and be productive, you must learn to quiet this inner obsession with putting yourself down and focusing on your weaknesses.
1) Use Meditation to Gain Focus
Through meditation, you can learn to focus on the breath and quiet the inner dialogue that sometimes plagues our minds.
Through daily and consistent meditation, you can learn to be at ease with the present moment and not react emotionally to your thoughts. If you have a negative thought, it will pass more easily without constant obsession from your mind.
2) Use Positive Affirmations to Build Your Self-Confidence
You should remind yourself how special and talented you are, because who else is going to?
We often find ourselves clinging to relationships that build us up. When you have a significant other telling you how great you are, they serve as a source of positivity in your life and that power can feel amazing. Imagine though, if you were to remind yourself of these traits using positive affirmations.
Learn to build yourself up and increase your own confidence.
Your mind is capable of doing this.
3) Understand Your Insecurities and Accept Yourself
Insecurities create fear and stop us from acting.
When we feel nervous, tense or insecure, we want to avoid the situation rather than proactively going after it.
Understanding insecurities and accepting yourself is extremely important. We are not perfect and you can't compare yourself to others. If you find that someone else is better than you at something, they have simply progressed through their life faster in that one area.
You, however, may have excelled in many other areas that you are unaware of because you are focused on the traits that you feel you are lacking.
4) Know That Consistency and Repetition is Everything
If you want to accomplish a goal, you have to remain consistent. While a project can seem monumental at first, if you work on it every day, you will eventually accomplish that goal.
Do not allow yourself to get overwhelmed.
Instead, stay calm and practice consistency.