“Push yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you.”

A few years ago, I was well and truly stuck in a rut. The same things happened during the week. The same things happened at the weekend. Most of my time was spent as a robot; getting up early in the week, going to work, coming home, doing nothing interesting, going to bed, and repeat. It was the same for my weekends, (although I did get a sneaky lay in wherever possible.) Looking back, I’m quite embarrassed, frankly. I greedily ate up my own time doing nothing productive, and it became a habit.

These days, I’m quite the opposite. I make each day count and I rarely feel like I’ve wasted a single day in the week. I ended up making a few tweaks to my life and who I was associated with, and I instantly saw life in a whole new way.

It’s really quite beautiful when you stop and look.

The key thing I want to get across in this post is to become motivated to do better, and it doesn’t matter in what aspect of your life. Getting motivated can simply mean doing more exercise or getting rid of those toxic people who are holding you back. In your head, you will want to start doing this, but the reality of the situation is that you really can’t be bothered to start. You’re too comfortable with the image of having time on your hands to relax and do nothing, and having the stress to actually make a start on this change can seem quite the task. Just remember one thing.

A year from now, you’ll look back and think, “I wish I’d have done all this a year ago.”

It’s true. I was told this a handful of times! Here’s the first few things I did to force myself to do better. And honestly, it’s not that difficult. It just takes a bit of strength.

Out with the old.

If the people around you don’t make you happy every day, then this is a HUGE indicator that something is not right. If people easily anger you, or instantly put you on a downer when you’re in their presence, then you should remove them from your life immediately. I found out that my family and friends were all saying similar things, and when I removed the people from my life that brought me down and made me unhappy, things started to improve. Looking at what I said above, about looking back and wishing you’d have made that change a year ago, really makes you appreciate how far you have come. It’s not easy, it won’t ever be. But believe me, if I can do it, so can you!

Get a hobby…and stick with it!

This is a funny one. I didn’t have a hobby for years. I went for so many job interviews, and when the dreaded ‘what do you like to do in your spare time’ question popped up, I had to lie, and describe things that I hadn’t done for years! Just so the interviewers didn’t think I was completely strange, I actually made up the things that you’re supposed to do for enjoyment. No, it doesn’t make sense to me either. Geocaching, walking, swimming, reading and writing this very blog are now my hobbies, and it’s actually very easy to talk about something when you’re regularly doing it. You’ll feel good about yourself, trust me.

Make time for your passions.

What is that one thing you think you’re good at? That one thing that you enjoy the most. The thing that you could lose track of time doing. For me, it’s writing, and getting back into the writing biz is the best feeling in the world. Losing all sense of creativity for a few years was quite saddening, but being able to get back on the horse has really given me so many new ideas for story writing and where to improve my skills. Making time for the thing you love to do will make you see things a lot differently.

Get enough sleep. No, really.

I’m far from being an early bird. Never have been, never will be, but honestly – getting enough sleep each night makes so much difference. Waking up feeling more refreshed will automatically put you in a better mood the following day. Not fully mastered this, but getting there slowly but surely…

Talk to people.

Speaking to people who believe in you, the ones who you’re closest to, will always make you see sense eventually. If they know you well enough, they’ll know when you’re not happy or when something isn’t quite right. The right people will also spur you on and give you that all important encouragement needed to succeed. This links back to my first point of getting rid of the people who don’t bring out the best in you.

The things I’ve mentioned here might seem some of the simplest and most obvious things to talk about, but they’re not always so easy to accomplish. They’re the sort of things that you’ll ‘get round to’ or that can wait until tomorrow. The truth is, the longer you put off making the necessary changes, the harder it will be to do so.

Speaking from a personal side, I honestly feel great about making these changes I knew I needed to make. I sometimes don’t feel up to doing something, but I make myself. For example, take the first time I went swimming after a 15 year break. I didn’t want to go because I felt too self conscious and was scared of not being able to swim as strong as I used to (and also that I would make a fool of myself.) I forced myself to go and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I’m sure you’ll surprise yourself too with what you’re capable of.

Are you struggling to get motivated? Give me some info and I’ll give you some pointers 🙂