How many times have you said to yourself “I know what I’m supposed to eat, I know I’m supposed to be more active, I even know this is good for me, but I just can’t get motivated to start!” Or how many times have you said this to yourself “I have to organize my photos, do my laundry, or get to the weeds in the garden.” These are the kinds of things so many of us face. We have more knowledge than we could ever need at our fingertips (perhaps too much at times) that we can never claim we do not know HOW to do something, or WHAT we should be doing, but it’s the getting off the couch and shutting Netflix off and actually DOING these things that seems impossible.

So how do we get motivated? Can we find that seemingly elusive spark that will put a fire under our butts and get us going? There are several ways we can approach motivation. We can ask WHY we aren’t motivated. We can ask what the BARRIERS are. We can ask these things or we can scrap all that and take a whole new approach.

Many of us are under the impression that we have to feel like doing something to actually do it. For many things, if we wait to feel like doing something it may never happen. I mean no one feels like choosing broccoli over chocolate cake. In truth, motivation is not necessary to reach our goals; sometimes purely the action of doing something can get us motivated/engaged. So, in the absence of any clear motivation, what can we do? Read on…

1)    Do it because you CAN do it. When it comes to increasing physical activity, we can take a moment to reflect on the fact that we have the ability to do something active. Finding gratitude in your capabilities and taking advantage of your abilities to move/walk/swim or whatever other activity appeals to you the most.

2)    Create a sense of urgency. Some people find that they are only motivated to get things done under pressure. Without a deadline, procrastination becomes our nemesis. Perhaps you have an entire weekend off and planned to create meals for the following week over the weekend. A weekend has 48 hours! That’s plenty of time, right? Then Sunday at 4:00 pm rolls around and nothing was started. To create a sense of urgency in a task, make a deadline for yourself. If it’s a load of laundry, plan to do it 15 minutes before a show starts, or 15 minutes before you need to leave the house.

3)    Create a list of must-dos. After making your list of necessary tasks, only do two or three tasks, or spend 10 to 15 minutes on a project. Often, just starting is what helps people move forward.

4)    Work with a buddy. It always helps to have someone working with you, to encourage each other and to avoid letting the other person down. If you are embarking on a lifestyle change, recruit your partner, a friend, or neighbour to go on the journey with you.

5)    Reward yourself. Who doesn’t like a reward right? Once you have completed a few items on that to-do list reward yourself with guilt-free Netflix time. Or give yourself a certain amount of time to tackle a task — and then reward yourself. You can set a timer for 20 minutes to make a meal plan, for instance. After you’re done, reward yourself with 20 minutes of Candy Crush on your phone.

6)    Go for “just good enough.” Often people will avoid doing a task because they feel it needs to be completed or completed to unattainably perfect standards. This often will lead to procrastination and avoidance, thus feeling a lack of motivation, because of a fear that the end result won’t be adequate. So, try to do things just good enough and perhaps you can tackle these things with less anxiety and thus, more energy.

7)    Perform projects at your peak times. Is there a time of day or a day of the week when you feel more energetic than others? Harness these moments to start some physical activity or cleaning out that cat litter box that refuses to clean itself.

8)    Picture the end result. Imagine how good you’ll feel when you do start what you wanted to do. Keep that feeling alive [and] picture the end product and the feeling of accomplishment. Again, lack of motivation has nothing to do with laziness or some character flaw not is it necessary to get things done or make changes. It’s human nature. Fortunately, by finding a few strategies that work for you, you can get to where you want to be.