Depressed? Low On Morale?
Let’s face it.
It is hard to stay inspired when success is taking time.
It is harder still, to stay upbeat when things aren’t going your way.
And it is the hardest of all to lift yourself back up after your dreams have taken a hit, or if you’ve taken a personal fall.
Today, more than ever before!
When gratification is not instant, relationships are hard work, money is never enough and bullies and trolls are all abound, it really is hard to look at the bright side and stay motivated.
Yes, the struggles are many, and the struggles are real.
It is easy to succumb to the pressures of life and fall prey to depression.
History shows us that success comes to those who rise above it, ride through it and turn every adversity into opportunity.
Every fall is really an opportunity to rise even higher. The trick is to re-inspire yourself, re-believe in yourself. And when you master the trick, that is when the magic really happens.
So how do you do it? How do you motivate yourself again?
Here are 3 tricks that won’t cost you a penny.
Find an inspirational quote that speaks to you and make it your motto. Adopt one as your mantra. Give it the power to re-ignite your passion. Make it your desktop background and let it remind you each day, every day, of what you’re capable of.
A simple Google search can get you loads of inspirational sayings and quotes.
Quotes such as this one by Estee Lauder have the power to nip self pity in the bud re-ignite your passions. “I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.”
The Estee Lauder group of companies wouldn’t be where they are today, had their founder given up on her dreams of having them. One can only imagine the hurdles she faced, not only as a business woman but also as a woman with dreams when she started her company in 1946.
Had she just wished for it, hoped for it even, her dream may or may not have become a reality.
It is simply her hard work and dedicated efforts that resulted in the empire that exists today. Even the best of buildings start with the laying of a single brick, and brick by brick comes forth the structure.
Don’t wish for something to happen in your favor, you may never start! Don’t hope for someone to help, you may never get it! The power is with you, and the power is of deeds, not of thought!
The message is simple. Work for it and it will happen!
Keep working at it, brick by brick. Keep working at it, continuously, tirelessly and without giving up and soon the empire of your dreams will be the reality you always wanted it to be.
The best way to really stay motivated is to stay away from people who constantly pull you down by ridiculing your ambitions, or by always pointing to difficulties and hurdles that are too big for you to overcome (according to them).
Such people are toxic!
Constant negativity is not good for anyone and the people who do that are certainly not your friends.
You’ll notice a significant improvement in your mental well-being and in your zeal to achieve your goals once you dump their counsel and eradicate their influence completely from your lives.
Mark Twain once said, “ Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great.”
Mark Twain’s words apply to everyone, no matter their backgrounds and no matter their social standings.
So what’s do you take away from this?
Surround yourself with people who lift you up.
They give constructive feedback and point to probable solutions rather than stating problems. These are the people that back and create success stories and you do want to become one, don’t you?
So, go on that unfriending spree on Facebook if you must, or consciously cut off contact with that ‘friend’ who is always around imparting his pearls of wisdom.
Be ruthless. Be clinical.
Last but not the least, find a circle of friends, family, strangers, or even your pet animals, where you can be yourself.
A comfortable crowd amongst whom you can think out loud without being judged, bounce off ideas without being ridiculed or even cry your heart out after a particularly nasty fail.
It could be a physical group, like a batch of complete strangers meeting up to make new friends, (like expat clubs) or a hobby class where you find enthusiastic people just like you. It could even be a group of your closest corporate buddies or even just two of your closest friends.
Or it could be a virtual Facebook group, like mine is.
The trick is to find one where you won’t get trolled or bullied, or find negativity worse when what you’re facing out in the real world. The Jillian Michaels Workout group on Facebook. is that soul circle for me, where from I draw inspiration, share success stories, assess failures and find out went wrong in them.
Find yours! It does help.
Sharing things with people, whether with close family or with complete strangers, helps ease the sense of solitude that you face when you hit a roadblock or face a failure.
It keeps depression at bay.
Just knowing that someone cares, or that someone knows exactly what you are going through, helps.
In the worst of times, when the mind plays its own games, it is solely up to you to take that one step towards positivity. That one dedicated step is all it really takes to defeat depression, self-pity and worse, the self-loathing that follows.