Many people can struggle with motivation when trying to initiate changes in their lives.  All of us are familiar with the failure of New Year’s Resolutions where we commit to make a certain change in the coming year-only to lose this energy after a few weeks.

Below are five things to know about Motivation that may help you initiate and maintain motivation with making desired changes in your life:

 

1. Do not rely upon emotion as a motivator. Emotions are fleeting thus your level of motivation will also be fleeting.
2. Set specific SMART goals-Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
3. Start small to create an “easy-in” and a sense of accomplishment.
4. Pay attention to rationalizations in your thinking. We often rationalize reasons to not follow through.  Do not talk yourself out of what you know you want to do.
5. Create motivating thoughts. Remind yourself of why you want to make this change and what you want to accomplish with this change. Imagine success and what that will feel like.