Do you ever start doing something that you know is good for you but then, for one reason or another, you stop.

We can discover what fulfills our yearnity and use our agency to start on that path but it won't have lasting positive effects if we don't stay on the path. That's what we mean by Stay Motivated. We're referring to having what it takes to keep doing the good things that we start doing.

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> What's something good that you decided to do or want to do that you haven't successfully followed through on?

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The seven core principles of Staying Motivated will help follow through on good things. As you read about this principles, consider how they'll help you follow through on that challenging thing you know would be good to do:

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1. Stay Motivated through Vulnerability:​

Be OK with failure. If you're afraid to finish (or even start) something because you might fail, you're not going to stay at it for very long. Often, fear of failure is the first obstacle to motivation.

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As you learn to be OK with the possibility of failure, you'll be willing to try a lot more things and you'll succeed way more often.

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You're discover that vulnerability isn't weakness. Instead, it's courage. It's the ability to do something even thought you're afraid it might not work out.

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> Make a list of times when you failed. What did you learn from those experiences?

> What opportunities would you have missed out on if you had let fear of failure keep you from trying?

> How has fear of failure kept you from following through on that good thing you want to do? How can you learn to be OK with the possibility of failure?

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2. Stay Motivated by Reward:​

Who doesn’t love a good reward for our success?  Kids and adults alike love to receive a reward for hard work.

 

Sometimes giving ourselves rewards along the way for a job well done can keep us motivated to keep at it and endure. Sometimes the thought of reward can make us greedy or egotistical. We may seek a reward for others’ praise or recognition or because we believe we “deserve” it.

 

Sometimes the reward can motivate us to rush through an experience instead of treasure it, or to even lie or cheat to make ourselves look good. When we want to achieve something, it’s always important to check our motives frequently to make sure that our actions are virtuous.

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On the flipside, sometimes we may not see ourselves as worthy of a reward. Sometimes we belittle ourselves or our efforts and shrug it off as an attempt to appear modest or humble. Part of allowing ourselves to be part of the human community is to take pride in our accomplishments and accept recognition for the challenging things we do, whether the reward is a trophy or a compliment. Let someone say you did a good job and let that motivate you to keep going.

 

Ultimately, we can learn to see the journey itself as its own reward and that will motivate us to deeply experience the present moment and accept or even enjoy each new thing that comes our way

 

> What rewards can you give yourself to help yourself follow through on the good thing you want to do?

> What natural rewards will come from following through on your good thing?

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3. Stay Motivated by Your Environment:​

Our environment says a lot about who we are, what we think about, and what we prioritize. Make your environment supportive to your goals.

 

For example, if you wanted to practice the piano more, it wouldn’t be helpful to pile the piano with dirty laundry, right? You’d clean it off, dust it, have it tuned, and maybe set out some of your favorite sheet music to play. You’d take pride in preparing that space for your music practice. 

 

The same is true for any indoor or outdoor space. You use environment to boost your motivation whenever you surround yourself with people, music, animals, plants, decorations, objects, smells, sounds, or anything else that helps you want to follow through on good things.

 

And keep in mind that what environmental factors are best is contextual. The nature of the goal and the person pursuing it will affect which environmental factors motivate them best.
 

> Make a list of five worthwhile activities. What people, music, space, and other environmental factors best motivate you do each one?

> How can you use environmental factors to motivate you to follow through your good thing?

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4. Stay Motivated through Mindfulness:​

Focus deeply on the actions you are performing. Being mindful while you do routine tasks can help you appreciate the opportunity to do the dishes, for example. You may start to feel grateful for the soap and water that allow you to have clean dishes, or for your hands that can wash them, or for the convenience of the dishwasher.

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And focusing on being fully present when you do each thing helps you not be overwhelmed by a potentially overwhelming end goal. It may feel overwhelming to think about hiking up the entire mountain but it can be motivating to just fully experience each step, one moment at a time.

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> When have you felt really mindful and present?

> Choose a routine task. The next time you do it, slow down a little bit and really try to be mindful of the experience. Let yourself feel gratitude for every aspect of that task. How did this experiment help you appreciate the routine actions of your day?

> How can mindfulness help you follow through on your good thing?

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5. Stay Motivated by Knowledge and Curiosity:​

The more you understand the mechanics of the universe, the more you’ll see natural connections of cause and effect that can be leveraged to your benefit and the benefit of others. This understanding makes it easier to want to do what’s needed to bring about these effects.  Gaining knowledge motivates us to do virtuous things.

 

Gaining this kind of knowledge may feel heavy and overwhelming, so think of it this way.  If you wanted to plant a certain kind of vegetable in your garden, would you simply buy any old seed packet, stick it in some dirt, and hope for the best?  Chances are, you’d want to be successful, and would feel motivated to do some research and learn from experts.  Doing so would increase the likelihood of your garden’s success and your motivation to do the work necessary to be successful.

And even the fact that you don't know something can be motivating! That's where curiosity comes in. Asking, "Why...?", "How...?", or "What if...?" can be powerful motivators. Think of how many amazing human accomplishments started with those questions!
 

Some of the most curious creatures on earth are human babies.  Have you ever watched a baby be introduced to a new toy?  Their eyes get big and they intensely stare at the object, feeling it out with their hands and mouth, trying to figure out what this new thing is. This process allows their very-moldable brain to make important connections about their world. 

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Somehow most of us let go of that as we grow up and let life make us too busy to notice the interesting world around us. We often walk and drive in a daze, realizing later we have no idea how we got to our destination.  In living this way, we miss out on so many amazing experiences and opportunities and details that make life rich and beautiful.
 

> When has learning something new motivated you to act differently?

> How can sharing knowledge with others help them be motivated?

> How can knowledge and curiosity motivate you to follow through on your good thing?

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6. Stay Motivated by Rhythm:​

Rhythms help people keep going all the time. Drum beats used to help soldiers keep marching and rowers keep rowing. We move through life by the rhythms of day and night, weekdays and weekends, the months and seasons, holidays, etc.

In fact, every routine is really just a rhythm. And think about how much routines keep individuals and society keep doing things that hold everything together. Every time you arrive at work or school and other people do too and they all leave to go do something else, you're experiencing the miracle of rhythms bringing people together to accomplish a purpose!
 

Establish rhythms and routines around the good things you want to do and they'll be much easier to do, especially once the rhythm is habitual.

 

> What things do you naturally, without really thinking about it, because they are part of your daily, weekly, or yearly rhythms?

> How can you make the new good thing that you want to follow through on a part of your rhythm?

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7. Stay Motivated by Your Purpose:​

There are many ways we can impact the world for good by our efforts. We don’t have to do anything on a global scale to do that either. By small things we can see great things happen.

 

Think of a time when someone did the simplest thing for you to encourage you. How did that action make you feel? How did it motivate you to do and be better, even when facing a challenge?

 

See how the task at hand brings about good things for a much larger group of people than just yourself and positively impacts the future. Let the thought of that one kind word or deed motivate you to be the rock that starts that ripple of kindness in the world’s pond. You may not see how any of the other ripples happen or turn out, but that one impact does make a difference by breaking up the sometimes stagnant water of daily life.

 

It's empowering to identify your life purpose. And your life purpose will be most meaningful if it defined in terms of people and relationships.
 

> How do you want your life to ultimately impact other people? Who specifically do you want to impact?

> What is your life purpose? Is your life purpose defined by people and relationships?

> How does following through on your good thing relate to your life purpose?

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One last thing: if you try to use all seven of these principles to motivate you to do something and you still don't want to do that thing, it's possible that that thing simply doesn't fulfill your yearnity and you might consider giving yourself permission to just not try doing it anymore.