How to Find Motivation and Stay Motivated During Tough Times
Billy Ocean once sang, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going…” but those of you who have endured or are going through difficult times know this is easier said than done. If you are searching for how to stay motivated during challenging times – in this post I share some tips that have worked for me. I hope they inspire you to push through your struggles. Continue Reading…
How To Find Motivation and Stay Motivated During Tough Times
Being let go from a job, your partner breaking up with you, having an accident or illness that causes pain or makes you less mobile – these are just a handful of curveballs life can throw at you. These experiences can leave you feeling shocked, weak, angry, deflated, insecure and lost. When experiencing these feelings it can be very difficult to find motivation and stay motivated. And what is frustrating during these times, is we know we’ve taken a fall and need to get back on that horse. But how to find the strength and motivation leaves us at a loss.
I’ve been through a few knockbacks. So far I’ve worked in law, fashion and marketing and to get to each sector was no easy feat. I went through my share of rejections and bad work experiences.
This year, I was hospitalized for over a week in Berlin and after which, had to put my best foot forward so I could achieve the KPIs I needed to get a promotion and a pay rise (which I ended up getting).
I also have knee issues which means I’m no stranger to intense physical pain.
The fashion shoot you see here almost didn’t happen – I’ve been in a lot of physical pain in the last few months and the thought of going through that pain whilst I did my shoot made me cancel the shoot initially. However, the pain at the moment is not as bad as it was earlier on this year. That and the fact that what keeps me going in life is being creative and telling stories (through words and fashion) led me to rebook the shoot with my photographer. It wasn’t easy getting these shots in the hot sun and being in some pain, but I pushed through. The happiness and accomplishment I felt afterward are what led me to write this post.
So let’s get cracking with those motivation tips!
Tip on How To Find Motivation and Stay Motivated
Self-Motivation – Inspiration & Creativity
During my tough times, what has helped me stay motivated and not remain in low spirits is the inspiration I find in being creative. I also find it uplifting to be inspired by other people’s creativity. For example, one of the creatives I find the most inspiring is Maya Washington aka Shameless Maya. She is fire – tech whizz, super stylish (clothes, hair aaaaand makeup), gives great life advice – her content and life journey are just beyond.
I am also motivated by telling stories through a variety of ways – with clothes, words…
So for example, even though I knew I’d be in some pain when I did this shoot what fueled my energy was the African-inspired concept and vision I had for this look. For example, I was excited about using my fans as a prop to accentuate my African-focused outfit.
If you are going through trying times, I encourage you to find what you are passionate about and transfer your energy into doing it. It can be baking, taking a dance class…whatever it is, focusing on this will help build your self-confidence when you are feeling demoralised.
Doing what you enjoy will act as a productive diversion to your worries. And who knows, being in that more peaceful state of mind can increase the chance of you finding solutions to your problems.
Or at the very least help you build a better coping mechanism to face your challenges head-on.
Surround Yourself With Hype Men Who Care
Positive, inspiring, caring and driven people are hard to come by, but when you do, they are a blessing.
Negative Nancy’s should be avoided at all costs generally in life but even more so when you feel demotivated.
One of my ultimate motivation tips is if you find yourself lacking in drive is – go out of your way to interact with people who will act as your hype man.
They can be friends or family – either way, these people should care about you and want to see you succeed in life. For example, I have a good friend in Hamburg who is incredibly intelligent, successful and funny. When I speak to him, I always feel motivated to do better, to do more…sometimes he gives me solutions to problems without me even asking and he’s happy to remind me of my achievements.
Visualize Your Success
Earlier on this year, I was hospitalized and when I came back to work – I had the challenge of executing certain tasks and meeting KPIs that were aligned with the promotion I was working towards.
This was a very challenging time because I was dealing with physical pain as well as mental stress (caused by an ill family member).
What helped to keep me going was visualizing what would happen if I was able to nail my promotion – I visualized my title changing in my work email signature, I envisioned telling my family the good news and how happy they would be, I began to plan outfits for my ‘Promotion Party’…
We all have our different ways of visualizing success – for example, some people find it helpful to have vision boards to pin what they are working towards – that dream car, that ‘I’ve made IT’ house…
Find out what works for you. Put your vision out into the universe and let that motivate you into making it a reality.
Motivation Tips
The motivation tips I’ve listed are not exclusive. There are so much more which include:
-Daily positive affirmations
-Listening to inspiring podcasts
-Giving yourself small rewards along the way of completing your goal
But I would love to hear from you guys, what do you to stay motivated during tough times?
Another thing, I’d love to know is how you’ve trained your mind to deal with pain and trying times. Due to the ebb and flow of life, bad times fall on everyone regardless of sex or status. We can’t change the fact that in life challenges are inevitable but we can control our mental reaction to difficult times.
My eldest sister always reminds me when I’m low that happiness is a choice -how do you adjust your mind to see the glass as half full and not empty?
This is something I would love know – share your thoughts in my comment section below.
Credits
Photographer – Sabrina von Heide
Lipstick- MAC’s, Neon Orange
Skirt and top (not in stock) – Grey velvet store, Lagos
