And what if there were an instruction manual? Motivation is something you have to work at, day after day. In fact, there are good gestures and not-so-good ones. So how do you find your way around? Here are the top 10 tips for boosting motivation.

1 – Surround yourself well to boost motivation

Sometimes, we don’t know why, but we wake up brimming with energy and creativity. Yes, we have lots of projects in mind, and we’re brimming with self-confidence. So we jump in, enthusiastic.

But the next day, it’s as if we’re a different person: there’s not a drop of creativity and energy left in us. And we abandon what we’ve started.

To avoid experiencing this great fluctuation between our highs and lows, it’s essential to establish a good habit: every day, take a moment to get inspired.

In concrete terms, this means surrounding ourselves with positive information about the project or projects we’re working on at the moment.

Example: if your project is to take up sport, subscribe on Facebook, Instagram or elsewhere to the accounts of coaches and people who, like you, are taking up sport. That way, you’ll always be able to draw inspiration from them.

Boosting your motivation means not staying alone and knowing how to surround yourself with the right people.

2 – Don’t listen to those who don’t believe in our projects

There’s nothing worse than hearing the people around us express doubts about our plans. And yet, this is often what happens, and we do nothing to stop them. Worse still, we listen to them and begin to believe in their doubts.

To boost motivation, it’s essential to stop listening to other people’s doubts and fears.

How can we do this? First of all, by not talking about our projects to people who, as we all know, are afraid of everything and believe in nothing.

In fact, only talk about your plans with people you trust completely.

Because, no matter what you tell yourself, other people’s doubts will creep up on you, so make sure you don’t hear them at all.

It’s normal to want to talk about it, often to receive encouragement and advice, but as we all know, not everyone is ready to offer us that.

So take good care of your projects and your motivation by protecting them from those who can’t understand and don’t know how to support you.

3 – Turning our fears into steps to boost motivation

When we embark on new projects, fear always comes to visit.

And it’s perfectly normal. Yes, it’s normal to be afraid of the unknown, of change. To be afraid even of the effort we’re going to have to put in.

And yet, instead of sabotaging your motivation, this fear should boost it. Why should it? Because fear is a sign that you’re on your way, that you’re alive and learning, evolving and growing. That’s what life’s all about.

Indeed, when we’re no longer afraid of anything, it’s because we’ve stopped living, because we’ve stopped learning and experimenting.

That’s why, to boost motivation, it’s essential to rethink our vision of fear. To stop being afraid of fear and instead welcome it fully, with a smile.

When you’re afraid, it’s because you’re facing an obstacle. Often, it’s because you don’t know how to do something yet, and need to learn.

So stop in front of your fear and ask yourself: what do I need to learn?

And learn it!

Fears are just steps to be taken, not the end of the journey.

4 – Replacing our quest for perfection with encouragement

When we make mistakes, when we do things like a beginner, we criticize ourselves harshly.

Unfortunately, this tendency towards perfectionism, harsh criticism and inability to encourage ourselves invites us to abandon our projects and never even get started.

So, to boost motivation, it’s essential to remember that we have the right to make mistakes, that we have the right to start something, to learn and to improve.

In other words, learn to encourage yourself whenever you try something. Yes, replace your criticism with encouragement.

In fact, I invite you to start a new habit: for every criticism, give yourself 3 words of encouragement.

5 – Replace frustration and impatience with gratitude

Here again, our society puts forward many portraits of people who have achieved dazzling success. Rather than highlighting the hard work they put in, or the time it took them to achieve results, the focus is on their new-found success.

When you embark on a project, remember that it’s going to take time, maybe even a lot of time.

You’ll be frustrated and impatient, and that’s normal.

But you’ll need to persevere, and never give up hope.

In other words, to boost your motivation, you need to remember that everything takes time, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot.

That’s why I wholeheartedly invite you to start a new habit: replace every one of your frustrations with gratitude.

In fact, rather than looking at everything you don’t have yet, focus on everything you do have.

6 – Detach yourself from your expectations to boost motivation

When we embark on a project, we have a clear idea of where we want to end up.

Yet we forget one essential thing: we don’t control everything.

Yes, we embark on a project, with a clear idea, and yet life will throw a wrench in the works, and it’s always for a good reason.

In other words, the key to boosting motivation is not to fight life’s ups and downs, but to play with them.

Always ask yourself, when life throws its weight around: what is life teaching me?

It’s all about replacing expectations with curiosity.

7 – See the seeds sown and the small steps taken every day

It won’t be easy to keep going over the long haul. Yes, sometimes our projects will take months or even years to fully materialize.

Then we may feel a strong sense of demotivation, a desire to drop everything.

And yet, the key to boosting motivation here is to remember that you shouldn’t judge your project by its results, but by the small steps you take every day.

The results are not always as we would like them to be, simply because not everything depends on us.

On the other hand, the small steps you take every day, all those seeds you sow, day after day, depend entirely on you.

So, rather than focusing on the finish line, concentrate on the path you’re on.

8 – Never stop dreaming to boost motivation

Sometimes, reality hurts and makes us doubt. But the key to boosting motivation is to never stop dreaming.

No matter how long it takes, no matter how many mistakes and failures, keep dreaming.

In fact, every day, take a moment to close your eyes and imagine exactly what you’ve done: how does it feel? What do you see?

Let your dream guide you, rather than your doubts and fears.

9 – Repeat positive affirmations to yourself

To boost motivation, it’s essential to repeat positive affirmations to yourself!

After all, our mind is not always our best ally when it comes to motivation.

Yes, our mind is full of criticism and doubts, and constantly invites us to focus on the negative side of our project.

So I sincerely invite you to set up a new habit: for every doubt, every criticism, repeat 3 positive affirmations to yourself.

Example: I am capable, I deserve, I have the will to…

10 – Persevere, because there’s nothing else to do anyway

Boosting motivation means realizing that if our project is dear to our hearts, then what better thing can we do than work, day after day, to make it a reality?

In other words, what’s the point of repeating to yourself: I’m going to give up?

What’s the point of listening to our doubts and frustrations over and over again?

It’s all about knowing how to say stop and persevere!

So, I invite you to ask yourself this question, over and over again: what better thing can I do than work towards my dreams?

Find out more:

I invite you to read these 2 complementary articles:

Discover Procrastination: 6 tips to motivate you like never before
Discover How do you get out of bed? 10 positive thoughts to motivate you to get up

I recommend this inspiring book:

The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger

Disney’s former CEO Robert Iger reflects on his experiences and lessons in leadership. The memoir includes insights on dealing with challenges, decision-making and remaining motivated in the business world.
Brilliant book, excellent example of business management, courage, teamwork, leadership.
One of the best I’ve ever read. Congratulations to the author for writing such an amazing book. It’s a lesson for us all.

Thank you very much for reading this article.

If you liked it, let me know in the comments.

Take care of yourself