3 Barriers to Staying Motivated - Anthony Carter

If you are motivated you can complete some monumental tasks. If you are not motivated it is hard to get up off the couch and walk to the mailbox. You can remain motivated on a consistent basis if you avoid certain pitfalls. Here are three barriers which can keep you from staying motivated:

1-Weak Reasons. If your reasons for doing a task are not substantial enough to warrant you taking action then you will not. When this is the case you will always find reasons not to do the work. In your mind you do not see the use wasting energy on a task which is not going to benefit you sufficiently.

Solution: Find reasons for taking action. If they do not appear on the surface to be sufficient then dig until you find solid reasons to act. Outside pressure is not always enough. But when we find our own reasons for doing the work then we get motivated enough to act. Always try to find your own reasons for doing what needs to be done. If those reasons are important enough to you then you will want to act.

2-Procrastination. Putting off what needs to be done lets us avoid responsibility. The problem lies in the fact that we are only able to temporarily avoid doing what needs to be done. And when it comes time to finally take action our motivation is usually still at a low level.

Solution: Do not wait. When you have to do something, do it. Do it whether you want to or not. Treat it like a plaster that you need to pull off. It is best to just do it and get it over with. Trying to wait until you are motivated is a waste of time. Motivate yourself to get it done immediately so that you can rest in the comfort of knowing that your responsibility has been taken care of.

3-Low Confidence. When you do not believe you can do something you stop yourself before you get started. Your motivation to take action is virtually nonexistent because you are fearful of taking action. When you allow your low confidence to keep you from taking action you are actually cheating yourself out of an opportunity to experience growth. Your confidence will continue to suffer and if you always avoid doing tasks because you feel like you cannot do them.

Solution: Even though you feel the fear it is important that you do what needs to be done anyway. Each time you act in spite of fear you increase your confidence. You also lessen fear's hold on you. You gain skills and abilities with each task that you take on. When you take action over and over again you tend to pay little attention to your fears. And because your confidence rises in the process you are easily motivated to take on more tasks.