Motivate Yourself: 5 Things To Motivate You To Do A Good Job

This post was most recently updated on February 24th, 2024

[A collaboration post – all thoughts are my own.]

You know that it’s much easier to set goals than to actually get them done. The list and endless, and it all comes down to motivation, let’s be honest: you need to regularly motivate yourself and as soon as you finish one of your to-do lists, you’ve added three more. It feels like there’s never enough time to do all of the things; finish that report for your boss, write blog posts a week, go for a run, visit your cousin, attend your friend’s wedding, or apply for a new job.

But, how can you stay motivated to do a good job? You might try listening to your favorites songs, but you may still feel unmotivated. You get into work at nine and leave no later than five. What can you do to motivate yourself when you feel down?

There are some simple steps to get you motivated and focus on your priorities. I’m not saying it’ll be easy to do these, but I’m willing to bet it’ll be worth it.

Start small

Earlier this year I created daily saving, weekly saving, and monthly saving challenges. Instead of starting with big numbers or following others’ methods, I set up everything according to my budget. So, you need to establish a baseline of your reality to aim for the progress you can actually make happen.

For example, don’t force yourself to get up at 6 am when you hate mornings or are a night owl person. Instead, try setting your alarm for 15-20 minutes earlier than you usually wake up, walking around your complex, or getting ready for your morning routine. Slow and steady wins the race, buddies.

List all the things you want this year

One way to motivate yourself is to start writing down every single thing you want to accomplish in the next six months or this year. Write all of them!

At the end of 2021, I write down everything I want to achieve in 2022. I want to save $1,000 for my savings account and $500 for the emergency fund. Other than that I also need to expand my translation career by getting more manual projects or an audio transcription. And I plan to start my own local business by creating printable planners or stickers!

Once you have the list (there are maybe 20 or 30 items), circle the five most important things. For example, to start my own business, I have to learn how to create printable planners or stickers; to expand my translation career, I need to regularly check translation platforms to find available projects and send them my resume. You need to narrow your priorities and focus solely on the most important tasks and nothing else.

Help others

Even after building my blog for a year, I can’t say that I’m an expert in the field. Sometimes I need something to motivate myself to do better and helping others is a great way to stay motivated and excited about what I do.

Whenever fellow bloggers reach out to me about SEO, traffic, blog monetizing, I’d share with them some strategy that works for me and my experience with those strategies as well. Nothing makes you realize you’re understanding of something like teaching it to someone else!

Find a trigger

Every Sunday evening, I set a schedule to watch motivational videos like how to budget, how to create DIY at home or anything that motivate me to do better. Every now and then, I consume something that provides me with a massive spark of inspiration.

This habit is the key to knowing what motivates you to do a good job. It could be a good book, a great talk with your friend, or an inspirational movie. So, develop a personal prompt to kickstart each day/week.

Treat yourself

I don’t always treat myself when I hit a certain milestone or when I accomplish a task ahead of schedule. But I always allow myself to feel that “even though my works may go unappreciated or unrecognized for months but eventually, that hard work gets recognized.”

If you get through a difficult project after hours of hard work, go for a walk. Treat yourself to an iced coffee or a delicious snack. Every now and then, you need to take a break and enjoy the fact that you accomplished something difficult. What goes around comes around, and you’ll know no one will ever be able to say you didn’t earn it. That’s what’s important.

As you know, even when you feel unmotivated, there are many easy-to-implement approaches to motivate yourself. You don’t have to do change your entire life. Start with simple steps that will make your day a little more enjoyable.