Motivation is the driving force that causes us to achieve goals. I actually looked that up on wiki just to be certain that is what I am lacking this month. Maybe it’s the holidays, maybe I am getting burned out on all the various projects I have going on. No matter what the reason, I need my motivation back!

I am about 80% done with my very first e-book. I’m not a professional writer but I do know the subject matter (photography) so I hope it’s good. But for some reason, I am finding that every time I sit down to finish writing it I start to stray off onto something else. Just last night, I pulled my almost finished e-book onto my desktop but then decided it would be more interesting to play World of Warcraft for 4 hours instead of finishing up a project that could potentially generate thousands of dollars. A few days ago, it was laundry. Another time it was a good movie that came up on HBO. I had planned on doing more tonight, but well…Tron comes out tonight, so ya.

This morning, I was having another lack of motivation day and I talked with a friend of mine about it. Together, we smashed our heads together and came up with a strategy to help get my motivation back and my head back on track and focused on making money, which is why we are here. I’ve decided to share my list here on Purely Passive Income because I have a feeling some of you may be in the same situation. So here it is. My 10 strategies to getting your motivation back!

1.       Just do it. How many projects or ideas do you have in your head that you haven’t even started?  5? 10? 20? Leaving those ideas in your head won’t allow them to grow and certainly won’t lead to the motivation you need to get them to completion. Take those ideas out of your head, write them down and stop procrastinating. As the saying goes….”Just do it!”

2.       Define your goals and deadlines. Setting a goal is simply stating what you want to achieve. For larger projects such as writing a book, break up the goal into several mini-goals. When goals are a bit smaller, they seem to be more attainable and that makes us a little more inclined to do them (aka motivation) instead of dreading the massive goal as a whole. Give your goals a date to be completed by and write them down so that you know exactly what and when it is you are working on at any given time.

3.       Don’t let yourself get burned out. When we start a new project, we naturally get excited and push ourselves head first into the project.  We don’t set limits, we just go go go! What happens if you use up all that amazing energy at the beginning of a project? It burns up! Don’t burn every ounce of enthusiasm you have for a project at the beginning. Set limits for yourself. Only work during certain hours, certain days or write a certain number of pages or blog posts. While it’s important to set deadlines to make sure you get things finished on time, it’s also important not to let yourself do too much.

4.       Socialize, communicate and mingle with others who are doing the same things as you are. Talking with others who are in the same situation as you are can help keep you motivated and on track. Many times in forums or even on blog posts and comments, we report our progress and discuss issues we have with our peers. Hearing about others issues can help you feel that you aren’t quite on your own and listening to their successes will motivate you knowing that you will soon be there too.

5.       Bribe yourself for meeting goals. When I was younger my parents would give me special treats whenever I would come home with an honor roll report card. It was a great feeling to get that reward and it motivated me to keep tying it for next semester. As an adult, I feel the same way now. As you are defining what your goals are, pick a few and assign a “bribe reward” to them that you will do for yourself when you complete them. It will make you work harder to achieve the goal and will keep you feeling happy about working on your project.

6.       Let others hold you accountable. This one is scary but sometimes the things that are the scariest work the best.  Commit to your goal or project by announcing either the completion date or some sort of timeline on your blog or website so that others know its coming. When others know something is on its way, it can be harder for you to slack off and not complete it. If people are expecting something and you don’t deliver, trust me, they will hold you accountable!

7.       Get rid of any distractions in your work area. The place you work should be your sanctuary. Your kids shouldn’t be in there hovering around you, your husband can’t come in asking you to wash his favorite shirt and you definitely shouldn’t have the TV on while you work. These are all distractions. When you have fewer distractions around you, you won’t be as tempted to stray onto other tasks or projects. Instead you will become more motivated because all that will be on your mind is what is set out in front of you.

8.       Don’t take large breaks on projects. Once you are “off” a project for a long period of time it is really difficult to get back into the swing of things. If you have a longer term project, try not to take any more than two or three days off from working on it. Not only will this keep the information fresh in your head but it will also keep you “connected” to the project and less likely to turn that two or three days into two or three weeks.

9.       Learn to walk away. Sometimes a project can keep us stumped, frustrated or just plain bored. If you’ve lost your motivation because of something like this, get up and walk away. Don’t even think about the project at hand. Instead, go call your best friend just to say hi, go for a brisk walk outside or hit the gym. Sometimes just taking a breather can be just what you need to get back on track.

10.   Visualize your goal! Most of the time, when we are working on a project, we have an ending outcome we hope to achieve. For example, it could be to make enough money to buy a car. Print out a picture of that car (or whatever your goal is) and post it up over your desk so you see it every day. Visualizing what it is you want and seeing it staring you in the face every day can help to keep you motivated to get what you want.