30 Ways To Motivate Yourself When Depressed

“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice,” Wayne Dyer.

I totally believe Wayne Dyer’s words are true and history proves it too with men who went far beyond their talents because they were motivated to do what they had to do.

Aren’t you surprised at the many people in the world today with amazing talents who eventually realize only a small percentage of their potential?

This tells us one thing – talent is not enough.

 

If talent was enough, every talented person would be successful. You need to be able to motivate yourself.

Motivation must not always come from outside. Yes, most times, we want people to tell us great things.

We want our mentors to cheer us up and tell us what we’re doing is awesome or that our ideas would fly, but if you depend on outside motivation alone, you will never get anywhere.

The question then would be, how do you motivate yourself? Below are 30 ways you can do just that:

1. Use a past defeat as a motivator

Every one of us has failed at something. Yours could be school, like Richard Branson of the Virgin Group. Or perhaps at seeking jobs like Jack Ma of Alibaba Group.

These guys used their defeat as a motivation to succeed. Jack Ma, for instance, had all the bad lucks in the world following him at seeking decent employment.

That motivated him to start what would become one of the largest online marketplaces in the world.

Instead of wallowing in your past defeat, how about you use it to motivate yourself into doing something spectacular?

Trust me, your chances of winning is very high with this kind of motivation. Remind yourself you have nowhere to go except up, as you have already been at the bottom.

2. Give yourself the power of responsibility

I love how Les Brown puts it, “You are the only real obstacle in your path to a fulfilling life”. Yes, you.

No one has the power to stop you when you don’t want to be stopped. You give people that power. It’s true that many will try to discourage you.

They did that to Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and other successful entrepreneurs we know today. But when your inner motivation is high, you will quickly understand what they can’t see, and that will be what will motivate you to keep at what you’re doing.

Remind yourself the only thing stopping you is yourself.

3. Write down your goals and add deadlines

There is something about a goal that is written down, with a deadline. It keeps you on your feet.

It makes you want to wake up every day thinking about the expected date of delivery of that vision/goal.

This gives you the boost to work on that goal daily. If you want to motivate yourself, this is one sure method that’d be of immense help.

4. Do it today

Time, they said, waits for no man.

If you must achieve your dreams, you need to remind yourself of someone you know who died suddenly and the fact that there is no guarantee that tomorrow will come.

This will give you a do-it-now mindset instead of postponing what you have to do to a later date.

5. Let success motivate you

We all have an idea of what success means to us. Yours could be driving Ferraris or donating millions of dollars to charity or any good cause.

Find a picture of what epitomizes success to you and then pull it out when you are in need of motivation.

This will help you stay the course and motivate you, even when things are going south.

6. Make a to-do list and follow through each day

Yes. A to-do list is a list of what you want to do for each day.

When done right, this will ensure your goals are followed through meticulously and actions taken every day towards achieving them.

More so, when each accomplished task is crossed out, it gives you a sense of fulfillment that eventually motivates you to keep at it until the bigger dream is achieved.

7. Picture your future and act the part

People might call you proud, egotistical, and unrealistic when you start acting the part of where you’re headed. But it doesn’t really matter because when you get there, they will eventually understand.

So picture yourself in your best mode, your own house – your mansion, your own car, etc. Let your tomorrow inspire how you live today because what you picture, you will capture.

8. Do a little cleanup

Sometimes all you need to motivate yourself is some environmental sanitation.

It might sound easy and simple, but our environment has a huge effect on us.

It may be that you cannot function well in a cluttered environment. You may not even know this yet. Just give it try and do some cleanup. You’d realize how easy it is to get your mojo back.

9. Ask yourself questions

If you don’t, who will? Questions help you gain more clarity regarding your path.

Questions like, “How far have I come?”, “What do I need to do next?” etc.  It helps you keep your dreams measurable.

10. Look at problems in another way

Instead of seeing problems as huge roadblocks to where you’re headed, what if you see them as opportunities to explore?

That is exactly what they are. Every problem has a solution embedded in it waiting for the right people to figure it out.

Learn to use problems to motivate yourself into taking proactive actions towards finding a solution as opposed to letting it be an obstacle.

11. Talk to yourself

You are your greatest cheerleader so you better do a good job at cheerleading yourself.

Tell yourself how awesome it’d be to finally achieve your dreams; the impact you’d make, the paparazzi, the beautiful family, and everything good you can picture.

Now tell yourself you can make all those things happen and that you will do all it takes to make them happen.

This will not only help you motivate yourself, but it will also keep you accountable for your steps.

12. Take baby steps

A journey of a thousand miles, they said, starts with a single step.

Break down your actionable plans into small steps you find easy to take every single day.

This will make the weight of your dreams lighter and easier.

Remember that it doesn’t matter how fast you go; all that matters is that you’re making progress.

13. Feel free to laugh at yourself

This might sound crazy, but learning to laugh at your mistakes helps you master yourself and relieves you of the negative feelings attached to it.

You feel more at ease, knowing you are human and that you’re not perfect.

14. Do not compare yourself with others

You see, we all have our different paths to follow and as such different experiences along those paths.

Comparing yourself with others is like leaving your path to theirs and trying to live their life.

You not only lose yourself doing that, but you also demotivate yourself from fulfilling your own goals.

Do your own thing, focus on your path, and think less of what is happening to others on their own path. You are more likely to motivate yourself with this mindset.

15. Find your why

This is a popular saying by Nelson Wang. He said, “find your why. If you don’t know what it is, create it.” That is absolutely true.

When you know exactly why you’re doing a thing, your motivation will be at an all-time high.

You do not struggle with making changes and tweaking what needs to be tweaked along the way.

16. Count your blessings

When you know when and how you started a thing, you can always look back to how far you have come to draw strength to carry on.

When things start turning awry, look back and tell yourself, “I’ve come too far to quit.” That should be a motivation to keep you going.

17. Go get some groove on

It might sound out of point, but all work and no play they said make Jack a dull boy.

As much as it is important to focus and get stuff done, it is equally important to take out time to go have some fun.

It relieves you of any tension accompanied by accomplishing a particular goal and refreshes your mind to come back to it afresh.

You will see you are more relaxed after burning those calories dancing to face the task ahead.

18. Know when to quit

Yes. We are humans and not some robots who can work round the clock.

It’s okay to be hardworking, but you should know when to stop working and get some rest.

Matt Holmes puts it best, “it is important to recognize when enough is enough,” he says. “Set a realistic quitting time for yourself, and stick to it at least most days of the week.

Stop answering emails after 8 p.m., or take Sundays off. You’ll feel more refreshed and more productive when you allow yourself some downtime.”

19. Ask people questions

You can never get it wrong when you ask the right questions.

Questions help clear your doubts and bring about clarity of purpose and actions. You’d know precisely what to do because you asked the right questions.

This is how Shannon L. Alder puts it, “Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, “What else could this mean?”

20. Move with smart people

Yes, it can be quite intimidating, but spending time with smart people expands your mind and helps you motivate yourself towards taking actions to get to where you’re headed.

Smart people can challenge you to go beyond your limits and dare you to do the extraordinary. It just has a way of pushing you towards achieving greater things beyond yourself.

21. Your needs

Imagine your bills; kids in expensive private schools, pregnant wife, and house rent.

If you don’t work to keep food on the table for your family, who will? Looking at your needs helps you stay motivated to keep at what you’re doing, to make sure it works. It just has to work, anyway!

22. Think of your legacy

Life is beyond the now. Think of what you’d leave for your children, extended family, and the world at large.

This will help you motivate yourself to stay the course until successful.

You start seeing success as a must because not just your future depends on it, but the future of your children, family, and the world at large.

Think of leaving a lasting legacy.

23. Reward yourself at intervals

One good thing about having a reward system is that it helps you to look forward to something.

When this expectation is in place, you stay motivated to do what you have to do to get there.

You see a reward ahead of each successfully completed task and you simply can’t wait for it. You will see that your motivation would be at an all-time high.

24. Start early

When you start early, you see you feel more relaxed and at peace with yourself, but when you rush into doing something, the tension is high and the fear of failure kills your motivation and reduces your productivity in the long run.

This is a ripple effect that ends up affecting you not getting anything done at all. So start your day early and you’d see you’re more likely to stay motivated at the job through the day.

25. Go slowly

This is where the age-old saying “easy does it” comes in.

Take things easy and start slowly else, you’d get worked up as soon as you start and that affects how far you go, eventually.

To motivate yourself, start with the easiest and smallest of tasks and start working on them slowly.

Always have it at the back of your mind that it doesn’t matter how fast, but how effective.

26. Focus on one thing at a time

“Focusing is about saying No”, says Steve Jobs.

Saying no to every other thing around that might be a potential distraction; making your work as simple as possible, by doing only one thing at a time.

Focus helps bring out your best and your best is what you need to keep you going.

This is why a wise man defines a focus and Follow One Course Until Successful. He was absolutely correct.

27. Get a daily bout of Exercise

Whether it is to boost your mood or blow off some steam after a hectic day, exercise is one thing that helps in keeping you motivated.

A daily bout of exercise, especially if it’s the first thing you do in the morning, boosts your mood, gives you a winning mindset, and sets you up for a great day.

Also, exercise and other physical activities deliver oxygen and nutrients to your body tissues and help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently.

Consequently, when your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you have more energy and zest to go about your daily activities.

So no matter how busy you are, ensure you dedicate a particular time daily to exercise.

28. Allow nature into your room

Open your windows and let in some fresh air. Get some lovely flowers and display them at the corners of your workplace.

Allow sun rays to penetrate your windows. These things might look insignificant, but they actually give a sense of freedom and abundance.

It frees your mind and helps you stay fresh and motivated to go on and get the job done.

29. Be there for others

One way to motivate yourself would be to motivate others.

When you motivate others, you get a sense of fulfillment that helps you stay motivated as well.

If for nothing, for the fact that those you’ve motivated are looking up to you and you cannot afford to disappoint them. This keeps you going, no matter the challenges along the line.

30. Trust God and Pray

There is something about casting all our cares and worries and putting them totally on God.

It takes a chunk of the worries and anxiety off you and makes you feel lighter, knowing you have a God that cares and will help you achieve your goals.

This is equally applicable to prayers. When you pray, you dialogue with God about your dreams and the task at hand.

This will help you find answers that normally you wouldn’t have because, at the place of prayer, divine ideas and solutions spring forth.

To some, it takes one thing to vamp up their motivation. To others, it takes way more than a single tweak in the way they do things.

So make sure you reflect and experiment until you find the right combination of motivators for your personality and your personal goals. I’ll leave you with this final motivating quote:

“What drives me? The thing that drives me most is the desire to find my limits–and extend them.” ~ Richard Marcinko

Now go push your own limits and succeed