5 Minute Motivation

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Holly Stokes, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

By Holly Stokes, The Brain Trainer
All the planning in the world will do nothing for you if you don’t follow through. Many of us would like more motivation. Motivation to stay on track. Motivation to get more done. The truth of it is, we are very motivated to be doing the things we do, we are just not as motivated to do the things we haven’t done.
What is Motivation? The drive to do something. Many people think of motivation as a feeling. How do you recognize when you are motivated? What do you think of, see, hear, and feel? Often we refer to motivation in terms of on or off. You either have it or you don’t. Rather than a feeling we respond to, could motivation be a process or a strategy? Try this process of positive motivation to begin identifying Motivation as a strategy or process.
We all have internal representations for different activities. These may be mental pictures, words and sounds, and feelings. When we think of something, an activity, or a person, the brain brings up these internal representations or associations, and we then experience it (or re-experience it) according to these internal cues. This strategy process will help you begin to identify the differences, and be more aware of your internal representations so that you can use motivation as a tool. Physically walking through this exercise cues the brain in a different way than just thinking about it. Your experience with it will be more powerful if you physically step into the different spaces, so I suggest you take a couple minutes, find a quiet place, and physically walk through the steps.

Line out two markers on the floor, one to represent low motivation, and the other high motivation. Think of two activities, one to go with each space. Thinking first of the Activity you Not So Motivated to do, step first into the circle that represents what you don’t feel so motivated to do. As you step into that activity, what comes to mind? What do you see, hear, feel, and experience with the thought of this activity? Notice the qualities of these representations.
Once you have noticed your internal reactions to it, step out of the circle and shake it off. Next, step into the circle that represents what you are highly motivated to do. As you step into that circle, notice what you experience here. What mental pictures come to mind? What do you imagine hearing here? What do you feel? Notice the differences between the two spaces. Now, Ask yourself, how are both of these activities the same? Get at least 3 similiarities.
What qualities of the highly motivated activity can you take back with you to the not so motivated one? Specifically pay attention to the qualities that you can bring back the low motivation space. For example, is one image brighter? What are the qualities of the sounds or words? What is the quality of the feelings associated? Now, Imagine carrying these positive qualities back with you into the first activity as you step back into the first circle. Notice what seems to have changed? For example, if my low motivated activity is housework, and my internal representations are drudgery, dingy, dark, and my highly motivated activity is writing, which I experience internally as sparkles, fun, and brightness, I can take the sparkles, fun, and brightness back to the housework.
What do you picture differently? What do you imagine hearing differently? How have your feelings changed?
What can you take from the place of being highly motivated to the activity of not so motivated? Imagine taking it with you, and stepping back into the first place (not so motivated), what seems to have changed here?
Our motivation can be made stronger just by changing the qualities of mental pictures, sounds, words, and feelings we connect to an activity. In NLP terms, we call these sensory modalities and “submodalities” refer to the qualities of these pictures, sounds, and feelings. By simply adopting different submodalities, we can change our internal representation and our experience. Play with it until you get a higher level of motivation for your first activity – and then when you do, plan it. Here are 5 Tips for Following through.
Top 5 Motivational Tips
1. Make it Positive. Think of the activity in a positive light. When my clients create an exercise program, but think of sweaty, hardwork, and pain, they often aren’t very motivated to follow through. Instead, focus on all the positive benefits to your mind and body, especially, how you will feel once you’ve accomplished it. Perhaps the benefits are feeling better, mentally clearer, and healthy body.

2. Make it a Priority through Values. Identify the benefit of doing the activity. What higher value does it relate to? Perhaps I feel stuck on following through with my financial planning. What will following through give me? It might relate to security or freedom, which, if these are important values, will make it a priority. You can even create a sentence or phrase that link the two. I want to spend 20 min. a day managing my money as it creates more security and freedom for me.

3. Create new Associations: These are the submodalities (internal representations) from the acitivity above. You can use visual cues like pasting a picture of your favorite vacation spot over your financial notebook, or you can use verbal cues or sound cues (connecting a favorite song or motivational song with an activity), or even feeling cues. See yourself completing the task, what will you hear when it is accomplished? What will you feel when you are done?

4. Size-Able Chunks: If it’s a big task, break it down in chunks and set aside time each day or week to forward the project. Is there a 5 minute habit you can incorporate that will make it easier?

5. Make Time: I often tell my Coaching clients, if it’s not written down, it’s not going to happen. All too often, we don’t take time for ourselves seriously. Write it in your schedule, and keep the appointment with yourself.