Today I feel great. I feel inspired. The words are flowing out freely as I write. It’s a nice change. Recently I have been in a bit of a rut in my life and I feel I lost my “blogging groove” temporarily. I don’t think the quality of my articles suffered at all, but they felt so much harder to write.

Given the change between how I have felt the past few days and how I felt last week I have identified 4 signs that I am in a motivated state:

1. I Wake Early

I have previously written about the benefits of waking early for me. Sure, waking early isn’t for everyone, but for me it is an indication that I am excited about the day. Yesterday morning was the first time in a while that I have woken early without an alarm and felt fresh and excited about the day to come.

2. I Am Proactive

When I am motivated, I go out and create opportunities instead of sitting back and being reactive. This is what being proactive is all about - taking control of my life, setting goals, and working to achieve them.

3. I Am Energetic

Isn’t it strange how often when we get more sleep we feel more tired? When I am motivated I have lots of energy to burn and I am enthusiastic.

4. I Am Persistent

As human beings, we constantly encounter roadblocks (both physical and mental) that stand in the way of us achieving our goals. Its not always easy to push past these roadblocks, and it can drain us to keep trying and trying. I consider persistence to be one of the most important attributes of successful people. When I am motivated, persistence is a natural instinct.

How Do I Get Motivated?

Now I realize that it is all well and good to identify the signs that I am motivated, but the real question is how can I get myself out of a rut next time I get in one. The thing is, I knew I was in a rut but it was just so hard to shake off. I will have to give this question more thought (readers suggestions are welcome) but there are 2 factors that probably played some part in my motivation returning. These are:

• I Had A Little Fun: as parents of a 6 month old baby boy, it has been a long time since Kathryn and I have had the opportunity to go out and have a little fun. Sunday night we left the little fella with his grandparents (thank you!) and went to a local bar with a close friend for a few drinks. Nothing too exciting, but it was fun. I believe this helped take my mind off a number of things floating around in my head.
• I Did Some Manual Work: I spent Monday helping someone out with some house renovations. It was fairly basic stuff, and I was able to practice what I preach by making routine tasks somewhat interesting. In particular, I was planning articles for this blog. Monday night I came home and pumped out my previous article, The Most Important Tip Of All. I also wrote down ideas for several others articles that I have begun to draft.

I have previously written about motivation in my article The 5 Things That Motivate Me. Re-reading this article, I can see that reflecting on our life experiences is one potential strategy to get out of a rut. However, this strategy didn’t really work for me this time. It would be nice to have one strategy that worked without fail (maybe I will find one!), but in the meantime I think its best to organize a toolbox of strategies that I can use the next time a motivation rut rears its ugly head.

So then, do any readers have any other strategies/ ideas for getting out of a rut?

Tags: Happiness, Meaning & Purpose, Personal Growth //