If you’re looking for some strategies on how to get more motivation, then you’ll love this article.
Struggling to find motivation? You’re definitely not the only one. We all hit those stretches when even simple tasks feel harder than they should, and the focus and drive we normally have seem to disappear.
The good news is that motivation isn’t something you either have or don’t have. There are practical ways to increase motivation, rebuild momentum, and make it easier to take action—even when you don’t particularly feel like it.
From setting smaller goals to changing the way you talk to yourself, here are 20 strategies that can help you find motivation, stay focused, and keep moving toward what matters to you.
How To Get More Motivation:
1. Keep Your Goals Small and Measurable
Big goals can be exciting. They can also be intimidating. When the finish line feels incredibly far away, it’s easy to wonder where you should even begin.
Instead of focusing entirely on the big picture, break your goal into smaller, measurable objectives. Each one gives you a clear target and a sense of progress.
For example, your long-term goal might be to publish a novel. Rather than thinking about the entire book, set a smaller goal such as creating an outline or finishing one chapter. Once the chapter is done, you have something concrete to show for your effort.
The same idea works for fitness goals. If you want to run a marathon, your first target might be completing a 5K. Track your running distance, gradually increase it, and celebrate each milestone along the way.
Small wins make big goals feel manageable.
2. Create an Action Plan for Your Goals
Knowing what you want isn’t always enough. You also need to know what you’re going to do next.
Create a simple action plan that outlines your goal, the steps required to reach it, and how you’ll measure your progress. You can plan around your major goal or create separate plans for each smaller milestone.
For example, someone training for a marathon might set milestones such as running one mile, completing a 5K, reaching 10K, and eventually running a half marathon.
Don’t make the mistake of planning every tiny detail. A complicated plan can become another reason to procrastinate. Start with a basic framework and adjust it as you go.
Your first step might be as simple as buying running shoes, downloading a running app, and committing to three runs per week.
Action creates momentum. You can refine the plan later.
3. Put Your Action Plan Somewhere You’ll See It
Your goals shouldn’t disappear into a notebook that you rarely open.
Put your action plan somewhere visible. You might stick it on your refrigerator, keep it next to your computer, add it to your planner, or use it as your phone or computer wallpaper.
The point is to create a daily reminder of what you’re working toward.
Seeing your plan regularly can help you stay focused and notice when you’ve started drifting away from your priorities. And if you fall behind, don’t beat yourself up. Use the plan to figure out your next step and get moving again.
Choose a location that naturally fits into your daily routine. The easier your plan is to see, the easier it is to remember.
4. Connect Difficult Tasks to Their Purpose
Some parts of the journey are going to be unpleasant. That’s normal.
When motivation drops, remind yourself why the difficult task matters. Connecting an obstacle to a meaningful purpose can make it easier to push through temporary discomfort.
Running bleachers may not be particularly enjoyable, for example, but you might be doing it because stronger conditioning will improve your athletic performance.
Likewise, receiving criticism on something you created can sting. But if the feedback helps you become a better writer, it has a useful purpose.
The task may still be difficult. You’re simply giving the difficulty a reason.
5. Track Your Progress
Nothing kills motivation quite like feeling as though you’re getting nowhere.
That’s why tracking your progress can be so powerful. Keep a record of what you accomplish, including the small victories that are easy to overlook.
Every step counts.
If you’re writing a book, track the number of pages or words you complete. If you’re training for a marathon, record your running distance. If you’re building a business, keep track of meaningful milestones.
You can also make your progress visual. For example, create a graphic representing the 26.2 miles of a marathon and divide it into sections. Each time you increase your running distance, mark another section as complete.
Watching the progress accumulate can give you the motivation to keep going.
6. Reward Yourself for Hard Work and Persistence
Rewards can give you something positive to look forward to after completing a difficult task or reaching a milestone.
The key is to choose rewards that genuinely appeal to you. Whenever possible, pick something that supports rather than undermines your goals.
For example, you might:
- Buy yourself a new notebook after consistently writing every day.
- Get a massage after reaching an important running milestone.
- Enjoy a special meal with friends after protecting time for an important project.
- Take a relaxing bubble bath after completing a demanding week.
- Buy new training equipment to celebrate progress in your workouts.
- Treat yourself to a yoga session.
- Spend an evening reading a book you’ve been looking forward to.
Rewards don’t have to be expensive or elaborate. Sometimes the best reward is simply giving yourself permission to enjoy something.
7. Do Something You Enjoy Every Day
Even meaningful goals can become exhausting when your entire life starts revolving around achievement.
Make room for enjoyment.
Spend at least a few minutes every day doing something that makes you feel good. Watch an episode of your favorite show, enjoy a favorite snack, have coffee with a friend, listen to music, take a walk, or simply sit down and relax.
This isn’t wasted time. Regular moments of enjoyment can help prevent your goal from feeling like an endless obligation.
When life contains things you genuinely look forward to, it becomes easier to keep working when the going gets tough.
8. Prepare Yourself for Setbacks
Setbacks are inevitable. Everyone experiences them.
Missing a workout, falling behind on a project, making a mistake, or losing a few days of progress doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means something didn’t go according to plan.
Instead of assuming you’ll never struggle, prepare for difficult moments in advance.
Create a simple backup plan. You might decide to call a supportive friend, spend an hour brainstorming possible solutions, and then complete one small task that moves you forward.
You can also remind yourself:
“This is part of the process. I’ve overcome difficult situations before, and I can handle this one too.”
The goal isn’t to avoid setbacks. It’s to make sure a setback doesn’t become a permanent stop.
9. Choose a Mantra That Keeps You Motivated
A good mantra can serve as a mental reset when you’re feeling discouraged.
Choose a short phrase that reflects the mindset you want to develop. You can create one yourself or borrow inspiration from a quote that resonates with you.
Repeat your mantra at consistent times, such as when you wake up, during lunch, before training, or before bed.
Some examples include:
- “Every day is a new beginning.”
- “I am capable of achieving my goals.”
- “I can take the next step.”
- “Progress matters more than perfection.”
- “I can do difficult things.”
Write your mantra on a sticky note, put it beside your bathroom mirror, or make it your phone wallpaper.
The important part is repetition. You’re not simply saying words—you’re practicing a particular way of thinking and responding to challenges.
10. Use Positive Self-Talk
Everyone has an inner voice. Unfortunately, that voice isn’t always helpful.
When you’re struggling, pay attention to the things you’re telling yourself. Negative self-talk can make a difficult situation feel even worse, while more constructive language can help you regain perspective.
Suppose your first thought is, “I’m not good enough.”
Instead of accepting that thought as fact, reframe it:
“I’m capable, but I’m overwhelmed right now. I can take this one step at a time.”
You can also deliberately remind yourself of what you’re doing well:
“I’m proud of myself for continuing to work.”
“I’ve already accomplished a lot.”
“I don’t have to be perfect to make progress.”
Positive self-talk isn’t about pretending everything is wonderful. It’s about speaking to yourself in a way that helps you move forward rather than giving up.
11. Build Confidence Through Small Accomplishments
Sometimes the fastest way to increase motivation is to prove to yourself that you can take action.
Choose a small goal related to your larger objective and complete it. Or do something that has always intimidated you.
If your long-term goal is to perform your own music, for example, you might sign up for an open mic night. The experience itself can strengthen your confidence, regardless of how perfectly the performance goes.
You can also challenge yourself outside your main goal.
If you feel stuck in a rut, do something you’ve always wanted to try. Accomplishing something challenging can remind you that you have more control over your life than you may feel you have at the moment.
Sometimes confidence follows action rather than preceding it.
12. Reframe Activities You Don’t Enjoy
You’re not going to love every part of the journey. And you don’t have to.
You might enjoy your career but hate certain meetings. You might love running but dread hills. You might enjoy writing but dislike editing.
Instead of focusing exclusively on what you dislike, look for another way to interpret the experience.
A difficult hill is still building endurance. A tedious meeting might give you an opportunity to connect with coworkers or contribute an important idea. Editing a piece of writing may be frustrating, but it can turn an average draft into something much stronger.
Try paying attention to what you’re actually experiencing rather than automatically labeling it as unpleasant.
You can also mentally shift your attention from the discomfort to the result. Imagine the stress of finishing a deadline fading away and replace it with the satisfaction you’ll feel when the project is complete.
Changing your perspective won’t make every task enjoyable. It can, however, make difficult tasks easier to tolerate.
13. Spend Time With People Who Share Your Goals
Your environment has a powerful influence on your motivation.
Connect with people who are working toward goals similar to yours. They can provide encouragement, accountability, fresh ideas, and practical advice when you get stuck.
Look for people online or in your local community. Attend events connected to your interests, join a training group, participate in professional communities, or connect with people who are pursuing similar projects.
For example, an aspiring musician could attend an open mic night and meet other musicians. Someone interested in fitness could join a running or training group.
You don’t need to isolate yourself from people who have different goals. But be intentional about spending time with people who encourage you to grow rather than constantly pulling you away from what matters.
Choose your influences carefully.
14. Compare Yourself to Your Past Self, Not Other People
Comparing yourself to other people is one of the easiest ways to destroy your motivation.
There will always be someone who appears more successful, more talented, fitter, wealthier, or further ahead. If you constantly measure yourself against them, you’ll rarely feel like you’re doing enough.
A more useful comparison is between who you were yesterday and who you are today.
Ask yourself: What have I learned? What can I do now that I couldn’t do before? What progress have I made?
Remember that when you compare yourself with someone else, you’re usually seeing only part of their story. You see their achievements, not necessarily their struggles, failures, doubts, or setbacks.
Make a list of your own accomplishments and positive qualities. When motivation drops, read it.
Your goal isn’t to beat everyone else. It’s to keep becoming a stronger version of yourself.
15. Make a Gratitude List
Gratitude can help shift your attention toward what is already working in your life.
Write down the things you appreciate, especially the things you’ve worked hard to create. Your list could include relationships, opportunities, personal accomplishments, skills, experiences, or simple everyday comforts.
Try writing down three to five things you’re grateful for each day.
Keep the list somewhere visible, such as your refrigerator, desk, journal, or phone.
The goal isn’t to convince yourself that everything is perfect. It’s to remind yourself that your life contains more than the problems currently demanding your attention.
Over time, regularly noticing what’s going well can help create a more positive mindset—and that mindset can make it easier to stay motivated when challenges appear.
16. Work on Your Goal Every Day
Consistency often matters more than intensity.
You don’t need to spend several hours working toward your goal every single day. Even 15 focused minutes can keep the momentum alive.
Write a few paragraphs. Practice a skill. Go for a short run. Read several pages. Make one phone call. Complete one small task.
The important thing is to maintain a connection with the goal.
When you make progress, you create evidence that you’re moving forward. That sense of movement can make it easier to take the next step.
On busy days, lower the amount of work rather than abandoning the habit completely.
A little progress is still progress.
17. Stop Overthinking and Start Taking Action
Overthinking can feel productive because your mind is busy. But thinking about what you should do isn’t the same as actually doing it.
Too much analysis can keep you stuck in your head. Worse, it can lead you to imagine problems that may never happen.
When you notice yourself spiraling into endless thoughts, interrupt the pattern with a small action.
Write down what’s bothering you. Turn your concerns into a simple to-do list. Then choose one task you can complete today.
You may not be able to solve every problem immediately. That’s okay.
The objective is to replace endless thinking with forward movement.
Once you complete that first small task, the next step often feels much easier.
18. Build Your Routines Around Your Goals
Motivation becomes much easier to manage when your daily routine supports what you want to accomplish.
Instead of relying on motivation to appear at the perfect moment, create regular blocks of time for your most important activities.
If you want to exercise, schedule your workouts. If you want to write, establish a regular writing period. If you’re building a business, reserve time each day for the work that actually moves it forward.
You can also create routines around different parts of your day.
Maybe you start your morning with your most important task. Perhaps you begin your workday by completing a few simple items from your to-do list. After lunch, you might schedule a specific activity that helps you regain focus.
The more automatic your routine becomes, the less you have to negotiate with yourself every day.
19. Take Control of Your Schedule
Your time will always be in demand.
Other people have responsibilities, requests, meetings, invitations, and expectations. If you aren’t careful, your entire schedule can become organized around what everyone else wants from you.
Take responsibility for protecting time for your own priorities.
Schedule appointments with yourself just as seriously as you would schedule an appointment with someone else. Use that time to work toward your goals, exercise, learn, rest, or do something meaningful to you.
This may require saying no occasionally.
That doesn’t make you selfish. It means you understand that your time is limited and that every “yes” comes with an opportunity cost.
Your schedule should reflect what you consider important—not just what happens to demand your attention.
20. Learn to Say “No” to Things You Don’t Want to Do
Sometimes increasing motivation has less to do with doing more and more to do with protecting your time.
When someone asks for your time and their request conflicts with an important goal, you’re allowed to say no. You don’t need to feel guilty about protecting your priorities.
You can be polite without overexplaining.
For example:
“Your Halloween party sounds like a lot of fun, but I’ve already committed to something that day.”
That’s enough.
You don’t have to provide a detailed justification for every decision you make. Set clear boundaries and practice saying no when something doesn’t fit your priorities.
Every time you protect your time, you create more space for the things that genuinely matter to you.
And sometimes, that extra space is exactly what you need to get your motivation back.
