Hopes, Dreams & Goals – How To Stay Motivated

After a long week at work, today I finally had a day off.  I am the sort of person that has a thousand ideas a day and looks forward to “Me Time” where I can make the most of them.  But the busy week has taken it’s toll on me and I have barley ventured from the couch, doing little more than flicking through random websites, avoiding actually doing anything to benefit myself.  I have fallen into a lazy slump where my mind tells me, “It’s ok, you’ll have time tomorrow” – but who really does have time tomorrow?

Laziness would have to be on the the most common human traits, whether it be by choice or circumstance.  Laziness is a curse which can be hard to break, but not impossible.  So how can one break it?  We all have hopes, dreams and goals which we spend endless hours fantasising over, thinking, “If only.”  But when we play out these scenarios in our heads, it is almost always the end result and not the path that leads to it.  This is a big problem I constantly find I have as I seem to dream so grand that when I try, I fail because I tend to miss out the details, those important steps I must take to reach my goals.  Disappointment sets in, then the laziness becomes the excuse.  If only I could motivate myself just enough to start planning, to figure out those first baby steps to reach my destination.

When we motivate ourselves, we achieve much more.  Even on days like today where I feel pysically and mentally drained, even the smallest amount of motivation can go a long way – but it is that first push that is often the hardest.  How can we give ourselves that little shove?  We need to change our state of mind.

There are hundred of ways that this can be done from motivational eBooks, meditation and even alcohol & drugs.  But the simplest way is through music.  Music has the ability to calm and sooth, lift the spirits, release the anger and transport us to magical places within out hearts and minds.  We have all experiences that long and dreary day that seems to go on forever until that one song comes on the radio, that one song that lifts us up and takes us away from it all.  Music can transform us and our minds.

After sitting here in silence for about two hours, trying unsuccessfully to write a blog post on anything, I decided to put on the iPod and let the shuffle function do it’s magic.  Within no time (and having the house to myself) I was dancing badly around the living room doing thrash air guitar and singing like a lunatic.  I was having fun, I was getting motivated to actually DO something.  And while none of my goals and dream are likely to come true today, I can do something to work towards them.  I am going to start with a list of everything I would like to achieve by the end of the year, both big and small, realistic and fantastical.  Because once I have my list, I will have the backbones to start planning out all the little steps to get there.  Every journey needs to start somewhere and today, I am starting one of my own.

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Tags: Depression, Dreams, Goals, Help, Hopes, How To, Laziness, Life, Lists, Motivation, Music