How to: Get Re-Motivated

Bianca Carbone
Feb 18, 2021
4 min read

Life is like a roller coaster... many ups and downs and twists then turns. Life is great when you are up, that is undeniable. But once you are in a low, how do you find your way back up to the top?

Follow these three steps to get yourself out of the rut and back to enjoying life again!

Evaluate what has changed between your high and low point

Some things happen in life that are sad and unavoidable - your pet dies, you get injured, your friend has fallen ill... serious events that cause emotional harm will affect your normal routine and will take time to heal. And this is completely okay! We all go through hardships like this, and we all move forward at our own pace. Recognizing when you are ready to take that step forward, is when you begin your path to happiness.

Other things such moving, beginning college, or starting a new job can disrupt your regular routine as well. Once you have adjusted, you must analyze the habits that can be changed. For example, if you are stressed with these changes, differentiate the things you are in control of and are changeable, and the things that are fixed. Once you understand the factors that can be changed, make a plan to improve those things with the steps below :)

2. Set attainable goals and make a quantifiable goal chart

Once you have evaluated the difference in your life between your high point and low point, make a goal board to get back on track. I recently made this goal board shown below:

Steps to making a goal board:

1: Categorize the different areas of your life. For example, your categories could include:

- Social

- Exercise

- Family

- Diet

Aside from my emotional stressors (which would be too much information for this blog post *wink wink*), I hit my low when I get out of my typical routine. Therefore, I set my goals based on my morning, daily and nightly habits, my side hustle and my professional growth. You should mold your goal board in ways that suit your life!

2: Set qualitative and quantitate goals within the categories.

This means that some goals can be described using words, and others can be set using numbers. For example, one of my goals under "BLIX business" is to explore Patreon and Backstage, which are online platforms for personal training. This is a qualitative goal as setting a number goal would not support the overall goal. An example of a quantitative goal would be "posting 2 recipes per week" under "BLIX instagram". I quantified the number of posts on this account so I can plan when I make these posts and ensure I produce the correct volume of posts per week.

3: Set attainable goals.

If one of your goals is to start exercising more, it would be non-sense to go from no exercise to working out x5 days per week. This would only lead to burnout, injuries, chaotic hormones and blah blah blah. You would unlikely stick to these goals, which defeats the whole purpose of setting them! A more attainable goal that allow you to reach the finish line would be: exercise 2-3 days per week for two weeks, then exercise 3-4 days for the next two weeks, then exercise 4-5 days per week for the following two weeks and so on. You will need to build stamina and grow a foundation in the beginning before jumping in head first.

In other words, set goals you know you can reach.

4: Throw it all together and create a board you can look at everyday!

Grab those cute markers or the perfect template and create an aesthetically - pleasing goal board :)

3. Hold yourself accountable.

This may be the most difficult part of getting yourself back on track... and ways that other people hold themselves accountable may not work for you. Here a few things that help me with accountability, that may work for you too!

- Write a self contract about sticking to your goals and sign it. Breeching a contract is some serious stuff, so do NOT let yourself do it!

- Keep a daily reflection diary for 21 days recording your feelings about your new habits. You will be able to see how much happier you have become, and you will also be able to notice what is and what is not working for you. It takes 21 days to form a habit, and then it becomes your new lifestyle!

- Tell your friends and family about your goals. If you stop following your goals, not only will you let yourself down, but your friends and family too.

- Set goals with a support group. This could include your friends or family, but setting goals with other people will help all of you hold each other accountable.

- Create a celebration event. IF you stick to your goals and have gotten yourself out of the rut, plan something special! Go out to dinner, have a friends night, enjoy a self care night. Whatever you chose to reward yourself with, make it something thats worth the effort putting in to reaching your goals.

IN CONCLUSION, the three steps to getting back on track are:

- Evaluate the differences in your life

- Create a goal board

- Hold yourself accountable

I understand this seems easy to do on paper, and is difficult to do in reality.... but just remember this quote:

"Nothing worth having comes easy"

I wish you the best of luck in getting back on track and I hope these steps will help you get there.