Ever notice that it’s a little harder to get motivated in the winter months? Rain, cold, long dark days. Every reason to Not do something and develop an excuse to enter the Dark Hole of procrastination, so it’s easy to lose motivation.
Motivation is not just psychological, but also biochemical. If you know a bit about what makes the brain sharper, you can use a number of scientific hacks to ramp up your motivation.
Certain brain chemicals switch on energy and motivation in the human
body, therefor boosting levels of these neurotransmitters will give you more drive and focus.
Use the following 9 brain tricks and tips to increase your motivation.
1. Move to get your body going
The body conserves energy in harsher conditions and environments. When winter comes, the body saves its energy for surviving, rather than enthusiasm. This is why you may find yourself lacking energy and motivation during colder, darker months. However, hibernating can actually create an unhelpful feedback loop, sending messages to the brain that it should stop all non-essential functions.
If you find your enthusiasm sluggish with a change in environment or season, this is the best time to get active. By getting outside (extra vitamin D bonus) for a walk, going to the gym, or doing calisthenics/yoga/stretching at home you’re telling your brain to stop conserving energy. You’ll find that your enthusiasm and motivation return once you give your brain a little wake up call. Learnself hypnosis to speed up the process 2 to 5 times faster.
2. One EATING SUGGESTION
As well as dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline belong to a category of neurotransmitters called catecholamines. They are important for stimulation, energy, motivation and mental focus. Catecholamines are built from an amino acid called L-Tyrosine. You can get this important amino acid from turkey, cottage cheese, egg whites, sea weed, chicken, duck and supplements.
3. TUNE INTO PLEASANT PAST EXPERIENCES
If you feel blah! about a specific task, remembering a time when you enjoyed doing that activity can turn on a positive attitude instantaneously. A 2014 study showed that recalling and describing a positive memory of a task increases motivation in that area.
Remembering a pleasant experience of an activity boost motivation to start doing it and study participants actually achieved more over the next week when they had a positive memory in mind.
4. INITIATE/START
Just starting any dreaded project, your brain will naturally produce dopamine as you begin to get things done.
If you’re not very motivated, pick a tiny, easy part of the task to begin with because dopamine is produced every time you achieve something, no matter how small it is. The brain enjoys frequent positive feedback to let it know things are progressing toward a final goal. The dopamine boost you’ll get from that initial achievement will leave you feeling more positive and pave the way to you doing more.
5. VISUALIZE A POSITIVE SELF IMAGE/BELIEF
Dopamine is one of the brain chemicals most strongly associated with motivation and reward. Studies show that experiencing self-belief causes a surge of dopamine; so a positive self-image can be a really powerful motivator.
Think of yourself as someone who enjoys new challenges and can succeed. Build your identity as a go-getter by visualizing yourself acting and feeling motivated and achieving your goals. Self hypnosis is a powerful tool for this.
Surround yourself with others who support and believe in you as well. Choose your friends, mastermind and networking groups well. Research shows that being told you will perform well by others also releases dopamine.
6. ACTIVATE A RE-FRAME OF HOW YOU VIEW, OR DO A TASK
The most naturally motivating tasks of all are those for which we have automatic motivations. The more you enjoy the process, and the more it matches important values for you, the more likely you are to complete an activity.
You can change how you view “harder” tasks by recognizing their significance or making them more fun. For example, if you’ve got business prospecting calls to make or social media marketing to organize, look at them as symbols of you being in control of your lifestyle and finances. Pin photos of your family around your work area, to remind yourself for whom you’re working. Make admin tasks more enjoyable by making up little games, defining a specific amount of time or take your laptop outside, so you can enjoy a bit of sun while you work.
7. TRY DRINKING COFFEE
This is coming from a person who has never had a cup of coffee in his life (except for a cup of the worst stuff I ever had in my mouth, they called coffee, in a Bedouin tent in the Negev Desert). Coffee is known to release dopamine into the brain, as well as having the ability to increase mental focus. Scientists have found that caffeine can enhance some cognitive tasks, such as memory functions, and stimulate the motivation and reward circuit in the brain.
Drinking sips of coffee as you begin, and progress through a task, can help you to feel more energized. However, make sure you don’t overdose on caffeine since too much coffee can lead to an energy slump later in the day.
8. ENLIST YOUR OWN PAST ACHIEVEMENTS
One of the most powerful ways of getting dopamine to work for you is by acknowledging your own achievements. The dopamine reward system goes into overdrive when we achieve positive feedback one way or the other.
Completing a task should give you this dopamine burst, but you can nudge the process along by validating yourself. Make a mental note of three things you did especially well on any task you finish. If you’re the type of person who needs praise from others to feel satisfaction, share your successes with others to get that boost.
9. STRENGTHEN MOTIVATION BY PRACTICE
In recent years, neuroscientists have learned that people are not fixed in terms of how they think and feel, nor in what they can achieve. You can strengthen any circuit in the brain by simply using it more, making it easier to go that way naturally next time.
If you have a monumental task that you just can’t seem to get motivated for, practice working on something else a little smaller. You wouldn’t run a marathon without having completed a few smaller races. Pep yourself up by achieving some smaller goals in a similar area, so you can strengthen your natural motivational response. Combine some of the tips above to help you build super-motivated states. Have a hypnosis session tailored to fit your needs.
