UPS: Get off your butt! 10 ways to get motivated when you're in a slump. By UPS sponsored athlete, Georgia Holton

Get Off Your Butt: 10 Ways to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slum

Georgia Holton- Miss International

One Goal. Being in a slump can often be because you have too much going on in your life. And it saps your energy and motivation. It’s probably the most common mistake that people make: trying to accomplish too many goals at once. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely.It is hard. I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal. The key however, is to prioritise what is most important to you!
Find inspiration. Inspiration for some, comes from others who have achieved what they want to achieve, or who are currently doing it. Perhaps placing inspirational words or photos on your wall or desk at work can inspire to you push your self. Even better, surround yourself with positive people that will support you in accomplishing your goal. I personally place photos on the wall next to my treadmill, of fit and healthy women to keep me motivated. Come competition time though, I put up the previous years photos of myself and aim to better my achievements each year!
Get excited. This sounds obvious, but most people don’t think about it much: if you want to break out of a slump, get yourself excited about a goal. But how can you do that when you don’t feel motivated? Well, it starts with inspiration from others (see above), but you have to take that excitement and build on it. It’s just a matter of carrying that energy forward and keeping it going. I focus on how I know i will feel when my goal has been attained and imagine the end results.
Post your goal. Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (“Exercise 45 mins. Daily”), and post it up on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal, to keep your focus and keep your excitement going. My words are, "Train today, like there is no tomorrow".
Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. You don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on facebook. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so. it adds a little pressure but making it public, adds more sense of reality!
Think about it daily. If you think about your goal every day, it is much more likely to become true. To this end, posting the goal on your wall or computer desktop (as mentioned above) helps a lot. Sending yourself daily reminders also helps. And if you can commit to doing one small thing to further your goal (even just 20 minutes) every single day, your goal will almost certainly come true.
Realize that there’s an ebb and flow. Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes, and comes and goes again, like the tide. But realize that while it may go away, it doesn’t do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out! In the meantime, read about your goal (see below), ask for help (see below), and do some of the other things listed here until your motivation comes back. My husband can tell you the countless amount of times I feel I've fallen off the bridge to success and even talked myself out of perusing my goals. But, that's what I'm talking about.These are just emotions.... emotions that can dealt with by using the right motivational tips. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Even if you aren’t feeling any motivation today, or this week, don’t give up. Again, that motivation will come back. Think of your goal as a long journey, and your slump is just a little bump in the road. You can’t give up with every little bump. Stay with it for the long term, ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows, and you’ll get there.
Start small. Really small. If you are having a hard time getting started, it may be because you’re thinking too big. If you want to exercise, for example, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No — instead, do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do 20 minutes of exercise. I know, that sounds wimpy. But it works. Commit to 20 minutes of exercise for one week. You may want to do more, but just stick to 20 minutes. It’s so easy, you can’t fail. Do it at the same time, every day. Add some crunches and pushups. Once you’ve done 20 minutes a day for a week, increase it to 45, and stick with that for a week. In a month, you’ll be doing 45-60. Want to wake up early? Don’t think about waking at 5 a.m. Instead, think about waking 20 minutes earlier for a week. That’s all. Once you’ve done that, wake 30 minutes earlier than that. Baby steps...After a couple of months, your small steps will add up to a lot of progress and lots of successes.
Think about the benefits, not the difficulties. I started competing in women's figure bodybuilding championships in 2005. Although I am yet to win a 1st place national title and I too experience days of being in a slump... I wont give up !