My Top 5 Ways To Get Motivated

We all have those moments, phases, seasons in life where motivation is scarce and we just can't seem to get anything done.

Don't get me wrong, I think there are times where it's really important to stop, rest and re-energise but it can sometimes lead us down this slippery slope where we stay getting nothing done, and in turn, lose all motivation to get going again.

Today's post offers 5 things that I find help me when I'm lacking motivation, and hopefully it might be useful for you too!


1. Do Something You Enjoy

Now, whilst this might sound unfocused and unproductive I do think it's really important. I know that when I'm unmotivated it often coincides with having not got out of the house much or seen any friends for a while. Sometimes to get ourselves back to being motivated we need to start with feeling a little happier in ourselves, so find what you enjoy and spend some time doing it. It could be going to the gym, hanging out with friends, taking a day trip, baking or practising guitar. If you don't know what you enjoy send some time trying different things out and see what works for you.

2.  Eat Well, Sleep Well
At the risk of sounding like your Doctor, or worse, your Mother... it's hard to be focused and motivated if you're tired and fuelling your body with rubbish. In the same way as making sure we're OK and, generally speaking, happy we need to make sure we're giving ourselves the best chance and properly looking after ourselves holistically if we want to reach those goals or achievements. If you're not in a good sleeping pattern this might take some time to adjust to but you will reap the benefits. They say anything between 7-9hrs sleep a night is good and the way our bodies are made it helps to sleep when its dark and wake when it's light (for those of you who get 8 hours sleep from 3am-11am) - there's lots of research about it, you might want to check it out.

Fooooooooood mmmmmmm, Food is great, especially the treats and the convenience that microwave meals and takeaways bring but I think we've all experience the post food slump, and the sugar lows when these equate to the majority of our food intake. I'm totally not saying to go super healthy, but to just think about what you're eating in terms of brain food. Don't have a big scrumptious Sunday roast that's covered in a rich creamy gravy and then expected to get your to-do list done - you're going to have a nap, we all are.





3.Get Inspired
Now that we've got the basic take-care-of-yourself sorted and we're feeling happier in general it's time to get inspired. I think one of the easiest ways to do this is to watch, or talk to, someone who inspires you - and this could be just in general and might not have anything to do with whatever you are wanting to be motivated for. So it might be listening to a TED talk or watching your favourite YouTuber, it could be talking to your friends or a mentor. Find out what makes you leave feeling excited for life and ready to get going. Thinking more specifically for those of you who have something specific you want to find the motivation for; it might be to become better at your art-form or sport, it could be that you want to set up a business or blog. In this instance I would recommend walking to or watching those who are a little further ahead than you are in the area you want to improve. By looking just a little further ahead you can really get inspired by the possibility and reality ahead of you and should make you want to get working. Avoid looking at someone who is much further down the line or has been doing it for much longer, this can sometimes be overwhelming, know what you need to see, and not see.

4.  Listen to "That Song" 
I grew up in a musical family, but I think everyone, even the least musical of humans absolutely love a 1 or 2 songs. We talk about getting party music on to get us ready for a night out, but I wholeheartedly believe the right song at the right time can get things change. Therefore, my advice to you is keep a mental note of a few songs that make you feel invincible. You know what I mean right? Those songs that by the end you genuinely feel like you could take on the world. No problem is too big, no person too intimidating for you to do whatever it is you feel you were born to do. When lacking motivation go and get your headphones and listen to that song...

5. Plan & Step
And finally, make some plans. It sounds simple, but if you aren't motivated plans are hard to produce. So now that you're super motivated write down smaller goals that will take you to your end goal! Be realistic and commit to a time frame that you want to work to. Once the plan is in place...
...take the first step. It sounds simple, but so often what stops people going for the things they want is not being able to take that first step. Keep hold of what you want it to look like years down the line but accept that it won't be like when you start, and that's how it should be. Whether training in a sport or starting a business the time in between point A (where you are now) and point Z (where you want to be) is crucial for learning, discovering, adjusting and growing. You will improve, but not until you start.



So get motivated, get inspired and GO FOR IT. Give it everything you've got, and on the way, encourage others to do the same.

I've always been one of those people that has loads of cool ideas but never does any of them. I fail before I start. Starting up this blog took me 3 years, because in my head I saw it a particular way and knew it was going to take time to get there but I got fed up of only having ideas. If you're anything like me then talk to a couple of people you trust about your idea and let them ask you how it's going every now and then...sometimes the pressure of not wanting to say "I haven't done anything" every time they ask is enough to make that first step...

I'd love to hear any tips you have for getting, or staying motivated. I'd also LOVE to hear what song makes you feel you can take on the world!

Yours faithfully,
Jen
x


(All photos taken from Pinterest. I do not own them)

Capsule

I've recently moved house, which has meant that I had the awful task of packing up and sorting out my things (does anybody ever really enjoy packing?!). 

Whether you're moving house or just sorting a room it's usually a surprise to find just how much stuff you've managed to accumulate...

Why do I have 5 pairs of scissors in my bedroom? Why have I kept an old, out of date pair of prescription glasses? Why have my "white" (brown) trainers not just been thrown out?

Then there's the wardrobe full of clothes, of which you probably only wear 40% of...

If you're anything like me then you're not a hoarder, but you are sentimental and you're forever giving your clothes a second chance...and a third, and a fourth.

(Pinterest)

I've also recently become quite intrigued by the idea of a Capsule Wardrobe. In brief, a Capsule Wardrobe is where you limit your wardrobe to 37 items (excluding underwear, formal wear, gym clothes, coats) that can work together to create a large number of different outfits with the different combinations. It's meant to help keep clutter down and live in a more minimalist way. You can Google it, Youtube it or Pinterest it - I think it's pretty interesting. I gave it a Youtube and watched as a number of people tried it and showed the contents of their wardrobes and the many outfit combinations they had put together. I loved it, and it was definitely an indulgent nosey into other people's styling choices, but there was something that stood out to me in one of the videos. This particular Youtuber had read up on the Capsule idea and said that you were encouraged when sorting out your clothes to ask yourself if you loved the item, if not, that it was just taking up room where something you did love could go.

 

We keep things for all sorts of reasons; sentimentality, wanting to give it second chance to be worn/used, not really ever sorting through stuff or even just forgetting it's there!

I started to think about this idea of keeping things in life, whether that's clothes, habits, hobbies or even relationships and wondered if, actually, it would do us good every now and then to de-clutter our lives and not just our wardrobe.

If we look at those reasons for keeping things through the idea of capsule wardrobe, and we do it honestly, we might find some interesting pieces...

(Pinterest)

1. Sentimental things - 

Some sentimental things are fine to keep, but some aren't. Sometimes these are things close to our hearts but we know they stopped being any good to us a while ago. Whether these are physical or emotional be honest with what you need to throw out. 

2. Second chances - 

Some things we keep in our (heart) wardrobe because we want to give them a second chance, that's fine, but be honest if it's not the second chance, but actually the third, fourth or fifth time. You aren't a bad person for cutting things from your life if it's not doing you any good.

3. Forget - 

Life gets busy and a lot of the time we aren't even aware of what we do without thinking, or what is going on inside unless we stop, look and re-evaluate. Something happens when we become intentional about things. Start being intentional about habits, mentality, and you time and you will start to see a real difference. It's also good to assess what we're holding close and whether we need to any more. Being intentional about these things can help us to keep what we want and get rid of what we don't...

(Pinterest)

I don't want to just have a wardrobe of things I love, I want a life I love. Of course, we will all have things in our lives that we can't just change, drop, or get rid of, and some of those will be things we find really really hard. But have a look at what you can change, and what can help you to feel the best you can in your circumstances. And if things don't need to be there, work on chucking them out of your life...

... to give that place to something else that you will love, that will fit, that will be positive, that will empower you and give you confidence and freedom.

My plan to is to attempt this capsule wardrobe idea; to use what I have in my wardrobe more efficiently and challenge myself in getting rid of what I really don't need anymore. I'm also going to think about my inner chest wardrobe and give that a de-clutter, so I can try to keep only the good stuff in there and wear it well.

Yours faithfully,

Jen

x

The Pressure of Perfection (part 2)

Embracing Your Imperfection

Yep.. that's right, you're imperfect, but guess what, so am I, so are your role models and so is everybody else.

In my last blog post I really just skimmed the surface of how social media, and how we are wired, can set us up to strive for that impossible perfection. I think an important part of releasing ourselves from the weight of that is to identify, acknowledge and embrace our imperfections. This doesn't mean that if a couple of your imperfections are that you're rude and horrible to people that you should embrace them - that's the kind of rubbish you work through sorting out... that's not OK...

We have to accept that we aren't always going to hit the mark, but that wherever we're at we ALL have a lot of good to give - yes, even that horrible girl who's been awful to you for years - she has something good to give too.

Something I have found really interesting and helpful in learning about myself is taking personality tests. There are a load of different types of personality tests but I think one of the most popular and easiest to understand is the Myers Briggs test. If you haven't heard of the Myers Briggs test it's a questionnaire you fill in that then indicates your psychological preferences for how you make decisions and perceive the world. Of course, to get an accurate answer you need to answer honestly, which can be hard. You can take this test online (I would recommend using https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test) and then you can read up on your personality type including how you relate to friends and family, how you might act in the work place, career wise and more. It also highlights some of you strengths and weakness and can be very revealing - I laughed quite a lot at how accurate it was. Sometimes it's really helpful to see some of your tendencies explained, both the good and bad, and why. Obviously there's a bigger variety of character's in the world than 16... these types are just indicators of how we might process things so don't let your answer let you feel like you've been confined to it's assessment, but use the bit that you can agree with and let it help you to assess where you are and what you want to change or work on - knowing why you behave a certain way is really important if you are wanting to change it for good. Lastly on the personality tests, sometimes it can be helpful to let a friend or family member read through the information on your type after the test as they can sometimes see things more clearly than you - it can also help strengthen relationships when we can understand why people behave the way they do, again in the good and the bad.

As we all know, each one of us is on a journey and have different gifts, talents and downfalls, but we often don't know what's really going on with people behind the scenes - so be kind and try and be gracious. The journey itself, like any adventure, can be hard, tough and wild sometimes but there's definitely beauty in it, even if we only see it in hindsight.

(from Pinterest)



Never underestimate the power of vulnerability and humility. Don't be ashamed when you're struggling, don't fear asking for help, admit you're wrong when you need to and don't be too proud to apologise. Some of the strongest people I know let tears flow freely and admit when they're fearful. They're aware of their weaknesses but don't let them define them, and they say sorry when it's right to however hard it is to say.

Remember we're all imperfect, all fighting demons and in the words of High School Musical... we;re all in this together.

Yours faithfully,
Jen x

The Pressure of Perfection (part 1)

After staring at my wardrobe for what seemed like forever, and trying on a good 5 or so outfits I settled with what I was going to wear for the day.

No, this isn't going to be a post about fashion, or how to have a capsule wardrobe (though I would love to nail that!), it's a post about the pressure we put on ourselves to appear *insert word here*...

The word could be "stylish", "on trend", "effortless", "cute", "sporty", "confident". How we appear... perfect.

We don't limit this to clothes either, we do this when it comes to exams, school, in our hobbies or sports groups, in social situations and even around friends and family.

Why?! Why do we do this to ourselves?

I think there's a number of reasons but here are a couple...

1. Comparison

We are constantly exposed to snippets of the "ideal" life, body, partner, you name it, through social media. Yes, we have struggled with unachievable advertising for years but when I was a teenager magazines and celebrities were pretty much the only big factors; yes like anyone else I compared myself to friends or others in school, but I could seen them in full light, not just an edited snippet.

Nowadays (how old do I sound?!) we are bombarded with fake perfection as we are constantly connected to the world of social media. Don't get me wrong, I love social media - it's creative, inspiring, feel-good, and informative. But it can also be used negatively, not just through cyber bullying and awful content but by giving us a false sense of what is real. We see edited pictures, the best bits of someone's life, we see people at their best angle and we see effortless chic and style, but what we don't see is that that selfie you would love to look like was actually their 421st attempt at that shot. We don't see a lot of what really goes on in someones life, which is totally normal - but we can be tricked in to thinking those hard days don't exist for that perfect Instagrammer or Vlogger.

For my dissertation at Uni I did a research project into the affects Instagram has on self-esteem in teenage girls. My findings confirmed what I had assumed - comparison was soo high! Even when they were aware that posts were edited and did not show real life, they feel victim to the "they're much better at make-up than me", "they're much more confident", "they have so many friends and no-one really likes me".

Sound familiar? I'm no longer a teenager but I definitely still have my moments...




2.Who Am I?

Not to get all educational and boring, but from toddlers we have been going through moral development - this is where we figure out what is "right" or "wrong", where we form our beliefs or values, our principles and our behaviours - and did you know during our teenage years our moral development brings us to the stage where our biggest question is "Who am I?!

If you're a teenager and you're reading this perhaps you totally get it and you're really aware that you've been asking yourself that question for a while now, or perhaps you didn't know and now a few things make sense... this is the stage we figure out what we have to offer the world, what part we have to place, and naturally to assess that we compare.

Comparison will always be part of how we judge things; to compare against something else. But let's learn to love ourselves a little better on the way to figuring out exactly who we are, and what we have to give to the world.

Remember we are all figuring it out and the truth is we all have something incredible and unique to offer, and sometimes that comparison or strive for perfection only sends us in the wrong direction to finding out what, or who, we really are.

It took me 5 outfits and a stress fit later to decide on an outfit, to then sit in John Lewis Cafe doing some work for 2 hours where no-one cared about what I looked like... I'd like to start using my time for better things...

Yours faithfully,

Jen