Bolstering Motivation and Commitment during National Recommitment Month with Driven By… Co.
Written By: Diondra Filicetti
At the beginning of the year, motivation is at an all time high, as we formulate ambitious goals and are excited to see the results and reap the rewards of those goals. As the weeks go by however, our motivation levels decrease and for some of us, that means so does the time we spend working on our goals. Because many of us wait for motivation to kick in before we start working on our goals, we’re left with feelings of disengagement, disappointment and frustration, when results are nowhere to be found.
As we’ve explored motivation, we’ve come to understand that motivation is more complex than we’d think. We believe we have a common understanding of what motivation is, but in reality, motivation looks different to everyone. Some cite motivation as being a feeling, or an energy and excitement towards work, while others believe motivation has to do with a level of productivity or output, while some others relate motivation to a sense of purpose.
Here at Driven By… we’ve studied motivation a whole lot, especially as it relates to drive. By definition, motivation is the reason for behaviour / action. Yep, that’s it. Your motivation is the why behind the action you take. However, the term motivation has come to incorporate not only why we take action, but how we feel when we take action, and how much action we take.
When it comes to motivation however, we must remember that motivation alone does not garner results. We achieve results and achieve our goals when we pair motivation with commitment. Momentum in our lives occurs during cycles of motivation and commitment. Feelings of motivation, get you started and when motivation dwindles, commitment picks up the slack. When commitment helps us to build traction, our motivation kicks in again as we get excited about our progress. This is what we refer to as the Momentum Cycle.
May is National Recommitment Month, which is a perfect month to re-examine our cycle of motivation and commitment, taking a look at our goals and determining where the gaps are.
At the beginning of the year, motivation is high and so are our aspirations, but as the year goes on, somewhere along the line we get off track. We lose our momentum and our progress towards our goals slows. This could occur for a number of reasons including:
Waiting for the feeling of motivation:
That motivated feeling that many of us long to feel to help us get started, is difficult to rely on. Feelings of motivation are easily interrupted by other emotions (both positive and negative). For example, if we get into an argument with our significant other, these feelings of frustration easily get in the way of our motivation. On the flip side, excitement can also prevent us from feeling motivated. For example, if you have a fun event coming up (such as a wedding, birthday, or party), you might feel so excited and want to chat about the event with your friends and family instead of tapping into your motivation to work on your personal goals.
Lack of strong commitment:
In some cases, motivation is not the problem. By nature, feelings of motivation (specifically the excitement and energy we feel towards taking action), come and go. When it comes to working on our goals, a commitment to taking action is incredibly important for the times when we don’t feel motivated. I’m sure you haven’t felt motivated for every workout, and if you’re not committed to your fitness goals or general health, you’ll probably skip a bunch of workouts.
Poor habits:
Building momentum towards our goals becomes a lot easier when we build habits that support our goals. For example, building a morning routine that consists of making a healthy breakfast and doing a stretch routine while listening to a podcast is a habit that will produce results over the long-term. Once we build this habit, it becomes action that we take AUTOMATICALLY, without having to even rely on motivation or commitment. When we are constantly battling our negative habits, such as poor eating habits that leave us feeling too sluggish to exercise, we create obstacles that make it even more difficult to work towards our goals.
Distraction:
Distraction kills momentum because it interrupts our action. If one of your goals is to write articles or write a novel, but as you’re writing, every 10 seconds you look at your phone to respond to an Instagram notification, you’ll find it extremely hard to complete the article! In a world FULL of distractions, it is critical to remove them in order to allow yourself time for deep-work.
For the many reasons that we lose motivation and commitment towards our goals, we wanted to come up with a list of strategies that you could try to help you recommit and boost your motivation. Instead of a generic list of steps, we thought it best to take a more individualized approach and ask members of our DRIVEN Community about the strategies that they use in order to boost their motivation, and ultimately achieve their goals.
How Our DRIVEN Community Gets Motivated
We spoke to high-performing individuals and business owners who have had to balance many responsibilities and have experienced a number of obstacles that they’ve overcome, in order to see what truly works when it comes to bolstering motivation and getting recommitted to your goals.
Here’s what they had to say:
Sara Serednicki
GTA Real Estate Agent
“For me no matter what, consistency is key. When I’m feeling unmotivated I do my best to stay on track with consistently doing the tasks that set me up for success for the day/week/month!”
Jazmine, Rojas
Owner, Meanus Merchandise, Mom Boss
“I motivate myself when I’m feeling unmotivated by reminding myself how far I’ve come & that I can do anything with hard work and some help. Sometimes I will also just try to start a task even for 5-10 minutes & if I complete it I reward myself.”
Damion Murray
Co-Founder at Love ‘Em Co.
“The way I motivate myself when I feel unmotivated is by listening to podcasts or interviews with entrepreneurs such as Dame Dash and Driven By. Hearing words of encouragement and also learning different ways to solve an issue really encourages me to keep going.”
Jamelia Gay
ADHD & Executive Function Coach, Founder & Managing Director of dIAMond Initiative
“When I am feeling unmotivated, I first give myself a moment of grace and allow myself to feel. I used to think a lack of continuous motivation meant I was defective. Along my journey of self-acceptance, I realized that these mental rest periods made me human. Now that I have learned to be gentle with myself, I can tap into the factors that do provide motivation for me. Having identified activities that drive me while tracing my Moments of Motivation, I’ve created a Motivation package for myself to access when I may be feeling down, experiencing periods of low energy, and/or not particularly interested in a given task/activity. Music and musicals help me! I AM definitely a broadway baby. Taking time to myself, even for one hour, also helps. I have communicated to my parents and partner that these moments are important to me, and for my mental health. Note: the ones who respect you will respect this.
One important factor that has helped me is to identify the “why” behind the “what”. Determining the reason for each task and/or activity, and the ways in which its accomplishment will positively affect/influence my life have become increasingly beneficial and served as a driving force behind my motivation. I remind myself of my Purpose and this motivates me to push through.”
Diondra Filicetti
Founder at Driven By… Co.
For me the key to achieving results begins with planning! Making a plan increases your chances for success, so why can’t we make a plan to commit to our goals. I start by identifying what my goal is, and listing the action required from me to achieve that goal. Then I break down the action into small chunks and schedule them daily or weekly. For the times I lack motivation, I either use the 5 minute rule, and focus on taking action for just 5 minutes (in most scenarios, motivation kicks in as I start building momentum in the task) or I will task-swap. Task swapping looks like switching two tasks in your schedule, so instead of writing an article right now, I catch up on my accounting instead, and pick the article back up during the time I was scheduled to do accounting. I find this technique helps because certain tasks require creative thinking while others do not, and when I feel uninspired, I work on something that “matches” my state of mind.
As the founder of Driven By… Co. I also put out a lot of content regarding techniques people can use to increase motivation, productivity and to ultimately be more effective in their efforts. Behind the scenes we do a lot of research, and so I encourage anyone who has ever felt their motivation wane, to get connected with us online (@drivenbyco on social media or drivenbyco.com)
Here are some ways we’ve made an impact on the people in our DRIVEN community.
How Has Driven By… Co. Helped
We asked these business owners and professionals how we’ve been able to help them along their journey here at Driven By… Co
Sara Serednicki
“@drivenbyco ‘s apparel line has encouraged me to stay focused!! I completed the Driven By Co business course in early 2021 and it has given me valuable takeaways to take my business results to the next level!!”
Jazmine Rojas
“Driven by Co Podcast have been making a huge impact on me right now. Listening to an audio & having it feel like someone is there to explain the topics in detail while I’m getting work done has helped me stay motivated & inspired. Seeing how much Driven by Co has done over time especially towards the community has shown me there are amazing people out there that want you to succeed & want to help you get to where you want to be which is inspirational.”
Damion Murray
“Driven By… has inspired me to always have a plan and take it one step at time. " it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be consistent and the results will come" wise words from DI
Hearing these words has really opened my mind to challenge myself to be consistent and not worry about perfection”
Jamelia Gay
“@drivenbyco … the handle speaks for itself! This organization motivates me to truly assess what I am driven by. The attire and attitudes of the Driven By… team work in tandem to encourage me to be my best self, and to pay it forward by motivating others to do the same. When you are motivated, you motivate. When you feel driven, you help drive those around you. With posts such as “Step outside of your comfort zone”, “Benefits of Cultivating Self-Awareness”, and “Before you can change your life, you must change your mind”, the Driven by… team and platform continually inspires me to want to grow, thrive and succeed. “
So no matter what your goals are and where you’re at on your journey, take this time during Recommitment Month to become more aware of what affects your motivation and learning new strategies to boost your motivation in order to achieve your goals. Remember to start by making a strong commitment to taking consistent action.
Listen to the podcast version!
