Have you ever felt that it is sometimes difficult to motivate and inspire yourself to do something? Please do not worry. That is a typical situation for everyone, including an author like myself (especially when the midterm exam is coming!). It is great to be more relaxed, forget about serious issues, and lie down for a moment. However, it is important to be aware when you are less motivated or inspired. Once your motivation and inspiration decrease, you should find a way to regain them because they are factors that drive a person to move forwards in life. In this article, I am providing you with some useful tips to boost motivation and inspiration. 

    First, put your goal or obligation on the calendar. Doing this will give you a clear target date. A target date may make you stay motivated because you can precisely know when your obligation will be done. Now, you have lots of hope about doing something else afterward such as partying, traveling, gaming, and so on. More importantly, a target date is going to tell how many days you have for preparation. Have you ever heard of this quote: “Practice makes perfect”? It is so true. No one is born perfect. No one can do everything. Certain things can be very hard at first. The only way to achieve this is to do it over and over again. By knowing that there are many days to prepare, you will be more motivated and confident!

    Second,  account and prepare for obstacles. As mentioned earlier, it is good to be prepared and confident. However, in reality, not everything will go smoothly, which is okay. To solve this, you can list possible obstacles that may happen in your activity. For example, you are aiming to do well in the exam hall. Possible obstacles are 1) too cold air conditioner makes you feel uncomfortable 2) your pen is running out of ink 3) you are very thirsty during the test. Once you have this list, you can come up with how to handle these problems. For cold temperatures, you may bring a jacket in advance. To prevent running out of ink, you may have more than one pen just in case. For thirst, you may buy a bottle of water and take a sip while testing. When obstacles occur, instead of losing motivation, you now have a plan to keep things going on. So, don’t forget to make a plan for obstacles!   

    Third, once you achieve your goal, try to reward yourself! When we spend lots of time and effort doing something, of course, we all want to get something back as a reward. Rewarding yourself will certainly increase your motivation and performance. Moreover, it is better to bestow yourself on both small and big achievements. So, how to properly do it? Again, make a list! Jot down things or activities that you personally consider rewards. What should be a reward? In my opinion, it does not have to be something special and costly. But, it should at least make you feel happy and relieved from serious stuff in life. For example, having some pizzas, drinking beers, hanging out with friends, buying some flowers, taking a bath in a tub, etc. If possible, you can match rewards with achievements. By doing this, you will be more than motivated to finish the job and later receive a reward from yourself!  

    To sum it all up, it is so normal to lose motivation and inspiration at some point in life. Yet, it is essential to get them back! To boost your motivation, you may set an exact target date. You should create a plan for obstacles and how to deal with them. Lastly, you are highly recommended to reward yourself after achieving your goals. I really hope that these three methods will help elevate your motivation and inspiration! Finally, I would like to encourage everyone reading this to NEVER GIVE UP! Life is never easy, but there is always a solution! Don’t ever fear losing motivation because there are several ways to regain it!