13 Simple Tips On How To Let Go Of Negativity And Motivate Yourself When You Feel Like Doing Nothing

We all know the days, your to-do list is endless and by 11pm nothing is close to done. You needed to go to the gym, study for a test, clean your apartment and finish you dissertation, and all you did is lay in bed with your phone in one hand, donut in the other and on your laptop watching Netflix.

Especially on my gym-days and during my dissertation period, I found it really hard to motivate myself. But at the end of the day, when I did not do what I had to do or got an ‘okay’ grade because I barely studied, I always wish I just had gotten my sh*t together, motivated myself and got things done.

These 12 tips will help you to focus on whatever goal you might have and motivate yourself to actually get up and do what you have to do.

#1 – Find study/gym/work buddies

They will give you energy, motivate you and you will learn from each others strategies, mistakes and experiences. Meet on set times and days, then you will have to get out of bed and get things done.

#2 -Focus on your goal not on the plan

Your plan is not your goal. So you can be flexible with your plan, as long as you keep your main goal in mind.

#3 – Control your mind

Be positive, negative thoughts will influence you. Let go of the negativity in your mind, you can make things happen, if you let no room for negative thoughts.

#4 – Avoid negative people

Just like negative thoughts, negative people will influence you, will hold you back and will make you lose focus. Although it is hard to say, but they are a waste of time and you really do not need negativity in your already busy life.

#5 -You are responsible for the outcomes

Not your parents, friends, God or neighbour but you are responsible for the outcomes. Bad things, failure and negativity happens to all of us, but the way we respond to it is OUR choice. If you did not study because your neighbours were having a party, you parents made you go to your aunts birthday or because you asked God to pass the test and you failed, it was YOUR responsibility.

#6 – Take care of your body

Don’t skip meals and do eat healthy, never study, work or go to the gym on an empty stomach. Take care of your body, have enough sleep and exercise.

#7 – Keep focussing on your main goal

If at least 50% of your activities do not serve your goals, it is worthless. Reaching your goals needs dedication, passion and hard work, otherwise you are likely to give-up quicker when times get hard or fail.

#8 – Expand your horizon

Try something new every day. You don’t have to stick to your routine but can experiment by trying different routines and plans. This way you will learn what suits you and get to know yourself a bit better everyday.

#9 – Control perfectionism

Stop worrying about things being done perfectly, this will make you lose focus on your main goal.

#10 – Being passive will make you fail

Probably the biggest enemy of all, being passive always leads to failure.

#11 – Learn from your mistakes

Mistakes and failure will happen, but that is part of your journey. Even when you fail or make a mistake, stay positive, you can learn from every single part of your journey. Evaluate the situation, what happened, what went wrong, what could I have done better and how would I handle it the next time? are questions you could ask yourself. Learn from it and move on.

#12 – Formulate goals in a compelling way

Not ‘I may be able to’ or ‘I might do’ but ‘I will’ and ‘I must’. Don’t let room for consideration or insecurity, ‘you must get your to-do list done’ and ‘you will make things happen’.

#13 – Success is relative 

Always stay ambitious and be surrounded by ambitious people.

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  • Jessica

    Love this! I definitely need to work on #8. That need for everything to be perfect makes the fear of failure even more real, which is such a dangerous mindset to be in.

  • Heather P.

    Shouldn’t this be 13 tips? (There were two #4’s) :-)

    Either way, great tips!

    • Lois

      Oops haha. Thanks for that, didn’t see it myself :)).

  • Lauren

    Gym buddy is probably what I need, definitely the areas in my life I need a big of a kick up the bum to get moving! And removing negativity and negative people is a must – always feel better after

    Lauren x
    Britton Loves | Lifestyle Food Fashion Beauty – http://www.brittonloves.blogspot.co.uk

  • AndreeaP

    great tips! Number 11 is my favourite!

  • Anne

    Really love your blog! And totally agree on this subject. I’m working on my thesis right now and struggle on getting things done.. This article inspires me to look at things in a different way. Might just help to increase my faith and productiveness. Keep it going!

  • Charlotte Sophia Roberts

    This is a great post! I love it! :)
    http://charlottesophiaroberts.blogspot.co.uk

  • Carly

    Please edit your posts. Your post titles always catch my eye and interest me to read the articles, which have great concepts, but the spelling (e.g., “loose” instead of “lose”) and grammatical errors make them not so fun to read. :(

    • Celina

      Thanks Carly! We will keep an eye on it :)

  • Jealsea

    WOW, I totally love your blog and this post is so nice and inspiring! Keep up the great work, I’m a fan! :)

    xoxo ElsaBeautyTeen

    http://omgyousassqueen.blogspot.co.at/

  • Vera

    Lovely tips! It always helps to read something positive to kick off your day! With love,
    Vera

    http://theflashwindow.weebly.com/

  • Clare

    Love this! So true, i find it so hard to stay motivated with work, the gym and just everything in general sometimes!

  • mikéla

    This was a great list! Thanks for the motivation! :)

  • Claire

    This is going to be helpful! Especially on defining the difference between goals and plans. I for one am terrible at this. “My plan is… ” When really I should be saying, “My goal is…., What I will do to reach my goals is…”
    Thank you!

  • Cheryl

    Completely relate to the taking care of your body and controlling perfectionism! It seems mad that when we are at our busiest and we need to be healthy – that is the thing that we slip out of.. less sleep, speed eating, fast food.. always have to remind myself to look after me haha…

    http://www.beaucience.co.uk

  • celyn

    what a great post really needed this today! I always have those moments when I don’t feel like doing anything the whole day too so I’m glad you shared this post!

    styleandchocolates

  • Anna

    great post and great tips :)

    http://annazuerker.blogspot.com

  • Camellia

    This post is really inspiring and motivating. I’ll save it for whenever I feel unmotivated , so I can read it again to keep persistent. Thank you for sharing these invaluable tips!

  • Lisa @ Strum Simmer Sip

    Great post! One thing that helps me for workouts, similar to #1, is just signing up for exercise classes. Yes, they are more expensive than taking a run around the block, but I find that I am 1) more committed to going because I’ve already paid for it and 2) I work out way harder because someone is pushing me. I love your blog btw! I look forward to following.
    http://www.strumsimmersip.com

  • Cojo Graab

    I needed these tips, especially now, when I’m on Uni. I feel like doing nothing and really ofthen I feel donw:( You help me a lot!

  • Jean

    Great article! That’s exactly what I needed. Thank you! :)

  • Rosie Awcock

    Love this! I’m in my second year at university at the moment and I definitely know how it feels to always have Netflix on!

    I write a blog and it’s my way of relaxing when uni work gets all a bit too much!

    I’d love it if you had a look!
    http://www.rosieawcock.blogspot.co.uk

  • Jessica Mennie

    I love this post. Thank you so much for sharing. I am a procrastinator a lot of the time, but with so many goals I’m working towards I could use a bit of focus. Thanks for the tips!

    Jess X

    http://chasinglifeandme.blogspot.co.uk/

  • Annie

    Thank you for the reminders, I find “Controlling Perfectionism” especially challenging – because that often paralyzes me with my goals rather than encourage me in the right direction. Thanks for the tips :)

    Annie @ xoanna.org

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