Lisaveta Ramotar believes that in order to stay motivated it is important to have meaningful goals to work toward. She says, “It is pretty difficult to always be motivated all of the time, just randomly.” In fact, she is of the opinion that motivation should be tied intimately to goal setting. Lisa Ramotar asserts that by having meaningful goals that are being worked towards, a person will find the necessary internal strength and perseverance. Lisaveta says, “Having meaningful goals gives you that strength to persevere even when you don’t want to. Based on my own life experiences, I have found that as I have small achievements I become more motivated and more importantly, my confidence grows.” Here, Lisa Ramotar discusses what works for her and the methods she recommends for staying motivated.
The first thing Lisaveta Ramotar recommends is setting what she calls meaningful goals. These are goals that invoke passion, that allows for some long-term vision to be realised and just makes a person want to jump out of bed. Lisa Ramotar believes that all goals should ultimately lead to some major purpose or feed into a person’s life goals and by keeping that in mind Lisaveta says “You definitely will get that motivation to push forward”. As such, she says, “Even if the activities are monotonous, by recalling the reason they are being pursued and how they contribute to a person’s overall greater purpose goals, that the activities themselves can build the necessary motivation to move forward.”
Secondly, Lisaveta Ramotar says, it is important to realize that we are human. “It’s natural to make mistakes,” she says, “the important thing is to continue learning from those mistakes.” She states that mistakes can always be turned into learning opportunities. Lisa Ramotar stresses that, “you should take notes and think of where you made the errors; what could you have done differently and what the learning opportunity was from the mistake”. Lisaveta says she doesn’t beat herself up about a mistake if a lesson can come from it.
Thirdly, Lisaveta Ramotar says, “A person is bound to feel down but it’s important to figure out where that feeling is coming from.” She says that we should all recognise that these are circumstances that happen to everybody. Having a bad day can cause anybody to feel ‘blue’, she says. “There are times when external circumstances just get me down but what is important is that, as soon as I recognize it, I change my attitude towards it.” She insists that it is important to recognize that, “even if I cannot control the situation, I can at least control my reaction to it”.
“If I’m able to, I take action,” Lisa Ramotar says. “If there’s something I need to do, I’ll do it. Action helps me keep moving in the right direction and it helps with motivation.” Lisaveta Ramotar says, “This includes doing things that I have procrastinated on as it helps me feel better about myself.” Sometimes, Lisaveta adds that taking action can consist of doing just the smallest things. If there is a report to be written, a small action can begin with writing an outline, and then take another small step, then another. Or if a person has been procrastinating on some renovations, a small action could be perhaps moving the furniture, then picking colors for the wall, and then continuing to build on these small achievements.
Other times she points out it may also be necessary to get out of your current environment by changing location, even if just temporarily. This can be recharging to your motivation and the build will continue. There are times she recommends distractions, something recreational, like watching a movie, meeting up with friends, or even going for a quiet walk. Lisaveta Ramotar says that it is also important to have someone to share thoughts and feelings with. “Having close relationships is great, just by talking to someone, exchanging views and feelings, can help in pulling yourself up when you’re feeling down,” Lisa Ramotar adds.
Finally, Lisa Ramotar says it helps when she reminds herself of all of the accomplishments she has had so far and recommends that a person thinks of all their big and small achievements. By examining each of these achievements, a person can see how they found the grit and motivation needed to move forward. Another thing Lisaveta Ramotar recommends is gratitude journals After all, there is a reason gratitude journals are popular. “When I’m thankful, it changes the energy around me,” says Lisa. Just writing thoughts on paper can help a person get proper perspective on things, she says. At the end Lisa Ramotar highlights, “if it’s not going to matter a year from now, it really wasn’t worth worrying about in the first place.”
