How to Self-Motivate

We all have moments where our motivation has gone on vacation and left us with an uninspiring to do list, right? In recent years I have noticed more people are asking me for help on how to get motivated. And in the warmer Michigan months I simply want to be at Lake Michigan all day long which can impact my motivation!!!!

We live in a stressful, distracted, information overloaded world all of which can smother our motivation. So if you struggle with motivation, you are not alone and I totally get it.

#MindsetShift: Did you know that motivation does not come from outside of you?  It comes from within you.

It comes from a thought that you created, which then creates a feeling and an action and a result. Maybe the thought was “I don’t know what step to take next,” which created the feeling of discouragement, defeat, or shame, which created the action of non-action, and the result was not taking any step toward your goal and declaring “I have no motivation.” 

I love to give my clients and students the example of listening to a motivational speaker. You get so ramped up with excited energy that you believe “I’m going to CRUSH THIS!!!!” You are totally on fire! And then the next day you are back to your normal life and habits, lacking motivation, and that goal you were going to achieve is sitting in a box called “Unmotivated.” So what happened?

Whether it’s a motivational speaker, a blog post, a podcast or a movie that motivates you, the motivating energy in that moment is coming from someone else. When that person is gone, it is difficult to sustain that motivated energy because it was not your energy. It is this energy that causes us to follow people on social media, listen to their podcasts or YouTube videos so that the person’s motivational energy is in our daily lives. But it’s not sustainable. Because if all you do is spend time listening to these motivational people, when do you have the time to work on your goal?

#MindsetShift: Motivation must be a fire that comes from within you.

This is why self-motivation is the goal. Otherwise you will not be able to sustain it.

So how can you self-motivate to achieve a goal?

Here are some tips that have worked for me over the years:

  • Change your thought about being unmotivated. I learned this process of breaking down a block from one of my amazing coaches and it REALLY works! Instead of having the thought that you are unmotivated, what if you changed it to “I know one step I can take toward achieving my goal.” That creates a feeling of empowerment and focus to take action to do that one thing. And the result is that you feel good and joyful about what you did. And then you do it over and over again. We can change our thoughts at any time … we just have to be proactive about it and decide to do it.
  • Make a decision and commit that you will take daily steps toward your goal. For any goal, there are usually just a few steps that must be taken daily which will compound. Write down those goals and put them in a place where you will see them daily. And then DO THEM! When you take steps based on how you are feeling or whether you have time in your schedule, it is easy to make excuses and not take the steps. When you decide and commit, you will take the steps even if you do not feel your best and have limited time. Commit to daily action! This will compound and you will find the momentum that invariably will excite you and keep the fire going. And that internal excitement of fire is motivating.
  • Do not worry if you have not found your why. You may think that if you have a strong “why” it will motivate you into action. While it may be partially true, I can tell you that a “why” is not the be-all and end-all to achieving a goal. There have been many goals I have successfully achieved without even thinking about the why. 
  • Focus on what brings you joy. When you enjoy the steps toward achieving a goal, that will light the fire in you and keep you motivated. It’s self-motivation lit from within even if you have not found your why! Find the joy in the steps toward your goal and do those every day!
  • Change your words. Do you post about how unmotivated you are? Do you criticize and shame yourself for not being motivated? Stop that! You’re being really hard on yourself and that will throw water on your fire and zap your motivation. Speak life into your goal and into yourself. Stop yourself every time you say “I am not motivated” and change it to “I am taking a step toward my goal.” Encourage yourself with positive words because words have energy. Place your hand on your throat when you speak words and you will feel the vibrational energy. Be mindful of this. Put words and energy out of what you want, not what you don’t want.
  • Smell calming & focusing essential oils. Citrus oils are amazing to calm the mind and focus it at the same time. If your mind is bouncing all over the place and cannot settle down to figure out the next step, that will impact your motivation. This is when essential oils like Orange, Tangerine, and Lemon can help to calm the monkey mind so you can focus. My Young Living favorite blends are Citrus Fresh and Peace & Calming to refocus my mind and get my thoughts back on tract. And then Abundance topically applied on the bottom of my feet (to motivate my steps with an abundant mindset) and Motivation topically applied over my solar plexus and in the diffuser while I work. They really work.
  • Raise your frequency with self-motivating crystals like Carnelian, Citrine, and Stellar Beam Calcite are all amazing self-motivation crystals. When I am working on something and need to stay very motivated, I will sit on them. Seriously! I put them in between my legs in my office chair. Or put the crystals in your pockets or bra! Wowsa, it really works!
  • Stop seeking motivation outside of yourself. When you are not motivated you do not need another book, another training program, or another pep talk. You do not need to waste time scrolling through social media looking for a motivational hit or another “you can do it” post. Those will give you short-term boosts in motivation. When you can focus on motivating yourself with the suggestions listed above, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

So when you are feeling unmotivated, give these ideas a try to light that fire inside of you. And please post a comment to let me know what worked for you or if you have another suggestion of what helps you that may help someone else!

 

About Allie Phillips:

My name is Allie Phillips and I like proof, not fluff! I am a Certified Health Coach, Life/Law of Attraction Mindset Coach, Usui Reiki Master-Teacher, Integrated Energy Therapy Master-Instructor, Advanced Crystal Master, Universal energy educator, Young Living Essential Oil Brand Partner Leader (#1414338), and an Attorney. I believe in empowering people with education that is well-researched, easy to understand and implement with many options for success, and with experience that it works. My passion is blending all of my expertise together as a Holistic Wellness Coach to help people and pets stay well and thrive in our changing world.  I am the author of The Oily Pet and The Oily Crystal and have written several award-winning animal protection books and publications. As an animal & family protection attorney who is an internationally recognized educator on prosecuting family violence and animal abuse cases, and the Founder/CEO of Sheltering Animals & Families Together (SAF-T)®, I love helping animal companions live safely and with wellness because for those of us who have them grace our worlds, they are our soul mates. 

Be sure to check out my wellness workshops happening every month!

Check out my energy healing certification classes! 

Join in on the fun!

Essential Oils & Crystals for a Positive Mindset

Recently my essential oil group spent a month focusing on how to shift from a negative to a positive mindset. Our inner feelings and beliefs dominate our mindset. When we can identify the underlying feeling or belief, we can then start the shift from a negative to positive mindset.

These are some of our favorite essential oils and crystals to help us shift.

Shifting from overwhelm to motivated

We live in a world with a lot of noise and information overload. It can be so much that we feel smothered and weighed down which can create apathy and numbness. These are our favorites:

  • Magnify Your Purpose blend = Overwhelm can set in when you have lost your purpose. Smell this oil and let it get you back on track with your purpose.
  • Motivation blend = This was a team favorite and the name says it all! When you smell it or diffuse it, you will be amazed at what you get done.
  • Sacred Mountain blend = When you can calm and ground yourself, you can begin to re-energize and move out of the mindset of overwhelm.
  • Crystals I love for motivation are Celestite (helps calm when overwhelmed), Clear Quartz (amplifies your energy field simply by holding it) and Stellar Beam (Dog Tooth) Calcite (very high vibrational energy to get moving).

Shifting from worry & fear to strength & courage

Worry and fear are feelings of scarcity, lack, disempowerment, panic, and despair. All you are doing is traumatizing yourself about something in the future that has not and likely will not happen. Worry stores in the stomach as powerlessness and fear stores in the kidneys. These emotions will lower you in to a frequency where dis-ease can take root. So don’t go there! These are our favorites:

  • Valor blend = When we worry and are consumed with fear, we simply need to find our confidence and courage. Valor helps to shift your energy to get back on track.
  • Abundance blend = Abundance is an energy and mindset. It is about shifting to see all that you have in your life and that your glass is overflowing! When you see that, fear and worry melt away.
  • Present Time blend = When you are present, everything is perfect in that moment. Do not let your mindset get stuck in the past or worried and afraid of the future. This is a very calming blend that really helps to focus on being present.
  • Crystals I love for courage are Black Tourmaline (grounding and strength), Celestite (releases negative patterns of fear and worry) and Dumortierite (calming strength and courage).

Shifting from anger to forgiveness

Have you felt a lot of anger floating around in the air? Sometimes the anger that gets into our energy is actually not our own. But it still can still cause havoc in our body. Anger stores itself in our liver, and resentment in the spleen. When anger is not processed it can result in bitterness, intolerance, and settle into resentment … more toxic emotions for our poor body to deal with. These are our favorites:

  • Release blend = When you are ready to let go of toxic feelings and mindset. Topically apply over your liver and then deeply inhale it while saying “I release all negativity from body, mind and spirit”.
  • Forgiveness blend = As Mark Twain said, “”Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Forgiveness is beautiful once you find it. When you smell this blend it can bring you into a higher awareness and vibrational frequency to the point where you can let go and move on. Topically apply over your heart and then deeply inhale while saying “I am thankful for life’s experiences and the lessons they teach.”
  • Humility blend = Humility is the step after forgiveness so that we can learn and transform. It keeps you sweet and strong no matter what is happening around you.
  • Crystals I love for forgiveness are Blue Lace Agate (calming), Rose Quartz (forgiving) and Rutilated Quartz (let go of the past hurts).

Shifting from loneliness to self-love

Did you know that the remedy to loneliness is self-love? Lack of self-love can come from unresolved grief and when grief is not processed and released it can lead to depression. When you are comfortable hanging out with yourself, your thoughts, and engaging in self-care and personal development during isolation, you are less likely to feel lonely. These are our favorites:

  • Frankincense = Simply smelling this oil can get your energy moving. It is my favorite when missing a person, pet or lifestyle, to restore faith, to ground and uplift. It is also soothing for moments of unworthiness and loneliness.
  • White Angelica blend = You will want to slather all over yourself (your pets). I call it the Wrapped-In-A-Warm-Blanket Oil and the All-Is-Well oil. It is like being wrapped in love. It feels protective so that you do not feel the need to isolate. I love to use it with abused and shelter pets.
  • Hope blend = Hope is a good start with when it comes to deep emotional healing. Because other than love, we all need hope. When you combine the energy of Melissa for those who are highly sensitive with the deep grounding and empowerment of Juniper, Myrrh and Black Spruce, you find Hope! It is my go-to for deep emotions that need to be released. It will help you keep moving forward one day at a time.
  • Crystals I love for self-love are Citrine (happy vibe crystal), Lepidolite (contains lithium to pull out of grief and sadness) and Rose Quartz (self-love).

And always remember … Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.

 

About Allie Phillips:

My name is Allie Phillips and I like proof, not fluff! I am a Certified Health Coach, Life/Law of Attraction Mindset Coach, Usui Reiki Master-Teacher, Integrated Energy Therapy Master-Instructor, Advanced Crystal Master, Universal energy educator, Young Living Essential Oil Brand Partner Leader (#1414338), and an Attorney. I believe in empowering people with education that is well-researched, easy to understand and implement with many options for success, and with experience that it works. My passion is blending all of my expertise together as a Holistic Wellness Coach to help people and pets stay well and thrive in our changing world.  I am the author of The Oily Pet and The Oily Crystal and have written several award-winning animal protection books and publications. As an animal & family protection attorney who is an internationally recognized educator on prosecuting family violence and animal abuse cases, and the Founder/CEO of Sheltering Animals & Families Together (SAF-T)®, I love helping animal companions live safely and with wellness because for those of us who have them grace our worlds, they are our soul mates. 

Be sure to check out my wellness workshops happening every month!

Check out my energy healing certification classes! 

Join in on the fun!