3 Hacks to Stay Motivated
Planning for a long-term goal, while super important, feels remote for many people, check out my earlier post about meeting your future self. To stay motivated, I reward myself on a daily, monthly and yearly basis:
DAILY
A long-term health goal of mine is weighing in and maintaining a svelte 169 pounds. To get there I workout at Crossfit 2/week, play basketball and soccer 2/week, and practice intermittent fasting with an eating window between noon - 6pm. Meaning, I dont eat between the 6pm and noon the next day. Fasting helps me reach my weight goal, saves me lots of money and makes me realize I am tough enough not to constantly feed my urges. And it allows me to reward myself — when my eating window is open I treat myself to food I really like (thank you to the current ramen craze).
Monthly
One of my bedrock beliefs is “loving my friends and family.” It’s important to me that I have families come over to our house for Sunday Supper. I cook, the kids run around, and the adults mill about drinking wine, discussing football, the latest Netflix show and Decatur City Schools. For me, wine is a key element of Sunday Supper. I can’t deal with the uncertainty of randomly selecting bottles at the local wine shop. So each month, if I have met my business goals, I treat myself to 6 wines from Garagiste. Jon Rimmerman is the curator of Garagiste and he is all about value and honesty in wine making. I’m a big fan. With wine tucked away in the cellar, I am more likely to kick off the next Sunday Supper.
Yearly
Each month on payday, before we can spend it, we set aside a chunk of cash into a savings account for an awesome ski vacation and the kid’s sleep away camp. The ski trip gets us away from the daily grind, and allows us to team up against the mountain, working together and having a blast. Sending the boys away to summer camp serves two big goals for our family: 1. it teaches the boys independence and 2. it allows Jenn and I to connect and build on OUR relationship. We enjoy this without charging up a credit card by saving throughout the year.
Celebrate the baby steps
The bigger the the goal, the longer it will take to reach. You’ve got to reward yourself along the way to stay motivated. Enjoy life each day, but remember that the difference between a goal and a dream are the action steps you take.
Let’s talk about the hacks you use to keep yourself motivated through the year! A long-term plan is of minimal value, if you don’t have short-term games, that keep you motivated to play the long game. Schedule a quick chat today.