Today’s Top 10 Tips was inspired by zenhabits.net. 

Loss of motivation can happen to anymore.  Whether it is for your goals or a project at work, these 10 tips will help you keep your energy to stay focused on your goals.

Do not forget to enter our contest this month – What Motivates You – and win some cool prizes.

Be Free!
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1.  One Goal
   Whenever I have been in a slump, I have discovered that it is often because I have too much going on in my life. I am trying to do too much. And it saps my energy and motivation. It is probably the most common mistake that people make: they try to take on too much, try to accomplish too many goals at once. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It is not possible — I have tried it many times. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. I know, that is hard. Still, I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal.
2. Find inspiration.
   Inspiration, for me, comes from others who have achieved what I want to achieve, or who are currently doing it. I read other blogs, books, magazines. I Google my goal, and read success stories.
3. Build anticipation.
   This is easy to do, but many people skip this tip. It helped me quit smoking after many failed attempts. If you find inspiration and want to do a goal, do not start right away. Many of us will get excited and want to start today. That is a mistake. Set a date in the future — a week or two, or even a month — and make that your Start Date. Mark it on the calendar. Get excited about that date. Make it the most important date in your life. In the meantime, start writing out a plan. And do some of the steps below. By delaying your start, you are building anticipation, and increasing your focus and energy for your goal.
4. Post your goal.
   Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (”Exercise 15 mins. Daily”), and post it up on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal, to keep your focus and keep your excitement going. A picture of your goal (like a model with sexy abs, for example) also helps.
5. Commit publicly.
   None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we have said publicly. For example, when I wanted to run my first marathon, I started writing a column about it in my local daily newspaper. The entire island of Guam (pop. 160K) knew about my goal. I couldn’t back down, and even though my motivation came and went, I stuck with it and completed it. Now, you do not have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers. And hold yourself accountable — do not just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.
6. Think about it daily.
   If you think about your goal every day, it is much more likely to become true. To this end, posting the goal on your wall or computer desktop (as mentioned above) helps a lot. Sending yourself daily reminders also helps. And if you can commit to doing one small thing to further your goal (even just 5 minutes) every single day, your goal will almost certainly come true.
7. Realize that there is an ebb and flow.
   Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes, and comes and goes again, like the tide. But realize that while it may go away, it does not do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out and wait for that motivation to come back. In the meantime, read about your goal, ask for help, and do some of the other things listed here until your motivation comes back.
8. Stick with it.
   Whatever you do, do not give up. Even if you are not feeling any motivation today, or this week, do not give up. Again, that motivation will come back. Think of your goal as a long journey, and your slump is just a little bump in the road. You ca not give up with every little bump. Stay with it for the long term, ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows, and you will get there.
9. Start small.
   Really small. If you are having a hard time getting started, it may be because you are thinking too big. If you want to exercise, for example, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No — instead, do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do 2 minutes of exercise. I know, that sounds wimpy. But it works. Commit to 2 minutes of exercise for one week. You may want to do more, but just stick to 2 minutes. It is so easy, you can’t fail. Do it at the same time, every day. Just some crunches, 2 pushups, and some jogging in place. Once you have done 2 minutes a day for a week, increase it to 5, and stick with that for a week. In a month, you’ll be doing 15-20. Want to wake up early? Do not think about waking at 5 a.m. Instead, think about waking 10 minutes earlier for a week. That’s all. Once you’ve done that, wake 10 minutes earlier than that. Baby steps.
10. Build on small successes.
    Again, if you start small for a week, you’re going to be successful. You can not fail if you start with something ridiculously easy. Who can not exercise for 2 minutes? (If that’s you, I apologize.) And you will feel successful, and good about yourself. Take that successful feeling and build on it, with another baby step. Add 2-3 minutes to your exercise routine, for example. With each step (and each step should last about a week), you will feel even more successful. Make each step really, really small, and you won’t fail. After a couple of months, your tiny steps will add up to a lot of progress and a lot of success.

For more tips, read the original article by Leo Babauta at:
http://zenhabits.net/2007/08/get-off-your-butt-16-ways-to-get-motivated-when-youre-in-a-slump