Clutterbugs: My Top 5 Motivational Ideas
I think the hardest part of making any kind of lifestyle change is motivating yourself to stick with it. It doesn't matter if you are trying to lose weight, clean up your house, be a better parent, employee, or whatever, motivation definitely seems to be the key to success.
I don't pretend to be any kind of expert on the subject, but I have picked up some pretty good tips on the subject over the years. Here are some of the best tips I use to motivate myself:
1. Don't break the chain. This one is simple to do, but very powerful. Get a calendar and mark an X on it for the first day you are successful in using your new behavior. On the second day, add another X and draw a line linking them together. If you don't do your behavior on the third day, you have to start a new chain on the fourth day. What you are doing is competing with yourself to see how many consecutive days you can get for your chain. It's surprisingly motivating.
2. Picture the prize. I love this one because it's so visual. Works well for both kids and adults. Decide on a reward - whatever you feel is appropriate for about a month's worth of progress towards your goal. Can be an outfit, dinner at a restaurant, a CD, whatever you can afford. The find a nice full-color picture of the item and cut it into about 30 numbered pieces. You stick them in an envelope. Every time you have a good day towards your goal, you earn a piece of the picture. When the picture is complete, you have earned the prize.
3. Set a financial penalty. I got this one from my former pastor. He was like any other father, sometimes he would get mad and yell at his kids and he wanted to change that behavior. So, he decided that he would have to pay them a dollar any time he yelled at them. He had four kids and a pastor's salary, so this was a really good incentive for him to change his behavior. Another version I've heard is to give money to a cause you really dislike. That could be a very good motivator, but you've got to have someone to act as a referee to keep you honest and make sure you actually follow through on your donation or pay your penalty.
4. This brings me to motivator #4 - Enlist a Coach or an accountability partner. This one is a little bit tricky because you have to find someone who is willing to be a little bit mean to you, or at least very strict with you. You don't want a person who is going to cut you a break or let you off the hook. I have a co-worker who has agreed to do this for me and my plan to take better control of my work hours. She hasn't had to yell at me yet because I've been doing really well for these first two weeks, but she has been checking in with me every day and praising me for the good job I'm doing on it and I know she will get on my case if I start slipping up.
5. The flip side of this is to get a partner to reward you rather than yell at you. I did this for my husband when he had been dragging his feet on finishing up some household projects. I had a $20 giftcard to his favorite restaurant that I'd won somewhere, so I tacked it up on the fridge with a note that if he completed the projects by the end of the week, he could have the giftcard to enjoy a nice lunch. The projects got done in record time. One of my clients tried this with great success. Her husband had been after her to clean out their guest room for weeks. She asked him if he would take her out to dinner if she completed the project. He said he would be delighted to. She completed the project in just a few hours and then they enjoyed a nice dinner together, so it was definitely a win-win situation for both of them.
6. If you are really serious about change - I have a bonus tip for you. I am the queen of self help books. I have a whole shelf full of them, along with videos, CD's and audio tapes from every motivational expert under the sun. However, the best one I have found so far is a new book called Change Anything. It is by the author of Influencer, The Power to Change the World. Influencer is also a terrific book, but it deals with large scale situations like preventing AIDS, prison reform, and eradicating diseases in 3rd world countries. Change Anything is more directed towards personal change like losing weight, stopping smoking, etc. They came and spoke at a luncheon I was at and they showed some videos about their program that really impressed me. You can view them for yourself at Changeanything.com.
I hope these ideas will help you. Be sure and drop me a line to let me know how you are getting on with it. Or if you have any great ideas to share also. I'd love to hear them. I am always interested in more great motivational ideas.
By TwitterButtons.com
I don't pretend to be any kind of expert on the subject, but I have picked up some pretty good tips on the subject over the years. Here are some of the best tips I use to motivate myself:
1. Don't break the chain. This one is simple to do, but very powerful. Get a calendar and mark an X on it for the first day you are successful in using your new behavior. On the second day, add another X and draw a line linking them together. If you don't do your behavior on the third day, you have to start a new chain on the fourth day. What you are doing is competing with yourself to see how many consecutive days you can get for your chain. It's surprisingly motivating.
2. Picture the prize. I love this one because it's so visual. Works well for both kids and adults. Decide on a reward - whatever you feel is appropriate for about a month's worth of progress towards your goal. Can be an outfit, dinner at a restaurant, a CD, whatever you can afford. The find a nice full-color picture of the item and cut it into about 30 numbered pieces. You stick them in an envelope. Every time you have a good day towards your goal, you earn a piece of the picture. When the picture is complete, you have earned the prize.
3. Set a financial penalty. I got this one from my former pastor. He was like any other father, sometimes he would get mad and yell at his kids and he wanted to change that behavior. So, he decided that he would have to pay them a dollar any time he yelled at them. He had four kids and a pastor's salary, so this was a really good incentive for him to change his behavior. Another version I've heard is to give money to a cause you really dislike. That could be a very good motivator, but you've got to have someone to act as a referee to keep you honest and make sure you actually follow through on your donation or pay your penalty.
4. This brings me to motivator #4 - Enlist a Coach or an accountability partner. This one is a little bit tricky because you have to find someone who is willing to be a little bit mean to you, or at least very strict with you. You don't want a person who is going to cut you a break or let you off the hook. I have a co-worker who has agreed to do this for me and my plan to take better control of my work hours. She hasn't had to yell at me yet because I've been doing really well for these first two weeks, but she has been checking in with me every day and praising me for the good job I'm doing on it and I know she will get on my case if I start slipping up.
5. The flip side of this is to get a partner to reward you rather than yell at you. I did this for my husband when he had been dragging his feet on finishing up some household projects. I had a $20 giftcard to his favorite restaurant that I'd won somewhere, so I tacked it up on the fridge with a note that if he completed the projects by the end of the week, he could have the giftcard to enjoy a nice lunch. The projects got done in record time. One of my clients tried this with great success. Her husband had been after her to clean out their guest room for weeks. She asked him if he would take her out to dinner if she completed the project. He said he would be delighted to. She completed the project in just a few hours and then they enjoyed a nice dinner together, so it was definitely a win-win situation for both of them.
6. If you are really serious about change - I have a bonus tip for you. I am the queen of self help books. I have a whole shelf full of them, along with videos, CD's and audio tapes from every motivational expert under the sun. However, the best one I have found so far is a new book called Change Anything. It is by the author of Influencer, The Power to Change the World. Influencer is also a terrific book, but it deals with large scale situations like preventing AIDS, prison reform, and eradicating diseases in 3rd world countries. Change Anything is more directed towards personal change like losing weight, stopping smoking, etc. They came and spoke at a luncheon I was at and they showed some videos about their program that really impressed me. You can view them for yourself at Changeanything.com.
I hope these ideas will help you. Be sure and drop me a line to let me know how you are getting on with it. Or if you have any great ideas to share also. I'd love to hear them. I am always interested in more great motivational ideas.
By TwitterButtons.com 
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