Have you ever felt de-motivated and discouraged at any point in your life? We all have had at least one of those moments but I want to share some tips that have helped me encourage myself when I am feeling down about things.
First of all, it is perfectly normal to feel down when you are stressed. Events and unfavourable experiences can try to press out the motivation from you. These could be from your business, academics if you are a student, family, relationships, career, and so on.
You are not alone and many people have been able to come out of depressing feelings by motivating themselves. You too can.
While it is important to have someone you can always lay your head on when you are in some distress, you might not always have such a person by your side at all times. The good news is you can motivate/encourage yourself when you feel de-motivated using these helpful tips below.
10 Tips To Encourage Yourself When You Are Down
You can encourage yourself when you feel down or discouraged with the help of the following tips. Here are some helpful tips that have helped me in my blogging,
1. First, avoid getting seriously discouraged
The first step to keeping your sanity and staying strong is to know your breakpoint and avoid overstretching it. This involves taking care of yourself and resting when you need to.
The body is like an elastic spring. It can stretch many times its original length but when it gets to its breakpoint, it is difficult to recover its original position, or it can permanently break in the process.
Never let yourself get to your breakpoint because things can severely go wrong when you overstretch your body beyond what it can normally take. Practice self-care to relieve yourself when stressed, hungry, tired, or feeling discouraged.
2. Motivate yourself with your words
You have to deliberately train yourself to use positive words on yourself particularly when you feel exhausted. Many people resort to saying negative things about their lives and telling themselves that they have failed, with the hopes that someone would shun them and encourage them.
You can’t always rely on other people for motivation. Can you? This is why you need to use positive words when you feel de-motivated about life or an activity.
I personally practice this when I am feeling exhausted or tired to push on. Things like “I can do it”, “It is going to be fine”, “I will be fine”, and “It is well” can go a long way to restore your inner strength and hope to move on. Whichever you use, positive words have a way of infusing new strength into you when you feel weak and exhausted.
3. Go have some fun
Doing the same things over and over again can make it feel like you are not achieving results even when you are. The work becomes boring and uninteresting, such that you might lose your energy to keep going.
One of the best ways to motivate yourself when you are feeling down or tired is to go have some fun. Go out to see the movies, grab some food outside, or just do anything to take you away from the routine.
There are a lot of things you can do to have fun; the choice is yours. Doing things that make you happy and relaxed triggers your brain to release more happy hormones which are the ingredients that fuel your happiness and enthusiasm, giving you a sense of renewed energy.
4. Think about your dreams and goals
From my personal experiences, nothing motivates you better than thinking about your goals and what you hope to achieve in the future. However, the difference is in how you think about them.
Many people worry about not being able to achieve their dreams, and this makes them gas out when they don’t seem to be moving in the forward direction.
On the other hand, what you should be doing is seeing yourself achieving those dreams. Picturing yourself when you want to be can bring back your energy when you feel discouraged about life or work.
5. Acknowledge your small wins
When I look back at some of my little wins, it motivates me to do more. It makes me see that I can do all I put my mind to. This has been an agelong way to trick the brain into believing instead of doubting.
But it is not just some fake trick. It is real and it works. Many people are forced to think that only extraordinary people achieve great feats or do mighty things but that is not true. Acknowledging your small wins makes you see that you too can do great things like anyone else out there.
6. Accept it as a temporary situation
No matter how overwhelmed and demoralized you are at any phase of your life, you need to see that it is only a temporary situation. Things are not going to remain awful all the time.
Accepting those exhausting situations as temporary will motivate you to take action to endure and cope with the period of hardship or exhaustion. You will be more motivated to try some of these self-help tips written here to encourage yourself.
No matter how dim the tunnel is, there will always be light at its end. Trust the process.
7. Think positively
Whenever you feel like giving up, think positively about the future. Think about how great you will become if you persevere.
Every successful person has their own periods of setback and hopelessness. They only achieved success because they did not let the challenges cloud their positivity about the future. Staying optimistic is the key to forging ahead and achieving your dreams without giving up.
8. Turn to your hobbies
It is necessary to engage in an activity that makes you feel relaxed when you are feeling discouraged. Excessive stress can drain your mental batteries and make you feel down.
Hobbies are some ways to recharge your mental batteries. They make you feel relaxed and can also enhance your productivity. So when you are feeling down or demotivated at work, study, or otherwise, turn to your hobbies. They have a way of making you feel better and stronger.
9. Avoid the triggers
Many things are capable of making one feel down or demotivated. It could be related to unexpectedly low performance or productivity, it could be some difficulties or struggles you are not able to get over with.
These are known triggers of a feeling of helplessness, and it you keep finding difficulties with those activities, it might be time to take a break and do something else and return when you have recovered your energy.
10. Take a break
Avoiding the triggers is like taking a short break but sometimes, you need to do even better. When you are feeling mentally and emotionally tired, you should really get a break from everything for a while. Go on a vacation, get some sleep, or just something unrelated to work, study, or both.
These are tips I personally employ when I am feeling down. They help me recharge and more importantly, I soon begin to find inspiration to continue pursuing my dream.
It doesn’t last forever, and if you feel like giving up everything you have worked for, you might be making the greatest mistake ever made. Why give up or remain down when you have all it takes to rise and shine?
I will leave you with these last words, that whenever you feel down or when you feel like giving up, remember Jared Padalecki’s words “Always keep fighting“. There is always light at the end of the tunnel and what you currently experience is only a sign that you need to take some rest and try again later.
Be strong!
