How to rediscover your motivation

By Karina Taylee

Editor's note: This story was updated on June 17, 2021 to reflect recent updates.

With Summer B around the corner and FIU's return to face-to-face classes and on-campus events and activities, getting back one's mojo after a long time away can be tough. Here are suggestions from the Healthy Living Program’s (HLP) Health Educators Victoria Gonzalez and Selena Sifontes to build up your motivation.

image courtesy of Canvas

Set SMART goals

Goals are most effective when they are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) and “completely catered to you and your needs…not trying to meet anybody else’s expectations,” Gonzalez says.

Specific - defines exactly what you want to achieve

Measurable - has clear progress checks

Achievable - fits with your lifestyle

Realistic - is in line with your skills

Time-bound - has a deadline

image courtesy of Canvas

Get clear and creative

Once your SMART goals are set, identify the desire behind your goals. Journaling provides a place for your reflections while you focus on taking action. Begin journaling by identifying your WHY:

• How will you feel when meeting this goal?
• Who will be proud of your success?
• Does this goal lead to something bigger?

Given current circumstances, you may find your environment no longer accommodates your goals. Feel free to explore:

• Can I tailor my goals to my situation?
• How can I get excited about trying new things?
• Can I look forward to meeting these goals?
• Who is my support system?

Finding the root cause

By utilizing the wheel of wellness on the HLP website, you can determine if you are meeting your needs which can lower motivation.

The Eight Dimensions of Wellness are:

• Physical - your body’s needs (sleep, nutrition and exercise).
• Social - spending time with loved ones, even virtually.
• Occupational - satisfaction with school or work.
• Financial - your monetary skills.
• Emotional - your relationship with your emotions. If you struggle with this, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) does remote appointments through their website. 
• Intellectual - stimulating your mind.
• Spiritual - your sense of purpose, enhanced by practices like meditation and prayer.
• Environmental - taking care of your surroundings.

image courtesy of Canvas

Keeping the motivation

Staying consistent with healthy and grounding habits are crucial to meeting your goals.

• A mindful morning routine sets you up for productivity, explains Sifontes.
• Develop a support system by “surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals…that also practice healthy behaviors… [and] are working toward a similar goal,” Sifontes adds.
• Positive reinforcement, like rewards at milestones, can keep you on track.

Affirmations and visualizations

Meditation, affirmation and visualization are tools to help you maintain your momentum.

When doing visualizations:

• Envision yourself achieving your goal, having already taken the necessary steps.
• Note how reaching this goal feels.
• Fill your visualization to the brim with detail.
• Adopt the behaviors of your envisioned self.

Affirmations are positive mantras which help create a useful mindset. “Fake it till you make it, and you become it. If we can shift our beliefs from limiting ones, to empowering ones, you are halfway there,” Gonzalez says.

Sifontes recommends writing and putting affirmations somewhere you will see them every day. She adds that,  “By repeating [positive] affirmations, we are helping it sink into the subconscious mind which will...help trigger action and bring to life what it is that you are affirming.”

You can choose a more specific or general affirmation.

• I inhale confidence and exhale fear.
• I dream. I believe. I receive.
• I have what it takes to be successful.

Starting a new semester is always tough, especially given current events, but having these methods in mind can make it easier when you feel you’ve lost sight of your overarching purpose. Watch the Healthy Living Program workshop in its entirety and get your mojo back!