Knowing how to stay motivated and love your job doesn’t always come easy — but these 10 tips are sure to help!
Two questions I get often:
- How do you stay motivated?
- How do you find a job you love?
Now that’s not to stay there aren’t days when I want to hide away. Yes. Lord knows those days exist — for EVERYONE! Beyoncé herself probably has moments where she too doesn’t want to get out bed to be the magical performer that she is. It happens to everyone!
The good news, though? When you find your way to a job you love — those bad days come further and further apart.
So today I want to tackle a conversation surrounding motivation as follow-up to an earlier article on how to stay focused in the workplace. If I can help with anything, it’s letting my own life experiences help others hopefully learn and stay on track!
From years of practice, I’ve become quite good at self-motivation in and out of the office and I’m sharing my best tips on how to stay motivated and love your job. While my profession focuses on marketing and digital communications, I promise these 10 tips below can help you — no matter what professional field you’re in.
On that note, let’s GO! GO! GO!
How to Stay Motivated and Love Your Job!
FOLLOW YOUR PASSION AND INSTINCT — NOT YOUR BANK ACCOUNT
When choosing a “career” – always go for the option that makes you feel excited! Sometimes that means a big paycheck, sometimes it does not. But the most valuable thing and my #1 tip for how to stay motivated and love your job is to choose one that you enjoy.
The 40-hour work week is one most of us will be living for a very large part of adulthood. To make that time as pleasant and most rewarding for yourself as possible, lean into the idea that doing GREAT at something you LOVE is far better than just doing okay at something you HATE.
TALK AND LISTEN TO YOUR PEERS
Stay connected and brainstorm with peers in your field. This is such a simple idea – but one that is so often overlooked!
And no, I do not mean socializing with your coworkers over the Real Housewives of Bravo or Monday Night Football. The idea here is to connect those who are in a similar role within your current organization as well as with outside companies. Not only will connecting with like-mined people help you stay motivated, it will also help you learn and grow professionally through their experiences. LinkedIn is probably the number one resource online to build your professional network. Join groups related to your field and seek out Podcasts on relevant topics.
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR LEADERS
Know someone whose career you admire? Follow them.
And no, not just on LinkedIn – but their behaviors and actions. Much like a toddler learning the ropes of life, observe and model. Examine this person’s work strategy and evaluate how you can implement it within your own career. Watching them kick-butt in the workplace is not just an excellent option for knowing how to stay motivated but it can also fuel professional successes of your own!
CREATE THE JOB YOU LOVE
Sometimes, to find the job you love — you have to CREATE the job you love.
I have a lot of love for my 9-to-5 career in marketing, but at the end of the day I felt like something more was needed. From that space, I founded DreaminLace to further channel my love of digital communications as well as my passion for style and beauty. A side-hustle of sorts is becoming so very common and is something I highly recommend exploring if you have a second passion you’d like to explore!
Like photography? Advertise on your social platforms that you’re now accepting freelance work opportunities for evening or weekend shoots. Are you an artist of any kind? Open and Etsy shop to sell your creations. The internet really has created so much opportunity for you to explore your passions – whatever they may be!
NEVER GIVE UP
Sounds obvious, but I’ve worked with a LOT of quitters in my day and I think we all agree quitters never get ahead. In fact, they pretty much get no where.
It might be the most obvious choice but a big part of knowing how to stay motivated means you simply never let yourself give up. Do something little by little, every single day — to keep moving forward.
KEEP UP YOUR ATTITUDE, ALWAYS
Number one thing that can sink you faster than the Titanic? A bad attitude.
A positive attitude is essentially mandatory for success because it’s what will get you through the tough moments — and those are bound to arise no matter what industry you’re in. If you don’t believe you can, you can’t. If you don’t believe you should do it – you won’t. And when constructive criticism comes your way, look at it as a free learning opportunity to do better next time.
Swallow, breathe, smile and try again.
SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE WORK OF OTHERS
Whenever you’re feeling most overwhelmed or uninspired, I recommend taking a breather.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the work of someone else for a while. This tip goes back to connecting with your peers, but beyond talking with them — take time to appreciate the work they are putting out. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll start feeling freshly motivated to get back to it.
Let others inspire you to be your best self!
ACCEPT THE HARDSHIPS — AND FAILURES
The sooner you can accept that the hardships aren’t going to change and that failures are going to happen — the sooner you can move on. No career or business is perfect. Everything comes with its pitfalls. The key is to hold steady and keep moving forward.
SET GOALS!!
Goals are essential for success and keeping you on track! They’re also an extremely helpful way to stay motivated as the progress you catch yourself making will inspire you to keep going.
Rather than annual goals, I prefer to focus on setting priorities for the day, week, month and quarter. As you meet these goals, think of them as mini milestones on the way to further success!! And if you need help mapping things out, I really cannot recommend the Full Focus Planner enough. It’s excellent and forces you to consistently refocus yourself.
CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES
Lastly, when you achieve a goal: celebrate it!!
This will be a great way to avoid burnout but also give you an important time out to reward yourself (and team if you have one) on a job well done. I’m a firm believer that success is the lifeblood of future success. It drives you further and further ahead.
How do you keep yourself motivated at work?
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Stay stylish and chase your dreams!
XOXO
Kelly
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emilytrinh says
I totally agree with all these points, especially the first one. Too many people choose careers based on the income (which is important as well), but end up in a job that doesn’t make them happy. I am so glad that I chose to complete an arts degree instead where I can hopefully find a full-time job that makes me excited to go to work every day!
http://www.emilytrinh.com
DreamInLace says
Yes, I can’t believe how many people I know that dread their jobs every day. I can’t imagine living like that 🙁
Eliza Armand says
I’m totally agree with all, that you’ve said, but not with this one – Follow Your Leaders.
I think you have to be a Leader by your own, first of all, and be unique, not to follow someone, but let the people follow you.
Cheers, Eliza | http://www.fashion-confession.com
DreamInLace says
Oh yes, definitely you have to be your own person!. To me, admiring someone’s work and modeling great behaviors doesn’t make you not your own person. There’s only one you, me, him, her, etc. Many great leaders share similar qualities 🙂