5 ways to start “The Monday Diet”

Have you ever noticed that we are setting goals only to postpone them later? That we realize we want to achieve something, but instead settle in with the idea that at some point (in the distant future, why bother now?) we will start?

It is a frequent phenomenon of our time that people do not feel motivated enough to achieve their goals; that they postpone activities or actions that need to be done and then realize that a lot have been accumulated and they have no time. Our society is currently extremely complex and contains countless distractions to get us out of our goals. There is, therefore, a multitude of information and data that seem quite interesting, but are not important for our own goals. So, most of the people end up spending their time in pointless occupations and putting off for later the essential ones.

But how can this change so that everyone will wake up motivated to live the day to its fullest? The main feature that one should possess -it might sound simple but do not get fooled- is SELF-DISCIPLINE.

Therefore, I give you five ways to practice this feature and to get motivated to reach your goals.

Write down from the previous day what you want to do the next one, and keep order of priority

If you keep everything in your mind, you risk forgetting something you have to do. By writing down your thoughts, you get the pressure off your mind to remember everything and focus your thinking on how to accomplish it all in the optimal way and time. Once you become accustomed to writing down your obligations and goals for the next day, you can start doing it for the entire week, so that you have an idea if you can “squeeze” other things in or if your schedule is really overloaded.

Tip: Break the most demanding activities into subcategories and put a check mark next to each completed action.

Start your day productively

Many people tend to forget that not only the mind but also the body plays a key role in achieving our goals. It is our medium and as you would not leave your car without fuel or service, so our body needs to be fueled with proper food and exercise in order to be full of energy. So, set up a routine that includes nourishing nutrition and proper body care from the beginning of the day. Also, when you are dealing with an interesting occupation, do not forget to eat because later on you might feel an exhaustion that you think is the result of being transfixed onto one thing, but it really is due to the lack of energy in your body.

Tip: Start the day with a rich, nutritious breakfast and do not skip frequent meals during the day.

Put a limit on the time you spend on pointless activities

Nowadays, it is almost inevitable not to spend time on the Internet, on social media or on reading articles that have nothing to offer. While the Internet can be an excellent medium of motivation (through articles that concern us, data for our subject, similar groups of people, etc.), at the same time it functions as an “attention trap” in meaningless information. Then, it is essential to exert control over ourselves and consider whether the time we spend to find out about things that are practically useless for us, could pass more pleasantly if we were focusing on our hobby or if we met a friend we haven’t seen for a while. Real communication is the one that gives joy and cannot be replaced with the virtual one.

Tip: Download an application that times the amount of time you spend daily on pointless activities, and set a realistic daily limit that you can adjust to the optimal time you would like to be wasting.

Reward yourself when you achieve something, even small

Why are you so hard on yourself if something does not go the way you wanted it, but you do not reward yourself when things really go the way they should? Every day we achieve more goals than we can imagine without realizing it. Even a day that may seem ordinary, when you just woke up and went to your job and simply everything went well with nothing special occurring, is also a small conquest. Set continually new small goals to yourself and reward yourself when you succeed, so you will constantly be motivated to achieve more. In fact, because of these small daily goals, you will find yourself having achieved a BIG goal after some time, as the accumulation of small goals is nothing more than steps to achieving a major goal.

Tip: You can reward yourself with a massage, so that not only will you relax, but you will also help your body in assisting you to seize the day.

Do not be discouraged if you go off course

Nobody was born perfect; everything needs practicing. So, organizing your life and feeling constantly motivated is not a simple thing that happens from one day to another. Every person is different and needs to find his own pace to feel satisfied. It is important to recognize for yourself how you would like to live life and find out what really motivates you in order to make a plan that will bring you even closer to those standards. If you go out of your way somewhere along the track, you can just come back. Every day is an opportunity and, fortunately, for most, there is always a tomorrow to correct what we do not like and lay the foundations for a life that satisfies us.

Tip: Find sayings or mottos that inspire you and put them in a place that you can see them every day.

Ultimately, observing our own lives and seeing the things we could improve and the ways we could do it, is clearly a personal decision. Everyone can draw insights from the above 5 ways and adapt them to their own way of living. But to do this, one must first want to change something and that is the beginning. However, we often rest on our laurels because our environment and surroundings are no better than us in order to inspire us to become better. Indeed, we all have within us the potential to become much better than what we are; many simply never discover it because their environment is not pushing them to see this perspective. Thus, do not let others convince you that you do not need to constantly improve your life and set new goals, but motivate them to do the same while you continue on your route with patience and persistence. This time, I wish you to truly start on Monday!