5 Tips for Staying Motivated!
Sometimes, our life as a dog mom may start to slow down too much and make you feel tired, unmotivated and a little stressed even. You might feel like you’re not moving forward towards any goals or desires you have set up for yourself, or it feels like there is negativity constantly around you and making you feel down.
It’s during these times that getting motivated to set goals and reach them can be really challenging. As hard as it may be to get started, it’s important to follow through on the things you want to do. Here are a few tips to try and get your gears going again and have you back to your motivated self so that both you and your dog can do the things you love together.
1. Set Realistic Goals
You may have heard this before, but setting SMART goals can help keep you organized and be more efficient on how you approach different achievements. You can use SMART goals not only for long term goals but for smaller ones as well. If you need to, use a goal-setting worksheet to help plan your process. I find using this method when making goals can be a lot more attainable than just writing a bunch of things down without any real direction on how you will achieve them.
SMART stands for:
- S – Specific
- M – Measurable
- A – Achievable
- R – Realistic
- T – Time-based
For example, if your long term goal is spending more time for you and your dog to enjoy the outdoors and get healthy and exercise, then you can set a SMART goal for each time you want to obtain this goal. You can measure out the time to go out with your dog a specific subject for 1 hour (time-based), 5 days a week (realistic). This plan seems really achievable!
2. Have a support system
The people around you everyday are very important factors in your how you respond to your challenges.You’ll want to surround yourself with people who care about you and your well-being, but also lift you up when you’re down and help you get through tough moments.
If you find it helpful you can ask people you trust if they can help you keep track of your goals and hold you accountable for them, and check in on your progress from time to time. They can also help you if you start to feel overwhelmed.
3. Recognize your roadblocks
Sometimes my life as a dog mom, I can find myself in moment where I am stuck. So let’s find ways to recognize what’s holding you back?
You might be surprised at what could be keeping you from achieving your goals. This “something” might be a lack of skills specific to one area, or a quality you have whether good or bad that could perhaps be holding you back when you didn’t think it could.
This is a good time to connect with good friends or family and ask them if they notice anything that they feel is holding you back. It’s important to reflect on what you could do or have done in the past to better improve your future. After all as dog moms we all experience moments of struggle or stress, and that is why we need to find ways to reduce it or come up with solutions on how to solve it. It’s perfectly normal to have these moments, the important thing is recognizing them so you can move forward.
4. Be nice to yourself
Never doubt your own self worth, take time to see yourself in a positive light and self reflect.
We all make mistakes in life, and sometimes we don’t get the results we want or hoped for, but these moments are times to learn and to take those experiences and grow from them.
Practice positive self-talk, and talk to yourself the way you want to be, not the way you just happen to be at this moment.
5. Celebrate the small and big victories
Everytime you complete a goal or an achievement in life it’s important to celebrate it, no matter how big or small.
So be sure to take some time to take a break, rejuvenate, relax and de-stress, maybe treat yourself to your favourite meal or indulge in a monthly ritual with your dog that makes you feel good.
You earned it and deserve it! When you’re done celebrating, keep up the motivation by making new goals and finding time each month to enjoy self care and self reflect so you can grow more and more!
