How to Stay Motivated
Tags: productivity, career, beginners, motivation
Published: 2018-02-11 08:49:52

---
title: "How to Stay Motivated"
published: true
tags: productivity, career, beginners, motivation
canonical_url: http://programmergoals.com/how-to-stay-motivated/
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/r9fxu25sotx7xx95droh.png
---

Wherever you currently are in your life, sometimes it’s just hard to stay motivated. No matter if you’re studying, joining a boot camp, doing tasks as an employee, working on a side project or even on your own business, there are times where everyone is struggling to keep going.

Fortunately, we are not the only ones. Lots of people find themselves in such situations and everyone has his on ways to fix this issue. In my own experience, I can tell that **the following three habits provide the best results**.

### Remember your goals

Many many times the reason why we question our work and find it hard to stay motivated is when we forget our initial goals. What was the reason for you to start this particular side project, for instance? Why did you [join the gym](http://programmergoals.com/6-ways-to-start-getting-physically-fit-as-a-coder/)? Yes, it doesn’t always have to be technically related.

Keep track of your goals. **Remember your big picture** and the big “why” for the things you want to do. Is it about the money? Are you working on something for fun or do you want to learn something new?

Try to imagine how it feels like when you achieve your goals and try to create the world with this goal achieved in your head. Sounds a bit esoteric, I know, but it works!

The desire to reach your goals has to be strong. Think about your reasons every single day and it will be a lot easier to stay on track.

### Just take the risks

Sometimes we stop and are demotivated because we think that all our efforts are a waste of time. What if things won’t work out and what if nobody appreciates the time we put in our work? It doesn’t matter.

As Gary Vaynerchuck mentions in his new book [Crushing it!](http://amzn.to/2DYYjM8):

> “You are better off being wrong ten times and being right three than you are if you try only three times and always get it right.”

That doesn’t have to apply only to a business.

Think about your side projects or even ways to deal with your tasks in your 9-to-5 job.

Too many times we think about a possible negative outcome. Or we think that there are better ways to solve a problem or that there are better and more interesting ways to start a side project. But this way of thinking turns to a vicious cycle that **leads to no outcome at all**.

C’mon, you know exactly what I mean. Look at all your unfinished side projects lying on your hard disk, because you’ve supposedly found something better or more interesting.

The thing is, you’ll never know and there isn’t really anything you can do about it.

Just take the risks. Even if things don’t work out as you have expected or wished, at least you did things out of passion and fun. You possibly even had a **great time working on your goals and I guarantee you, you will have learned a lot**.

### Document your results

The last thing I recommend doing to stay motivated is documenting your work.

Give journaling a try. Sit down every month, week or even every single day and **think about all the work you have already accomplished**. You might be surprised.

Look at how far you’ve already come with your side project. Wouldn’t it be a shame if you just stop here? Move on and finish it.

If you’re working 9-to-5, think about all your achievements there. Not only did you accomplish a lot in the office, you also can afford many things in your life, thanks to your monthly or weekly paycheck.

Get these things in your head, write them down, and it’ll be a lot easier to continue with your work.

_The post [How to Stay Motivated](http://programmergoals.com/how-to-stay-motivated/) appeared first on [Programmer Goals](http://programmergoals.com)._

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