The Best 35 Motivational Tips For Achieving Success

Scored it, yeah!

Do you need motivational tips to help you with the new project you’re about to start?

Are you tired of not achieving set goals and reaching dead ends with each project you started in the past?

Maybe, you’re hoping and praying that this time, you’ll successfully complete a project. You realise that you lack the organizational skills you need to accomplish goals that you set for yourself.

Setting goals and achieving them can sometimes be difficult. You remember how often you struggled in the past to convert your goals into accomplishments and it never happened?

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Procrastination can make you lose the motivational zeal that you had when you originally started your project. You end up abandoning the task halfway, ultimately failing to execute yet another plan. You feel frustrated and defeated. Does that sound familiar?

Because you weren’t able to achieve the last couple of goals you set, you begin to lose faith in yourself. You lose faith in your ability to move forward and achieve any future goals you set out to attain.

Here are 35 motivational tips that will help you to change your mindset and attain the goals you’ve set for yourself. They are designed to help you build your self-confidence and manage your time properly. By doing this, you should achieve the goals you set for yourself in the future.

Make a contract with yourself

Motivational contract

Before you start planning your next project, make a deal with yourself first. Make a promise to yourself about a special motivational treat or reward that you’ll give to yourself at the conclusion of the project.

If you want to overcome procrastination and distractions and start getting things done, you should draw up this contract. You should do this especially if you don’t have anyone to be accountable to, who’ll pull you back on track whenever you lose focus.

The contract should state a few basic goals that you need to achieve. It should also state the consequences and penalties that you’ll have to suffer if you fail to complete the task.

The penalty could be going without a couple of small things you enjoy. You may skip your favorite weekend trip to the ice cream stand or coffee at Starbucks.

Your contract should also include incentives that you’ll give to yourself for completing the goal. This can be a weekend getaway to a favorite resort or beach. You should sign the contract and stick it somewhere, where you’ll see it every day.

Make goal-setting a habit

You should make goal setting a habit in your life. This will help you stay motivational and focused, in order to get different tasks done.

Goal setting will help you to succeed in whatever you choose to achieve. Ultimately, you’ll complete your set task.

Write your goals down and check them off as you complete each one. As you successfully complete each task, you’ll have the motivational stride that will help boost your self- confidence.

This is likely to spur you on to achieve further goals. Setting goals can be a powerful tool to keep you focused. The practice can be visual and/or mental reminders to help you get things done.

Have a regular schedule

Keep yourself on a regular schedule. Knowing what to expect can be a motivational attribute. It is important to know your daily schedule and stick with it as much as you possibly can.

Things may happen along the line to interrupt your schedule. Knowing that you have a contract with yourself to achieve your set goals, will keep you focused to maintain your schedule.

When you itemize the tasks you want to accomplish in a day, use the list to make a schedule. Carry the schedule with you.

Consider how much time each task should take you to complete. With this information in hand, you’ll have the motivational stance to complete certain tasks at certain times during your day.

While they might not always work out the way you plan them, you at least have some structure to your day.

Have a morning routine

Motivational morning routine

Having a regular morning routine can help you stay motivated. It will help propel you into the rest of your day.

Knowing what to expect every morning and that once they’re done, the rest of the day flows will help you to make it through your day. Changes in your regular morning routine can throw things off balance for you. This may make it difficult for you to think clearly and have a productive day.

When your alarm goes off in the morning, don’t hit your snooze button and say, “Just five more minutes” and go back to sleep. If your cell phone alarm isn’t able to wake you up, you should get a twin bell alarm clock.

When you set the alarm to wake you up, position the clock a distance away from your bed. This way, you’ll have to get out of bed to turn off the alarm when it goes off in the morning.

It is not motivational to procrastinate, therefore do not start off your day with procrastinations. There’s a reason why you set your alarm clock to wake you up at a certain time in the morning.

You should, therefore, wake up and start your day when that buzzer goes off. Having an extra five to ten minutes in bed in the morning isn’t going to do you any favors. That will likely kill your motivation.

Engage in morning exercise

Motivational morning exercise

Take a morning walk or head to the gym first thing in the morning. This can increase your motivation for the rest of your day.

Regular exercise can improve your blood flow and keep you from feeling sleepy or lethargic after you wake up. Even participating in a simple stretching routine in the morning can help to increase your blood flow and get you going.

You can also practice meditation. Meditation is one of the motivational ways to become more present in your daily life.

Regularly practising meditation will help you change your mindset. Meditation trains your mind to be in the present moment.

Breakfast is important

Good breakfast to keep you motivated

Breakfast is regarded as your most important meal of the day. It is the meal that you use to break the overnight fasting period.

It replenishes your supply of glucose and boosts your energy levels. Eating a healthy and balanced breakfast is a motivational key to starting out your day right.

Choosing the right types of foods for breakfast will help you remain focused on your daily tasks. Even if you feel pressed for time and you have to leave, you should take a go-to meal.

Take a meal that will give you the nutrition and boost that you need to start off your day.

Avoid having negative thoughts

Motivational tip

Before you can set your goals and stay motivational enough to discipline yourself, you should filter out negative thoughts from your mind. This will leave your mind free to focus on what matters.

Unless you cleanse your mind of poisonous thoughts, you will find it impossible to think clearly. It will be hard for you to believe in yourself enough to complete set tasks.

The people you surround yourself with can also have a tremendous impact on your mind. Don’t spend time around negative people who always put you and your abilities down.

If you do, you’re likely to not feel confident enough to complete any tasks or achieve the goals you set for yourself.

Read also: Negative Self-Talk and How to Change It

Talk kindly to yourself

For you to rid yourself of any negative thoughts that you nurture, you have to pay attention to your self-talk. To be able to move forward and reach your goals, you have to build a positive mindset.

A positive mindset is a motivational kick to help you start talking kindly to yourself. It takes a lot of courage to be kind to yourself, but it is necessary if you really want to find yourself in a better place.

For instance, if you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, start by practicing positive self-talk. Whenever your alarm goes off in the morning, instead of grumbling and hitting the snooze button, jump out of bed and tell yourself “I can do this!”

By reassuring yourself this way, it becomes easier for you to get out of bed every morning and get going.

Read also: Unstoppable Self Confidence

Leave yourself nightly messages

Motivational notes

Every night before you go to sleep, you should leave a motivational message of encouragement for yourself. Leave the message on your refrigerator or somewhere else where you can easily see it every morning before you start your day.

I find colorful sticky notes very motivational. The bright colors somehow give me some measure of upliftment.

Leaving yourself encouraging notes in places that you often see them can make you feel better about yourself. Writing encouraging, motivational notes to yourself can help remind you that you can do the task.

You’ll be encouraged to make it through whatever challenges that life throws in your direction that day. There may also be some mornings when you’ll get up and look in the mirror and you don’t like what you see.

This can kill your motivation and quickly ruin your day. If this happens, try using a dry erase marker and write a self-affirming message on your bathroom mirror.

That’s what you’ll see in the mirror when you look in your mirror every morning. This will hopefully give you the inspiration that you need to start an awesome day.

Organize your day

Take a few minutes in the morning to organize your day. Organizing your day can help you stay motivational and productive throughout the day.

There is nothing more discouraging than not being able to find what you need and having to waste valuable time looking for it. Taking a few minutes to plan ahead and organize how you want to spend your day can help to keep you on track.

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Plan a daily routine

Keep a planner to stay motivated
Keep a planner

Develop a daily plan and stick with it. This will be a good way to keep yourself disciplined.

Taking the time to have a set routine and sticking with it on a regular basis will certainly help to keep you on track. It may take some time to get a productive routine going smoothly.

Once you get a hang of it, you’ll hopefully quickly adapt to it. A well-planned daily routine will ensure that you are disciplined and able to stay motivated throughout the day.

In order to properly plan your day, you need to know specifically what you’re going to do on that day. Take some time in the morning to write down your tasks for the day.

By planning and seeing the things you need to do for that day, you’ll be more likely to get them done. You should have a dedicated notebook for planning your daily routine.

Keep a journal as well, for documenting your daily accomplishments at the end of each day. Some fun notebooks and journals you may consider getting include:

Keep to your routine

You Got This

It’s important that you keep the same routine and work at keeping it consistent from day to day. It can be confusing if you change your routine too often.

A regularly kept routine will help you continue your assignment at a steady flow throughout your day. It may take some time for you to get used to some of your new routines. Once you do, you will get the driving force you need to continue.

Life has a way of interrupting your plans, no matter how prepared you think you are. How you handle distractions will determine your success.

Whenever distracting situations arise, you should work on getting past them as soon as possible, so that you can get back on track with your routine. It’s important that you proceed with your routine as if the interruption never happened.

When you can successfully stick with your routine, you are more likely to keep the momentum going for the rest of your day. If you live with others in your household, you should be aware of their schedules as well.

Consider your children’s extracurricular activities, if you have kids at home. Their activities are likely to impact your schedule.

Make sure that you know what other family members of your household are doing. By knowing what they’re doing and when, you’ll avoid getting frustrated later in your day.

Prepare an action plan

Motivational Action Plan

One of the easiest and most effective ways to ensure success in achieving your goals is to have a plan for accomplishing your to-do list. This is one step that often gets skipped.

Take time to think about where your tasks fit into your day. Once you know what your next project is, you should carefully structure your other activities.

Plan them around the schedule for your project. Without an action plan, you won’t be able to effectively move forward toward your goals.

A plan of action will provide you with a step-by-step guideline for moving toward each of your goals. With an action plan in hand, you can complete your daily tasks with ease.

You should break up big projects into smaller, more manageable ones. This will make reaching your goals easier.

By planning and breaking down large tasks, you can accomplish the more important tasks first, before tackling those tasks that are less essential.

Often when you are busy, it’s possible to take on more than you can handle. The strain of taking on too much can cause you to become stressed out, and lose focus. You should be aware of what your limits are, an act accordingly.

Stick to your plan

If you throw you plan out the window at the first opportunity, not only have you just wasted your time, but you run the risk of quickly veering off track. When you make a plan, stick to it as closely as you can.

While things will happen to prevent your day from going exactly as you planned, you should always try to make your plan work the way you intended it to. Learn to quickly deal with the other stuff that comes up, and find your way back to your plan.

Even if you have the best laid out plans, sometimes things may happen to threaten to ruin your plans. Make provision in your schedule for things that may arise that you hadn’t planned for.

Utilize a pin up board, stay organized

Motivational tip

You can put up a corkboard someplace where you’ll see it every day. Pin your notes on the board. Corkboards come in various sizes, therefore you should get the one that best suits your project.

Looking at your goals on a regular basis will help you to rekindle your lost motivation. This should help get you back on track and to keep pursuing them.

This is an inexpensive and quick way to visually motivate yourself and keep you working toward accomplishing your goals. Being organized will save you a ton of time.

You can also create a filing system for your documents, ensuring that every item has a place to be stored. Also, you may consider unsubscribing from some email lists to keep your distractions to a minimum and streamline everything you can.

Start with the basics, with smaller goals

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you set your standards and your goals too high. You should set small and attainable goals first.

Starting with smaller projects first should help you stay motivated when you complete them. Move on to the next goal and the next step of your project.

When you set your goals too high at the beginning, you may easily become discouraged and overwhelmed and not be able to complete them. Once you’ve set your goals, you should take your time to figure out where you need to start.

Tackle the process in small steps. When it comes to setting goals, you’ll find that some of them will be larger than others.

Identify the goals that you can handle on a smaller level and work up from there. After you’ve learned to put some goals into action, you will figure out how you can tackle the larger ones, to make them a reality.

Sometimes, it’s not possible to accomplish everything on your list in a given day. There will be some days when everything that could go wrong will happen, taking up most of your time.

When you plan your day, you should prioritize and plan to complete your most important tasks first. Give yourself enough time to accomplish them. If you have time to work on other things after you’re done, that will be great.

Stack up your goals

Stack Up Your Goals

Work on your goals in a stacked method. This will allow you to work toward a new goal while finishing out the goal you were already working on.

It will help you to start the next step while finishing the previous step, ultimately making your project proceed as planned. Different tasks will demand different kinds of thinking.

You should allow your mind to continue to flow with its current zone rather than unnecessarily switching to something that is going to require you to reorient yourself.

Work on one project at a time

Not everyone is cut out for multitasking. Multitasking may seem like a good idea to you, until you realize that you have several unfinished projects on your list.

Not only do you still have to complete each of the projects, but it makes you feel like you can’t even achieve one. When you joggle many projects simultaneously, you may become overwhelmed.

This overwhelming feeling may reduce your energy levels. You should focus on the current task at hand, and take things one step at a time.

When you focus only on the immediate task that you’re on, you won’t mentally deplete what energy you have left. Do not attempt to split your time and focus in an attempt to accomplish numerous tasks simultaneously.

You should devote your focus to the task you have at hand. To keep your motivation, you need to focus completely on finishing one project at a time.

See each project through to the end before you begin the next one. This will not only keep your motivation up because you’ve achieved what you set out to do. It will also make you do more and become more productive.

Keep moving forward to new goals

Once you get going, you need to keep moving. Sometimes you have to force yourself to keep going.

Maintaining a motivational momentum increases the chances that you will continue to be productive and finish what you started out to accomplish. Do not get into the habit of telling yourself that you’ll be able to do it later.

There is nothing worse than procrastination. It will make you leave a lot of unfinished tasks sitting on the back burner.

In order to effectively push yourself forward and embrace the challenges you encounter, you should develop a can-do attitude. Doing this requires that you make a commitment to yourself that you will do whatever it takes to become more disciplined and get the job done.

Sometimes after you’ve completed a task, you may feel like you’re stuck in a rut. You may become frustrated and feel like you’re no longer moving forward.

Don’t let doubts hold you back. Start working on new goals as soon as you feel like you’ve accomplished your previous goal.

Develop positive affirmations

Motivational Note To Self

One important motivational tip to ensure that you follow through with your goals is to turn them into affirmations. Repeat the affirmations to yourself daily.

When you repeatedly say something positive to yourself with deep conviction, your mind will be compelled to accept it. As your mind accepts it and gets in tune with your affirmation, it will accept that suggestion and work toward fulfilling it.

As soon as your mind accepts the suggestion as absolute truth, it will focus its energy on it and make you take meaningful actions to attain the goal you set out to achieve.

Overcome obstacles and move on

Life can be full of obstacles and challenges. If you allow those distractions to stand in your way, you will never succeed in reaching your goals.

Whenever you face challenges while working on your project, you should find ways to face them and make it over the hurdle as quickly as you possibly can.

Having a support group can also help you talk about your concerns and frustrations. Hopefully, you’ll get the advice and encouragement that will motivate you to continue on your journey of making your goal a reality.

No matter how motivational and positively focused you are, there will sometimes be some people who will do whatever they can to discourage you from your goals. Don’t let them have a part in your life or your goals.

You should let them go. Remove that negativity from your life, because you certainly don’t need that when you’re trying to accomplish a goal.

Focus on the present

In order for you to make continuous progress, it is important that you learn how to be focused on the present. Thinking too much about the future can get you overwhelmed.

This will make it difficult for you to effectively work on the current task at hand. Also, when you live in the past and continue to remember the little failures and setbacks you experienced, you’re likely to be discouraged and unable to take the meaningful motivational actions you need to continue to move forward.

Have the bigger picture in mind

Sometimes, you may have difficulty starting tasks, or you may lose the motivational zeal you once had. Stop what you’re doing, recall your end goal, and think of the bigger picture.

Recall why you’re pursuing that particular goal and reiterate to yourself the importance of having self-discipline for achieving your goals.

Break your bad habits

If you want to become more disciplined so you can achieve your goals and become more productive, you need to get rid of all the bad habits that keep you from being the best version of yourself. Your habits shape your life.

To build a good meaningful life and accomplish all your goals, you need to eliminate bad habits that keep you from fulfilling your mission. Identify and eliminate non-essential tasks and activities from your life at this time.

By removing them, you’ll be able to find the motivational focus you need to work on what’s significant and deserves your time.

Decide what results you want to attain

Five minutes before you start a task, decide what results you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you even start.

After completing each task, take five minutes to determine whether you achieved your desired results or not. Having a clear focus on where you want your efforts to end up is an important motivational part of setting attainable goals.

Having an ultimate goal will help you as you try to achieve the smaller goals you have made. Having a solid focus will help you achieve more.

Time management

Time Management

In order to manage your time properly, you should eliminate time-wasters in your schedule. You should change certain behaviors that waste time in your life.

For instance, you may decide that for one week, you’ll not engage in your biggest time-wasting activity, like watching the TV. See how much time you can gain by doing so.

You can use a goal-setting software program, a phone app, or a day-timer to manage your time. Time management tools allow you to easily schedule events and set reminders, making your time management efforts easier.

If you try to do something too slowly or too quickly, it can throw you off focus. You should set reasonable time frames for each goal. Give yourself an ample amount of time to complete each goal, to make sure that you get the results that you’re aiming for. Be reasonable and set time frames on your goals and your achievements.

Concentrate on one task at a time, only moving on when you’ve accomplished the previous task. Carry your schedule around, and record all your thoughts, activities, and conversations for a week.

Doing this will help you to understand better how much you can get done during the course of a day. This will give you an opportunity to see how much time you spend producing actual results. It will also give you an account of how much time you wasted on unproductive activities.

Check in with yourself frequently. Creating a schedule to check on the progress of your work will help you to understand better where you are.

It will also give you clear information on what you need to work on next. Set a regular time for you to check up on yourself and be honest about the progress you are making.

Allow time for rest

When you’re busy, taking a rest might almost appear elusive. You may push aside your personal needs in order to accomplish what you set out to do.

To keep your motivation and reach your goals, you need to always take a break during your day. Depending on your circumstances, the break can be having a coffee date with a friend, treating yourself to lunch, or finding some time to read a few chapters of a book.

You should make it a point to have some time to rest so that you don’t get yourself burned out.

Clear your mind when you need to

Clear your mind to stay motivational

Whenever you start to feel overwhelmed, it’s best to step away from the situation and take a deep breath. Give your mind time to relax and clear itself from the stress that it’s currently experiencing.

Talk through your emotions, if you need to. Those around you can be very resourceful when it comes to finding your motivation.

Find supportive family members and friends who can be an encouragement and help you achieve your goal. They should provide you with the motivation you need when the going gets tough.

Your family and friends know you best. They may be able to offer you advice that will be helpful, which you may never have thought about yourself. Their advice can help you to pursue your goals with more ease.

Going back to work with a clear mind will provide you with the fresh perspective you need to stay motivated and productive.

Think of things to energize you

Whenever you seem like you’re lacking the energy to keep going, you should think about things that will energize and motivate you. Look for things that will give you the necessary boost to keep moving.

Using whatever tool you have that will drive you, allow it to replay in your mind over and over. Do this as you pursue the not-so-pleasant tasks that you might be facing when you’re less than motivated and lack energy.

Listen to music

Motivational listening to music

If you love music, it can have the uncanny ability to dictate your moods. To keep yourself motivated, you should play upbeat and positive music while you’re working.

This can help you get going when your motivation is low. Whenever you feel like you’re lacking energy and motivation, play some music.

Play a music genre of your choice and listen to music while you work. It will likely have a positive effect on your motivation and energy level, and keep your task going smoothly.

Have someone to keep you accountable

One of the ways you can keep yourself motivated to keep moving forward toward your goal is to have someone else to keep you accountable. You should have someone you trust to regularly ask you about your progress.

You will have an agreement to give them a daily or weekly account of your progress. You should be honest with them about your progress.

By doing this, you will be motivated to get tasks done, and in good time too. You should take the advice of well-meaning friends that is worth listening to and make it a part of your goal.

Don’t think that you know everything. Allow yourself the vulnerability to know when you need to take advice.

Learn from your experiences

Experiences that you go through while working on your project can be good or bad. Such experiences should be seen as learning experiences.

When you make a mistake, do not regret it and don’t feel bad about making it. Instead, you should focus on what you can do to improve the mistake.

Accept each challenge and obstacle as you tackle them, and don’t be afraid of temporary setbacks. With the right time management skills, you’ll soon get back on track towards completing your task.

Change can be difficult for everyone. The more open you are to change, the easier the transition will be when you are ready to make changes in your routine.

There may come a point in your project when certain changes are inevitable. The change might be necessary in order for you to complete the task successfully.

Do not fight it.

Embrace it, and keep moving forward.

Reward yourself

Motivational ways to reward yourself

Sometimes, you may be faced with a difficult task or situation. Set up a reward for yourself for when you complete the task successfully. This is something motivational that you should consider. Rewarding yourself for completing difficult tasks can keep you motivated to keep going with the job and accomplish it in the time frame you’ve set.

Celebrate small victories

Motivational tips

When you don’t feel like you can keep going and you feel lethargic, start to praise yourself. This is another motivational tip that you should consider.

When you praise yourself for the small things that you’ve accomplished, you’ll be motivated to keep going. You’ll be on the right path to reaching your goals.

While it might seem silly, it really can be a great motivator. This is especially important when you’re lacking the energy and drive to get through a difficult day.

Celebrate your victories!

It’s okay to dream about your future accomplishments, it’s okay to dream.

You can get more done and be more successful when you take the time to set your goals and ambitions higher. Don’t be afraid to set your dreams high and stay motivational enough to accomplish set goals, one after another.

60 thoughts on “The Best 35 Motivational Tips For Achieving Success

  1. Creating a contract with yourself is a great self accountability scheme! Great information!!

  2. Knowing something yourself is one thing, but hearing someone else say it, is confirmation. I really love the tips on creating an action plan! Writing things down would be good because sometimes I get stuck in my head.
    Awesome information!

  3. Lots of great tips here! I find that something as simple as always eating breakfast and exercising in the morning really helps set the tone for my day.

  4. All excellent tips! I find that keeping to a routine is always a great way to get closer to our goals. I also recommend a vision board that represents the outcome of what we wish to do. Loved your post, Ana!

  5. Great tips. I think routines become habit and positive habits are good for the soul. Going to book mark this one!

  6. Thanks for sharing these tips. I definitely needed these. Sometimes things happen in your life, you fall off track and it’s so hard to get back on.

  7. Thanks for the tips, I like the sticky notes idea. I have a goals journal but sometimes forget to look at it. I think if I had sticky notes in my eyeline all the time, it would give me more motivation.
    Thanks for sharing

  8. These are great tips. I am all about waking up early and getting my workout done. Sets the tone for the entire day!

  9. after being in lockdown at home for sometime, the days all merge into 1 long day and you tend to lose track of time. this will come in useful to help make the days and nights more productive!

  10. I really like the idea of making a contract with myself. Lists are great for keeping me on track as I tend to get sidetracked pretty easily, but this will make it official. Thanks for sharing!

  11. Thanks for the great list. I sometimes need to be reminded not to try to do too much multitasking. You are so right about juggling too many projects resulting in much less getting done.

  12. I don’t know where to begin. Your listings on setting goals, routines, and tips for achieving success were set out in clean, easy to follow segments. Everyone would benefit from reading these tips.

  13. I loved findings some new ideas to add to what I already do, writing things down and morning routine. Maybe music and working on clearing my mind will help me in the future.

  14. Amazing tips!!! I do have a set of goals but I need to be a lot more serious about keeping track of these goals.

  15. The sticky notes give me daily inspiration too. Thanks for your feedback, I’m glad you found some value in the post.

  16. That’s really long list of tips for any one and in the present situation one would require it more than anything. Thanks.

  17. Lots of great tips here for getting and staying motivated. I find sticking to my morning routine really helps me set the tone of my day.

  18. I enjoyed this list, especially the colorful sticky notes to leave an inspiring message for the next day. Adding that to my routine.

  19. I love how these are actionable, easy to apply tips. This is helpful.

  20. Yes, I agree – it does require a good measure of self-discipline. I’m glad you found the post relevant. Thank you for your feedback!

  21. I’ve never thought about making a contract to myself. That’s an interesting one! I can see how it would work though because you’d be holding yourself accountable in writing.

  22. I love these tips especially to focus on the present as I tend to think about the past more than I should so thank you for this!

  23. These are really amazing! I needed to read these awesome tips. Bookmarking your post for future reference.

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