How To Stay Motivated (…& Give Yourself A Swift Kick In The Ass)

MOTIVATION!!!

Ok first off let me just say that there are SO many days where I am most definitely NOT motivated.

Days when I wake up & think ‘UGH, I’m not inspired today & I don’t feel like posting.”

Or “FML, working out sounds horrible.”

Or even…”so over returning all these e-mails & editing content, I’d rather watch Nurse Jackie.”

In fact to be real, there are a lot of days that I don’t particularly look forward to brushing my teeth. But here’s the thing: I still do it.

Because that’s a part of life Sometimes you have to motivate yourself to do things you don’t want to do.

…& since I’m the boss of my business, it’s important that I motivate myself everyday. Primarly in small ways that work towards the bigger picture.

When you work for yourself you do not have someone motivating you daily. You pretty much have to figure out how the hell to self motivate…on your own.

So! On that note, this post is for the bloggers who are working 2 other jobs ( been there! ), the freelancers, the mom’s who have a side hustle, the woman who’s bored as shit at her 9 to 5, the college student with an Etsy shop, or the girl who’s trying to build a business from nothing.

But first a backstory: 5 years ago I’m in college, bored out of my fucking mind. So, SO bored in fact, I start drawing on a piece of composition note paper in drama class. Well, the drawing is more of an artistic list of ideas to share with other women, primarily wellness topics. I just felt there were so many women on San Diego State’s campus & I was dying for a way to connect with all of them. Not in a sorority way though, you know? Just a community where anyone could get in, no rush or hazing, there wasn’t an $800 dollar semester fee, & no one was bossing you around. 

And a blog seemed like the best platform. Plus I’d be able to reach people in other countries.

As the semester went on the idea blossomed.

Around the same time, I was teaching Pure Barre, reformer Pilates, & bartending until midnight. Also, did I mention I was living with my dog at my God parent’s house 30 minutes away from the college?…while taking 18 units…with about $122 bucks in my checking account. The story goes even deeper, but we’ll discuss that another day very soon. For now we’ll just go with it & let’s just say the whole situation was interesting.

BUT as they say, outside your comfort zone is where the magic happens.

& that’s EXACTLY what happened.

I had to get extremely creative…& extremely motivated. A lot of growth happened.

This is where the self-motivation magic started to occur.

No one was going to do shit for me. I had to figure it out. 

…& how I figured it out was by motivating MYSELF.

Each day I would breakdown my schedule so throughout the day there were 3 hours, everyday ( even weekends ) to work on The Skinny Confidential.

Sure, it took a year to launch but I’m an overly psycho perfectionist who needs to chill out so would you expect anything less?

I literally remember going to the “bathroom” at work & blogging from the stalls. More than once my manager shouted, “Lauryn, you ok in there?” Teenage, hottie busboys would ALWAYS come looking for me & find me in the strangest places with my laptop. In my defense, the wifi was fab in stalls.

Of course it was all ok, I was working towards something bigger. Just figuring it out, slowly, day by day, little by little.

I can sit here & tell you, well actually PROMISE YOU, that there were so many days when I did not want to blog. SO many. SO many days when I came home from work at midnight, EXHAUSTED, only to write a blog post or edit photos or return e-mails or edit a video.

Tell me someone who’s creative who wakes up every morning motivated & ready to go? Many artists, actors, influencers, writers, doctors, nurses, editors, photographers, etc. push themselves to work a little each day to create a bigger picture. It’s part of the game.

This is not to show you how hard I worked. It’s to show you that anything is possible with discipline & self motivation.

A couple of ways that help me kick my own ass into gear? Well:

Start the morning off right: the worst thing ever is a bad morning, right? It sort of sets the whole tone of the day. The way I wake up is key. A healthy breakfast filled with chili flake covered eggs & avocado or a green smoothie is a positive way to kickstart my morning. Add a little lemon water or TSC Detox Drink & you’re golden. Play some chill music like Bossanova, light candles, diffuse some oils like tangerine or grapefruit to lift your mood. Meditating in the AM has been very much life changing for me too. Have you tried meditating? TRY IT!

Prioritize with lists: Richard Branson always says that he wakes up & makes a list of 7 things he needs to accomplish. Just 7 things. Every morning. I’ve been doing this for about 8 months & it’s worked VERY well. Usually I time-block all of these things so I’m working efficiently & swiftly. No surprise that these 7 things are usually very important to the growth of the business.

BASICALLY INSTEAD of working IN my business, I’m working ON my business.

Growth is key. You don’t want to be stuck on a hamster wheel, you know? You want to evolve & grow.

Do the most difficult thing first: this will motivate your ass to conquer everything on your to-do list by simply doing the most annoying, most difficult thing FIRST. Why? Because once you do that ‘thing’ you will think of the rest of the list as a breeze. It’s all about mindset & this is a trick to get your mind on track.

Remember: you’re doing this for YOU: motivating yourself will help you GROW in your area of choice. No one can do it for you. Work on tactics that help motivate you every day. 

Nothing comes easy in my experience & just like a healthy relationship, successful business, &/or sturdy foundation you HAVE TO WORK AT IT.

( …& if all else fails? Cold brew & a workout. Easy but it’s helpful? )

In regards to fitness & eating healthy, the same rules apply. You are doing it for yourself. No one can workout or eat healthy for you. It takes work. Discipline. Sweat. & there are most definitely days that you don’t want to workout. 

But again: get uncomfortable to become comfortable.

Sure, self help books & podcasts & other people will motivate you sometimes. They’re awesome to soak up. BUT really if you think about it no one is going to keep you motivated every single day…but YOU. Utilize what ya got.

How do you motivate yourself? Do you have a secret sauce? Is there something specific that gets you going?

It’s good to be back guys!

Happy Thursday, lauryn x

P.S. come meet up with me & Michael tomorrow, 8/12 at Whole Foods ( 788 S Grand Ave, LA ) and Saturday, 8/13 at Ralph’s ( 10861 Weyburn Ave, LA ). First ten people will get free The Skinny Confidential meal plans & you’ll be entered to win a $200 TSC shopping spree! SEE YOU THERE. ( event has already occurred ) 

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