MIKALA MORGAN

Dashing Devotional-How Can I Stay Motivated?!

 

“So let us not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” ~ Galatians 6:9

We ALL have days where we trip and fall, making us feel discouraged. In fact, I can guarantee that every person has days where they simply lack the motivation to keep pushing forward towards their goals.

I, too, have plenty of days where I am discouraged, overwhelmed, or unmotivated to press on towards my goals with stamina and vigor!

So, the question is… on days like these, how do we stay motivated?!?

Well, to put it simply, we can’t… (Don’t worry, I’m going somewhere positive with this!)

The reason being is that motivation is an emotion, and like all emotions, they are fickle. They are up one day and down the next.

Let me give you a real life example of this (and I know that almost every woman can agree with me on this one).  One day I can wake up and feel like I’m on top of the world and the very next day I may wake up and feel terrible! This one example alone goes to show that emotions can not be trusted and they are certainly not stable.

It is for that very reason that we can’t base our decisions off of emotions. This includes the emotion of ‘motivation’.  If we relied on motivation to finish everything, we wouldn’t end up finishing most things we started…and even if we did, things would turn out very different than how we imagined.

You see… when we begin something, we often have a great sense of determination and motivation. We have a goal set in our mind and we pump ourselves up so much that we can almost taste the victory! Fast forward a couple of weeks and here comes that all too familiar lack of drive, (aka lack of motivation). This change in emotions can be attributed to many different reasons; a lack of results, increased stress, or a realization that the process is harder than we originally expected.

Which leads me to my main point… Instead of staying motivated, we must simply make a COMMITMENT to do something and align our actions with that decision regardless of how we feel.

I do this all the time in my own life in so many different areas. Once I make a decision to do something, I make a commitment. I bring it to the Lord and I surrender that area of my life to Him and ask Him to give me the strength to do whatever it is that I am setting out to do. From there, I make goals and often times I write them down.

When the ‘going’ gets tough, which often times it does…I run to the Lord and pick up the Word of God for encouragement! I encourage myself with the promises that He has given me of success and remind myself that He has promised me an awesome future (Jeremiah 29:11).

I also re-read the goals that I wrote down and reflect on the commitments I made and why I made them in the first place. I make the choice to reign in my emotions and get back up, encouraging myself that “tomorrow is a new day!”(Sometimes I have to do this many times… but the point is, I don’t let myself stay in an attitude of defeat!) I remind myself that I can truly do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength, and that means ALL!

We must recognize that one of Satan’s greatest tactics is to get us feeling discouraged and like a failure, because it is then that we will lack the determination to keep running the race and pressing on towards the goal. We must not fall into that trap! The most important thing that we could ever do is make the decision that no matter how many times we fall, that we will always get back up. We must make the decision to keep doing what we know to do and the results will come if we make the decision to not give up!

Prayer:  “Dear Lord, I thank you that with you I can do ALL things! Help me to be determined to keep running the race and pressing on towards the goals to which you have called me to. Help me not to fall into the trap of discouragement and a defeated mindset. I thank you that no matter how many times I fall, that you will always help me get back up. I am making the decision today to keep doing what I know to do and I know the results will come as I make this decision not to give up! In Jesus Name Amen”

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