Finding Daily Motivation as a Mom
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Finding daily motivation as a mom can be hard. There’s so much to do in a day, how do we stay the course and keep going?
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What motivates us? What gets us going? How do we decide that today we really need to tackle that to do list OR we really just need to take a nap?
There’s a fine line between we need to suck it up and push through the tired versus taking care of ourselves and taking it easy, is there not?
How do we as moms develop healthy motivations? How do I take care of me as well as my family? We’ve all got different challenges, different circumstances, but when do we just need a kick in the pants to get things done?
Lately it seems like I cannot quite find the right pace of being productive, taking care of my body, and not letting things pile up. I suppose that is just life as mom, right?
What do I want anyway? I’m looking for a healthy rhythm of family time, sleep, exercise, self-care, and accomplishment. I think that starts with some healthy motivation.
Consider these forms of motivation that can work for good or ill in our lives.
Forms of Daily Motivation
Pride
We get motivated because we’re prideful. “I think I should do XYZ because that’s what a good mom and wife does.” And heaven knows, we want to be good wives and moms, right?
This is not always bad, though. I mean, the term, “Have some pride,” can be the right motivation at the right time.
Caveat: when it comes at the cost of our health or relationships, pride is not a good motivator.
Peer Pressure
That girl over there is doing it and she has an awesome life, so if I do it, too, I’ll have an awesome life also, right?
Not exactly. You got to find your groove and what works for you and your family. Just because it works for someone else, doesn’t mean it will work for you.
That said, peer pressure doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If you and your friends are encouraging each other to start some good habits, and you’re doing things to motivate or “pressure” each other to follow through on those good intentions, that’s good!
Our Kids
Setting a good example for our kids can be a great motivator. Do they see that we’re exercising? Eating healthy? Incorporating healthy habits in our lives? Our kids are watching us. Our actions matter!
Monkey see, monkey do. That’s motivation enough to do the right thing!
Our Husbands
One good source of motivation for me can be to do things because I know they will bless my husband.
This is not a sexist thing. It is a good motivation for my husband to do things that bless me, too. To be in a lifelong commitment is to make an effort to do things that bless each other.
The Future
Planning for the future can be good daily motivation for today’s tasks. Whether it’s avoiding a late fee on a bill or wiping the high chair when the spills are fresh, thinking about later and making later easier can be a good thing.
Think about the people you love, you want to be with them — healthy as can be, not in a wheelchair, if you can help it. The future is a great motivator for making good choices today.
Personal Growth
Personal growth is a great motivator. You don’t want to be stagnant, right?
Setting goals and meeting them will make you happier because you will have a sense of accomplishment. You will have confidence to dream bigger dreams when you are faithful in the small things. Envision the life that you want and keep moving toward that view.
God’s calling on your life
What has God called you to do and are you doing it? What particular purposes, dreams, and calling has God placed on you? That should be motivation enough, but we can slide, forget, coast.
God calls us to aspire to bigger and better things. How can we please and bless our families? How can we be faithful to Him? How can we set an example for our kids? How can we be good stewards of what He’s given us?
The things that we really want to do in this world, we will do. We are selfish beings. If we want something bad enough, we need no motivation.
It’s harder to tackle the things we need to do or should do when we don’t have an intrinsic motivation. It can be SO helpful to find daily motivation from one or more of these sources so that we can accomplish great things in our lives as moms.
This is an interesting post. I find myself often thinking, what do I actually HAVE to do today? Sometimes the list is as small as “make dinner”, and really that’s all I HAVE to do that day. The question is more of what will I choose to do today? Will I spend too much time staring at a screen? Or say no too many times to my kids, or maybe, or later….I sometimes find the homeschool life extremely challenging to balance. It always seems like “Oh we can do that tomorrow” or ” I have 5000 things to do today!” Anyways, I’m rambling but my point is finding motivation and balance are key!
Isn’t it funny? We do have so many more choices than we think we do.