Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

I find it hard to stay motivated at times as well. But when I do, I like to be inspired by people who worked very hard to achieve their goals in life.

One of these people (that might surprise you) is Arnold Schwarzenegger. There's a very nice speech of him on YouTube called "The 6 rules to success"[0]. I like to re-watch this speech every now and then and it helps keeping me motivated.

Bill Burr can explain very well why Arnold is such an inspiring person[1].

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[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kg-zbJjlyA

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0gaYyNk7QA&t=210

Depending on what you need the motivation for, you might only need willpower. You can get a lot done and work towards a goal by setting mini goals every day and turn them into habits. The trick is to set the goal really low every day, so that you can achieve them even on those rainy days. Willpower alone (and maybe a reminder) will make you achieve it, motivation usually goes down quickly. I found this book really helpful, http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Habits-Smaller-Bigger-Results/dp/...

Here's a similar thread from a couple of years ago that has some great answers:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6121572

I struggled with motivation for many years, primarily because I did not know who I was and what I wanted.

I read books like "Drive, the surprising thruth about what motivates us" and many more, but it was not until I read "start with why" by Simon Sinek I understood my "why" and finally became truly internal motivated.

Now I am more motivated than I have time and energy, but luckily I also have a guidance tool that helps me put energy into stuff that fuels me more.

[Putting on my project manager's hat]: Visible progress toward achieving a goal that is important to you makes motivation easy!

* Pick a specific goal that you care about. It can be as simple as I will lose 10 pounds or I will write software that parses a specific data format.

* Create some milestones. Maybe I can't lose 10 pounds all at once, but I bet I can lose 1 pound. Make sure that these are visible.

* Chart your progress, so you can see how your previous work got you closer to your goal. Review this chart regularly.

My answer to this question has evolved a fait bit over time, and probably will in the future, but at the moment I find that making sure that I deliver at least one item (however small) every week helps; I feel I am always making progress. So if you have big projects, break it down into simple, manageable steps & tasks. Then work your way down the list.

I'll just quote Mr. Swearengen:

"Every step, a fucking adventure."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBpcXmOtwY

I think back to those long past days when I used to complain that I was bored. Then I am happy that I will never feel that way again.