OK, summer’s pretty much over but your mind and heart may not be quite ready to give up on longer days, shorter pants, sunblock, and barbecues. Nevertheless, there’s something in the air (a throwback to school days, no doubt) that calls us to roll up our sleeves, redouble our efforts, and kick our lives back into gear.

Problem is, that’s sometimes easier said than done.

What do you do when you have a goal but don’t seem to be motivated to get it done? Well, lots of things: daydream, distract yourself with idle tasks, multi-task inefficiently, and engage in all sorts of avoidance behaviors that many of us struggle with but rarely admit to.

Maintaining focus and self-discipline is something we face at one point or another in our lives (or our day!). We feel we should do something, and would if only we felt motivated, or had the self-discipline, or both.

But as we know, simply willing ourselves to get going is often a losing battle. Instead, try changing your perspective from motivation to inspiration. Here are some ways to shift your thinking from “oh no” to “let’s go!”

1. Once upon a time. Depending on the size of the goal, pick a point in the future (one week, six months, five years) and imagine telling someone how you accomplished it. In great detail. Often outlining the process in your head can break through your resistance to action.
2. Out of the mouths of babes. Imagine asking a child (or actually ask one) how they would get the job done. Listen to the fun, creative answer, and apply what works!
3. Prime the pump. What’s the smallest increment of action you can take to start your goal? Do that one small thing. You may then find yourself drawn to the next small step. And the next.
4. Capture the state. What does “inspiration” feel like to you? Think about the last time you felt truly fired up to do something, then put your body and mind in that state. Use that energy to propel you forward.
5. Change your language. When it comes to getting things done, how do you talk about yourself? “I’m lazy.” “I procrastinate.” “I’m good at starting things…” Change your thoughts and words to those of completion and accomplishment. Even if you don’t believe it at first, keep it up and watch your actions change…
6. Do a values check. Make a list of your top 10 values. What’s most important to you? Does this task or goal support one or more of these values? If so, how? If not, ask yourself why it’s on your list.
7. Buddy up. Team up with a trusted friend, and share your goals. Set up a schedule of mutual accountability. Get together and treat yourselves when you’ve both met your goals.
8. Model your hero. Think about someone you admire (friend, celebrity, fictional character). What’s their attitude? How would they do this? Then pretend you’re just like them.
9. Do an inventory. Get out some paper, write your goal at the top, and make two columns: What I Have and What I Need. In the first column, list everything you have to accomplish your goal (tools, materials, know-how, personality traits, etc.) and in the second, what you don’t have. What shows up in the second column may shed light on why you’re stuck and how to fix it.
10. Build on your successes. Think about everything you’ve accomplished so far today (including getting out of bed!). No matter how small, you do many wonderful things every day. Make a habit of recounting your successes every night, and soon you’ll be looking for more things to go after tomorrow.

So, pick one thing you’d like to get done. Start with something small, apply one or more of these strategies, or make up your own. What would you like to feel inspired about today?

Quick! What was the best thing that happened to you yesterday? What made that day worthwhile?

Uh…

If you’re like me (and probably most people) you might have trouble coming up with anything off the top of your head. That’s because, unless you’re already leading a rare and extraordinary life, one day tends to run into the other. Your days then turn into weeks turn into months into years until you find yourself saying, “Is it April already? Can you believe Y2K was five years ago??”

So how do we slow this whole time thing down and live each day to the fullest? One popular method is to “be here now.” Savor the moment, be conscious, that sort of thing.

Personally, I find it hard to remain present just for the sake of it. It takes discipline and, like all things requiring discipline, has the potential to become yet another source of anxiety.

Instead, why not make it fun?

Try this: when you wake up in the morning (or the night before if you’re a planner) create a “theme” for the day. Look for opportunities throughout the day to manifest that theme. It becomes both a game and a source of inspiration as you begin to realize that you are creating your own daily experience, without changing anything about your environment or activities. What changes is how you observe and influence your actions and responses.

A daily theme should be something that is enjoyable yet personally meaningful. Here are some examples:

• Today is about… humor. I will deliberately look for things I see/hear/read throughout the day that make me smile or laugh.
• Today is about…patience. I will experiment with responding rationally to irrational requests by my supervisor or spouse, or find interesting things to look at or think about while waiting in line.
• Today is about…connecting. I will give 100 percent of my attention and energy to each encounter – with clients, co-workers, family, friends, strangers – and notice how they respond.

The trick is to make this fun. Consider it a treasure hunt. Now that you’re looking for them, opportunities to find or create elements in your theme will show up again and again. You’ll get hooked and want to look for more.

Then before you go to sleep, think back over the day. It will be a lot easier to catalog what happened, what you did, how you felt. You’ll find that you’ve lived a much slower, richer day, just by framing how to think and act within it.

What is tomorrow’s theme going to be?