Motivation Tips: How to Take Advantage of New Seasons

By Dr. Joti Samra, CEO & Founder of the Psychological Health & Safety (PH&S) Clinic and MyWorkplaceHealth

Motivation Tips: How to Take Advantage of New Seasons

Doesn’t it seem that as soon as Winter ends, you’re full of so much more energy and motivation? You aren’t imagining it; seasonal changes have a very real impact on our energy levels which easily translates into motivation in the spring. So, as the weather changes, let’s take advantage of the motivation boost we’re given by establishing some concrete goals.
 
Why are our motivation levels impacted by the weather?

Our emotions can be directly impacted by our environment. The weather is part of our physical environment! Like other animals, we humans spend most of the winter in more of a “hibernation” or energy-saving mode – and once the sun comes out, it’s a catalyst that pulls out our intrinsic motivation. The increasing length of days and a greater proportion of daylight as we move into spring and summer has a tangible, positive impact on our physical levels of energy and by extension our motivation levels.

Spring symbolizes so much – freshness, new beginnings, growth – and it gets us mobilized for action! As the late Robin Williams so eloquently states, Spring is nature’s way of saying ‘let’s party!’. 

There’s a reason we get more motivated at this time of year to ’spring clean’ or get motivated to exercise more in pursuit of the elusive ’summer body’.

Despite feeling all of this extra pep, you want to be mindful of not being overly ambitious with your expectations – here are my tips to optimize setting goals that you will succeed in achieving!

Motivation Tips: How to take advantage of spring motivation

1. Pick a specific behaviour to change. Start with no more than one or two behaviours to change at a time. Define in exact terms what you would like to change.
2. Ensure that your goal is measurable. To achieve your goal, you will have to know where you’re headed, and how to determine if you are getting or have gotten there.
3. Pick an attainable goal. The goal should be something that, based upon the life you are living, is something that you can realistically achieve.
4. Ensure the goal is realistic. You may want to lose 20 pounds, but a realistic goal may be to lose 10 pounds this year and 10 pounds the following year.
5. Ensure the goal is time-limited. Set a specific period of time in which you will accomplish your goal. Behavioural change takes a series of steps, and those steps can each be accomplished over a specific period of time. As you accomplish your time-limited steps, you can reward yourself for successes.​​