For many, it’s easy to feel a sense of motivation at the start of a new year, but as the year progresses it can be tough to stay motivated, especially if you are feeling behind on your goals or feeling burned out in your day-to-day grind.

There are several ways you can stay motivated toward the end of the year, to help you finish off strong and ready for the start of 2018:

1. Celebrate the small successes. While we are all focused on accomplishing our big goals we have to remember to celebrate our smaller successes. Perhaps you set a high goal for reductions in idling and have not yet accomplished it; but, did you reduce idling in your fleet by any percentage at all? Even if it’s not what you hoped for, celebrate the small victories.

2. Try smaller goals. If you find yourself missing your goals more often than not, you may be setting your goals a little too high. Try to set smaller goals for yourself. Instead of shooting to completely eliminate preventable accidents in your fleet in the next year; perhaps shoot for a percentage reduction instead. Or, consider focusing on your most accident-prone drivers and reducing their incidents.

3. Change up your to-do list. Do you start your day with a to-do list a mile long? This alone can start a day off feeling behind and swamped. Instead, call it your “to accomplish list.” Just the act of changing how you think about your tasks can make you feel more motivated. At the end of the day, what feels better: I’ve done these tasks or I’ve accomplished these tasks?

4. Learn from your failures. Admitting you have failed at a goal can be difficult, but there is a quote from John Dewey, “Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” I believe you can even learn more, as with success you celebrate but with failure you typically step back and reassess. Drive yourself to continuous improvement.

5. Take a break! Don’t forget to take breaks throughout the day. Get up, get away from your desk, and walk around. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, getting your blood flowing and getting your mind off your task of the hour can help you feel motivated to continue. And, when was the last time you took a day off? While many of our jobs make taking time off from the office difficult, it’s not impossible. Working yourself to the bone day-in and day-out can be detrimental to your performance and leave you with lackluster motivation. Take a break.

6. Change your verbiage. Stop staying statements like, “I’m swamped” or “I just can’t do all of this.” Change up your verbiage to try and reset your mindset. Instead, try saying “I’ve got a lot to accomplish today,” or “What I’m doing is hard,” (remember: Can’t is the same as saying something is impossible and nothing is impossible with the right attitude!).

7. Be open to change. Don’t get stuck in the “but it didn’t go the right way” rut. There will be many times in your life that your plans start off in the right direction but quickly take a turn you didn’t expect. Take a moment to step back and be open for change. Take the situation as a learning experience and adjust your end goal if you need to.

Do you feel your motivation start to flag toward the end of the year? What else do you do to help stay motivated and continue to be the best fleet manager you can be at any point during the year?

E-mail me and let’s chat!

Lauren Fletcher, Executive Editor
Work Truck Magazine
Lauren.Fletcher@bobit.com