The word "motivated" means, “having an incentive or a strong desire to do well or succeed in some pursuit.”
Being a motivated woman is important. A woman of hope, a woman who is pursuing the good, true, and beautiful, and a woman whose goal is heaven can change lives, starting with her own. Being a motivated woman enables us to fulfill the tasks of our vocation and our goals. It allows us to be generous to others, fully giving of ourselves from a place of abundance.
Examine Your Motives
Before discussing ways we can get motivated, we must distinguish between good and bad motivations. One way to discern this is by asking ourselves the “why” behind our actions.
What is our motivation? As Catholic women, our motivation should be to “to seek God, to know Him, and to love Him with all our strength” (CCC 1).
All we do should be motivated by this: to know, love, and serve God in this life so that we may know, love, and serve Him in heaven.
More Than A Feeling
Too often, I go in waves of feeling motivated and unmotivated. Some days I feel like I can accomplish anything, while other days I feel weak, dry, and uninspired.
Something I do that helps me with this is to do my daily tasks and complete my goals no matter how I feel. Feelings are good and important, yet feelings do not always align with reality. When we complete a good action, no matter how we feel, we are practicing discipline and using our will.
The Saints show us how to do this. I think of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, a woman who, for most of her life, didn’t “feel Christ’s presence,” yet was able to accomplish her goals of service and charity because she was motivated by love for Christ.
We may not always feel motivated. In fact, working towards becoming the best woman we can be may even be a painful process at times. Yet if we are faithful to what we are being called to do, if we discipline our will through good actions, and faithfully strive towards our goals, we will see the fruit and God’s incredible movement in our lives.
Ways to Get Motivated (When You Haven't Been for a While)
Get To The Root
Is there something that is causing you to be unmotivated? Is there something that is blocking you or distracting you from striving towards Heaven?
Once a week, I try to discern what that is for myself. It could be as simple as the change in season, when I don’t want to climb out of bed for an early morning workout when it is dark. It could be as complex and heavy as the loss of a friend, and I don’t even want to accomplish my daily tasks.
Whatever it is, take time, whether daily, weekly, or monthly, to get to the root of your lack of motivation. When we do this we are able to address the issue instead of covering it up. Spiritual direction, frequent Confession, counseling, and/or therapy helps us both pinpoint what may be affecting us and discover tangible ways we can work through loss of motivation.
WRITE + PRAY
We invite you to sit with the Word and unpack it in a uniquely personal way, finding your own story.
Discover your story within His.
Know Your Vocation
Our vocation is our mission in life, it’s what God made us to do. Clearly knowing what our vocation is allows us to order our life and our priorities. We are able to discern what our tasks are. It gives meaning to our life and focuses the motivation behind our actions.
When we understand, embrace, and live out our vocation, we begin to live the abundant life. (John 10:10)
Knowing our universal vocation of holiness, to love and serve God, our primary vocation of the gift of ourselves as married, religious, single, or consecrated women, and our secondary vocations of professional work in and out of the home helps us discover our motivation and outline our goals.
Define your vocation, write down your duties, and set time aside for each of your daily tasks.
Set Your Goals and Plan of Action
Clarity can bring freedom. What do you want? What are your desires and dreams?
Establishing goals allows us to create meaning, intention, and focus each day. We feel much more energetic and motivated as we look forward to growing as individuals. We want to be the best versions of ourselves for God, for ourselves, and for one another. Setting goals is one way we accomplish this.
Write down the goals that you have in mind. No goal is too small or too big. It could be the goal of folding clothes right when they come out of the dryer or walking the Camino. It could be making it to daily Mass. That’s why knowing our vocation is so important. It helps focus your goals as you set them.
What I try to do every evening is to write down three goals for the next day. I also have ten monthly goals I make with my husband, Mike, at the start of every month. Whatever timeline you choose, or however many timelines you choose, I recommend writing your goals down somewhere you can see and check them off.
Set A Routine
I’ve shared my Rule of Life before and my passion for establishing a rhythm to my day. Routines create structure and space for our duties and tasks and at the same time allows room for the freedom to create, be spontaneous and flexible, flourish, and thrive.
Instead of thinking about our to-do lists or being thrown into our day with no roadmap, we know each task has a designated time and we are able to live fully and freely in the present moment.
It Takes A Village
It is essential to surround ourselves with motivated, like-minded women! That’s (one of the many reasons!) why Blessed is She is so amazing. Even if you live in a small community or don’t have many goal-oriented friends, we are part of an amazing community of women. Message someone who leaves a beautiful comment under a picture on IG, or host or attend a Blessed Brunch! Find a prayer partner and ask them to hold you accountable to your daily tasks and goals.
When we are part of a community and surround ourselves with people who share the same goals and passions, we begin to flourish. The root word of "happiness" in Greek means "to flourish." We are called to flourish for Christ.
It’s also good to remember that we have to be a good friend to other women. When we get to the root of our problems and work through them, when we fill ourselves with Christ through the Sacraments and live a life in the Church, and when we discipline our will through action, we are able to give to others from a place of abundance!
Other Helpful Resources
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- A Mother’s Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot
- The Pope and the CEO by Andreas Widmer
- Deliverance Prayers: For Use by the Laity by Father Chad Ripperger
- Planner
Ways to Get Motivated (When You Haven't Been for a While) #BISblog //Click to tweet
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Claire Couche is a wife, etiquette instructor, blogger, homeschooling mother, and registered nurse. She is passionate about sharing content that helps her community live a beautiful and virtuous life. Using her degrees in theology and history, Claire shares about the Catholic faith often on her IG account @findingphilothea and her website, Finding Philothea. You can often find her reading a good book in a beautiful dress! Learn more about Claire and all things etiquette here.
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