7 Tips to Keep Yourself Motivated
Getting to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is not a synch. In fact it’s the most demanding thing I’ve ever done, as well as bring the most exciting. Every day I’m faced with a new challenge, something I’ve never had to do before – especially when it comes to publicity and marketing on a tight deadline. It’s so important to keep myself motivated and not give way to panic. But how? This is what works for me (in my best moments):
1. Indulge in plenty of prayer, especially of the listening kind. (Don’t know how to do that? Take a passage of Scripture and let it speak to you. Dwell on that word or phrase that particularly moves you and tentatively relate it to what you’re currently going through. Could God be trying to reassure or challenge you through it?) You can’t do it yourself and it’s easy to run out of steam without the Teacher’s encouragement.
2. Try not to get phased by what your competitors are doing. Or by the tight deadlines you’re supposed to meet. Just stay close to God and he will tell you what to do when.
3. In the same way do everything at a deliberate pace. Learn to catch the unforced rhythms of grace….Not always easy, but always worth the effort.
4. Refuse to be discouraged or panicked. As Jesus once said to his disciples, when they were about to drown for the second time, “Don’t yield to fear.” Your God is bigger than the waves that are threatening to swamp you.
5. Get some good friends behind you, people who really believe in you and want to encourage you. Tell them your dream. Ask them to pray for you.
6. Get yourself a life coach or a spiritual director or a special friend or partner with whom you can think aloud and share your triumphs and disappointments. If they’re good they will give you space to discover your own solutions and ask you questions that enable you to see your situation from a different point of view.
7. Keep the dream alive. There’s a flame burning down in there which you didn’t light yourself – and you know it. On your darkest days, dig deep. Remember who you are and why you’re here.
