It’s National Motivation and Inspiration Day!
Motivation and Inspiration can positively impact your health by boosting your mood, increasing your sense of purpose, reducing stress, improving focus, and potentially leading to healthier lifestyle choices due to the renewed drive to achieve goals, which can contribute to better physical and mental well-being.
Needs some ideas to get motivated and inspired? Here you go!
- Do a 24-hour “no-scroll” day: turn off notifications and don’t look at any social media, then notice how quickly your brain starts making its own fun again.
- Take a “snow-glow” walk: bundle up and walk for 20 minutes, even if it’s cold. Bonus points: go at dusk when everything looks like a quiet movie set.
- Try the “third place” reset: leave your house and go somewhere that isn’t work. A cozy coffee shop, library, hardware store, even a greenhouse. New environment, new momentum.
- Read one chapter only: pick a book you actually like and stop after one chapter. The goal is to start, not to “finish the whole thing like a hero.”
- Write a “Wins List”: list 10 wins from the last year (big or tiny). Your brain remembers what you tell it to remember.
- Do a 10-minute “rage-clean”: set a timer and clean one micro-zone (junk drawer, boot pile, countertop). Motivation often shows up after motion.
- Swap your soundtrack: play music you never listen to (jazz, film scores, lo-fi, metal, bluegrass). You’re basically changing your internal lighting.
- Make a “two-step” plan: choose one goal and write only the next two steps. Not 27 steps. Two. (Example: “Open the document. Write the headline.”)
- Hot-cold contrast: take a hot shower, then end with 15–30 seconds of cold water. It’s a clean mental reboot button.
- Start the day outside (even briefly): step onto the porch for 2 minutes with coffee or water. Minnesota air = instant “awake” mode.
- Do a “phone in another room” hour: put your phone somewhere mildly annoying to retrieve. Your focus will stop getting kidnapped.
- Winter light hack: sit near a bright window for 10 minutes in the morning. If it’s dark, turn on every light and make your space feel “daytime.”
- Build a “cozy mission”: pick one small project that feels comforting: bake something, cook soup, organize gear, prep tomorrow’s clothes, sharpen tools, clean the grill.
- Go full “Nordic cabin”: light a candle, make tea, and read or journal for 20 minutes. Small rituals trick your brain into feeling steady and inspired.
- Do one brave, tiny thing: send the email, make the call, apply for the thing, ask the question. Tiny courage is rocket fuel.
- Change your route: drive a different way to work or errands. New inputs wake up the part of you that’s been on autopilot.
- Try a “creative sprint”: set a timer for 12 minutes and create anything: write a paragraph, sketch, take photos, brainstorm ideas. Stop when the timer ends.
- Make a “not-to-do” list: write 5 things you’re quitting today (doomscrolling, arguing online, overthinking, people-pleasing, perfectionism). Tape it somewhere visible.
- Visit a place that smells like possibility: bookstore, music store, gym, museum, indoor garden center, even Menards. Inspiration loves aisles.
- Call someone who energizes you: not someone who drains you with a 45-minute complaint marathon. Choose your people like you choose your winter boots.
- Do a “winter hobby sampler”: try one new thing for 30 minutes: snowshoeing, ice fishing, home gym workout, puzzle, guitar, painting, yoga, woodworking.
- Make the “Minnesota reset meal”: protein + warm food + water. Hunger and dehydration are sneaky motivation thieves.
- Plan one micro-adventure: pick a nearby town, a new restaurant, a lake loop, or a scenic drive. Put it on the calendar so future-you has something to run toward.
