Have you ever had one of those days where you just don't feel like doing anything? Work isn't exciting you anymore and you feel lethargic & uninspired?

Haven't we all! One of the keys to unlocking motivation is understanding your personal values i.e. what truly energises & excites you. Once you know what these values are then it's simply a matter of planning your life around them. A quote that I love to demonstrate this idea is:

"never let the things that matter to you most be at the mercy of those that do not"

The most successful people on the planet all understand what their values are and live their lives in accordance with them. You'd be surprised how many of us though, live our lives according to other people's values. We end up devoting a large amount of time to things that genuinely don't matter to us which results in those feelings of de-motivation & sluggishness. If you're living your life according to your values then you should feel naturally energized, positive & excited!

Simple Life Strategy: how to get motivated

Start by thinking about what you love spending your time doing, the things you love in your home, the things you always have energy to do no matter how tired you are, think about the things you find it easy to spend money on and look to see where in your life you are focused and disciplined and reflect on what the common things are that you love to think and talk about.

You might ask yourself the following types of Qs:

What parts of your life are you most satisfied with?
What characteristics do you admire the most in other people?
What brings you the most joy in life?
Once you've written down some of these ideas, you then need to spend some time analyzing which words seem to mean the most to you until you have a list of 6 or 7 values. Then you need to put them into order based on your personal priorities.

Some of my personal values are:

- health

- innovation

- learning & insight

- fun & adventure

I make a concerted effort to ensure I am factoring in these values every day in some way. When it comes to planning my week ahead I will refer to my values to ensure the decisions I'm making are in line with my values. For example if a friend invites me out to an event, I will assess how spending my time with that friend will allow me to live my values? Should my time be better used doing something else? And be careful not to confuse values with 'pleasurable activities'. Values are not always about instant gratification - but they assist you to grow as a person in the long run.

Zoë B is a Life Strategist, Skills Coach & the author & creator of the Simple Life Strategies blog. Through her coaching programs and this blog, Zoë B helps others to learn the strategies that exceptional people use to overcome things like stress, indecision, worries, boredom, procrastination & fear so that they can perform at their own personal best.

This article first appeared on Zoë B's Simple Life Strategies blog: http://www.simplelifestrategies.com