Motivation is one of the many keys to well-being and productivity.  It is likely the most important, with regard to productivity, because of it's ability to promote endurance.  When we are really motivated about something, we can stay "in the game" for longer periods than if we had no clear sense of purpose.  This allows us to easily locate a "leverage point" when we want to be more productive.  By increasing our motivation and drive, we'll naturally be more "in the moment" when it comes to our work.  We can then explore opportunities and creative ideas that can only be noticed when we are fully embracing whatever it is that we are trying to accomplish.  When we feel a lack of motivation, our mindset might be more directed toward what we could be doing than it is on what we are actually doing now.  Being open to new directions can be important, but if you know that you want to pursue something anyway, even if you lack interest in it at this point, upping motivation can be the turning point that allows you to innovate and improve on what you are doing.

There are many ways to feel more motivated.  One of them is to just find inspiring reasons for you to finish something.  This, if they really inspire you, will likely increase your sense of vitality and lead to better productivity.  For some people, though, finding truly inspiring reasons can seem difficult at times when we just want to quickly finish something that we lack interest in.

By taking tonic herbs, though, this can turn around without you having to think about it completely differently.  They naturally uplift and increase vitality to the extent that being more productive can become almost effortless.  You might find yourself doing something that you were avoiding before and finishing it with less effort than you thought it would take.  Or, if there a lot of effort needed, you won't be resisting it as much and you might actually have fun doing it.

In particular, Chaga is noted as being a powerful herb for increasing feelings of well-being and motivation.  Taking this can potentially increase overall drive and creativity toward various tasks.  Many people have found that taking Chaga consistently decreases stress and improves overall vitality and "motivation energy".  Author and nutritionist, David Wolfe considers Chaga to be a Jing tonic, which means that it increases the deep inner energy associated with adrenal, kidney, and reproductive power.

Another well-known and prominent Jing tonic is He Shou Wu.  This powerful root is known to increase adrenal and kidney function and promote a sense of vitality.  By taking this product, which is associated with youthening, a natural sense of well-being often results or at least shines through more profoundly.  He Shou Wu is noted to be so powerful that it has been found to radically increase reproductive ability for both men and women.  This can be something to take note of, whether or not you are trying to increase this ability.

Schizandra Berry is another tonic herb that can increase motivation and productivity.  While it does increase Jing and therefore kidney and adrenal function, it also has a unique alertness producing quality.  This, since it does not stimulate in any kind of depleting way like coffee is said to do, allows you to increase alertness and sense of vibrancy without having to feel more tired later on in the day as a result.  For staying motivated and alert so that you can feel more "ready" to finish whatever you are working on, Schizandra is a wonderful option.

Often times, it is easy to fall into the "trap" of feeling unsure about how to perfect an area of our lives. We may feel that, "this time, we have to make it right" which can lead to feelings of insecurity about which action is right.  Whenever this occurs, remember that "trying to be perfect" does not necessarily inspire appropriate action steps.  Getting into a flow, where you feel more connected to life and your tasks, however, can bring creative solutions and true understanding.  Essentially, this suggests that you can choose to get in the flow, rather than staying stuck in obsessive thinking.  To do this, you just need to put "one foot forward", and remain open to new innovations that can help you.  When we feel very content, however, this is often easier.  What if, though, you feel stressed and need to go forward somehow.  Here's one way that might be useful.

Remember that all work you ever do is brought about step by step.  Having a clear intention can be helpful, but you do not have to feel fine about each and every step before you progress.  If something feels insurmountable, consider that you can just begin and put as much focus on each individual aspect as you can.  When you work in this meditative way, where each action deserves praise and approval, you begin to see how your little efforts will stack up into a remarkable achievement.  During the journey, though, you can feel wonderful.  This state of feeling is not just to make it easier and less stressful.  It actually helps you to connect to that flow and get more inspired ideas to move forward faster.

One practical way to do this is to choose to do one very small task, actually the smallest aspect of that task.  Do whatever it is that you are completely willing to do without resistance.  If the first step seems too small, break it down to an even smaller task.  Do this until you are willing to take some form of action.  After that, give yourself the ability to feel accomplished about that.  Then, consider whether there is follow-up task that you can do, even if it is just as small.  Give yourself the ability to choose either way on this.  If you don't have the "energy" to do this small and seemingly meaningless task, then you can stop for now.  Very likely, you'll be willing to see how far you will go doing these extremely small tasks.  Eventually, you'll realize that you just got started on something that you were resisting or putting off.  This will likely inspire another action, which will propel you to go even farther.   You might find yourself "in a flow" where you feel like you're working almost effortlessly on something that seemed so difficult before.  You can choose to get into a flow, you just sometimes have to start very small and give yourself the approval to not "make yourself" worry about it.  Once you get a significant aspect completed, you'll have your own motivation and momentum to move you forward.

Magnesium, for many people, is a powerful mineral that can increase feelings of well-being and productivity.  This is because it induces calmness and relaxation while also increasing concentration and focus.  Many people feel that they cannot pay attention well because of a deficiency of this mineral. 

It essentially "turns on" many enzymes and detoxification functions in the body.  When we don't have enough, these might not be fully operating.  The result is less than optimal feelings of vitality and ability to eliminate toxins.

Magnesium can allow you to feel lighter and more free.  When we go from not having enough to having higher levels of magnesium, we can feel elated and more "in the moment".  Quickness of thought and the ability to rationalize and create solutions will also likely increase.

In addition, magnesium is incredibly alkaline.  This means that, in terms of the Ph of our bodies, it helps to sway it toward alkalinity and overall balance.  Just by adding in more magnesium rich foods or high quality magnesium supplements, we can begin to bring in this balance.  The result is increased calmness and a more "zen-like" composure and outlook.  Most foods that are considered to be alkaline have a good amount of magnesium. These include green leafy vegetables, certain superfoods like chlorella, spirulina, and blue-green algae, as well as raw nuts and seeds which aren't necessarily alkaline but provide a lot of magnesium.  Raw cacao is very high in magnesium, as is high quality dark chocolate.  Hemp seeds are also high in this mineral.

A magnesium supplement can also be incredibly effective for some people.  Of these, the best are generally magnesium oil and ionic or angstrom magnesium.  Magnesium oil is incredibly powerful for many people and is used topically to increase magnesium levels, which actually allows you to take in more than would be digested through other ways of supplementing.  Ionic magnesium or angstrom magnesium are likely the best edible forms of magnesium supplements and much better than synthetic magnesium supplements that contain other unnecessary ingredients.  Other than this, look for whole-food sourced magnesium supplements.

Research uses for magnesium oil and see if that is an appropriate addition to your lifestyle.  It might be one of the most helpful tools you can use for your overall health.

Many times, when we feel stuck or we don't know what to do, we are focusing on what we should do and what we haven't done yet.  This sets us up to be very disempowered.  To offset this, the key is to find something to do even if it is small and feel completely appreciative of your efforts.  In essence, find something to do that you will actually do and put a lot of attention on the fact that you are completing one task, forgetting as much as you can about anything that you did incorrectly or didn't do at all.  This will turn into inspiration and eventually momentum which will lead you to achieving what you thought you couldn't.  The key is direct action and persistence, all while staying in as high a state as you can.

When you are loving what you are doing, you will naturally find ways to do it better.  When you are frustrated, it can lead you to giving up or not doing as well as you want to.  Stay in a high state, where you are appreciative and content with small efforts but open do new ideas for bigger steps.

One way to do this is to use it as a meditation experience.  Put your attention on a small first step that you are willing to take toward your goal.  Feel wonderful about it, however small it is.  Leave out all expectations of how this will or will not bring you closer to what you want.  Just notice the fact that you are doing SOMETHING.  That will eventually take you where you want to go if you keep building on that small step with more small steps until you notice ways to take even more prominent steps in the direction that you want to go in.  By doing this, you are being more open to creativity and letting go of resistance to doing whatever it is that you feel you want or need to do.

Let the moment guide you when you don't know what to do.  If you feel stuck and want to give up, consider bringing more attention to THIS MOMENT.  You might find one small step that you are willing to do.  Again, let go of expectations as much as you can and just enjoy the task itself while directing yourself in the direction that you want to do.

For more ease in this transition to a state of inspiration, especially when you feel less than vibrant, there are certain herbs that can help.

Chi tonics are one type of herb that can help greatly.  These are tonic herbs which naturally increase chi or energy and vitality.  This is the energy that is used everyday to accomplish tasks and deal with stress.  By taking Chi Tonics, you will likely have more energy and ability to deal with stress.  Jing tonics can also help greatly by promoting adrenal function and inner power, which can sometimes increase motivation.  Both Schizandra and Reishi are potent Jing and Chi tonics.  We offer very high quality extracts of these herbs on our store page.

How have you increased your ability to do tasks and work toward the direction that you want to go?

One way to diet effortlessly is to focus on other aspects besides food.  Even if you are eating the same foods, you can still eat less and lose weight without counting calories or restricting foods.  Trying to stop eating foods that you like can be very difficult and often doesn't work.  Inspiring yourself, however, is an antidote that actually works.  It is the real secret to eating well and increasing health without feeling deprived.  One way to inspire yourself is through momentum and productivity.  Once you see that you are going in a direction that you want to go in, in some aspect of your life, food becomes much less of a pull.  You might even find yourself forgetting to eat at certain parts of the day or just not caring about it as much.  Snacking can become a lost habit.  This, however, is all without focusing on diet at all.

As we can see, food is often tied into our emotions.  While you can deal with the emotions directly, setting goals and focusing your energy on working toward that rather than food will help incredibly.  With many people, excessive eating is a result of not feeling fulfilled creatively or otherwise.  You can break this cycle by finding whatever it is that inspires you and bringing that out more in your life.  Finding something that makes you feel artistic or productive is one way to encourage yourself to move forward on tasks other than eating.  Since there are only so many hours in the day, finding something that truly calls out to you will divert much of your available time for eating into something which can generate real fulfillment.

Bestselling author and speaker, Tony Robbins, suggests that the questions that we ask ourselves can have measurable impact on our ability to be resourceful and generate ideas.  By asking yourself questions which cause you to look for solutions and empowering answers, you'll find more choices available for you to take that are in line with what you want and where you want to go.

Still, food is not something that has to be looked at as bad.  You can eat when you want to eat.  The key is motivating yourself to have more of your attention on what you want to create and do. This will naturally allow you to eat a more balanced amount of food.

What are your views on this topic?  Leave a comment if you want to.

In my experience, procrastination is often the result of two different causes.  One of them is feeling as if the goal is insurmountable.  When we feel hopeless about something, we naturally will focus our attention elsewhere.  Another is not having enough energy or drive to accomplish whatever it is that we want to do or feel that we have to do.

One of the quickest ways out of procrastination is to realize that you likely are dealing with one or more of these aspects.  In many cases, it is actually our energy state which is leading us to feel a certain way about the task and have less than optimal motivation for doing it.  You can notice whether it is your energy level just by seeing how vibrant you feel in this moment.  We often think that we need to feel stressed or less than excited before we finish a task but this actually can make you less likely to do it.  By reversing this pattern and feeling good now, you can shift into feeling up to the task and complete it with less effort.  The question then is, how do we do this?

1.  Food - Find out which foods make you feel good and seek out those to increase your overall vitality.  In my experience certain foods, like raw cacao, allow me to experience greater energy levels and contenment very quickly.  Notice which foods effect you positively and eat more of those.

2.  Letting go - Learn the Sedona Method, which is a letting go technique and release your feelings that are creating tension and making you feel less vibrant.  This will impact your level of productivity greatly.

3. EFT - Learn EFT and tap on some of the points for increased energy and sense of balance and relaxation.  You don't even necessarily have to do the entire protocol or even have a specific thing you are working on to experience benefits.  You can just tap on a few of the points for a little more vitality.

Another way to step out of procrastination is to ask yourself what the smallest step is that you can do to move forward on whatever it is you are working on.  By asking what the smallest step is you move away from resistance and into realistic opportunities that you can easilty choose to take.  Though they may seem to be unimportant steps, they add up and lead to greater and greater steps by increasing momentum.  By just concentrating on the smallest next step, you move into action verses not doing anything.

Whenever you feel "stuck", consider that you are only holding on to a perception of being stuck. You likely have many options in front of you, It's just that you are only allowing in a few ideas. Still, even if you really have only a couple different directions to take, the perception of being "forced" does not really create more empowerment, does it? If you feel like you are in this position, where you cannot get motivated to do something you really don't want to do but feel that you have to, you still have many choices about the way you look at the situation. This can help you to be more recourceful because you feel more empowered. By stepping into a state of inspiration verses hopelessness, you have a greater ability to be more productive. This can lead you to accomplish something that you previously didn't think would happen because you were lacking motivation.

One way to increase you sense of power, or choice, is by deciding to actually want to do whatever task you are doing. Even if you feel "hopeless" about it in the beginning, forget the fact that you "have to" do it for a moment and choose to be excited about some aspect of it. You can always find something interesting or exciting about anything. Use that to your advantage and shift your focus into one of excitement.