Ah, February has arrived. As we get into the second month of the year, (so-long, January and your shitty Retrograde!) It’s incredibly important not only for your esteem and motivation, but for your soul and your growth, to be able to self-motivate and get going. Procrastination can honestly cripple the best of us like a plague, slowly debilitating our will until we look around and scarcely recognize how we got so far from our goals.

Quitting my job and knowing the only person to ‘boss’ me around was me, was sort of a surreal feeling. I’m not intimidated by myself, but I was intimidated by the workload and the pressure I tend to put on myself. As soon as I gave myself permission to relax and ease into the productivity, I came up with a system I knew I would abide by:

• I would get up in the morning to an alarm, get showered, get dressed, go out for a coffee, turn the car around, and sit down to work - just like any other job.

• I made a list of projects, and sub-lists of ideas, articles, goals, and a list of things I would maybe, maybe not want to try in the future. Didn’t matter, just so long as the juices were flowing is all that was important here.

• I had to practice the art of what I declared I would be doing - writing. If I wasn’t writing, I would dedicate myself to the realm of literature in which I love so dearly, and I would delve into a book. Either a self-help motivator that I needed to take notes with, or a guilty pleasure that allowed me to open up my imagination and quit feeling the pressure of “will it be good enough, is it a stupid idea”, etc. In other words, I needed to drown myself in what I love being surrounded by.

• I needed to eliminate anything that would allow me an excuse. I updated all of my computer systems so they would be in sync and easy to access at all times. I created a note-file for every type of category that I could jump into and add or remove things to (digital note file). I cleaned the shit out of my surroundings. I organized everything to a beautiful, simple, point from which I could jump off, so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed just by looking at it and avoid sitting down.

• I rearranged my desks to fit the feng shui I needed for maximum productivity. I also reorganized my bookshelves so that I could use them easier.

• I created playlists that I knew would boost my braincells and allow me to feel inspired but also could allow to sink into the background.

• I built a schedule to which I needed to abide - even if it was a loose one, it was a schedule.

There are so many ways to clear your brain in order to operate on your highest level of frequency; I merely had to tap into understanding and admitting my own habits so that I could propel myself forward. Keep in mind, a lot of those things weren’t easy, they took a lot of time, and I could think back on it and wonder if perhaps I wasted a little too much time, but in the grand scheme of it all, when you’re living day-to-day and you’ve got shit to do to keep the ship afloat, just getting any of it done at all is a feat that should be applauded because your only obligation was to yourself and to your own dreams.

Want to share my motivation? Here are some books that have given me a boost this month:

You Are A Badass - Sincero

Big Magic - Gilbert

The Art of Communicating - Hanh

I know the last title may seem less relevant, but it’s truly important to understand how to communicate with, and listen to, ourselves. We are the first to self-sacrifice and forget to maintain that relationship with the person inside who counts on us more than anyone, and only we can be the ones to nurture that relationship as we grow and go through change. I found it exceptionally easy to understand, and it felt like a loving friend was holding my hand through each chapter.