HOL Ravenclaw

Daily Inspiration

Regardless of which Hogwarts house we call home, we all need a bit of help sometimes to stretch a little further to achieve our dreams. Some people listen to music to get them motivated, while others read biographies of the people they admire. Whether you're looking for the confidence to help you smash a job interview or get that extra push to step out the door and start training for a marathon, share what inspires you in this thread for others to enjoy as well.

This is a cute idea .

This is going to sound like a study guide because doing work is where I struggle to have organic motivation. What helped me was always making deadlines for myself and giving myself breaks. Most of my motivation needs to be directed towards academia so I read or write a certain amount before a break or something I enjoy. This advice is thrown around alllll the time so I doubt it's helpful on its own BUT I came across a few things that really helped.

I don't know if I'm allowed to post links but they're easy to find if you search for them:

1. WrittenKitten. I don't know who invented this but they are awesome. Say you need to type 2000 words for an assignment, go onto this site and write in the box, then every 100/500 (whatever you set it to) words, the site rewards you with a picture of a kitten! It's more motivating than you would think...if you like cats.

2. Habitica. You have your own little character and you earn coins by organising your life basically. You type in what tasks you need to finish and any habits you want to add or break (trying to get in shape? Put in an option where you loose coins for eating fast food and gain them for doing your 30 mins of exercise for that day). When you earn coins for completing your tasks and continuing good habits, you can use these to 'buy' a reward that you yourself can program. '10 minute break' or '1 episode of House of Cards' etc . OH AND SOMETIMES YOU GET EGGS THAT HATCH INTO COOL PETS.

Another thing that helped was I read an interview of man I really admired once. They asked him about how he gets up and does everything he does everyday, even if he doesn't feel like it. He said that for him it was all about honour. If people are counting on you or expecting things from you, you shouldn't let them down. If no one is but you've made promises and expectations to yourself, it's still important to respect yourself and honour those commitments. I don't know why, but that word really stuck with me. I had 'honour' written on my wall for two years so I would get up for classes and go to the gym etc.

I don't know if that will help any of you, but it might and I hope it does, even just a little (even just because kittens)

This is a lovely idea. Well, I generally listen to the tunes of Disney songs, as in, the songs with just the music and no words. I'm actually doing that right now... And, I like the quote "What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?" This quote has helped me a lot in many different scenarios. I also keep Pinterest boards of happy pins, funny pins, or inspiration pins for specific times.

Ooh, Habitica is a great app, however, I every time I tried it (4 times so far) I eventually strayed to using it as more of a social platform than a productivity platform. I wish that there was an option to use it without the social aspect, but for now, I will stick with my bullet journal.

About that, if you love crossing things out or the feel of pen on paper, or you are just really creative, I really recommend a bullet journal. There are so many resources online and every single day I feel motivated to fill up the page with tasks and memories and CROSSED OUT to-dos.

Shadow Gaunt wrote:About that, if you love crossing things out or the feel of pen on paper, or you are just really creative, I really recommend a bullet journal. There are so many resources online and every single day I feel motivated to fill up the page with tasks and memories and CROSSED OUT to-dos.

Yes! I love bullet journals. After giving Hobonichi a try over the past year, I've finally decided just to bite the bullet and return to the bullet journal format. I get a lot more done, I don't constantly worry about ripping the very thin, delicate pages and I also don't have to worry about there being wifi to do my organising.

So I'm definitely with you on the bullet journal front!

I have depression, Post-traumatic stress disorder and Anxiety disorder. Yeah, I know. A lot. Therefore, I have good and bad days. My bad days are awful. I end up being afraid of doing anything and I just want to stay alone in bed all day. That being said, I do need to have a motivation on those days to get up and do my responsibilities. My main inspiration and motivation is my family. I can't imagine to not be up and about their business and helping them as much as possible as I put my family before all my needs.

There are four lovely quotes that do make me feel more inspired and bring out positive feelings in me.

In our daily life, we encounter people who are angry, deceitful, intent only on satisfying their own needs. There is so much anger, distrust, greed, and pettiness that we are losing our capacity to work well together. - Margaret J. Wheatley

We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone. - Orson Welles

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. - Albert Schweitzer

Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave. - Mary Tyler Moore

It seems that lately, my health has taken a definite nosedive. Some of the stuff going on with me is downright scary, so it's pretty hard to stay upbeat and positive. Combined with the stress of taking care of my grandmother, a demanding job, and being a parent, there are some days I struggle to do anything at all. Still, I make it a point of forcing myself to end the day with a positive outlook.

One of the ways that get me motivated is ironically, HOL. The persona of Emily, if you will, has no health problems, and other than keeping Annabelle the Giant Squid from flooding Professor Will's classroom (again), her days are pretty stress-free. My 'real' self could definitely deal with that! Annabelle aside, the classes and activities offer me a creative outlook that definitely improves my mood.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the British show, Doctor Who, but there is a certain quote that I often turn to for encouragement:

"Didn't anyone ever tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap? If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap. Me."