The #1 Way I Motivate Myself Everyday

All year, I’ve been doing monthly experiments to see what makes my life more interesting or fulfilling. There’s one big way I motivate myself to take these daily actions that I’m excited to share with you! It’s the same method I’ve used to stay motivated with healthy habits for years. 

Are you ready for it?

Truthfully, it’s nothing groundbreaking. You’ve probably done it before too when you were in kindergarten. But most adults don’t realize that what works to motivate kids often works to motivate us as well. 

Ready to treat yourself like a kid?

How I Motivate Myself Everyday: A Sticker Chart! 

More accurately, it’s a sticker calendar. A big one. Each year, I buy a giant 22-by-15-ish inch wall calendar (like this one). I might use it for a bit of planning, but mostly it is for stickers—aka, keeping track of the actions I want to take regularly. 

Of course, this also means sticker shopping, which I’m never mad about. 

Currently, I’m using:

• Butterfly and flower stickers
• Sparkly star stickers

Motivational Sticker Chart Uses

I’ve used this system to motivate myself in a few different ways:

1. Habit formation. I used to work out regularly and I’m trying to build that habit again. In the photo above, butterflies=workouts.
2. A 30-day challenge. A while back, I did a 30-day squat challenge and gave myself a sticker for each day that I completed the challenge.  
3. Personal experiments. I’ve been doing different monthly experiments all year and this chart has been my main way of tracking whether I’ve done each action. The gold stars on my sticker calendar are for my monthly personal experiments.  
4. Honest tracking/documentation. Years ago, I used this system to figure out how often I exercised. I thought it was a fairly regular occurrence. It was, in fact, not. 

Just this year, I’ve used my calendar to track how often I played video games with my husband, did my hair and makeup, exercised, worked on improving our yard, and journaled. (Not all at the same time!)

ANY activity you might want to do semi-regularly, this will work! 

• Flossing
• Reading
• Practicing an instrument
• Stretching
• Texting your mom
• Drawing
• Eating spinach

…You get the idea.

Why does it work to motivate myself with a sticker chart?

There are a lot of reasons this is a super-effective method for self-motivation. 

• It’s visual. You can clearly see whether or not you’ve done something. 
• It’s not a screen. I try to avoid screens where possible because I easily get distracted by shopping for couches I don’t intend to buy and books I really should not buy. 
• It’s tactile. In a digital world, there’s something extra special about putting a real sticker on a real piece of paper.  
• It’s playful. Stickers are fun, y’all! And anytime we can add whimsy and playfulness to our lives, it’s a win. 
• You don’t want to break the chain. Once you get multiple stickers in a row, you don’t want to miss a day. 
• It’s honest. This is pure data. I can literally look at the last month on the calendar and count the number of times I’ve exercised. The stickers don’t lie. 

Tips for How I Use a Sticker Chart to Motivate Myself

There are two important tips for this motivational method. 

#1: You need to see it all the time.

The calendar I use is BIG and on the wall in the room where I spend the most time. I can’t forget about it because it’s right there.

Do not hide your sticker chart.

#2: You need to define what “counts.”

Whenever I choose to track an activity on my calendar, I first define what counts as doing it or not. Without this definition, there would be a lot of internal debate on whether I earned my sticker each day or not.  

Here are some of my personal examples:

• A workout counts if it’s 10 minutes or more. 
• Morning pages journaling must be one full page, typed. Or three full pages, handwritten. 
• When I tried to play video games with my husband more, I decided that anything counted. There was no time minimum. 

It doesn’t matter what your definition is. It just needs to be clear. 

Sticker charts (or sticker calendars) are the most underrated/underused motivational method for adults! Simple. Affordable. Effective. 

What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know if you’re going to try this! And tell me all about the cute stickers you buy. 😍