Top 100 Motivational Blog Posts of All Time

By Laura Milligan

The new year ushers in loads of resolutions and good intentions, many of which don’t make it past the first few weeks of January. Staying motivated enough to find a better job, lose ten pounds, or create a solid personal budget are tough when we’re already battling hectic lives. To help you find the inspiration you need to stay focused all year long, check out this list of 100 motivational blog posts.

Our Favorites

This first list includes some of our favorite posts about staying motivated, from discovering strength and inspiration where you least expected it to learning how to organize your entire life.

1. 1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward: Learn how to stay positive with this simple mantra, even when you’re experiencing setbacks.
2. Stay Motivated When You Don’t Like It: The problem with motivation is that sometimes you’d just rather give up. Read this post for tips on how to boost your morale even when you don’t feel like being productive.
3. How to Wake Up Feeling Totally Alert: Steve Pavlina helps readers go from “grog monster to early riser” with the tips and ideas in this post.
4. Top 5 Tips for Getting Motivated: Life coach Fiona Harrold doles out five surefire tips for finding motivation and sticking with it.
5. How to Be Motivated to Get Down to Work: This post explores how time management, human nature and momentum affect motivation.
6. Developing Positive Patterns: Improve your life with baby steps by discovering and implementing positive patterns in your lifestyle.
7. Design a Home Office: Tips for Setting Up Your Work Space: Working from home is great…as long as you can stay motivated. Learn how the design of a home office can affect your productivity.
8. How to Stay Positive When You Know Your Life Sucks: It’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the bad things in our lives. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, learn how to stay positive and motivated to make the changes that will improve your life.
9. Maintaining Motivation: This post has tips for staying motivated when you want to exercise, set goals, get organized and more.
10. Free Tools to Manage New Year’s Resolutions: Lifehacker’s set of online tools will help you manage your New Year’s resolutions all year round.

GTD Posts

David Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophy has helped countless individuals and businesses become more productive and successful. Check out the following posts for tips on staying motivated and organized, whether at home, in the office or on vacation.

11. Getting Started with “Getting Things Done”: 43 Folders posts this beginner’s guide to the GTD philosophy.
12. David Allen Speeds Up by Slowing Down: Lifehacker explores David Allen’s method of emptying the mind of useless information so that we can “slow down and think,” eventually resulting in a faster, more productive work day.
13. How to: fix Leaks in Your GTD System: If you’ve noticed a few holes in your implementation of GTD, don’t give up. Read this article to discover remedies for all kinds of GTD leaks.
14. Are Your Lists Really Complete?: Learning how to create effective lists is one of the basic principles of GTD. Check out this post for tips on how to make sure you’re maximizing each of your daily lists.
15. GTDInbox: Read all about this Gmail app that coordinates your inbox with GTD principles.
16. 17 Interviews with GTD Master, David Allen: Lifeclever puts together this list of 17 interviews with David Allen for expert tips and advice from the GTD master himself.
17. A Guide to Getting Things Done: This overview of David Allen and the GTD system is a helpful guide for anyone wanting to learn productivity and motivational tips.
18. Geek to Live: Getting Things Done with Google Notebook: This tutorial shows readers how to use Google Notebook according to GTD principles.
19. The GTD FAQ: If you have questions about starting or maintaining a GTD system, use this FAQ guide to find answers.
20. Massive GTD Resource List: Zen Habits publishes this resource guide of GTD-related links to connect you to all things GTD, from books to blogs to tools and software.

Fitness

Getting into shape and losing weight is a popular New Year’s resolution. Read this list for tips on how to stick to your workout and diet routines for good.

21. Fitness Programs: Staying Motivated: After you’ve made the decision to join a gym or start a running club, how do you make sure you stick with the program? This post from the Mayo Clinic gives great tips on staying motivated.
22. How to Stay Motivated to Exercise: Follow this simple guide from eHow.com for tips on sticking to your plan to get fit.
23. 8 Mistakes that can Wreck Your Fitness Plan: Check out this list of things not to do when starting a new fitness routine. You’ll find out how to beat burnout, stay motivated and more.
24. Exercise and Cold Weather: This post shows readers how to “stay motivated, fit and safe” during exercise, even when the weather is freezing cold.
25. Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity: If you’re still not convinced that exercising will affect your body in a healthy, beneficial way, read this post to find out how simple exercises can improve your mood, fight chronic diseases and help you sleep better.
26. Offbeat Ways to Eat Better, Exercise More: If you’ve tried every diet and exercise plan out there, read this post for creative ideas on how to burn extra calories and reinvent your menu.
27. Gyminee Blog: Gyminee’s online fitness and nutrition tracker keeps your goals on track by helping you easily manage schedules and more online. Check out their blog for product updates, the Entrepreneurs of the Week specials and featured chats on the group forum.
28. Staying Motivated: This post gives tips on staying motivated, even when you’ve reached a plateau in your fitness program or when you don’t notice results as quickly as you’d hoped.
29. Sick of the Gym? Find Your Sport: If you’re having trouble sticking to your fitness plan, you might need a change of scenery. Use this guide as a resource for finding what sport or activity gets you moving.
30. 13 Fitness Tips to Stay Motivated and Work Out Effectively: Buzzle.com posts this itemized list to give readers an approachable way to conquer their exercise obstacles.

Health

From battles with stress to overeating, these posts help readers manage their health issues in a positive way.

31. 9 Hidden Reasons to Stay Motivated: If the skinny pictures from your past aren’t keeping you motivated any longer, take a look at this list of different inspiration ideas for losing weight.
32. Healthy Recipes: The Mayo Clinic offers up lots of healthy recipes for heart-healthy, meatless, diabetes and other special diets.
33. Your Diabetes Diet: Stay Motivated by Breaking Down the Barriers: Anyone with diabetes, especially those who develop the condition later in life, can experience set backs when trying to stick with a diabetes-friendly diet. This post helps you deal with barriers like financial limitations, social stigmas and more so that you can continue to put your health first.
34. 11 Things Children Can Teach You About Weight Loss: Find out how a child’s outlook on life can help you lose weight. Items include “everything can be a game” and “it’s always more fun with friends around.”
35. Eight Ways to Beat Stress: Discovery Health provides readers with eight effective ways to beat stress so that you can use more energy on realizing your goals.
36. 19 Hacks to Stay Healthy at Your Workstation: While most of us have good intentions when it comes to taking care of ourselves, our resolutions leave us as soon as we walk into the office each day. Read this post for 19 ideas on how to continue being healthy and energetic even when you’re at work.
37. How to Stay Clean After Drug Rehab: Entering the real world after spending time in drug rehab is frightening. If you’re nervous about relapsing or you want to help a friend who’s leaving rehab, take a look at this post for ideas on staying clean.
38. Teenagers: How to Stay Healthy: Teenagers sometimes don’t believe that the health choices they make today can affect their bodies in the long term. This post details the ways in which smoking, vaccines and sex can be risky even when you’re young.
39. Top 10 Ways to Stay Motivated: This post has great tips for staying motivated while on a diet.
40. How to Fight Depression and Anxiety: Depression often leads to apathy, making it difficult to pull yourself out and start living life. This post has ideas on staying focused on the fight against depression and anxiety.

Spiritual

Whatever your religious background, finding ways to nurture your spirit can help boost the motivation you’re looking for in other areas of your life.

41. Feng Shui Your Life: Consider discovering the elements of feng shui to promote peace, harmony and energy in your life. This page will connect you to tips on arranging your office, bedroom and entire lifestyle according to feng shui.
42. The Purpose of Yoga: Motivation for Better Health: This article documents the ways that yoga can unite the mind, body and spirit to increase productivity and motivation.
43. Motivating Your Spiritual Side: This post gives tips on how to improve your own personal spirituality like “practice focusing more on others” and volunteering and practicing mediation or prayer.
44. Avoiding Spiritual Complacency: Christians may want to read this post to find out how they can improve their spiritual lives by continuing to challenge themselves and learn more about their faith.
45. DailySpiritualGuide.com: This website publishes daily spiritual messages to inspire and motivate readers of all faiths. Click through the posts to find one that speaks to you or submit your favorite message to share your inspiration with others.
46. The Benefits of Meditation: Tips and Techniques: Meditation can help you stay focused on achieving your goals by clearing your mind of harmful, distracting thoughts and energies. This post gives lots of tips for practicing effective meditation.
47. Meditation for Beginners: 20 Practical Tips for Quieting the Mind: The Zen Habits blog eases beginners into meditation by sharing tips like “make it a formal practice” and “notice small adjustments” in mood and movement.
48. How to Stay Focused and Live Life Wholesomely: New Age Today gives advice on how to stay focused through self-love and self-discipline.
49. Finding Daily Inspiration in Difficult Times: No matter what goal you’re working towards, you’ll experience bad days along with the good. Christians can stay motivated by reading this article about “reaching out to God everyday.”
50. Stay Focused with Essential Oils: Lifestyle “change expert” Laura Lewis shares with readers the kinds of oils and scents that promote motivation and productivity to help you stay focused.

Career-Oriented

Whether you’re in the market for a new gig or just need some motivation to show up each day, check out these inspirational posts.

51. Job Satisfaction: Strategies to Make Work More Gratifying: Push yourself to find the meaning in your job by reading this post from Revolution Health.
52. What Does Your Career Mean to You?: Find out which professional field you’re meant to conquer with the tips and information provided in this post.
53. How to Survive (and Thrive!) in a Job You Hate: Though it’s tempting to walk out every time your boss ignores your hard work, quitting without a plan isn’t a good idea. This post helps you survive your nightmare job by reminding yourself why you’re there in the first place and having realistic expectations.
54. Finding Balance and Meaning in a Nine-to-Five World: Tips like “stay young” and “work in a state of awareness” help readers find the meaning in their jobs and learn how to create balance around work and their personal lives.
55. Beginning Your Job Search: Getting stuck in a frustrating job search is maddening. Don’t lose your motivation, though, by taking any old job that comes your way. Use the tips and resources at WomenForHire.com to keep you focused on the career you really want.
56. Success for Short Timers: How to Stay Motivated While Moving On: If you’ve already decided to move to a new city or make a career change, how do you stay motivated at your current job? Let this guide help you show up to work on time each morning without being miserable.
57. How to Be Bulletproof in the Outsourced Economy: Employees lose jobs to international outsourcing everyday. Instead of getting frustrated or giving up, learn how to protect yourself against outsourcing and boost your overall job performance.
58. How to Stay Sane During Your Contracting Career: Signing on as a contractor usually means you get to create your own schedule, pick and choose clients and maybe even work from home. On the other hand, contractors miss out on regular benefits and have to figure out their tax situation on their own. Read this post for tips on staying sane during your stint as a contractor.
59. Find a Job: Create a Job Search Plan: Staying motivated during the job search is tough. Make a solid job search plan to help you stay on schedule and achieve your career goals.
60. How to Resolve Conflicts with Your Co-Workers: The Career Journal from the Wall Street Journal offers advice for professionals who run into trouble dealing with irritating co-workers.
61. 17 Ways to Survive Your New Boss: Just when you were getting comfortable with your office space, work schedule and job responsibilities, your department welcomes a new supervisor to boss you around. Learn how to survive the change with these helpful tips.

Setting Goals

Learning how to set the right kind of goals will get you started off on the right foot. By understanding how realistic expectations can affect your motivation, you’ll work your way down your to-do lists in no time.

62. Goal-Tracking Tools: This post gives different ideas for creating your own goal-tracking tools to help you stay on track.
63. How to Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve: Steve Pavlina’s post includes a detailed guide for setting realistic goals in a timely manner.
64. How to Set Goals: wikiHow: If you want a basic how-to guide to explain the easiest ways to set goals, check out this tutorial from wikiHow.
65. Goal Setting: Why Should I Set Goals?: Setting goals “can provide motivation, persistence and desire” so that you can more effectively achieve the results you want, whether in your career, fitness routine or personal life.
66. How to Set Goals for the New Year: Learn the difference between short-term and long-term goals, the problem with setting goals that are too big and tips for setting your own goals, all in this post.
67. 10 Questions to Help You Set Achievable Goals: Questions and activities like “write down 3 things you love” and what do you want less of” in life will help you set appropriate, life-changing goals.
68. Tools to Help You Focus and Concentrate on Your Goals and Objectives in Business and Employment: This post outlines why it’s important to track your goals during each step of the process. The end of the article provides links to helpful tools and websites that can help you organize your professional goals.
69. Setting Personal Goals: Take a minute to think about the last time you focused all of your energy on bettering yourself. If you haven’t reevaluated your goals since college, it’s probably time to examine your priorities and learn how to set new personal goals.
70. 11 Goal Setting Software and Tools: This list of free tools will help you track goals from start to finish.
71. How to Set Financial Goals for Retirement: If you need some extra motivation to understand how saving the $50 you could have spent on shoes will affect your retirement, take a look at this simple guide for setting up a long-term budget.

Finding Inspiration

Once you’ve found what drives you, you can keep going back to your inspiration every time you lose motivation. Let these guides help you discover your secret inspiration.

72. Your Best Self: Find Inspiration: When in doubt, ask Oprah. This special section features testimonials of successful women who found inspiration when they needed it most.
73. How to Find Inspiration to Write Everyday: Bloggers will find this article useful, as it has great ideas for finding motivation and subject matter to create frequent postings.
74. Motivational Quotes and Inspirational Quotes: This collection of quotes from About.com features messages about creativity, health, relationships, the military and more.
75. 8 Ways to Find Creative Inspiration: If you’re involved in a creative project but keep losing inspiration and motivation, try one of these eight tips for bringing it back.
76. How to Find Inspiration for Song Writing: This post focuses on finding inspiration for writing songs, but its ideas are useful for all kinds of writing, from editorials to poems.
77. MotivateUs.com: This website is full of inspirational quotes, stories and articles designed to motivate all kinds of people.
78. What Drives You to Success?: This list of “10 of the most compelling “drivers” that account for the correlation between success and excess” will help you put your priorities in order.
79. What Drives You?: Take this fun test from Tickle to find out your true inspiration.
80. Where do Writers Find Inspiration: This posting from Helium.com lists different ways that writers find inspiration. The tips are useful whether you’re involved in a writing project or not.
81. Blogging Tips: Hundreds of Resources for Finding Content for Your Blog: Lorelle from Wordpress lists all kinds of places to find inspiration so that you can continue posting on your blog.

Discovering Yourself

These posts help readers find out what motivates them by helping them create personalized tactics for achieving goals and more.

82. Identify and Live Your Personal Values: HR reporter Susan M. Heathfield coaches readers on how to identify the values that are most important to them. Because “values impact every aspect of your life,” you’ll have a much better understanding of yourself, which will help you achieve your goals and stay focused.
83. Achieving Peak Motivation: Steve Pavlina’s belief that polarity drives productivity and motivation requires a self-examination so that you can better understand what drives you. Read this post for more tips on how to achieve and maximize peak motivation.
84. Improve Your Self-Confidence in 15 Minutes: This posting shares with readers secrets for boosting self-confidence so that you can win back your motivation.
85. Do You Know What You Really Want?: You’ll never stay motivated if you’re chasing after someone else’s dream or are pursuing a lifestyle just because everyone else told you to. Find out where your heart is, and make an investment in what you love.
86. Our Limitations are Self Imposed: Dave Cheong maintains that our limitations and labels are self imposed,” and he cautions, “do not let your labels draw boundaries around who you are, what you can do and how you behave.”
87. How to Stay Confident in Your Decision to be a WAHM: Work-at-home-moms who need reassurance that they’ve made the right personal and professional choices should check out this article.
88. How to Discover What You Really Want from a New Career: Before making the switch, read this article to help you determine what you really want from a new career.
89. 10 Effective Ways to Stay Motivated: Staying motivated is a personal process. Learn how to stay focused by reading this informative post.
90. Map Your Accomplishments to Stay Motivated: By tracking every progression and recession, you’ll learn a lot about what drives you, what makes you stumble and more.

Fighting Obstacles

From social constraints to negativity, distractions can ruin your plans to stay motivated. These guides show you how to stay on track no matter what comes your way.

91. How to Stop Complaining: One of the biggest obstacles in staying motivated is complaining. Learn how to challenge your destructive energy and create a new, positive outlook.
92. Succeed After Failure: After a series of failed attempts, you might be tempted to trade in all of your hard work for a pity party. Instead of giving up, check out this article for tips on how to succeed after failure.
93. Getting to Now: How to Beat the Procrastination Habit: This popular post gives tips like “if it comes to mind, then do it” and “use a timer to bring you back to reality” to help you beat procrastination.
94. Eliminate Procrastination: This article helps readers understand the causes of procrastination so that you can effectively eliminate it from your life.
95. Low Carb Restaurant Eating: Learn how to eat healthy even when dining out with this great guide from About.com.
96. 18 Ways to Stay Focused at Work: Learn how to avoid temptations and other pitfalls at work with the ideas provided here.
97. Stress and Self Sabotage: Are You Creating Additional Mental Stress for Yourself?: Stop sabotaging your efforts to achieve your goals by checking out this post from About.com.
98. How to Stay Positive When Business is Down: If the economy’s in trouble, there’s not much you can do about frugal customers and overpriced supplies. You can, however, focus on the positive “concentrat[ing] on the opportunities you still have” and “surround[ing] yourself with positive people.”
99. How to Stay Motivated When You Feel Like Giving Up: Whatever you do, don’t let yourself give up! Take a look at this guide to help you beat a negative attitude.
100. How to Stay Motivated Forever: Once you’ve reached your goals, how do you stay motivated so that you don’t regain the weight, lose your business or become less productive? This post shares secrets for staying motivated forever.

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