Dr Ava Brown - 5 tips to help with motivation

Hi, it’s Ava Eagle Brown here, a student at Ulster University, and I want to share with you my five tips to keep motivated or determined in this period.

Tip 1

The first thing I want to say to you, is acknowledge that this is not something against you in particular, all of us are going through this moment, so we’re all in this together – exactly, just all of us.

That’s the first thing that should help you acknowledge that you are not in this alone.

Tip 2

The second thing I want to say to you, is that you do not need to suffer in silence.

Find people you trust and air how you are feeling.

A burden shared is a burden halved.

Tip 3

The third thing I want to say to you is, find something you enjoy, like, I love to journal my thoughts, my feelings, my emotions.

I talk to my friends, I dance, I cook.

Find that thing that you actually love doing and delve more into those things, because when you spend your time doing things you love, your natural feel good hormones come alive.

Tip 4

The fourth thing I want to say to you is to go out into nature.

Find 10 minutes every day to go outside and do something.

Whether it is walking, just standing still, inhaling, exhaling, going for a ride.

Whatever makes you feel happy.

Find that thing in nature.

There is something that reconnects us in nature to who we are truly called to be that just gives us that feel good factor.

Tip 5

And the fifth thing and final thing that I want to say to you is just to sit still.

Yes.

Sit still and listen to your heartbeat.

Listen to your breath.

Meditate.

Sometimes in the stillness there is so much clarity and when everything is so noisy, we cannot actually hear ourselves, so practice sitting in silence and listening to our heartbeat.

You will see how much better you cope.

Let’s continue the conversation because we all have something that we do that can help somebody else.

I hope those are useful for you, thank-you very much.

If you are finding student life difficult, please reach out to our Student Wellbeing team.