Tag: motivation

Motivation is a magical thing. It is necessary for anything you wish to accomplish. Yet there are undeniably times when your motivation falls far short of what you know it should be.

What on earth do you do when you lack motivation?

Can it be recaptured or rekindled?

Consider some of the situations that could result in a lack of motivation. For example, perhaps you are “mismatched” to begin with. By that, I mean that maybe you are trying to pursue something that simply is not meant to be. Are you wasting time and energy by expending effort on something you need not do, or something that in fact would be of no benefit to you?

For this reason, it may be instructive to listen to the opinions of friends or family. Loved ones often know us better than we give them credit for, and sometimes they are able to see a particular situation more clearly and more honestly than we can—since they are more removed from the situation than we are, their perspective enables them to consider a broader scope. Their insight can be invaluable, and we could save ourselves a lot of grief if we would just take their advice to heart.

Let’s assume, however, that it is not a case of the wrong person for the wrong job. You have something that you must do but you haven’t the will to do it, or you have some activities that you formerly enjoyed but now have become a chore to you. You’ve lost whatever motivation you had.

How can you get it back?

The key to understanding your lack of motivation lies in the answer to the question: Why?

Why is your motivation lacking?

What has changed?

Are you feeling overwhelmed?

The task may be more involved than you initially thought, or you may have come to the realization that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. The task looms over you like a gigantic weight threatening to crush you, and you’re feeling the stress.

Is there something that can be delegated?—Maybe you can enlist someone to share the burden with you. Perhaps you can think of someone who is better suited to some particular aspect of your task.

Can the task be broken up into smaller ones?—Sometimes an activity is best handled as a series of component ones. It’s easier to focus on taking the next step than it is to focus on taking 45,000 steps to complete a marathon. As the old riddle goes: How do you eat an elephant?—One bite at a time.

Do you need to modify your original goals?—People change, circumstances change—and your goals and plans probably need to change along with them. Consistency is good, but not to the point of rigidity. Being flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions will reduce the stress levels and help you to get back in control.

Are you weary of long, hard toil with little to show for it?

You feel like a hamster on an exercise wheel, with plenty of activity but no real accomplishments. Maybe it’s time to take a break, a pause that refreshes. A break will give you some mental space to assess your situation. Maybe you could combine or consolidate tasks, giving you greater efficiency.

You may be physically tired.—Being worn out and rundown puts you in a precarious situation, as you then have a greater likelihood of coming down with illness, disease, or some other condition. Good sleep, adequate nutrition, and regular exercise will help you regain your energy and restore your balance.

You may be mentally tired.—Mental or psychological fatigue is more pernicious, since it often masquerades as physical fatigue. Weariness of the soul, however, cannot be remedied with physical rest. Are there psychological sinks in your life—things, people, habits, or pastimes that drain you of your mental energy? In particular, you may encounter people who are psychic leeches, sucking you of your energy. Rather than uplifting you, they make you feel drained. If possible, limit your contact with such folk. Better yet, try to get them involved in a project of their own, which will have the natural effect of getting them out of your hair without hurting their feelings.

Do you feel frustrated?

You might feel as though you’re swimming upstream, against the current.  Not having the support of family and friends will certainly dampen your enthusiasm. Many times such opposition is latent, lurking beneath the surface. If you’re not expecting it, it may take you a while before you realize what’s going on and can deal with it for what it is.  Reach out to others in your network to get the support you need.

Other times, though, the antagonism may be more obvious. You may have people who are actively working against you. They may be trying to thwart you, sabotaging all your efforts. Perhaps they may harbor jealousy, envy, resentment, or animosity towards you, and consequently they have no desire to see you succeed. Being aware of the situation is generally the first and best line of defense. Channel your frustration and anger positively, and use that energy to prove them wrong. Success is the best revenge.

Do you think the task or activity pointless?

Maybe it’s become meaningless to you. You’ve lost sight of why you’re doing it. Having a reminder of your goal, of how it fits in to the big picture may be sufficient to bring back meaning and purpose.  Something as simple as a photo or a personal affirmation could help you fix your eyes on the prize when you find your motivation flagging.

Think about your original motivation.—Has it changed without your realizing it? Why? If your motivation has changed, it may be that your goals or priorities will have to change as well. Conversely, if your priorities or goals have changed, you’ll probably have to modify your motivation to keep it in tune with your new definition of success.

Lack of motivation is a serious problem, but the good news is that acknowledgement of the situation then puts you in a position to do something about it. Take the time to pinpoint the cause by asking the questions above.  Once you’ve done that, you should be able to come up with your own unique fix to your lack of motivation.

Have you struggled with lack of motivation? How did you overcome it?

Share your story in the comments below!

Do you find yourself lacking motivation?

Do you wish you could just go to your favorite superstore and pick up an economy-size bottle of motivation?

Ah, if only it were that easy. If only motivation were something that could be bottled and sold. Whoever could pull that off would be rich!

Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that.

I’d like to explore with you the topic of motivation. But before we can answer the question about how to get motivation, we have to take a step back and ask a more fundamental question:

What is motivation?

Basically, motivation is the reason for a given behavior or course of action. But this is a bit simplistic, as the concept of motivation is much broader than a mere cause-and-effect phenomenon. Properly speaking, motivation is restricted to human beings in its application, so that is what I shall consider here.

Motivation involves a reason for doing something, but it is much more than justification for one’s actions. Consider this: you could no doubt come up with a hundred different reasons why you should eat properly and exercise every day, but unless you have motivation, your gym shoes will stay in the closet, and your cupboard will be filled with junk food snacks.

Watch any reality show, and you’ll see this played out time and again—the morbidly obese woman who cheats on her diet; the hoarder who lives in squalor, adding to his tremendous collection of junk and trash; the teenager who is so engaged in substance abuse that she can only think about her next fix. Intellectually, these people understand that what they are doing is unhealthy and potentially self-destructive, yet no amount of haranguing by loved ones or medical professionals will result in them changing their ways—if the person lacks motivation.

We see, then, that motivation is important. In some cases, it can literally mean the difference between life and death. In any situation, though, a lack of motivation, signaled by a “Why bother?” attitude, logically devolves into apathy: “Who cares? Not I. Just leave me alone!” Once a person has crossed this point, his situation becomes all but impossible. The psychological inertia becomes so overwhelming that the person is locked on a downward spiral, and in most cases nothing short of a miracle can break that spell.

We see, also, that motivation must be internal. It arises from a decision of the individual, and, as such, cannot be imposed upon from the outside. This is why nagging seldom works; if it does, it is not because the nagger’s words were especially pithy or persuasive, but rather because the individual just wanted to get the nagger out of his hair. So even in those instances where it appears that motivation might have been external, in reality the individual merely acted upon an internal desire to ameliorate his own situation.

It can be said that motivation can be either healthy or unhealthy, but these categories are not as clear-cut as you might suppose. For example, fear, greed, pride, and the like may all appear to be examples of unhealthy motivation, whereas success, family, and self-improvement would most likely be considered examples of healthy motivation. But negative emotions like fear can nonetheless provide the basis for healthy motivation: fear of leaving your family unprepared might very well be a healthy motivation if it results in you taking better care of yourself and taking steps to secure your family’s financial future.

Regardless, any type of motivation is better than none, and a lack of motivation should be avoided at all costs.

Thus far, we have said more about what motivation is not than what it is. So: What is motivation?

Motivation is that which keeps you going after the initial excitement of a new endeavor has worn off.

We see this happen time and again with New Year’s resolutions. With the prospect of a new year and a fresh start, many people resolve to make all sorts of positive changes in their lives: lose weight, stop smoking, get out of debt, learn a new language, exercise more, take up a hobby, etc. But a few days or weeks later, the enthusiasm is gone and the resolutions fall by the wayside—unless, of course, you have some sort of motivation.

Motivation is that which keeps you going even when you “don’t feel like it.”

There are times when everything seems blah and even the things you normally enjoy appear to have lost their luster. You’d rather spend an extra hour in bed instead of going out for that five-mile run. You’d just as soon take it easy for a few days, hang out the “Gone Fishin’ ” sign and escape for a while. Motivation helps you to stick to your commitment and push through the “don’t want to”. Motivation is what goads you into action.

Motivation keeps you going when things get tough.

We all have struggles that we must face in life. Sometimes you just find yourself in a difficult situation, whether it be due to circumstances beyond your control, or thanks to your own ignorance, or as the result of those who would wish you ill. Motivation gets you to focus on your goal, reminding you of the promise of reward, the result you can achieve if you endure. It is what enables you to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and overcome those obstacles that life has thrown at you.

Motivation keeps you going despite the odds.

Other times, you’ll be tempted to give up completely. The task seems Sisyphean, the circumstances dire, the situation hopeless. You’d like nothing better than to walk away and let someone else handle it. You’re ready to admit defeat. But motivation is what stops you from waving the white flag. It enables you to ignore the voice of the naysayer whispering defeat in your ear. Motivation is what causes you to keep putting one foot in front of the other as you trek on your seemingly endless journey.

Motivation is like a guiding star that keeps you from straying off course. It lights a fire under you and gets you going, giving you that spark in your eye. It is the fuel without which you’ll find yourself stranded, just as a car that runs out of gas winds up sitting on the shoulder of the highway, unable to make any further progress.

Each of us is unique, with our own particular skill sets and our own particular dreams. The talents and tools that we need to achieve our goals are therefore as varied and unique as we are. But the one thing that we all have in common is the need for motivation. Without motivation, our dreams will be stillborn.

If I have convinced you of the necessity of motivation and got you thinking about what motivation is, then I have accomplished what I set out to do with this post.

“Well and good,” you may protest, “but how do I get motivation?”

That’s a good question! I haven’t mentioned anything about that, because that’s another topic for another day, a question that I shall explore in the near future. Stick around!

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