Understanding and Conquering Your Lack of Motivation

I went to meet a friend for lunch the other day. She was sharing that there are days where she is just not feeling very motivated to get things done. I told her that this happens to everyone once in a while. Does this sound like you too? It can be even more challenging around busy holidays when you have a lot of additional things to get done. You may also be dealing with a stressful event or you are overwhelmed and it can paralyze you from doing anything. You look around for something that will be less taxing to your brain like social media, a favorite TV show or even laundry! You don’t intend to spend more than a half hour on these things, but before you know it, the time has flown by.

Although distractions may be the symptom, the root cause is usually something else. Here are some of the root causes that I have seen pretty consistently that may be causing a lack of motivation.

• You are doing something for the first time. Anytime that you have to do something for the first time, there is a lack of confidence that may occur. Where do you start? Do you need help from someone else? Are you afraid that you will fail at it? Look at what is causing you to hesitate and hold you back. Is it a real reason or is it an excuse to keep you safe and prevent you from failing? Reach out and get help. Find someone who has done it before and take one small step each day to move forward. Remember that you have had other “firsts” in your life and you figured out how to move forward. Use those successes as motivation to help you now.
• You have started it, but you can’t seem to get it right. You are putting too much pressure on yourself and you need a break. Sometimes the best thing to do is to step back and walk away from what you are trying to do for a little while. Maybe there is an internal block preventing you from completing what you are working on. Giving yourself time away from it may help you clear your head and provide a new perspective. Slowing down and thinking about things can sometimes be the best thing to help you speed up and get more done.
• You just don’t want to do it. It isn’t that you can’t or that you don’t know how. You just don’t want to do it. Have you ever found yourself stalling to avoid doing what you need to do? Stay out of the trap of just finding things to keep busy or distracted. What you need to do isn’t going away, so understand why you don’t want to do it. You may find that if you shift your thinking about what you need to do, it can propel you into moving forward. Motivate yourself to get it done with a reward for completion, set up an artificial deadline or find an accountability partner to check in with you on your progress.

There are generally underlying reasons why you are impacted by a lack of motivation. Doing the work to understand those reasons is hard, but it will make it easier the next time you get stuck. Just remember that this has happened to you before and you have always figured out a way to move forward. Leverage the learning and the wins that you have from the past to help motivate you forward today.

Could This Simple Tool Make a Difference in Your Motivation?

Are you the person who hops out of bed as soon as your alarm goes off or the person who hits the snooze button a few times before getting up? I was definitely the person who hit the snooze button for many years. I actually used to set my alarm a half hour early just so I could snooze multiple times. How crazy is that thinking? I realized that when I did that, it would actually make it harder for me to get up instead of easier. A few years ago, I listened to a book on Audible that changed the way I thought about starting my day.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the “The 5-Second Rule” by Mel Robbins, you should definitely read or listen to it. (I actually recommend listening to it. Mel is definitely motivating to listen to as she narrates) It is all about a simple tool that she created which is counting backwards from 5 to 1 when your alarm goes off. Just like a countdown before a rocket launches, you spring out of bed to start your day. It seems so simple, but this tool changed her life and she realized it was more than just getting out of bed.

She realized that we have 5-second moments throughout the day. Think about a situation where you have something to do that may be more challenging for you. You have a choice to make in the first 5 seconds. You can listen to the voices in your head saying that you can’t do it or you can take action and just start figuring it out. For many people, listening to the voice is easier because it keeps you safe. You don’t have to worry about failing or pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, you just stay right where you are now.

Check out this video where Mel talks about how the 5-second rule changed her life. Imagine what you could accomplish by using this simple tool? It could be the one thing that makes a difference for you and motivates you to not only get up in the morning, but get more done throughout the day.

How Can Comparison Help Your Motivation?

Have you read something online or talked to someone about what they are doing and felt a small moment of envy? You may have these thoughts that sound like, “I wish I could do that or Why didn’t I think about doing that?” It is normal to do some comparison and wish that you had done something similar. This is especially true if it has been on your to do list for awhile.

Ask yourself what is holding you back from accomplishing the same thing? For some it may be a lack of confidence or fear of judgment that keeps them from even starting. Don’t let those things get in the way of you creating something amazing! You have a choice to make…get started or stay exactly where you are now. Wouldn’t you rather look back a year from now and see what you accomplished?

What if you look at what others are doing as motivation for yourself instead? What would you need to do first to get started? Who else could help you move forward faster? Reach out to others for advice on how they got started or learn what approach they took. Start to write down ideas and have conversations about it. You will begin to see what is possible. It is no longer something that is conceptual anymore. You are actually doing something to move your idea forward. This creates more excitement and increases your motivation.

The next time you are looking for motivation to start something new, try taking just one small action. Before you know it, you are no longer wishing you had started, you are actually doing it!