Like most things in life, motivation comes and goes.
Sometimes a lack of motivation is short lived.
Other times, you need to be more pro-active about pulling yourself out of a rut.
Sparking motivation isn’t as easy as logic tells us it should be. We start the day with the best intentions of making this time different. But somewhere along the line we fall out of step and end up promising ourselves that we will start fresh tomorrow.
With this in mind, here are our tips for fighting a lack of motivation.
Find your inspiration
Before you can overcome a lack of motivation, you need to find your inspiration.
Inspiration can come from any aspect of your life – from your kids, a cause, a mentor, a movie, or even from Julie’s story.
Sometimes you will need to go searching for new inspiration. After a life changing event many of your ambitions and values can alter. You may need to branch out, locate a new hobby or become more involved in a philanthropic activity.
Once you locate your inspiration, keep it close to your heart. Use it as a fuel source to fight a lack of motivation – whenever you are struggling to pick up your energy, re-read a particularly poignant passage or think of your favourite related memory.
Reconnecting with what inspires you most is the first step toward conquering a lack of motivation.
Re-frame difficulties as benefits
We all have a lengthy mental list of goals we want to reach, but can get caught up in worrying about how much time and effort a task will take. Just thinking about the steps involved in cleaning out the linen cupboard is enough to drain your energy and lead you to push it back another day!
Rather than focussing on the effort that a task will require, rethink it in terms of the satisfaction you will yield from the final result. In the end, the benefits are always worth the effort. Use future satisfaction to blitz your lack of motivation today!
Take care of yourself
When you feel good, you are more confident, alert and more willing to put in the hard yards to get motivation pumping. But feeling good about yourself is difficult when you have had little sleep, skipped breakfast and are stuck inside all day.
To fight a lack of motivation, it is important to maintain balance. Get some fresh air, drink plenty of water, eat three meals a day and squeeze in a solid eight hours of sleep wherever possible. The energy boost that a healthy lifestyle gives you will transfer to your mental state and reignite your focus on your goals.
Vary your routine
Everyday life can become monotonous when we follow the same sequence of events all the time. Often we find ourselves functioning on autopilot. This can result in a feeling of disconnection which makes it difficult to tap into your feelings, and makes fighting a lack of motivation difficult.
Changing up your routine by going for a walk in the morning instead of the afternoon, having a bath at night or doing a spontaneous activity on the weekend will give leave you feeling excited about yourself and the possibilities life offers again.
Write lists
One of the simplest ways to combat a lack of motivation is to write a list detailing what you aim to accomplish every day. Once you have established concrete goals that you can see, you will find your day easier to visualise. This will make your productivity increase exponentially – not to mention your level of satisfaction every time you get to cross a task off the list!
Start taking small steps
There is something that everyone can do today to get closer to their goals. Maybe it’s finding inspiration, maybe it’s researching new job opportunities or even creating a list of milestones to work toward.
