When Have You Last Had Some Reflection?
Do You Struggle Staying Motivated?
Staying motivated can be very difficult. Have you ever had the desire and interest to do something, but you lack the motivation to actually do it? This can be an extremely frustrating situation, since you want to do a certain thing, but cannot find the inner strength and motivation to act. Don’t worry, if you have trouble keeping up your levels of motivation, you are certainly not alone.
Everyone has days where motivation is nonexistent. Off days happen and it’s unrealistic to think that you will be motivated every single day of your life. There are bound to be times when you procrastinate too much, lack focus, or struggle to even start important goals. This is why you cannot solely rely on motivation to achieve your goals and it is important for you to learn how to develop grit to help get you through, especially on the days you don’t want to do it at all.
Taking some time to do a little exploration and reflection, you can identify what is really going on with your lack of motivation and make some changes.
Below are a few common reasons why people struggle to stay motivated and how to fix them.
Don’t Feel Worthy
Sometimes, people have been beaten down through much of their life. It might have been in school, their family might not have been supportive, or they might not have had any support through other parts of their life. This can develop a negative attitude inside of the person when it comes to their own self-worth. They do not feel as though they deserve to accomplish the things that they set out to do. They do not feel worthy of achieving certain accomplishments, and this can wear and tear on their motivation levels. They might be excited when they first start out, but that excitement starts to fade as soon as the doubt in themselves starts to weigh on their mind.
It is very important for people to try to build up their self-esteem to prevent this mental block from stopping them from doing things. Once a person is able to improve the way they feel about themselves, it will often become easier to stay motivated about their goals and projects.
Lack of a Detailed Plan
One of the other reasons that people have trouble staying motivated is because they start something without actually having a detailed plan on how to proceed. They know what they want to have as their end goal, but they find themselves facing a twisted forest that they do not know how to navigate. Trying to accomplish anything without having a clear action plan in place will often lead to failure.
When a defined plan does not exist, it is rather difficult to stay motivated because there is no real way to measure your progress or know how much further you have to go until you reach your goal. With a specific plan, you will be able to track your progress, and you will know what to expect next. Knowing and understanding each step will help keep you motivated instead of just going with the flow and feeling completely lost.
Feeling Overwhelmed
When you have a lot to do and feel overwhelmed, your body and mind shuts down. Instead of trying to figure out the details, it seems easier to do nothing. When you struggle staying motivated, this can be a result having too much to do. When you feel like there’s so much to do that you can’t possibly get to it all, you might not want to even get started.
If this is relevant to you, try breaking your tasks into small pieces. When you divide up your big tasks into smaller tasks, you have items that you can realistically accomplish in a short amount of time. As you complete each small task, you’re moving in the direction of completing your big task. Your detailed list will help your mind to rest because you can see exactly what still needs to be done. As you complete each small task, you’ll achieve the victory of crossing it off the list and feel proud of what you have achieved.
Lack of Focus
One of the other dangers of trying to stay motivated that many people struggle with is having too many projects or goals that you want to complete at the same time. You might be motivated for the first project as you are getting into it, but then you have another idea that starts to steal the focus and motivation. You no longer want to work on the first project because the other project(s) start to seem more attractive to you. The motivation starts to diminish on the first project, which means that it will likely never be finished. Then, you start to develop other project ideas and goals, and the second and third projects fall by the wayside.
Often, these people believe that they are efficiently multitasking, but the reality is that they are just not getting anything done. The motivation they feel simply jumps from one project to another until they get bored with it or things become too difficult. They might promise themselves that they will come back to it, but that rarely happens.
You Don’t Have A Strong Enough Why
Most people have a reason as to why they are doing what they are doing. Often, however, that reason is not strong or emotional enough. This is frequently a big reason why you might have lost motivation for something.
You may want to ask yourself what made you think about wanting to achieve this goal in the first place? If your answer is weak and lacks a genuine personal connection, then perhaps your why is not quite strong enough to provide you with the fuel you need when you struggle staying motivated.
Trying to Please Everyone
If you are a people pleaser, you have most likely experienced a lack of motivation before. When you’re busy trying to keep everyone else happy, it’s difficult to clearly identify your own wants and needs. When you have no idea what you want, there’s no reason to be motivated.
It is just not possible to make everyone happy and if you try to please other people all of the time, you’re going to let yourself down constantly. Take time to self-reflect to learn who you are and what you want to do. Set your own goals and then create your own beautiful path. Try not to worry so much about what others think and give yourself permission to focus on you. Focusing more on yourself and what you’re most passionate about will help you when you struggle staying motivated as this might bring relief and allow you to bring out the best in yourself.
Unhealthy Lifestyle
Interestingly, many problems in life can be attributed to a lack of sleep, a poor diet, and not enough exercise. Sleeping less than seven hours a night and living on fast food will inevitably, eventually, lead to burnout and loss of motivation. Motivation and energy levels are often tied closely together. Being healthy and having more energy can help people to stay more focused on their goals and to stay more motivated. Getting healthy physically and emotionally can help with motivation. Improving your lifestyle will not only help you when you struggle staying motivated, but it will also improve your health!
You Are Impatient
We live in a fast food, broadband society today. This means that people want to have things quickly and easily. They are motivated by their idea initially, but when they realize that it is going to take time to accomplish, the motivation can falter. People are often too impatient when it comes to the things they are trying to do in life, and it can be hard to stay motivated for as long as it takes. You won’t add 20 pounds of muscle to your frame in a week and you won’t finish your novel overnight. Additionally, it’s important to realize that success is a marathon, not a sprint. Everything good in life takes time and patience. Shortcuts in life usually aren’t shortcuts at all.
What to Do When You Lose Motivation
Setbacks happen but learning how to develop resilience can help you carry on and pick up where you left off. Remember that it can take up to 3 months to form a new habit. Here are some tips to use when you struggle staying motivated to help you find your motivation again:
Review your goals and see if the timeline is realistic. You may need to break your goals down further into smaller and more achievable goals.
Remember your personal why you wanted to get motivated or reach that goal in the first place.
Use motivation from others – feel inspired by reading a book, talk with your friends or family who have reached similar goals to the ones you have set.
Sometimes you just need to take a break and start afresh.
What About You?
When you struggle staying motivated, it can be a challenge, but when you make a conscious effort to change your perspective and response when your motivation is low, it can be life changing. However, you don’t have to do this alone. Working with a certified Health & Wellness Coach can be highly beneficial in helping you to analyze your situation and identify a strategy to strengthen your level of motivation. Instead of continuing to struggle with a lack of motivation, choose to partner with a Health & Wellness Coach and make the commitment to making a positive change in your life.