Updated: Jun 19, 2021
“Lack of emotion causes lack of progress and lack of motivation.”
–Tony Robbins
Lack of motivation can impair you from taking action evidently. If you see yourself being tired of suffering from a lack of motivation, you must definitely find out why you are so low on the motivational energy drive and then move on to how you can successfully accomplish your goals.
Lack of motivation usually stems from subconscious mental strategies, many of which are ideally directed to motivate you. However, these act as ineffective strategies that have been learned long ago.
For example, your parents tried to “motivate” you by perpetually criticizing you. Now, you do the same thing time and again in your mind! It probably did not work out then and still does not seem to work for you at all. So you definitely need a new self-motivation method and have to get rid of the old one.
There can possibly be two problems with your current strategy that are resulting in a lack of motivation:
Problem 1: You are obviously not aware of what is going on in your mind as an attempt to motivate yourself.
Problem 2: It is indeed a bad motivation strategy. So it always backfires, leaving you less motivated than ever.
Here are 7 great ways on how to overcome a loss of motivation:
1. Why You Want to Do It In the First Place
Please understand that the reason for you to do something turns out to be the driving force behind everything you do. It is only when the reason is quite strong and even far more emotional enough, that you will go ahead and do whatever it takes to accomplish the said task.
Do you exactly know why you even want to achieve your set goals? Make sure your reasons are super solid, highly strong, and emotional. The key is when you tend to have no motivation; you have to think about the very purpose as to why you want to do it.
2. Envision the Success and Joy Once You Actually Do It
Visualization has always been a very powerful and robust tool that is available to us and it is certainly free of charge. You have the very power within you to think and imagine whatever, wherever, and whenever you wish to!
For example: Try to imagine that you walk into your kitchen, open up your fridge’s door, find a big yellow lemon and take it out from the fridge. After that, you go ahead by taking a knife and cut that very lemon into half.
Very high chances are, if you visualize it vividly and clearly, you will tend to produce more saliva in your mouth. This will actually happen because your mind cannot differentiate between what is real and what is clearly not.
So when you keep on imagining and visualizing things in your mind perpetually, you will feel very motivated to do it! For instance: when you dream about the car you want, again and again, you will create the motivation from within automatically to buy the same too.
3. Creating a Supportive Environment is a huge plus
You will coherently become the people you are around with! If you are naturally surrounded by successful people who do talk about their growth and learning, you will not only learn from them but also join in the conversation. This is how in turn you become motivated and then you use your current environment to boost your energy level too!
On the other hand, if you are always surrounded by negative people who only gossip and talk about other people, you will in turn feel quite negative and have no motivation to work as well. So, do ensure as much as you can that you have a good, stimulating, and supportive environment. If need be do change your environment instead of letting it manage you.
4. Change Your Current Physiology and Stay in Action
Motion does create emotion for sure. Whenever you feel very down and have no motivation to do your work, go ahead and change your very physiology!
Do try out this exercise: When you are in a sad, distressed, and disturbed state of mind, your physiology will be directed in a certain way. Alternatively, if you are feeling good, virtuous, and energetic, your physiology will be molded in a certain way as well. So to put things in perspective: for most people, when they feel great, high in spirit and motivated, their breathing tends to get faster, their hand gestures are quite active, they do tend to talk faster and their very eyes look in a certain way as well.
You can tell right from the face whether someone is sad or is actually happy. When you do not want to stay in an appalling and dreadful state which is not helpful at all, please do try to notice your own physiology and go-ahead to change it accordingly.
5. Inculcate Allowing Other Mediums To Motivate You
Reading a book, listening to music, or watching something inspiring and encouraging can definitely put you back on a faster gear. What you can do is to spend at least 30 minutes per day reading a stimulating book every morning. This way, you will ensure you kick start with the right and just state of mind and are able to go through the day even if it seems to be a rough and unsteady one. Almost all the extraordinary people who do accomplish outstanding success in life read, every day.
Videos and audios can be very helpful as well. Get your hand on something inspiring on YouTube or go ahead and listen to a motivational speech from great, successful, and honest people. You will be pumped up in no time and be raring to go!
6. Dream Big, Start Small, and Do Act Now
This is a highly powerful principle that you can most definitely apply in your life. When you dream, you have to dream big so that your dream can truly inspire you. However, when you do start, you have to start small because you want to make it into a regular and disciplined habit so that you will automatically take action consistently on a daily basis.
So do take baby steps and go ahead towards gradually increasing it from thereon. For example, if you do want to exercise and have a workout five days a week, schedule it, and ensure you start small. Even if it happens to be just five minutes a day, commit to it and go ahead doing it!
7. Take Enough Breaks As and When Needed
Sometimes you just want to take a break! Remember, success is not a destination; it is a journey that you need to go through for a very long period of time. It is not a sprint but is definitively a marathon. Many people mistake success to be doing something great that is short-lived. They inappropriately assume that success will come to them overnight. However, the truth is totally the opposite!
So make sure you get good enough rest and take a break when you need to. Understand your own capabilities and how much you can do during a set period of time. You will notice that after the much-needed rest; you will definitely feel more energetic, far more motivated, and will be ready to take on the world yet again!
Do Seek Professional Help
Do keep in mind that when your motivation remains low for two or more weeks, do go ahead with seeking professional help. You may also urgently want to seek help if your lack of motivation is affecting your daily functioning to the core. For example, if you are not able to get yourself to go to work or your performance at work is majorly suffering or if you cannot seem to get motivated to leave the house, this could be a sign of something far more serious.
Go ahead and schedule an appointment with your physician. Your doctor may first want to rule out physical health conditions that may be adversely affecting your energy or even your mood.
Your doctor may then go ahead and refer you to a mental health professional in order to determine if your lack of motivation might be related to a mental illness, such as depression. If so, then the treatment may include therapy, medication, or often so a combination of both.
The Bottom Line to be Considered:
Practicing the above 7 simple exercises is not the tough part, what is way tougher is religiously doing them every day. However, do not expect to get rid of your lack of motivation overnight. There will still be some days when you will be low on energy but by making such deliberate and conscious efforts to stay motivated, you are unquestionably sure to see a vast change in your perspective and in turn towards your definitive response to bad days.
So, go ahead start your today, and be committed to making a positive change in your life.
“Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.”
- James Clear
Written by - Trishna Patnaik
Your mental health matters as much as your physical health. Don't hesitate to take a step towards your mental well-being. If you’re looking at talking to a professional, book your Initial Consultation with us on https://www.themoodspace.com/freeconsultation or write to us at info@themoodspace.com. Take a step towards bettering your mental wellbeing because you deserve it.