Ever felt like you just don’t want to get on with things?
Do you find it hard to get motivated to get started, or to continue?
Do you wonder why you struggle to get through the day?
There are many reasons why we lose our motivation.
Stopping to understand the root causes of losing your motivation rather than trying to push through and achieve the task at hand, is a strategy for success. When you find your motivation again, everything falls into place.
Here are a few common root causes of losing your motivation, that I have seen come up again and again whilst coaching people over the years:
Overwhelmed – Too busy. Too stressed.
Sometimes we simply have too much to do. What I mean by this is the amount that we must do, feels like it is stretching us to a place where we feel over stretched. We start to feel too much stress and the added emotion of overwhelm. Some stress is a good thing, for all of us but there is a balance which each of us has which suits us personally, where we feel peace about the amount which we are committed to do.
When we feel overwhelmed consistently over an extended period, it effects our mood, exhausts us, and can make us feel like giving up. Alternatively, we can get into ‘hamster wheel mode’ where we just keep going, but life loses its joy, and we feel like we are like a robot just performing and being busy all day long.
This is so common these days, as its almost become a rite of passage, part of culture to be ‘too busy’. It’s as if the busier you are the more important you may seem to be. But this mode is not necessary. Each one of us has an ideal pace which suits us. Within this pace, we can organise our lives in a way that we don’t constantly feel overwhelmed. We can consider things in our life that energise us and that which drains our energy. We can ensure an optimum balance. We can exercise our God-given free will to draw boundaries and say ‘no’ to what we need to say no to. No one else knows how best to run your life for optimum mental health and well-being than you! Step into the authority you have and be your own expert at this!
Fear
Fear is such a clever motivation killer, because very often it is hidden, and we don’t even know it’s there. We can be deceived and not realise that the root of our inaction is fear. Fear hides behind lies such as; ‘I’m not qualified’, ‘This is not my strong area’, ‘It’s not the right time’, ‘I can’t’, ‘This is going to be difficult’, ‘Most people have failed at this, therefore it is unlikely to succeed’, ‘I don’t have enough time’, ‘I’m too old’, ‘I’m too young’, ‘I’m too unfit’, etc
We may be afraid of the unknown, of failure, of people’s reactions. Once we can see that it’s fear that’s stopping, it’s simple to progress! Fear is a normal, human emotion. It is totally to be expected.
We don’t have to waste time criticising ourselves and feeling we are less than for feeling it. We don’t have to waste time feeling afriad. All we need to do is acknowledge the fear and work out our own best personal strategies for overcoming it. An amazing truth is that each of us has already overcome fear multiple times in our lives, so we know how to do this. We just need to apply the overcoming strategies that have worked for us before to this time. The Bible says we are overcomers! So, we already have the right identity to deal with it. Easy! (1 John 4:4 – You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.)
Exhaustion – Physical, emotional, and spiritual.
This root cause of losing motivation is linked to overwhelm, but different. Many times, in our lives we get to a point where we are simply exhausted. We are exhausted beyond what a good night’s sleep will deal with. It can go deeper, and it can be physical but also emotional and spiritual. Typically, if we have just been through a big transition in our lives, or a trauma, or loss, we will have had to deal with many emotions. We will have had to lean on our faith.
Sometimes we just feel kind of ‘empty’. It could be a season where we just can’t give out. These seasons are a normal part of life. They are precious in many ways, as they are the times where we meet The Lord in the most intimate ways. We experience His love in all kinds of new ways. We need this. It develops our relationship with Him. It develops our knowledge of who He really is.
These seasons prepare us and transform us. In these times, we will be going through a lot internally, so we can’t expect to be super motivated. It could well be unreasonable to expect that we can push through on new things, new challenges.
The best person to know what you are capable of in a season like this is you! You know if you are exhausted, you know what you need, and don’t need. You know what level of exhaustion you are at. Take time out to figure this out and adjust accordingly. Then give yourself permission to be whatever you need to be or not be for now.
Lack of confidence in the process
I included this one, as it is so common, and I have coached people through this one many times. Sometimes we are just stuck because we don’t know what next step to take. Sometimes we feel no motivation because the task in hand seems too hard or too energy sapping. How can we be motivated when we do not know where to start? How can we be motivated when we have started but each step feels like walking through mud?
The Bible says: But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. (Isaiah 26:7)
If things feel too hard and too rough, STOP, and take stock. Maybe the process you are following, e.g. ‘the way you are going about something’ is not the best. This could relate to practically how you are tackling something, and it can also relate to mentally, emotionally, and spiritually how you are going about it.
As well as taking stock yourself, stopping and asking God to show you His way, His ‘smoothed out’ path, is well worth it!
Think about getting coaching to creatively take a big picture view and find different ideas and on your approach. This will do wonders for changing things up in a good way. A fresh approach creates a lot of motivation. ( Also related to this check out the blog on fresh starts)
These are just some root causes why we lose our motivation.
Which one or ones are you suffering with the most right now?
As a coach, I help people through each of these areas, using creative and transformative coaching techniques to bring to light to issues, to co-design solutions. Contact me to find out more.