The Art of Self-Re-Motivation

The title’s a mouthful, I know.

A friend asked me about this topic recently. They’d been going through a period of feeling less motivated and thought it might be an interesting topic to explore.

And we’ve all been there, struggling to get motivated during a dip. Perhaps that manifests as feeling constantly tired and any task that lands in front of you feels like it’s too much. Things that should take a few minutes get procrastinated and take hours to get done instead. Or maybe you just don’t feel in the mood to do…well…anything. Or you just feel exhausted.

There’s a few different ways to handle this, depending on the situation, your inclination, and the context. Here’s some ideas.

Self-Care

First things first. Check in with yourself that you’re not burned out or bored out. Not to get into too much of a rant but in modern society it feels like we are under continual pressure to Always Be Productive, whatever the cost, and with knowledge work that can be extremely difficult. Give yourself some time and space. Take a break, you’ll probably feel better for it. And don’t feel guilty about it!

Acceptance

Maybe this is just a dip. This is the ‘do nothing’ option. Motivation often comes in waves…for a while you’ll be full of energy and enthusiasm, and then you won’t. And that’s ok. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Reflect and see if you can see any patterns in when and how you’re motivated. Maybe there’s some triggers that could be explored and addressed. Again, give yourself a break.

Find your original passion

Why were you excited about the thing in the first place? What was your original driver? Can you find that again, remind yourself of what worked in the past? What might that look like?

Find a new passion

Maybe your old passion isn’t there any more - is there something new instead? What about your activities now might excite you? Look at it from a different angle and see if you can find something new.

Connect to Purpose

What’s the purpose behind what you’re looking to achieve? Connecting (or reconnecting) to that might give you a boost. See if there are some ways to find a different level, or kind, of purpose to your activities.

Switch your focus

Maybe your original drivers were based in one of the three main intrinsic motivation areas of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Can you switch from one to the other two? For example, if at first you were attracted to a role because of your desire to develop mastery in the subject area, now can you find ways to become more autonomous, or to connect to a deeper purpose instead?

Reflect and Understand

At the very least, try to reflect and understand why you might be feeling unmotivated. There might be different causes at different times, or multiple causes at one particular time. Get a greater understanding of yourself and it’ll pay off in the long run.

Conclusion

Hopefully some of these ideas have sparked a thought that can reignite that fire inside you. If not, that’s ok too…motivation can come and go, just don’t let it disappear completely, if you can help it…

When you're ready, I offer 1:1 coaching for leaders who are looking to take their life and career to the next level. Send me an email and we'll set up a time to have a chat.

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