Why am I not motivated? 7 Things to Consider

We’ve all know the feeling. We’ve all been there, and or we’re there right now. Once we may have been fully committed to our mission or purpose, and now we feel lazy, angry or apathetic. Whatever the case, things aren’t getting done. What happened?

This is way too-common. We hinder our progress even though we want to reach our full potential. Let’s look at some causes of this loss of motivation, specifically seven factors that lead to it. Understand these and address them accordingly.

1. Lack of Clear Goals, or None at all

Without clear and meaningful goals, you’re going nowhere fast. It’s challenging sometimes to discover purpose and direction, let alone act upon it an practice it daily, so some can get discouraged and a loss of motivation develops. Start thinking of specific, measurable, actionable, and time frames while navigating the dark waters. Goals provide a roadmap for our lives. When you’re in the no-motivation zone, set a small goal, and get it done! You can do it! It won’t seem like much, but it puts you on a better trajectory, and those little victories do add up.

2. Burnout and Overwhelm

You can’t overwork yourself in things that aren’t getting you ahead. Long hours put in just to make more money is not a long term solution. Quite the opposite. We need to work more out of necessity sometimes, yes. However, you are your first priority. Not your loved ones. Not your boss. You. We are all the same when it comes to this. We’re all using that weird thing between our ears trying to figure out this crazy place called Earth, so it is every individual’s responsibility to keep themselves in good health, proper finances and a positive attitude. Take time to relax, regroup and reorganize. Take care of yourself by setting boundaries and pursuing activities that replenish your energy. You’ll be glad you did.

3. Monotony and Routine, Day after Day

Consistency is important in whatever you’re doing, but repetitive tasks and busy work can negatively impact you. Our minds crave new challenges and stimulation. Rework these things in the mindset of discipline. If it’s not necessary, should you be putting in the effort? All that repetition gets boring. Introduce variety where you can. Seek out new experiences, and be creative creativity in your routines. Ask questions. Learn something. Every day is a gift. Use it.

4. Negative Environment

If your environment doesn’t support you or is toxic, whether at work or at home, your motivation suffers. Now, not everything about that is within your control. However, if you’re not willing to fix it (or just walk away), you will continually be drained and discouraged. Avoid the negative people or get rid of them! Replace bad habits with good ones. Learn about handling difficult people. Remove yourself from your emotions and perhaps there’s actually some validity or moral purpose in their horrible tone or behavior. How do you treat others? Who do you actually spend time with? Who is better skilled at encouraging you to achieve your dreams? Who are you versus who you want to (and should) be? You must learn to distinguish these and similar concepts, because everyone has come from a hard place. Those hard places just look different to you.

5. Fear of Failure

The fear of failure does not exist. You read that right. You fear the pain. If you cannot face the pain, you do not deserve the joy. Success is measured in achievement, which means sacrifice, loss and pain. What matters is whether you got back up and tried again.

Don’t let fear paralyze you. It’s a lot easier to take the hit than to keep trying to avoid it. Taking risks and pursuing our goals takes courage. Motivation doesn’t appear out of thin air because it disappears just as quickly. Discipline yourself into a growth mindset. Your failures are where you learn the most important lessons.

You will do better on the next attempt, because you chose to do it just one more time. One more day. One more rejection. Eventually, that pain is gone like it never existed. Look back on your failures and really examine if you won in a different way. Celebrate that progress!

6. Lack of Progress or Results

We want tangible results and positive outcomes from our efforts. When we don’t see the results we want, such as a realistic example of what we would consider a success, we don’t see a meaning to it, it seems like nothing and we struggle with our own existence. Break out of the big picture and snapshot your goals. That means smaller chunks, or better said, build molehills before the mountain. Track your progress by removing what didn’t work, and celebrate small victories along the way. Turn that fear into fuel.

7. External Influences and Distractions

It’s almost impossible to get peace and quiet. Distractions everywhere. Mindless conversations. Music you don’t actually listen to while ads are trying to get your attention. Social media posts that make you angry? Choose to ignore rather than engage. Put your energy into something useful.

Motivation is a myth. Discipline, consistency and choosing to just keep going will get you through. We all face failure, but eventually it’s nothing. You must grow within the difficulty, whether the loss was truly devastating or mostly insignificant.

Start identifying any unclear goals, and revise how you’re approaching them. Take your time figuring this out, and don’t get caught up in things you don’t actually care about. Your time is valuable, so use it properly. Day to day, intentionally do what will reclaim your self worth. The small steps lead to a better journey.

If you’re wanting motivation, it’s a zero sum game. Discipline is its own infinite resource. Like a flame, you need constant nourishment. Feed the dream, not the fear. Address where you must improve and simply do it. Don’t give up. We’re all in this together.

Understanding Motivation

What motivates people? Really digest that question. Ask yourself. Ask someone else. If you were to ask me, I would have a simple answer. It is opportunity. It’s that simple. Let me explain.

I can hear the skeptics now. Somehow those people think I don’t know what I’m talking about. However, it is exactly that. It really comes down to opportunity. The opportunity for what exactly? That’s a separate question. From here, I can only qualify my position with examples.

Human beings are complex. Our most basic instinct is survival. Everyone born has an opportunity to live. Thomas Jefferson told us that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are God-given rights.

What was that last one? Pretty much opportunity. Life is inevitable and should never be taken away for any reason. Liberty is so precious that even today, people will sacrifice everything for it. What is left? The pursuit of happiness. The opportunity to get what they want.

Therein lies motivation. What motivates a person is a simple concept. An opportunity. At any given moment of your life, you are acting upon an opportunity, whatever it may be. Your reasons for chasing that opportunity are varied.

Maybe you need something. Is it money? No. I will repeat that. No. You have an opportunity to make money. Maybe it will pay off, maybe not. In that sense, everyone (and yes, that means you, too) works for free. It’s simply not possible to collect money at every single moment you work.

Are you wanting recognition or trying to break a personal record? That’s great! You are doing what comes naturally. Are you going to a job you hate because you need to pay the bills? That’s fine. You took advantage of an opportunity, however small. Even if you hate what you do for a living, you’re not wasting the opportunity.

You may be wondering where necessity fits in. After all, we all need to eat, pay our bills, take care of our family, and have security. Necessity is inevitable. Survival is an instinct we can’t really get away from, so we will do what is necessary to survive. The paradox is, beyond meeting our basic needs, we too often follow opportunities that don’t lead anywhere in particular.

I’m not going to tell you to stop doing what you enjoy. I don’t plan on doing that. I won’t even tell you that you’re wasting time on Facebook getting irritated at something political or becoming jealous of someone’s vacation pictures. What I will tell you is you’re simply acting human. You sought an opportunity. You answered the call.

The usefulness of these opportunities determine their value. Do you really feel accomplished watching another TV show or movie? That’s someone else’s work. You’ve just paid them for their opportunity. They accomplished something. Twitter wars don’t solve anything. Put your effort into something besides a keyboard or smartphone.

So this begs the question, what opportunities do you look for? Most of the time, the big ones don’t come knocking at the door. You’ll have to go to their house. You know where they are. It doesn’t matter if it’s a visit or if you move in. You sought it simply because you could.

Now a word about desire. How much did you want it? Simple. You wanted it because you went there. No one can tell you something is worthless if you didn’t believe it was. Some want to tell you if something is free, it’s not worth anything or you won’t use it. That’s inherently false (and a very dirty sales pitch).

If you didn’t want it, you wouldn’t have sought the opportunity.  You would have wasted your time. Time is infinitely more valuable than money. Opportunity is priceless. Always be grateful when someone gives you their time. That is a shared opportunity. You can’t put a price on that.

What motivated you to buy that outfit? An opportunity. It was for sale. You also had the opportunity not to buy it. You had the opportunity to stay home, too. Opportunity is decision. Make good ones.