It's all too common; everything is going great for you and you're on top of the world then one day you wake up to find it's gone; you've lost your motivation. What happened? Why did your feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction completely slip your grasp? Will you ever get it back? You may begin feeling as though you took your motivation for granted and become stuck in a vicious cycle of ruminating on the negative aspects of your life. Catastrophic thinking will only perpetuate more negative thoughts. How do you stop it? Will it go on forever? Only you have the power to decide.
What Was the Cause?
Losing your motivation may seem like it came out of the blue, but it's not common for that to happen. Usually, something has impacted our willingness to continue whatever activity we once enjoyed and a sense of procrastination may start to arise. Whenever I feel like I am on the verge of losing my motivation, I think of the following questions:
Did I really enjoy what I've been doing all this time?
Do I feel as though stress from some other area in my life is distracting me?
Do I need to take a break and reassess the situation?
How long have I felt this way?
What has happened in my life that is causing me to feel this way?
Some of the questions above may appear to be somewhat similar, but worded a little differently. I like to pinpoint what is causing the issue by starting with a general question and breaking it down to specific points. The idea behind asking myself questions is to determine the root of the issue. We tend to focus on symptoms of an issue as opposed to the primary cause. For example, it's easy to say we don't enjoy something any longer to avoid dealing with the real reason why we don't feel the same passion we once had. Having a dismissive attitude doesn't resolve anything and may cause an unproductive habit to form in the future.
The Company You Keep
Jim Rohn once said in an interview, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." I completely agree. You may be wondering why this has anything to do with losing motivation, but it's a very important aspect to consider. If the five closest people to you are considerably negative and don't have any type of ambition, drive, or willingness to succeed, it may impact you. Do you think people with those types of mentalities would really push you to stay motivated? Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely.
You'll need to determine whether the five closest people in your life are truly supporting you. Ask yourself the following questions:
Are they available to help you?
Are they listening to you?
Do they offer advice when you need it?
Do they care about you?
Do you feel like your relationship with them is bringing value to your life?
If you aren't able to think of any positive responses to any of the questions above, it may be time to reconsider the five closest people in your life.
How Do You Get Your Motivation Back?
Luckily, not all is lost when your motivation seems to disappear. Some ideas to bring your motivation back are:
Listen to yourself. Are you listening to what everyone else has to say and ignoring your own thoughts or beliefs?
Plan a new course of action. Does your old method of thinking seem to get in the way?
Surround yourself with people that support your ideas. Are you keeping people around that are holding you back?
Take care of yourself. Have you been too focused on other priorities and not taking care of yourself?
Think about why you started. What made you decide to start taking action?
The most practical first step is to reevaluate your situation. It's difficult to resolve the issue without knowing what caused it in the first place. Take some time, think about all the reasons why your motivation may be impacted, and figure out a plan to get it back. It may not be easy, but it will definitely be worth it.