Monthly Musings: April 2019

You will never always be motivated, so you must learn to be disciplined.

Motivation is a tough one but it can also be a really easy one. Some days I wake up full of energy, excitement and determination to really smash it and get everything done. But other days I simply cannot harness that power within me. And that’s where it comes from, within YOU. Motivation isn’t something we can find from outside of us, it’s a feeling, a dream, a destination, a goal.

It means having something for ourselves to keep us going and growing in the direction of our dreams. But what happens when the path to our dreams seems too bumpy, too disjointed and just a little too far to travel down? That’s when we need to really dig deep and allow ourselves that feeling. I wouldn’t say it’s a feeling on “un-motivation” or “de-motivation”, it’s really a temporary lack of motivation. And hear me loud and clear when I say it’s a temporary lack, it won’t last forever. Hold onto that as a little piece of comfort to wrap around your shoulders on these days.

What you do need to feel, is disciplined.

Discipline will keep your dreams alive and thriving when you lack the active desire to do so. This will not always manifest itself in constant action, rather it could come to you in a variety of forms. Perhaps inaction is what is needed right now – taking a breather is OK.

Repeat: it is OK to not be achieving all day every day – it is perfectly OK to take a step back and have a chilled day where all you manage to do is brush your teeth. That’s OK! It’s normal to have these no-motivation days. The important thing here is to allow that feeling in and to welcome it when it comes. 

In-action and lack of motivation are sensations that do not sit well with me, but I am learning to embrace them and thank my mind and body for allowing me these days to reset. Instead of viewing them as “nothing, wasted” days and opportunities, I try to see them as breaks away from my routine for myself. To focus on something other than work or life admin. I fill the time with walks in nature, by reading a book or by baking something just because and not for any reason in particular.  It’s a work in progress but it’s something that is ever so important for our mental and physical health.

For reasons outside of our control, we are often left lacking in motivation. For example, being told your work isn’t quite as expected or has been rejected can leave you feeling extremely inspired and encouraged to do better and to improve, or it can have the exact opposite affect and leave you feeling pretty rubbish and lead you to doubt the value of any of the work you have ever produced and will ever produce. But really, this is being a little melodramatic, let’s allow those feelings of “rubbish-ness” to sit with us for a little while to work out how we can get out of this funk.

Do those things that make you feel of worth and of value – get out your gratitude journal, your compliments diary or your favourite Netflix series. Make yourself feel good again and then work on the problem. Find the happiness within you and then find a solution to your work/life problem.

This isn’t always easy but taking some time away from it really does help – even sleep on it and most of the time you’ll wake up feeling a little more motivated to try again. Have faith in your discipline to guide you through and re-find your golden glow of motivation.

Write lists, chat to friends and colleagues, draw mind-maps, look at previous work that you have produced… fill your senses with so much motivational content that you’ll have no other choice but to feel inspired once more.

Social media proves to be an encourager and discourager for my motivation.

On the one hand I love seeing my posts doing well (what does well even mean, anyway?) and reading the lovely feedback on my comments. At the same time, it leaves me lacking in motivation when I compare myself to all the other accounts who are doing better and achieving more  than I am. I feel totally and completely out of control and out of motivation to keep going. I don’t know how I can do better. For the most part I put my faith and trust in the process of doing. I keep sharing because I actually do enjoy it and I’m disciplined – I have a message to share and photos to show so I will let you know and hope that you’ll read them and like them, too.

It all comes back to who you are doing this for – do it for YOU, not them. Then the motivation comes a lot more easily. 

I’ll leave you with some food for thought: mull over your motivation while enjoying some delicious Peanut Butter Coffee Crunch Slices.