You wake up in the morning and immediately you’re met with a shutting down feeling rather than an opening up of a new day. The tired seeps in, your body feels wilted, and there are hardly any (or even no) thoughts about the day that spark excitement. Ground Hog day is here yet again, you may think…the same as all the others without openings or possibilities. It seems like there’s very little to grab onto to build momentum for your day, let alone to help support your health.
Does this scenario sound familiar to you in some way?
Low motivation is an important area of health to attend to, just like other common symptoms or conditions such as hormone imbalance, mood swings, anxiety, depression, gut issues, or trouble sleeping. In fact, low motivation can be connected to these areas of health when they affect each other in a cycle. During the times we’re living in, low motivation has been especially on the rise due to the pandemic and all the impact from it. Even though everyone has gone through the pandemic, dealing with low motivation and the mental stress that comes from it is still a very personal and individual experience.
First off, you may wonder, “Is this low motivation bad?” Even though everyone around you has been stalled in doing the very same things we’re all trying to do (mainly, live life as fully and freely as we can), it’s easy to get the impression that everyone else is pulling it together and heading out there with gusto while you’re the only one who struggles with so little energy and motivation. This is actually an illusion because many people are dealing with the challenge of not wanting to do much, feeling like they can’t do much, or wondering if anything will ever change. We may look around at the economy, housing prices, and gas prices and just throw our hands up in response.
This feeling can become hush hush, as in people don’t talk about it openly with others unless they’re comfortable. On the surface, we may all try and show that things are moving, shaking, and happening all the time. Underneath though, there’s naturally an effect from what has been happening in the world over the last couple years. So, what can you do if this low motivation is taking a hold of your life and your health?
First off, low motivation is not always bad. The past couple years have been a reflective time for many of us, putting into perspective life in the past, present, and future. There may be motivations we had in the past that were not fitting or healthy to continue with. If you’ve been wracked in the past with unrealistic expectations on you, the pressure to be perfect all the time, an image or role you were expected to upkeep, or always helping others at the expense of yourself, you may not have the motivation to do that anymore. And if that’s the case, what may seem like BAD tendencies of low motivation are actually you putting a stop to dynamics with others and inside yourself that no longer work for you.
When you start to assert in your own life and also toward others: No, I don’t want to feel drained by always being there for other people and neglecting myself. No, I don’t want to constantly settle for less than I deserve. No, I don’t want to be pushed around and told how to think and live. No, I don’t want to put on an image for everyone else when I know that’s not how I really feel inside. No, I don’t want to ignore my own health because everything else in my life is supposedly more important than me — then that halting of past patterns, habits, or dynamics can feel like everything else is stopping too. You may at first assume that you’re saying No to excitement, possibilities, openings, and good challenges in your life as well.
Don’t worry too much; just because you say no to one thing doesn’t mean you’re saying no to it all. Saying no to what is outdated, unhelpful, invasive, or draining is actually paving the way for things you do want to enter your life.
It’s natural to get sick and tired of doing things for the “wrong reasons” (as they like to say in the Bachelor franchise if you’ve ever watched that) and reach your limit with those types of ill fitting motivations. And if you’re at that point, low motivation can’t be labeled as bad or wrong in such a blanketed way. At the same time, you naturally don’t want to keep waking up feeling like you have no energy or care for the present day you’re waking up to. With a shift in perspective on what you’re actually doing, as in saying No to what you don’t want and slowly creating space for more of what you do, low motivation can be reframed for what it actually is.
You’re getting back to your life, and it’s not always an easy process. Within that transition, it’s best not to have an overnight shift in approach and decide that the next day, you’re going to change 50 things in your diet, go to the gym 7 days a week, take up 5 different activities or hobbies that have been on the backburner, and reconnect with all your friends and family at once. It’s okay to take it easy, listen to your body and its realistic energy level and limitations, and take it one day at a time. See how you feel each individual day and what you’re actually ready for in a non-draining non-pressurized way if possible. Have a healthy respect for what you don’t want to do, and allow yourself to see why you may not want to do it that specific day.
Taking the approach of little by little and listening to your body allows you to see that there can be a rhyme and reason to low motivation and it’s a signal from your body just like any other signal, asking you to take an honest look at what you’re going through physically and mentally.
If you haven’t yet started putting the breaks on dynamics in your life that have been a drain on you, the low motivation is still a signal from your body. It then becomes a sign that you are wanting to declutter some of the old and unserving motivations of the past and find more fitting ones for yourself. You can’t label it as bad, because it’s coming up for a reason, asking you to take an honest look at what’s going on. And these opportunities come up and re-emerge over and over in life (and in health) so that we don’t become complacent and allow ourselves to fall into patterns or dynamics long-term that are like a square peg in a round hole. If you keep trying to hammer that peg in, it never works and can naturally lead to frustration, anger, anxiety, sadness, and eventually low energy and motivation. We can’t control life, but we can do what we can to work toward or discover a better peg.
***Try these simple tips for low motivation that can also occur alongside low energy, anxiety/depression, perfectionist thoughts, hormone imbalance, and stress:
- Don’t immediately label low motivation as bad. Try and see it in perspective in the context of your life (not just how you imagine “others” might see it)
- There are naturally times in life where there’s less going on, and if so that’s okay. Is that what’s going on for you?
- Question any messages you’ve received in your life that have relayed that nothing you do is good enough
- If you do have thoughts, feelings, or worries come up about how others may see your low motivation, try and separate those eyes from your own eyes the best you can
- Reframe low motivation as a signal that your body and mind together are sending you for your overall health and life. It’s a clue
- How can you best pay attention to that signal and help yourself through tough times while not getting stuck in it?
- Try not to yo-yo, as in planning overnight to become a new and improved person who has motivation 100% of the time. It doesn’t work
- Instead, take steps in your life little by little, according to a realistic look at how you’re feeling, your energy level, and your natural limitations at the time
- Invite movement and exercise, self care measures, and balanced eating that fits your body into your life. It can help you work through feelings of low motivation. But don’t make it a punishment or something you need to accomplish to redeem yourself from “bad” low motivation tendencies.
- Some days, if you don’t wanna, then you just don’t wanna. And that’s okay because everyone deserves those breaks and the opportunity to not follow all the “shoulds” the mind likes sending out
- If you’re spending a lot of time feeling bad about low motivation, use that time to rest instead, play a video game, go for a walk, watch T.V., read a book, have tea or coffee, stretch on a yoga mat or clean out a drawer. Give yourself a break and ask yourself what else you’re really obligated to do
- If you tend to compare your motivation to those who seem to be moving and shaking out there, pull back and try to bring the focus back to yourself rather than comparisons. It will come up, but you can also create distance from it. Also consider that not all, but some of the “moving and shaking” out in this world is for image or appearances
- If you want natural support for low motivation and to get energy moving again, consider hormone testing followed by an individualized naturopathic treatment plan. Balancing hormones can help the body and mind feel resilient, vital, and grounded, allowing transitions through low motivation to feel smoother. Adrenal support can be particularly helpful