- [Amanda] Despite how it might sound,
being unmotivated and being lazy aren't the same thing.
Lazy is having ability to do it,
but making a conscious,
purposeful decision of, "Meh, don't wanna."
Causes of motivation loss can be from involuntary sources,
like depression or other mental health obstacles.
They leave you really you wanting to do something,
but there's this invisible restraint keeping you from it.
The feedback from others
may still have you fretting
that you're being lazy and letting others down, though.
So let's look at some signs
to help make that difference known.
Number one, you feel purposeless,
with a bleak outlook.
You might notice difficulties
because of a change in your outlook.
The comparison of,
"Hey, this kind of thing wasn't a big deal before.
Why am I so not into doing this now?"
might make you wonder if you're being lazy.
What it could actually be
is that you've grown to a point
where you're looking beyond instant impulse gratification,
and you're contemplating why you do what you do,
where you're going,
and what do you want down the road.
This is great, and it can also smack you in surprise.
It's all too easy to get lost,
adrift in this feeling,
where you start to think, "What's the point?"
So instead of getting excited
about your life and your future, you feel lost,
and look at all things as an imminent fail.
Negative self-talk like this
can make everything seem pointless
since it's never gonna work, anyway,
which leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy
of not coming together because nothing was done.
Number two, you've got that bad stress.
Stress is pretty general.
You basically need stress to alert you to fulfill a need.
There is good stress and bad stress.
The bad stress is the kind
that doesn't move you towards a goal.
An example could be an assigned workload.
Good stress.
You have the right amount to challenge yourself,
so you feel accomplished by the end of the workday.
Bonus, yes!
Give yourself a prize!
That is a good feeling.
You've taken a step towards that raise, promotion,
or retirement fund.
Bad stress.
You've been given so much work that you're working overtime,
still not able to get anything done,
and now, all the drive
is because you're worried you might be fired.
There is no good goal to reach.
It's like being beaten up
before all the initial bruises healed.
Eventually, you accrue so much damage
that you can't even do what you did before,
then progress towards any goals gets derailed.
Number three, your surrounding environment is draining you.
Don't worry, we're not gonna feng shui on you here.
That might be a future discussion.
But think about where you try to do your thing.
Is it a place where you can look around,
breathe deep, and feel inspired?
Or, is it where you get depressed, with a wave of anxiety
when you observe your surroundings?
Surroundings mean the people
you surround yourself with, too.
Do they boost you,
or are they the kind that feel this urge
to always find something wrong with you,
your work, or anything else you produce?
If you start the day with a tight feeling of dread
because you know that drab, gray office
connotes a prison to you
and caustic coworkers await like vultures
to pick at your bones?
Work? We mean work.
It's no wonder you'd be unmotivated
to show up early and be productive.
Number four, you have unrealistic goals.
We hear way too much,
"Well, you gotta try everything," without context.
This leads to many often forgetting the key factor
of being self-aware of one's limits.
In the movement to shout,
"You can do anything!"
the fact that humanity
and tedious time-consuming hard work form limitations.
Let's take an example end goal
of becoming a marathon runner.
This can be an unrealistic goal
if they ignore all the work that training involves,
they haven't thought it through, or researched the subject.
So, when a week goes by and they can't run 26 miles,
they give up
because they're overwhelmed and disappointed.
Sometimes, that stage of being overwhelmed
will stop a person before they even start
because they lack any sort of plan or structure.
And all that's in their mind now
is big, scary mountain of things
that need to be done with shiny objectives on top.
They haven't given themselves small,
on-the-way goals that are reachable.
Speaking of planning, number five,
you lack structure and routine.
Structure? Ugh.
Routine? Who needs it?
Well, you do.
We do.
It's how we work at things to reach a result.
Maybe your structure is full of things, like,
"Go skydiving once a month to feel alive,"
interjected with, "Spend one hour per day doing something
that will get you closer to your objective."
And that's still structure.
That's still a routine.
Think of exceptionally prolific and successful author,
Stephen King.
He has a routine which involves starting the day
with a small timeframe
and giving himself a quota of words
or pages to complete by the end of it,
no expectations.
Save for life or death emergencies.
That structure and routine serves as your compass.
It gives you something to hold onto,
wherein you can still know,
"I'm still getting closer to my goal."
Not having it goes together
with not having purpose,
you're adrift, and since there's nothing to guide you
nor is there an anchor point to grip,
there's no motivation to move ahead
since you don't even know where ahead is.
We hope that these tips have helped your self-confidence,
at least a little,
through realizing you're not lazy.
That crushed self-confidence is a big part
of what feeds demotivation.
Now that you know it's not a hopeless case of lazy,
you can create a strategy to overcome the blockades,
one step at a time.
Don't worry.
The Mojo's still there,
awaiting for you to gather it back up.
How do you feel about these points?
Recognize any?
Feel free to discuss and we'll see you soon.
Thanks for watching.
(gentle music)