That’s not the point.
You’re going to lose motivation. It’s about as inevitable as the sun going down. In fact, I’d even argue that you’re supposed to lose motivation.
What?
It’s an inevitable [& important] part of the process. Ask anyone who’s ever pursued/achieved something worthwhile: at some point, usually sooner than expected, they lost motivation. They woke up one day and before even getting out of bed, had thoughts like “what’s the point”, “I’m bound to fail”, “this is too hard”, “I can’t”.
And at that point, every single person who has ever tried doing anything, has made a choice of 2 options:
Option 1: Acknowledge those thoughts as a natural part of doing something challenging…. & keep it moving.
or
Option 2: Let those thoughts sink their teeth in, take the wheel & drive them straight into a wall.
The first option has you perceiving loss of motivation as your mind’s natural preference for a comfortable hell over an uncomfortable paradise. You’re allowing the feelings to exist… but separating them from reality.
Awareness + separation + action = freedom.
In other words, you feel like shit and do it anyway. With time & consistency, the feeling like shit will be less and less frequent. Action can exist in the face of fear (which is all any negativity ever is – it all boils down to fear).
The second option plucks you out of the driver’s seat and lets “it’s too hard” and “what’s the point” tie you up and toss you in the trunk as they drive to no man’s land.
And guess what? The pain and the fear are there in both options… but you’re either walking alongside it or letting it drag you through the mud.
There is the pain of stagnation & the pain of growth. They can sting equally, but the outcomes are very different.
So, one thing you can do to continue continue walking alongside the pain of growth:
Define your relationship to “good”.
Is your definition of “good enough” actually perfection?
Is it something you’re “striving” for (while knowing it’s always out of reach), or is it something you genuinely expect of yourself (or would expect of a close friend)?
Perfect is the enemy of good.
“Perfectionism” is an excuse to not take action. It’s why you consistently feel like a failure & keep quitting & starting over with things that, had you just kept taking messy action, would have turned out incredible.
Define what good enough looks like, and please get VERY real with yourself. What are some things you actually have evidence of accomplishing most days on a normal week that move you in the right direction?
Define your good enough action items — the things that don’t necessarily make you feel like a rockstar, but rather just a normal human doing their best — and respect them. They’re unglamorous and trivial and that’s exactly why they are so important… because they are the things you will actually do.
Now, picture what it looks like to do the bare-minimum.
Visualize the weeks where you’re drowning and the best thing you did for your goals was eat enough & wake up on time. Accept that those weeks will happen and promise yourself you will not let them convince you to give up entirely. This is the long game.
Time passes anyway. Pain comes to us anyway. You can choose how you spend said time & you can choose the type of pain you’ll welcome as it pertains to certain goals.
Will it be the pain of no change, the pain of coulda-shoulda-woulda(“what if I’d just taken small, consistent action? What if I didn’t give up?”), or will it be the pain of elbowing your way back into the driver’s seat each day, even if it’s just to drive a few blocks closer to your destination?
Chew on that, the next time you’re “just not motivated”.
Peace & Love,
Sofia