Sigh…

I pressed the snooze button for the second time and crawled even deeper under my blanket.

I wish I could just stay here all day.

Even the thought of facing another day at work filled me with a mix of depression and anxiety. I considered calling in sick, but my work ethic kicked in and I felt ridiculous.

Don’t be stupid.

Few years ago our department and team were going through changes that left me confused. Everything got turned upside down and suddenly my strengths were considered my weaknesses. Me volunteering to take on challenging projects no one wanted was now seen as “lack of focus” instead of proactivity.

 I didn’t know what I was supposed to do nor how I could bring value. I felt lost.

Like I was just a line on a spreadsheet.

Alarm went off again, I rolled out of bed and put on motivational speeches on YouTube like every morning when I felt demotivated. Usually they managed to cheer me up, but this time I listened to them with pure indifference.

Right, let’s go to work.

Three biggest mistakes I made when I tried to get my motivation back

However resilient and positive you might be, there are moments when you lose your motivation, energy and drive. Yes, I myself drive change, turn threats into opportunities and motivate others to reach more than they imagined, but even I’m not stranger to that.

As a part of my failure challenge, I will share with you the biggest mistakes I made when I tried to get myself back on track few years ago and what I learned from them.

 Why? Because I want you to know what I wish I had known back then so you can get your motivation back much faster

1.Reading motivational books, without actually doing the exercises

I love books, especially business and personal development books. So, when I noticed my motivation going down, I went straight to Amazon to get books that could bring it back up.

I enjoyed them, yes, but there wasn’t actually anything I already didn’t know. It felt like everything had already been said many times and I couldn’t find the answers I was looking for. I put the books down disappointed.

What was my mistake here?

I never actually did the exercises nor answered the questions in the books, instead I simply passively read them. Once I realised this, I re-read the books, did the exercises properly and implemented the insights straight away in my life.

Result? My motivation went straight up.

2. Watching other people’s lives instead of living mine

When I was demotivated, last thing I wanted was to meet new people and try something completely new.

What if I’ll fail in that too?

I went straight home after work, got some food and watched Tony Robbins videos seeking my purpose and looking for motivation to continue.

Yet when I intentionally stopped this destructive behaviour and forced myself to go to different meetups and courses after work, everything changed.

Learning new things made my mind lit up, getting to know like-minded, positive people made me smile and I also noticed I became quite a big fan of kick-boxing.

Instead of watching other people’s lives on your sofa, go and experience the life yourself 🙂

3. Accepting boredom instead of seeking excitement

That morning it was the pure indifference to motivational messages that hit me and made me want to change.

I realised I was not happy. In fact, I was so miserable I didn’t believe in anything anymore.

Sometimes we get so caught up in a whirlwind of small, unimportant and completely useless issues, that we forget what really matters: Happiness.

Are you doing things that excite you or do you feel stuck and bored out of your mind?

 If it’s the latter, take some time to reflect which three little steps you could take to make your life a bit more exciting.

Is it signing up for a course? Is it taking on that slightly crazy personal project, like becoming a private chef in Rhodes, Greece? Is it Whatsapping that friend you haven’t seen for ages?

Got the list? Now go and do it 🙂

Only one who can change the situation is you

One of the biggest causes of lack of motivation is not feeling appreciated, not feeling like you matter. It makes you lose your confidence, doubt your strengths and lose faith in the direction you used to be excited about.

Always remember that you don’t have to stay stuck in the situation you’re at, whatever economic or social pressure you might have. If you lack motivation and feel lost, I do recommend you to read personal development books and watch videos AS LONG AS YOU ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT THE INSIGHTS 😉

As an extra tip: do not try to crawl out of that hole yourself. Speak with an understanding friend or get a coach who’ll listen to you, asks you the right questions and keeps you accountable for actually taking those actions.

Don’t lose hope: if I could get back to my annoyingly positive, motivated self, so can you.

I bet you’re awesome 🙂

Best of luck x

Pauliina