Unmotivated and How to Fix It

WHAT STOPS YOU FROM BEING MOTIVATED – AND HOW TO FIX IT

How many times have you found yourself saying one of the following statements? 
 
I’m not feeling this, it’s not fun, and I don't like it.  I don't enjoy it anymore. Why do I even get myself into this? How do I get out of it? 

 
Let’s talk about what to do when you’re no longer feeling motivated, when all the motivation seems to have left you… 
 
This happens to all of us, right? There's some point of time when we feel unmotivated, whether it's from burnout, constantly putting out different fires that keep popping up and you’re tired from having to keep dealing with the headaches of day-to-day task. Maybe you feel like you’re working yourself to the bone and you’re not seeing the desired results.  
 
The day I met my husband, years ago I was feeling all the above. A few days before, I told a friend that we would go out to the Jazz Cafe and have some much-needed fun. Well, I felt like going out earlier that day, but by the time night came, I didn't want to go out, AT ALL. I didn't have any interest in going out; I just didn't want to go.  

 
She said, “Well you told me you were going. Come on! Just go”. So, I mustered up the energy and went. Lo and behold, I met this really nice guy at the Café who now is my husband. So, if I had given into the lack of motivation and not gone with her like I had committed to, I would never have met my husband. I would have missed out on the opportunity to marry such a wonderful guy.  
 
When we don't show up, we miss opportunities.  Here are a few points to fix from being unmotivated so you are present when opportunity knocks.  
 

Self-evaluate. 

First things first, I encourage you to self-evaluate. Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions. When you’re feeling unmotivated, try to dig deep and figure out ‘What is it that's keeping you from being motivated in that area?  

 
Is this something that I need to continue to do, or am I taking on too much?  
 
Do I need to leverage other people or systems, so that I can enjoy what I’m doing again?  
 
Do some self-evaluation to find out why you’re no longer motivated, in any area of your life, whether it's at home, in business, or a hobby, you once enjoyed. Maybe, you need to move on from that hobby. You’ve gotten all you can get out of it and you’re no longer interested. I could be just that simple. 
 

Make a commitment to yourself. 

Now, let's talk about the things that are not so simple, like family, or business. You have made a commitment to yourself to build a very successful, profitable business, and you thought that it was going to be much easier than it has been, and because you’re burnt out, you are not really motivated to move forward. 

 
Let's say it's not working out, and you are not seeing the results as quickly as you would like. Your motivation went out just like a match in the downpour of a thunderstorm. You want to get back to what you know, so the thing that I would ask you to do is keep the commitment you have set for yourself. 
 
Re-evaluate the goal that you set initially, and figure out, do I still want to reach that goal? and if the answer is 'Yes’, then keep the commitment to yourself, it will only benefit you in the long-run  
 

Show up. 

One thing that amazes me with entrepreneurs, is that when you were in the corporate world… when we worked for someone else, we showed up to work consistently, because we knew that if we did not show up, and did not perform, we would not have a job and we wouldn't be able to take care of our families. 

 
Somehow, as entrepreneurs, we come under this belief that we don't have to show up every day, and we’re still going be able to take care of our families with the money that we make from our business. Many somehow believe that we can just play all day and do a little work and make plenty of money. Well, that's not going to happen. You must show up. 
 

And so, I challenge you to: 
Show up for your own business.  
Take pride in your business and your job  you created for yourself, because it's yours.  
 

Own It 

Own it, really own it and show up. That means that even when you no longer feel like it, you show up anyway.  Guess what; your goals don't care about how you feel. They just don't. Your goals don't care that you’re tired; you still need to show up.  
 

Get some sleep. 

Hear me when I say this, I’m not saying that you don't get the proper amount of rest. It's not wise to just work; work, work, and I hear people saying, “team no sleep”. No, you need sleep. If you want to continue to function at a high level, you need to rest after putting in the effort. 

So, keep the commitment to yourself and to your family. Yes that means, do it even when you don't feel like doing it. That's what a commitment is. A commitment is, I said this is what I’m going to do. I do not feel like doing it right now, but because I said I would do it, I’m going to do it.  
 
That's like, if we’re friends and we agree that we’re going to meet to have lunch, and you don't show up, I will take it as you don't really care about our friendship. Now, if you can't show up, and you call because something came up, I would understand that. Then, we can reschedule.  
 
But, if you continue to not show up, that's telling me that you don't care about this relationship, our friendship, our business relationship. So, why do that to yourself? Why not show up for yourself? Often, you don't want to go and do things, you may not want to keep a commitment that you’ve made with a friend, but because you made it, you’d keep it anyway. 

Ask yourself, “At what cost?” 

So, I would encourage you to ask yourself, when you don't feel like doing whatever it is that you committed to yourself to do, ask yourself, “What is me not showing up, because I don't feel like it, going to cost me?” 
 
Then you figure out, 'Is it worth it? Is it worth you not building a successful business, because you don't want to show up, “cuz” you don't feel like it, because you’re sleepy?’ or,  
 
‘Is it worth you not having a good relationship with your family, with your children, because you don't want to show up? You use business as an excuse, as an escape. If you have small kids, they have a lot of energy, you’re really not motivated to play with them at that moment, and so, you use business as an excuse.  
 
What would that cost you, when you’re not motivated? 
 

Change your thoughts 

One of the things that I’ve learned how to do is to think myself happy. If I’m not motivated to do something, I must really focus on changing my thought process. I bring the consequence closer to me, so I can feel it. I do this because sometimes the consequences are so far out that I am like, “Oh, that won't happen”.  Better yet, you can’t feel it right now because it's too far away. Well, bring that feeling close to you. 
 
For example, 'What will it be like if you don't have a home, because your house got foreclosed on, because you don't show up to the business that you said you wanted to build? 
 
Bringing that feeling closer to you, helps to motivate you. What will it look like in 15 years, if you build this massive business, but you don't have a relationship with your kids because you never took the time to show up and to spend quality time, without your phone, or on the computer? 
 
Doing those things, what will that cost you? Are you ok with those consequences? Bring those feelings and those emotions a little closer, which typically helps increase motivation. 
 

Mastermind: Be accountable to others 

The other thing that really helps me is being accountable to someone else. If I have a business partner or friend, someone who I mastermind with, and I know that I said, that in my business, I am going to do x, y and z, by this day.  I know that I have a meeting with them to go over what I have accomplished, when I meet with them. I want to have accomplished prior to my meeting with them.  
 
Having a mastermind group or an accountability partner can increase your motivation as well:  
Make it a game.  
Make it fun. 
Make it accountable. 
 
Now it’s your turn to let your voice be heard, tell me: 
What’s one step you can take “right now” when you’re feeling unmotivated? 
 
Important: share your thought and ideas directly in the comments. Links to other posts, videos, etc. will be deleted as they come across suspect. 
 
Sharing is caring.  It would mean so much if you would share this video with someone who is having trouble feeling motivated.  
 
Being accountable to you is the cure to lack of motivation.  
 
So, let's make it happen!