Blog 64:  I’ve lost all my drive in life.  I know that discipline matters, but how do I get moving when I just don’t feel like it?

man looking bored at work
©Appreciation at Work

This blog is for those who are crying out for this kind of help . . .

  • No matter how much I try, I find it hard to motivate myself.
  • I’ve been working out of sheer discipline, and now the will to achieve is all gone
  • I feel like I’m barely putting in any effort
  • I catch myself thinking I’m okay with any outcome.
  • I’m having extreme apathy towards tasks and my brain feels like it isn’t even functioning optimally

It sounds like your get up and go has just gone. 

Let’s first try and understand how you got to this place, then (in PART 2), we’ll provide you some strategies to kick start you back into life. 

How did I get here?

person lost in a maze
©shutterstock

It‘s time to take a deep dive and reflect.  Reflecting is a key aspect of the caddying process and a recurrent theme in these blogs.  So, create some space to reflect.  Try to identify what has led you to this point.

  • Have you got too much on in your life?
  • Are you dealing with too much?
  • Are you expecting too much of yourself?
  • Have you found yourself in a job you tolerate but no longer enjoy?

Don’t rush this step . . . try an analyse why you have found yourself in an unmotivated space

Have you found yourself on the wrong side of the J Curve?

the stress response curve
©Research Gate

You will notice on this J Curve graph that performance can decrease where stress has increased. 

So what’s happened to you?  What is your story?  Why have you found yourself lacking motivation?  Try and capture your findings in a mind map.  Put each cause in a thought bubble.  Here’s an example of what a mind map looks like:

We explained mind maps in Blog 37.  Now take some time to draw your mind map with a focus on why you are lacking motivation.  Draw some bubbles around ‘How did I get here?’.   You are saying you lack motivation – how and why?  What is impacting you?

cartoon figure of bear how did i get here
©iammikes

And now let’s score those bubbles.  Let’s try and see which items are making the greatest impact.  Put a number next to each bubble from 10 to 1.  You would put high scores (let’s say an 8 or 9) next to something having a high impact and low scores (2s and 3s) next to items having a low impact.  So a 5 would be a mid impact item. 

Get to work on scoring your bubbles.

OK . . . the better you do this step, the better you will be able to understand what is holding you back and how to rise strong.  We’ll leave you now to complete this exercise.  In the next blog we’ll provide strategies to lift you from your apathetic space.

Your life caddy

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