I woke up this morning exhausted, tired from the week, and lacking, well, motivation to do anything. Here I am in the “prime of my life” (I highly doubt that), demotivated to engage in any form of recreation or work. I could blame it on the pandemic, that would be the most logical route, but I tend to believe that humans are surprisingly well at adapting to their environment.

Am I lazy? Maybe, but according to an insightful article by Niklas Goeke, we aren’t particularly lazy or bored or unmotivated, just terrified that all our future, past, and present decisions were incorrect, and we’ll die a terrible death. I am obviously paraphrasing; the best advice he and so many others provide with self-help and inspirational books is: JUST DO IT.

“Fall seven times, get up eight.”

It sounds way too simple to work. (Here I feel like Nike and Shia LaBeouf had something in common.)

But why do we seek motivation in the first place? Are we such wondering souls that we forget that our courage, well, for the most part, comes from within. Are we so oversaturated with endless motivational stories and quotes that our mind has written them off as “cool, but not realistic,” as opposed to something attainable?

Why do we seek motivation?

You might answer belligerently, making claims that you are unable to accomplish anything if you don’t have someone pumping up your capabilities and possibly lying to you for your dreams to happen. I would say you are lying to yourself and those around you.

Why?

Wouldn’t it be better to have a motivation that aligns with your goals and who you are? Rather than listening to someone’s motivational speech about how they went from being broke to a six-figure salary while you are in the middle of writing a book? What you need is a specified form of inspiration that is attuned to your desired outcome and not random words of ‘HORAAH!’

What should your motivation accomplish?

This part is where you yell at me again and say, “To Get Sh*t Done, DUH!”

Please wait while I roll my eyes at your obvious answer. I already know why you seek motivation, but what if I told you it goes much deeper than you initially thought? Think back to that one psychology class that you took as an elective in college, do the names Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs or Erg Theory of Motivation bring back memories? No? Well, it should.

Our desire to find inspiration to accomplish amazing things stems from our needs. Initially, we want a warm bed; then, it becomes more complicated. We now want our work to have meaning and our words to influence and change others. We desire to be so great that our names go down in history, and let’s face it; it would be quite remarkable if it happened.

“When we lack motivation, our innate desire to adapt and overcome is suffocated by our fear of failure.”

The Good News

The good news is your motivation can be revived!

Your ability to inspire yourself has never truly disappeared; it had merely become dormant. While you were comparing yourself to every six-figure earner 20 years into their career as you began your journey, you lost your ability to believe in your talent. Listen clearly; I am not saying that you can do anything, but that 5% of exceptional understanding is all you, honey.

It’s time to get back up and begin again, write a new story that is uniquely yours.

How To Find The Right Motivation?

Emulate, then innovate.

If you want to find health and wellness motivation, learn from those who have similar journeys to yours. Whatever you want to learn or do, find those who have done it before and gain insight into how they did it. You don’t always have to talk to them in person; you can borrow their book for the library or read an article.

Part of finding the right motivation for yourself is knowing what you are seeking. Take a few moments to look past the fear of failure and develop a flexible roadmap of your dreams.

Now go forth and conquer!