Have you ever found yourself asking, “Why do I have no motivation to exercise or stick to my healthy eating habits?”
In my 30 years of working with women, I observe a lack of motivation can happen when we experience life stressors or changes in circumstances, such as divorce or a special relationship ending, changing jobs, financial difficulties, work burnout, the death of a loved one, kids leaving home, illness, menopause, hormone changes, overwhelm, or other major life transitions.
When life throws us a curveball, let’s look at some ways we act which can leave us feeling unmotivated.
1. You Find It Difficult To Adjust
Do you find it difficult to adjust to life changes to the point that you struggle to maintain your normal routine, daily tasks, things you enjoy, or engagement with friends, family or your community?
- this can leave you feeling unmotivated.
2. You Might Be Experiencing Toxic Stress
Low motivation is often experienced when someone has a chronic stressor that they can’t change—known as toxic stress. These feelings can become a cycle, where people can’t escape their stress and in turn keep experiencing this lowered drive. It can cause reduced sleep and self-care, which continues the destructive cycle. Those who experience low or no motivation tend to struggle when they don’t know how to change the stressful situation they’re in.
3. You Might Be Feeling Overwhelmed
If you have a lot of tasks to complete, especially in a short period of time, you may begin to feel overwhelmed. It is not uncommon to begin experiencing low motivation to complete any of the tasks on your list, especially if you are struggling to figure out where to begin. This can be a frustrating cycle, especially as anxiety can significantly increase and further influence apathy.
4. You May Be Suffering Boredom or Lack Of Variety
When you do not have a lot to look forward to or get excited about, you can experience lowered motivation. As a result, you may find yourself engaging in mindless tasks that are not enjoyable, productive, or meaningful to you most of the time. It can be difficult to get out of this slump, especially if you do not know what will fulfil you.
5. You Might Be Doing a Lot for Others, But Not Taking Time for Yourself
If you are constantly engaged in tasks with or for other people and you’re unable to find time for yourself, you may find yourself having little or no motivation to do anything. This can be frustrating, especially if you value the people you’re helping. Because of how little time you have to yourself, you may not be able to engage in movement, exercise and activities that would interest and further encourage your health and fitness
6. You Might Be Burnt Out
When someone has emotional, cognitive, and physical fatigue as a result of their work, they are likely experiencing burnout. Burnout can result in lower productivity, feelings of helplessness or frustration, reduced mental and physical health, and lowered motivation. If someone doesn’t feel a sense of belonging with their peers, it can lead to an increased risk of burnout.
7. You May Be Having Difficulty Changing Your Perspective
Sometimes we can experience rigid or fixed perspectives that make it difficult to consider alternatives to being perfect or doing something in an exactly correct way. This perspective can influence rumination (worrying), perfectionism, and other unhealthy thinking patterns that do not allow for alternatives in meeting a goal.
As a result, you may experience low motivation due to unhealthy patterns that reinforce the idea that if you cannot meet a goal in one exact way, then you cannot at all.
8. You May Be Dealing With Recent Events That Have Been Stressful or Challenging
If you have recently experienced a life-changing or stressful event, like a death, loss of a relationship, moving, or leaving a difficult situation, you may feel upside down or immensely more heavy. You may be having difficulty handling your new normal, which can impact general motivation.
You may feel like you are struggling to come to terms with this event and may not feel like doing much of anything.
9. You May Be Avoiding Difficult Feelings, Like Frustration or Self-Doubt, Brought Up by Your Goals
Imagine a difficult workout, like HIIT, and think about the amount of work. Negative feelings, like frustration or anxiety, may start to occur and you may experience significantly low motivation in starting or completing this task. This may be because you are uncomfortable with experiencing these emotions and facing them in the process of completing this workout.
10. You May Be Experiencing a Depressive Episode
Although motivation can be influenced by quite a few factors, low motivation is a common symptom of depression. This normally presents with difficulty in other areas in addition to motivation (like feeling sad or hopeless, changes in weight and energy levels), which can make it difficult for you to meet your goals and manage how you are feeling
So what do we do?
While it can be difficult to get moving and start making tangible changes when you have no motivation, there’s a lot you can do to get going again.
Here are my tips to kickstart your motivation and help you ‘get back on track’ to being the best version of you -
Happy, healthy, fit, strong and well.
Have non-negotiables & be flexible.
My non-negotiables are exercising daily, eating to plan 6 days a week and preparation for the following week.
Flexibility is present when ‘life’ changes happen.
I go to mum’s and all my home routines are out the window.
I stick to my plan of non negotiables (with flexibility)
Exercise becomes: resistance band (10-15 minutes daily) and a walk with mum daily.
Eating ‘on plan’ becomes boiled eggs for breakfast or protein shake or similar, simple lunch with protein and a home-cooked dinner with a couple of lunches out and about as I share the enjoyment of lunch at a cafe with my mum.
Preparation becomes ‘upstreaming’. Understanding going to mums means I need to prepare BEFORE I leave such as boiled eggs, nuts, protein powder and buy yoghurts, cheese etc. upon arrival.
The trick is to KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING.
What will your non-negotiables be?
Recognise ‘who is making the important decisions’
I have realised I have many Dana’s inside of me.
‘night time’ Dana.
She is quiet, tired, sometimes grumpy, scouring for food such as late night snacks that will sabotage my goal and desire to maintain health and fitness.
‘morning Dana’
She is the happy go lucky, clear headed, full of energy, chats, smiles and ‘loving life’ Dana. She is great at ‘sticking to the plan’, ‘eating well’, exercising and so on.
I also have:
‘Worried Dana’, ‘Afternoon let’s chill Dana’, ‘let’s party Dana’ inside of me.
Who do you believe would make the best decisions for my health and fitness?
In my case, morning Dana. I would actually sack nighttime Dana if she was a paid worker in my business.
She would send me broke!
She also sabotages my best efforts around my health.
Recognising your ‘different selves’ and asking who is running the show at the moment gives you an opportunity to bring in one of your ‘smarter, more energised selves’ to make decisions.
Morning Dana says:
Let’s not sit in the living room where you are tempted to get the night time snacks. Let's brush our teeth, do some journaling, read a book, jump in bed, do our gratitude practice and go to sleep.
Bingo!!!
No more ‘night time Dana’ running the show and this equals better food choices, less emotional pain (guilt, frustration, anger).
Try this for yourself...
Who is running the show?
Who do you need to sack and put in their place?
What would your energised self suggest as a solution to your sabotaging behaviours?
Try this and watch the magic happen
Create a routine (with flexibility) and smiley faces
Buy yourself a weekly dairy and write down your weekly routine.
Include when you will exercise, buy food, prepare food and anything else that is important to you (meditation for example)
As you go through your week OBSERVE - did that routine work?
Place a smiley face besides what ‘did work’ and a sad face around what ‘did not work’
Be Curious..
Why did those things with sad faces not work?
It may be the day or the time or duration for example:
Try a PLAN B for next week's diary.
Review weekly. Happy faces are YES this works. Your sad faces are ‘REVISE, RESCHEDULE (new plan) and RESET for the following week.
Repeat weekly - eventually, you will end up with a routine of ‘happy faces’
How much better does it get?
Are you enjoying these tips?
What my 30-minute video where I share 5 or so MORE TIPS to help you get back your motivation.
Enjoy !
