Have you felt the utter lack of motivation to do even the simplest of tasks, move from one place, and walk or even talk to someone? Do you think that even doing a simple task is a burden to you? Many people have felt this. They seem not to be motivated to do anything, and sometimes, they cannot figure out why. There can be many reasons why this happens. And the situation worsens when you see a friend or a colleague achieve something, and you are just here stuck in an invisible trap, unable to move. What to do when you feel like this? And why do you feel so like I can’t do anything?
Why do you have a lack of motivation?
Why do you think that I can’t do anything?
We, as humans, require motivation to do everything. Be it simply getting up in the morning or going to work for 10 hours straight. We need the push of motivation to perform these tasks. But, sometimes, we lack this motivation. And we are stuck in a phase we cannot get out of, and we do not want to do anything and just want to separate ourselves from the world. Why does this happen? The most important step of realizing why this happens is identifying the reason, which can be anything.
- You faced rejection. Everything was going fine for you, when suddenly, you were fired from a job. From your side, you did the absolute best you can, but it failed to meet the expectation of your employees. These rejections can bring down a person so bad and strip them off all their motivation.
Because you get this feeling that you are not up to everyone’s standards, and that whatever you do from now on will fall short of the expectations that your superiors have. This will make you insecure about trying anything new, like looking for new jobs, and can reflect in your personal life as well. You may start questioning the other duties you perform in your life as whether it is as expected by others, and it will lead to demotivation. - You lack success. Life is not full of success. It is a constant curve of ups and downs, with so much more failures than success for a regular person. When you are someone who enjoys the taste of success in your life, like everyone else, sometimes, if for a long time you had not had a major success either career wise or personal life wise, it may lead to demotivation.
You feel like whatever you do, you aren’t moving ahead in your life, and you are and will be stuck in the same place. Whenever you get ready to do something, you get this overwhelming feeling that everything seems huge, and you cannot do anything about it. You might be expecting a result so badly, but after continuous hard attempts, you might still not be able to achieve it. - You were criticized. Constructive criticism to a level is one of the most important things in life, as it helps us notice the mistakes that we cannot and changes us into a better person. But, when you are being criticized your whole life, even though you have done your best, it hurts you.
Either it can be your parents, or can be your manager or superior, who have been criticizing everything you do, despite giving your best efforts. This might give you a sense of feeling that you are not good enough for any job and can negatively impact your motivation. - You lost someone close to you. Losing someone close to you and someone whom you cared for can always have great impact in your life. And recently you might have lost someone like that. This can be the reason why you are not motivated. Losing someone need not be the passing away of someone. It can also mean your friend that you lost due to a fight or a misunderstanding or facing a rejection in your romantic life. These all can greatly impact your day-to-day activities and can also be a reason for your lack of motivation and energy.
- You feel physically lazy. All things that you do everyday require physical activeness and energy. If you feel lazy to do simple tasks like going to drink water when you are a little thirsty, this might also contribute to you not being able to do anything. Especially, during this pandemic period, after almost a year of not going out, if there is a sudden change of lifestyle that requires us to be more physically active, we find ourselves not able to do it.
This can also be said in case of accidents, or injuries, which made you to not do anything for a long period of time. Going to a normal lifestyle after that requires time and effort. - Your workplace is stressful. When the work you go to, which you spend most of your time in a day, is stressful, and doesn’t give you the sense of happiness or satisfaction, you might find everything a burden to do. You may face harassment, or increased workload which stops you from going to your job and stops you from doing regular activities.
These can be the reasons you might feel the lack of energy to do anything. While there are solutions for these, it takes time to implement and see a change in your lifestyle.
- Self-Confidence. Having confidence on yourself is the first and foremost thing to get out of this phase. Do a job, for your satisfaction, and feel like you can do it. You have the ability do all and whatever you want, and always give your best.
- Criticism. Try to separate constructive criticism from others. It is easy for everyone to criticize, and it is easier to ignore the criticisms, but it is always helpful to distinguish the constructive criticism from the rest. These can be helpful and will help you grow. One way you can differentiate is by looking at who is it coming from.
If it comes from those who care about you, and you feel they are not blaming you but providing you ideas on areas that you can improve, and it comes along with an appreciation for what you do, then considering those criticisms is critical. - Satisfaction. Always perform a task to your satisfaction. It is important to fulfil the satisfaction of your superiors, but it is also critical for you to work to your satisfaction. Self-satisfaction is the key to not having the feeling of regrets, and even though you did not get your desired result, you can be proud that you did the absolute best that you could have.
- Learn from the mistakes. If any past mistake that you did is holding you back from doing any task, learn what you did wrong. It is okay to fail, as you gain much more experience and it is unlikely that you would do the same mistake again. Everyone makes mistakes, and it is not a bad thing to fail at something. Bounce back stronger.
- Try to move on. If you figure out the thing that is bothering you, try to move on. If you are feeling guilty about a failure, or the loss of a close one is the reason, moving on is the only option to get out of this phase. This feeling will prolong until you take the decision to move on. Try to distract yourself. Take a break and try to do things that will keep your mind off the bothering.
- Motivate yourself. Try doing small things and try to motivate yourself. Be it getting up early in the morning, or arranging your bed, do things that you feel that you can appreciate yourself for doing those. This gives you a sense of achievement and will make the entire day a better one. Achievements like these throughout the day will be a great morale booster and can motivate you to perform more tasks.
- Reward yourself. A method through which one can motivate themselves is by giving periodical rewards. This has two uses. One is, you will get a sense of achievement by getting to those rewards, and you will eventually be motivated to do those things because of the rewards.
It is extremely easy to give up and get demotivated at the smallest of problems. If you feel you cannot solve the problem yourself, always feel free to share your problems with someone you trust, your parents, or your friends. It will take time to get the expected results, but it is important not to give up. The step of identifying the reason is as important as undergoing the process.
Have a high amount of self-confidence, and your appreciation for yourself is first before any other appreciation. Find things that motivate you, and don’t forget to feel proud of yourself for all the little things you do every day. Remember, it is normal to fail under normal circumstances, but what you gain from the failure matters. Start from the task you have meant to do the longest, and finish everything.
