Low Motivation: Do you manage to come back from it?
Low motivation is probably something we all experience - from time to time.
But as it happens, it is just as important to snap out of it!
Which strategies do you apply?
I wonder if working with colleagues plays a role. And in particular, if an online community helps. Looking forward to hear your thoughts.
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It will be weird of me to link out from my forum to a separate forum to answer your question, but I really do think one of the best general-purpose answers to motivation came from the comment below by a redditor known as "ryans01":
https://www.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/comments/1q96b5/i_just_dont_care_about_myself/cdah4af
Here's the simplified version:
Rule #1: No more zero days.
Rather than holding yourself accountable for doing a lot of work on your goals every day, simply hold yourself accountable to doing more than nothing — could be one push up, one sentence of a blog post, one word of a journal entry about how you might turn things around motivation-wise. I've used this system to great effect for more than a decade (which I touched on briefly in this post when I referenced the "don't break the chain" method).
Rule #2: Honor the "three you's".
In short, operate under a frame that there are three you's: Past You, Present You, and Future You. Every day, instruct Present You to be grateful for all of the positive things Past You once did and to do favors for Future You.
Rule #3: Forgive yourself.
Rule #4: Exercise and read books.
Whoever this ryans01 guy is, he and I think quite alike. I've always been a believer in the law of compounding returns. If you take a step forward everyday, eventually you look back and you've made it a mile.
@ OP - one thing that's always worked for me when I feel unmotivated is the proverb, "Don't want for inspiration to get to work." Of course, like you said, we all get unmotivated sometimes and it's normal. Just don't let it go on for too long, that's how I see it.
@sethking Thank you for replying! The proverb speaks to me and the aspect of getting (back) into action to get going (again).
Thank you for linking this post of Ryan @channingallen! Finally got a chance to read it. I like how rule #1 ties into the motto of the app Everyday. Rule #2 stood really out to me personally, as I usually have a much easier time put in work for someone else!
I love rule #2 and actually formulated my own version of it a number of years ago when I was going through a rut. My version is something I call "servant kingship." In short, I frame myself as two people in one:
I'm always on double-duty. It's my duty to have "kingly" gratitude for the work of past servants, and it's also my duty to serve the king — the ideal — that I will become by working on the problems in my life and in the world around me.
I am looking forward to exploring this principle in practice. And will keep the approach of forming a stark contrast between future and present self in mind!