A lot of times people will tell me, “Oh, my gosh, you know, I’m just not feeling motivated to work. I just don’t feel like doing things today.” And then you’re starting to realize that it’s kind of a problem because sometimes you get really motivated to do something and then it’s like poof, gone, it disappears as quickly as it came in. And, I notice some of you lose motivation very easily.
But I would venture to say, it’s not even really the motivation. You just give up too easily.
In order to build a business, you have to be resilient, especially in the beginning stages, when you’re getting a lot of no’s and a lot of doors slammed in your face. In those moments, it could be really easy to just feel like there’s no reason to keep going.
So, we’re going to get rid of that today because I can promise you that the only reason I have built the success that I have is that I am extremely motivated. And it’s not that I’m motivated every day. I’ve got some tough skin and I just don’t give up. So now I’m sharing the five reasons why you aren’t motivated, and how to overcome them.
You’re waiting.
The first reason why you’re probably feeling unmotivated is that you’re waiting until you “feel like doing something.” Listen, there’s going to be a lot of times in your business, especially in the beginning, where you’re doing a lot of things that don’t feel good as a stepping stone to have more freedom so you could do the things that feel good. That’s just the way that it is. If I waited until I felt like doing something or it felt good to do something, nothing would ever get done.
That doesn’t mean that your feelings don’t have a place, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a bad day every once in a while. It doesn’t mean that sometimes, you just need a break. I took a break yesterday because I was exhausted from traveling. But some of you are just putting way too much weight on this stuff, you’re taking it way too far. You’re going to have to do a lot of things that you don’t want to do. I don’t particularly feel like doing taxes once a year with my accountant, but I still have to do it. I don’t always feel like working out, but I still have to do it.
You haven’t accepted that you need money.
So, the second thing that might be going on is that you haven’t yet accepted that you need money. For example, those of you who have really big courses, you want to change the world. But a lot of you have not realized that you need money to do that.
In fact, you resist the fact that you need money to do that. And then you just end up in the same cycle over and over again. And then you get frustrated because it feels like nothing is getting done, and then you lose motivation. It all comes down to the fact that you haven’t yet realized that you need money.
We all need money, we are in an economic system. That’s just one example. Other examples are that if you want money, you’re a bad person, and then you’re not motivated by money because then you’re afraid of becoming a bad person.
I’m working with a private client right now and her main message is that she wants to cater to Gen X women specifically. When we started working together, I was like, “What is the main message you wanna get across?” And she said, “That it’s okay to be wealthy, right? It’s more than okay to be wealthy because you need money to live in this world.”
A lot of that just comes back down to some conditioning that you’ve been taught that somehow money is a bad thing, therefore, you shouldn’t be motivated by it.
You’re not motivated by money.
That being said, that brings me to point number three. After your bills are paid, you really aren’t motivated by money. And I know because I’ve been there. You get to a point where you’re starting to do well. So you’ve gotten out of survival mode, you know your bills are covered, everything’s going kind of smooth, and then suddenly, you lose motivation to keep going.
I’ve talked about this before, there was a point after I’d hit the six-figure mark and I was like, “Why am I even getting up in the morning? My bills are already paid, I don’t have to work because my bills are paid.” But then something would inevitably happen, and then I would get stressed, and then I would have to go find the money.
If you are experiencing that, it’s because your purpose isn’t big enough, your goals aren’t big enough. I talked about this in my Q1 sales report that now I’m starting to understand why people say that they need to have monster goals. And it’s because if they’re not big enough, we lose our motivation. It is what it is. We’re human, we’re fickle. We get bored easily. Fulfillment lies in reaching our potential and that usually lives outside of our comfort zone.
So, if you’re at a stage where you’ve accepted the fact that you need money, you’re making money, your bills are paid and now you’re starting to find yourself lacking in motivation, it’s because you need to find some sort of bigger goal or some sort of bigger purpose to go after, and then that motivation will come right back.
Comfort is bull.
Number four is you haven’t yet realized that comfort is bullshit. Things can change at the drop of a hat. When you get comfortable, that’s when shit can blindside you. That’s how you end up in a situation like the one you’re in. So, if you’re not feeling motivated very often, it’s because you haven’t had that lesson yet.
You don’t know what motivation is.
The fifth reason you may not be feeling motivated is that you have some sort of false sense of what motivation is. A lot of people are like, “Well, I don’t feel inspired to do that.” And what they don’t realize is that oftentimes, when you actually just start doing something, you start gaining the momentum.
Others have stories, where they think that you think you need to be super talented or something and you’re not talented, therefore, why even bother? That’s a complete myth. There’s plenty of people out there who don’t have any talent and are very successful and making a shit ton of money. So, this whole idea that you need to be uber-talented or lucky, and that you are somehow not talented or lucky, that’s a lie.
It’s a lie, okay? I’ve busted my ass to get to where I am and a lot of my colleagues, you know, we’ve all busted our asses too. There is no such thing as luck. It’s just preparation meets opportunity. It doesn’t just fall from the sky.
Those are five reasons why you aren’t motivated lately. I’ve been there. I’ve had clients who’ve been there. And these are the five main patterns I’ve seen among people who complain that they are not motivated. And it’s also some of the things that I have seen in myself over the years that I have learned to overcome.