How to Regain Your Motivation After a Difficult Time
5 Valuable Things That Will Help Get You Motivated Again
Whenever things happen unexpectedly that slows your progress, it’s important to know how to regain your motivation.
Life happens. You will face challenges, setbacks, and disappointments. These events can leave you feeling discouraged and unmotivated.
When times get tough, it’s important to remember what your priorities are and what you value most. It’s not always easy to find motivation after a difficult time, but it’s possible. Those who succeed do so because they found something that motivated them to continue.
If you’re struggling to stay motivated after a rough patch in your life, find out how you can regain your motivation so you can continue doing things to get you closer to your ultimate goal.
1-Minute Summary Video
Why Do You Lose Motivation?
Lack of motivation is a common challenge for many people, especially when going through a difficult time.
Reasons you may lose motivation include:
- Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do.
- Not having enough energy or focus to complete tasks.
- Being too busy with other activities to make time for yourself.
- Feeling like you’ve lost control over your life.
- Not having clear goals or a purpose for doing the things you do.
- Feeling anxious about the future.
- Facing a setback or disappointment.
- Struggling to cope with stress.
- Experiencing financial difficulties.
- Feeling isolated from friends and family.
- Losing someone close to you.
Losing motivation is common when life throws you curve balls. If you’re not used to dealing with adversity, you may feel powerless and unclear on what to do next.
Examples of Difficult Times
When dealing with difficult times, it helps to remember that everyone goes through them at some point. When you go through difficult times, you may lose your motivation.
Difficult times come in many forms. Some are physical, some emotional, and others mental. No matter what form they take, they’re hard to deal with.
Examples of difficult times include:
- Physical health problems.
- Emotional issues, such as depression or anxiety.
- Financial struggles.
- Relationship problems.
- Family conflicts.
- Work-related issues.
- Mental health concerns.
- Unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Dealing with difficult times requires patience, understanding, and self-awareness.
The Costs of Having Low Motivation
Even though you will experience high and low motivation regularly, having low motivation is costly.
The main costs of having low motivation include:
- Decreased productivity.
- Increased stress levels.
- Poor performance.
- Unhealthy relationships.
- Low self-esteem.
- Depression or anxiety.
- Inability to concentrate.
- Difficulty making decisions.
- Loss of interest in hobbies and lifestyle activities.
- Lack of confidence.
Lack of motivation can be frustrating. However, if you learn how to regain your motivation, you can live a happier, healthier, and more productive life.
5 Things That Will Help You Regain Your Motivation
Here are five steps you can take to regain your motivation, so you can get into action again and move towards the goals you want to achieve.
1. Identify your triggers of motivation
You need to understand your sense of motivation and know what causes you to lose it. If similar events or situations cause you to lose motivation, then you’ll need to change those patterns. Instead of relying on extrinsic motivation, focus on intrinsic motivation.
This means you must have reasons to keep moving forward that are greater than situations that can affect your motivation. Sometimes, you may need to adjust your expectations if you’re dealing with something major in your life.
2. Surround yourself with positivity
Since we’re social creatures and have a human drive for connection, the people you spend most of your time with will affect your motivation. If you’re around toxic people who blame and complain a lot, your energy levels will decrease.
Instead, spend time with those who lift you up instead of those who drag you down. If you don’t have a lot of positive people in your life, it’s time to assess how often you want to spend time with them. It may also be time to meet new people and surround yourself with those who will inspire you.
3. Reduce your commitments or take a break
When you take on more than you can handle, it can lead to mental and emotional exhaustion, which will decrease your motivation.
It’s important to make sure you aren’t over-committed. Take breaks from work when necessary. Also, reduce the number of responsibilities you have. You can ask for help from loved ones.
Another thing you can do when you’re taking a break is to spend time on your hobbies or things you love to do. Your hobbies can keep you grounded and also offer a distraction from your stresses.
4. Focus on your strengths and what’s positive
There are two types of motivation: external and internal. External motivation comes from outside sources. For example, money motivates some people.
Internal motivation comes from within. This type of motivation is based on values and beliefs.
For instance, if you believe hard work pays off, you will be motivated by this belief. If you feel you lack discipline and generate negative thinking and self-talk, your motivation will decrease.
To increase your motivation, focus on your strengths and what you value most in life. When you identify these qualities, you can create an environment where you can thrive and have a lot more motivation.
5. Find meaning in your struggles
Sometimes, you may struggle through life without realizing why you’re doing certain things. To motivate yourself, you need to understand your motives.
If you’re having trouble finding meaning in your struggles, consider asking yourself questions like, “What am I trying to accomplish?” or “Why am I here?”
Once you’ve answered these questions, you can change what you think you should to improve your situation.
Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to regaining your motivation. Each person has their set of circumstances that influence their motivation. However, once you figure out what works best for you, it’s a lot easier to maintain your motivation, even during challenging times.
Final Thoughts
Life will throw you many curveballs that can affect your motivation and take you off course. However, if you have the right attitude and with positive thinking, you can turn any situation into a beneficial one.
If you reflect on why you’re doing what you are doing, you may find the passion and motivation that has helped you before. Even though you may suffer a temporary setback, you can always pick yourself back up again.
Action Step: If your motivation level is not where you’d like it to be, take a break from the things you believe you need to do now. Identify the triggers that caused you to lose motivation. Your action plan is to focus on one small positive action you can take to get motivated again.
Question: What are other things you can do to regain your motivation after a difficult time?
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