We have all been there...
You are full of inspiration and 100% motivated to start your healthy new lifestyle. You start to work out four times a week, you eat healthy and you treat yourself every once in a while. This is the perfect plan, and everything is going great. Somewhere along the road you lose your motivation and you have no idea how to get back on track.
Some days you wake up and right when you are going to begin your work, excited and ready to take on whatever the day brings. And then one day, that feeling where you once were so passionate and energized to take action just isn’t there anymore. You try to hype yourself up but it’s not working, and everything you do seems to be counterintuitive. You don’t want to work today and you don’t feel motivated to do anything but just escape. Without this motivation, you feel a little hopeless, lost, and stuck.
What is Motivation?
Motivation is a powerful force. Without it, not much gets done. If you weren’t motivated to get out of bed in the morning, you wouldn’t, and you probably won’t accomplish much. Motivation gets you to work, the grocery store, to wash the car and pick up the kids at school. It is motivation that determines whether you exercise, take the dog for a walk, make those sales calls, or eat healthy and so on. Motivation is involved with every action or “inaction” you take.
Sometimes we get stuck in a rut. If you’re not a hundred percent passionate about your work, then it’s impossible to wake up everyday feeling motivated. You might compare it to the ocean. Sometimes you’ll wake up feeling like a tsunami, other time you’ll feel like just barely drifting to shore. When you feel like drifting to the shore, understand that it doesn’t always have to feel like there’s no hope. You can restore your motivation.
It can be helpful to figure out what those beliefs and habits are based on. Once you are aware of what you are doing, you can begin to create change.
Focusing on mistakes
If you're trying to pursue a goal, you're probably going to make mistakes along the way. Small mistakes can easily be overcome, while others can cost you what seems like a lot, maybe even putting your project or dream in jeopardy. Remember that mistakes are a part of the learning process. Think of how many times you fell down learning to walk! Avoid dwelling too much on these mistakes, and instead focus on the lessons and experience you gained from them.
Being afraid to take risks
Some people are willing to risk everything to make their dream a reality. But some are afraid of losing too much. Risk is often associated with creating a big change, such as quitting a stable job to start your own business. Focus on the things you might gain by taking the risk.
Thinking too far ahead
There's nothing wrong with imagining yourself being successful, but make sure that you aren’t neglecting the current goals and activities needed to get you there. Imagining a more successful version of yourself is a great way to propel yourself into success. Just remember to take things one step at a time.
Focusing on weaknesses
Focusing too much on your weaknesses can sabotage your success. We tend to move toward what we are focused on, so naturally if you are focused on what is wrong, this can lower your confidence, which makes it more difficult to keep yourself motivated. When we focus on our shortcomings we tend to be more emotionally vulnerable and easier to stress out than we are when we focus on our strengths.
Feeling entitled
People who feel entitled to success are easy to discourage. They believe the world owes them something. They are convinced that they are destined to be successful, and that their hard work will immediately and inevitably lead to success. There are even those who believe that they do not need to work to gain the success they feel they deserve. These people tend to give up easily, before they even get started really.
Fearing failure
Some people are afraid to fail. We are all, to some degree, afraid of rejection. We like to have people’s approval, and we thrive when we see that others like what we are doing. Pursuing a goal and trying to make a name for yourself comes with a variety of risks and challenges. Try to look at potential failure like mistakes, they are both tools in the learning process. Rejection helps you to perfect your sales pitch. Failing to meet your fitness goals lets you know that you need to reevaluate those goals and make sure they are reasonable.
Working too hard
It's important to take a break once in a while. There's nothing wrong with working on your project for eight hours straight, but only if you can handle the stress. You do not want to burn out on your efforts. Pace yourself. Set reasonable, short term goals that move you toward your success. People who work too hard on their projects can burn themselves out and eventually give up.
Refusing to be flexible
Flexibility is important for reducing stress and navigating through changes. Change is everywhere, and setbacks can be common in the process of producing those changes. Learning how to adjust to current trends can prevent you from losing heart and giving up.
Expecting immediate results
Pursuing a fitness or career goal can take months or years, depending on how lofty that goal is. I often as my clients how long it took them to gain 20 pounds. This gives them a clearer perspective on how long it takes to create a change. I tell them to expect it to take half as long to lose the weight as it did to put it on. Many of us expect our hard work to pay off immediately. When it doesn't, we can sometimes feel a sense of disappointment that can stall our progress.
Failing to use resources
Quit trying to do and know everything yourself! Take advantage of the many resources at your disposal. Besides material resources, make use of your connections with relevant people, advice from mentors, and support from friends and family. Failing to take advantage of these resources can make you less informed, less connected, and less motivated.
Symptoms of a Missing Motivation
Being bored with your routine.
Tired of doing the same old thing, day in, day out? Sick of your job, or your big project, or your schoolwork? Looking for ways to avoid what you’re meant to be doing? Feeling sick and tired of whatever you’re doing is a sign that your motivation is dwindling.
Feeling like you can’t make a difference.
Maybe you started on a project full of hope and enthusiasm, looking forward to changing the world with your contributions. If that feeling has left you, and you feel like what you’re doing is pointless of meaningless, it’s time to act.
Not being satisfied with what you’ve done.
Are you a perfectionist? Trying to be perfect is a common cause of motivation loss, because it just isn’t possible. Many of us are afraid to try new things or complete projects, thinking, “Why bother? I know it won’t be good enough.” Instead, we should focus on trying our best.
Feeling stressed about what you’re doing.
Do you regularly feel stressed and overwhelmed by your workload? When your work is causing you worry, you’re more likely to avoid it, which creates a vicious cycle or stress and motivation loss.
Comparing yourself to others.
“We’re the same age, but he’s so much more successful than me.” This kind of comparison is a quick way to destroy your motivation for whatever you’re doing. Stop trying to be better than others, and focus on being the best version of yourself instead.
The Role of Hypnosis
Replacing Faulty Thinking
It may seem that your thoughts and motivations are involuntary. Many people think that they cannot control what they think about or what they accomplish, or even how they feel about things in general. This is simply not true. Your thinking can be retrained using hypnosis, and this improves your motivation, and ultimately your results.
All hypnosis has a strong motivation aspect. People seek out hypnosis because they want to experience a certain part of their life differently. Hypnosis gives you the ability to access the resources that already exist within you that enable you to create that change. Motivational hypnosis helps to program you to feel excited about the process of creating success in any area of your life, from your business or career, to your fitness and family.
The subconscious mind has no judgement and does not know the difference between what is real and what you imagine. So use your imagination to accomplish your goals and increase your motivation.
The fact that you’re choosing to work on a goal shows some level of motivation. Thinking about the feeling you will have when you accomplish what you set out for can make the journey easier, with less obstacles. Consider all the benefits you will receive when you achieve your goal. Awareness of the reasons for your goal can strengthen and increase your motivation and helps to dissolve resistance or blocks that may be keeping you stuck.
To reprogram the subconscious mind toward your goal and to increase motivation, create some positive reprogramming statements or affirmations.
“I Love to exercise and tone my body.”
“I enjoy connecting with others and creating relationships.”
“I easily and confidently decide to take action.”
“I love to pick up the phone and make sales calls.”
Once you’ve decided on your positive reprogramming, you can use a simple self-hypnosis technique to create your new reality. Simply take a few moments before you go to sleep, sit in a safe and comfortable position, and repeat your positive suggestion out loud ten times. While you are repeating your affirmation, visualize yourself already enjoying the success that you are looking fo. When you are done, simply go on to sleep. While you sleep, your subconscious mind will continue to build up the suggestion you gave yourself. Try this for a week, and look for the changes in yourself each day∎
Karen Gray is a Certified Hypnotist, a Registered Nurse, and the owner of Green Mountain Hypnosis in Lebanon, New Hampshire. For more information on how you can use hypnosis to change your life, you can visit www.greenmountainhypnosis.com, contact Karen at karengray@greenmountainhypnosis.com, or call (802) 566-0464.