What to do when you have lost motivation

“What I mean is I had to put one foot in front of the other before I felt the desire to do more.

The desire and willingness came after taking the first step, which I believe is a step of faith in the right direction.” - Izzy Lala

What do you do when you have no motivation?

Oxford Dictionary describes motivation as “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.”

Have you ever felt like you had no desire to do anything?

I’ve been there.

My most extreme example of this is when I was too depressed to do anything at all. Even little things like cleaning seemed too much for me. I had no desire within me and so guess what? I did nothing.

I don’t blame myself or shame myself for this. Depression, especially clinical depression, can have this effect.

However, when the time was right to get up and move, let me tell you - taking the first step came before the desire.

What I mean is I had to put one foot in front of the other before I felt the desire to do more.

The desire and willingness came after taking the first step, which I believe is a step of faith in the right direction.

So here are some things you can do if you are lacking motivation.

First, find something to do.

Sometimes that means throwing something against the wall and seeing if it sticks. Not literally, but many times it’s just doing SOMETHING. You don’t know where that first step will lead you. That’s why I call it a step of faith. Before taking this initial step, I didn’t THINK I could do anything, because I still FELT I was too depressed.

However, thinking and feeling can be misleading. When I took the first step of faith, I realized I could in fact do SOMETHING.

The second thing you can do once you take the first step of doing something (anything) is do something bigger.

Maybe the first step was cleaning your room. Perhaps the next step can be writing or doing something that interests you. For me that something was drawing.

Something happened when I began to do something outside of my norm. When I gained mobility, something sparked inside of me, and I drew for the first time in five years.

I wasn’t an “artist” at the time, but I had an interest so I picked up the pencil and started. And although I was by no means the next Frida Kaloe, that ignited something in me as well.

And so, I took the next step. I entered college again.

So, the third thing is to reflect on your results.

When you can look back on your results, I guarantee you will see the progress. And that alone will help you and hopefully motivate you toward something else.

Your story may be far different from mine. But I do believe that the first act of faith (even if it is small) can propel you forward.

And, like me, maybe you will put one foot in front of the other and the desire and motivation will follow.

I hope this post helps you to find your motivation again.

Keep going. Keep living.