Can’t motivate? (Drop the overwhelming weight)

Books were scattered all over the ground. Shelves tilted over, some fallen completely. Papers torn. Files strewn across the space. I could see my path on the other side of this mess. Not fully but clearly there. A light glowing in the direction it's headed. ​​And me. On the path, yes. But the chaos of research, references, inspirations, coursework, experiences......NOISE!  I've laid my path, I see it but.....Must. Clear. The. Blocks.

I open my eyes

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and notice the feeling in my body, in my headspace. It feels like a whirlwind in my head-- the tornado that created that mess before me. In my mind. It may as well be literal. A feeling of weight on my shoulders, pressing me down so that I can't easily move forward. Stuck. Overwhelmed.

Can you relate?

This is "the thing" that had historically stopped me from progress, from feeling motivated and energized. Clutter. MIND CLUTTER. OVERWHELM. Too much jumbled together in a mish-mosh of lessons, experiences, and past achievements & failures alike-- and plans for the future. Getting motivated wasn't even the problem (yet). I was too busy beating myself up for not doing that project and distracting myself with....anything.  For days, weeks, months. Standing in a mosh pit, it's hard to think clearly. Especially when you didn't notice you were in it.

These days, I notice and I notice quickly. When it's literal, it's easier to notice the source of overwhelm and its impact on your ability to motivate. It's a dead weight. When it's happening in your mind, your body feels and responds to the weight whether you are aware of it or not. And when you're not aware, your intellect will make choices that are not usually aligned with who you are/what you want and your body will resist or shut down. Awareness lightens the load which shows up as stress (physically, physiologically, and/or mentally). Allowing yourself to see what the matter is is the first step to making the conscious choices you need to clear the heaviness and feel more light and free. This imagery I shared above is a glimpse of my quick "snap out of it" process that is the first step to nip the lack-of-motivation-drag in the bud. It brought me to the AWARENESS of what's happening to me and, most importantly, to the next step to break free from a downward spiral of avoidance and status quo (aka 'no progress, no growth, no motivation').

THE 4-STEP PROCESS TO DROP THE WEIGHT & MOTIVATE

When you're unmotivated and need to kick into gear, it can be challenging to even take these steps. How do you motivate yourself to get motivated? In the next section, I'll offer you some tips/hacks to do just this. If you've gotten this far in reading this, you may be ready to jump right in -- so let's go:

STEP 1: (Be) Aware 

• CLOSE YOUR EYES AND BREATHE, long and deep, bringing your inhale all the way into your belly then into your chest and shoulders, before you exhale relaxing the chest and then drawing your navel in towards your spine.  Know that you are safe (--do make sure you are in a space where you feel safe).  Settle into your body with those long, deep breaths until you feel calm(er). 
• ASK yourself, what's going on? 'Self, what do you need me to know?'
• LISTEN from your heart and gut (not your head) and BE CURIOUS, without self-judgment. Perhaps words will come, perhaps an image like the one I shared above, perhaps both words and imagery. Notice where you are and where you are feeling it in your body.
• TALK TO YOURSELF like you would a small child who is clearly hurt somehow. INQUIRE-- what's going on? Notice what feelings come up.

My thoughts are coming at me in an avalanche. I can't get to my path with this mosh pit before me, around me. Mosh pit.....it's like a mosh pit- rumbling, jumpy, enthusiastic AND suffocating. I feel overwhelmed! It feels heavy and suppressing in my body. I don't really want to look at it-- I can do something else, something easier. 'Oh I see....Overwhelm. So: how are you overwhelming yourself?'  Right, I just need to take one step, not all the steps at once. I see what's happening now, I feel it in my body, and I have tools for this. 

STEP 2: Align

• CHECK YOUR RESISTANCE. Are you resisting the goal you'd been avoiding? Why? Tune-in to the source of your resistance. We often set ourselves up to do things we think we should be doing as opposed to the things that are true to who we are/what we want. Expectations of others and societal norms have a huge impact and are often adopted by our intellect as our own ideas when they are not. 
• TRUST IN YOUR INNER VOICE.  Is this goal in full alignment with who I am?

STEP 3: Act

• KEEP IT SIMPLE. Listen and tune-in. Create engagement for the service you are meant to gift. One step forward, even the smallest step, IS PROGRESS. Any forward motion IS PROGRESS.
• BUILD THE MOTIVATION LOOP. Seek feedback and engagement to build the motivation loop. The amount of time we "do our work" in our own silo will vary. Get to know your rhythm. IF YOU TEND TOWARDS PERFECTIONISM, take the action that connects you with feedback as quickly as possible.  Breathe. Share. Be okay with feedback.....

STEP 4: (Be) Agile

• CONNECT WITH "THE 4-STEP TWO-STEP": like a dance, we move through these steps by being AGILE. Let's start by being okay with feedback. What comes of it (your outreach)? Whatever it is, be ready for: a) supporters-- one person, many, half support/half b or c; b) crickets-- no feedback, crickets!; c) critics-- in the content, in your viewpoint, in what you didn't say, in how you said it, etc.  
  
• INVITE "FAILURE": There is actually no failure, only learns. With each learn comes growth, as long as you consciously choose to receive and accept it. Celebrate every step, even the minutest ones. It's ALL progress. And progress motivates. Progress sets the stage for more awareness and self-reconciling (alignment) and action because change is inevitable and uncomfortable and necessary to see yourself anew. Repeatedly. Exciting. Curious. Interesting.

MOTIVATE TO MOTIVATE. How?
It's truly in the action that creates the progress. Imperfect, conscientious actions are better than no actions or waiting for a perfect action (which usually means no action). As long as you are ready to accept and shift or pivot based on the outcome, you are ready to act. 

If you're not ready for this-- not even to go to that space of awareness (--it could feel scary TO SEE yourself truly) -- there are ways to prepare and elevate your readiness.  Here are some of my go-to hacks:

• "THERE'S AN OIL FOR THAT" (today: doTERRA's Motivate essential oil) - experience has proven to me that there's always "an oil for that". It feels like cheating because it's too easy and has been highly effective for me to get focused and spur action. I'll live with the cheat.
• ASK A TRUSTED FRIEND ABOUT YOUR ACTION - it's usually easier to move forward with support and having put the idea out there even to just that one person. Best case scenario, your friend gives you helpful feedback and encouragement to move forward. Choose a friend who is reliable in this way. If you don't know this person, then...
• INVEST IN A COACH - often overlooked as an unnecessary expense yet the cost of NOT having a trained guide to hear, support and advise you in a skilled way in a more efficient pace can be more costly than simply valuing this help in your corner.
• MEDITATE - this is a call to tune-in to your inner voice that has all your answers....and if you don't know how to approach this, it's definitely worthwhile to find a practitioner who can help. As a neurotransformational life+emotions coach and yoga+meditation teacher, I can help you get there. Try me or seek help elsewhere-- just do it!
• JOURNAL - write this shit down. It helps to process by seeing the "words" (or doodles or other form of expression). Keeping it stuck in your head can add random thoughts to the messy pile on the floor of your mind and then you wonder what happened. It's fuzzy and buried. Get it out of you-- its essence will remain to serve you, don't worry. 

This is just my short list and there are many more options. What are some of your go-to's to prepare yourself to motivate in your best interest?

Through the 4-steps and the hacks I use, I find my motivation more readily when the heaviness sets in. In the above scenario, I was able to close my eyes again and see that chaos before me magically re-aligning -- books and files placing themselves in order. I didn't need all of this at once, I just needed the first step of the moment for progress. Many steps to choose from but I sought the one that will set me in a motivation loop: feedback, engagement. 

Mind clear, body light, my step in process.... progress and motivation found.  I am free.