5 tips for getting your motivation back
Around the start of March, I realised I'd lost a lot of passion for what I was doing.
And this was scary stuff...
Art is my way of both expressing myself, staying mindful and calming my thoughts so what was I going to do now that I was no only experiencing creative block, but also a lack of je ne said quoi?
It also had the impact of triggered a bout of depression (or maybe it was the other way around?!). It’s not any one thing that’s caused it, though my environment is very challenging and a big factor and something I can't change right now.
So...I decided to see what I could do to change my mindset.
I scoured the internet for resources and found a number of useful tidbits which I've summarised below in the hope that these also might help you get your mojo back!
If you feel like you’ve lost a bit of spark with an existing project, here’s a little list of things you might find helpful which I’ve compiled from various sources in my search to overcome this dry spell and get the passion back.
1. Clarify your vision: think about why you started your idea in the first place? Was it to create a better lifestyle for yourself, improve your physical and mental health, to be more resilient, to pursue a lifelong dream, or to help others? Really tap into the feelings and make the vison as real as possible.
- Some people create mood or vision boards (I have one!), others like to draw out their plans diagrammatically. Break your goal down into smaller manageable chunks for daily, weekly and monthly – make them measurable but achievable and give yourself a reward when you meet them!
- Think about how good you’ll feel when you’ve accomplished your goal vs. how you’ll feel looking back and wishing you hadn’t let it slide
It’s said that when your vision is strong enough, nothing will keep you from being motivated
3. Eradicating stress – look around you and work out which areas of your life trigger the most stress and assess how the these can be removed or minimised. This might mean creating some boundaries for yourself in terms of time or space - setting up a more pleasurable working environment, for example, or permission to take time out for both your project and self-care.
4. Delegation – are any of the aspects of your project particularly difficult or unenjoyable? Can you delegate these out and ask someone else to help? Perhaps someone you know might be a bit of an expert in one area and can help take the pressure off?
5. Acceptance – while we have to be careful that we don’t end up making excuses, (because we really can find an excuse not to do anything if we try hard enough!), losing motivation is often a natural emotion that we all have to go through at some point. Like all things in life, there are peaks, troughs and cycles. Sometimes it’s a case of just moving onto new pastures, other times you might just need a break from it to come back energised and refreshed.
- If you’ve always wanted to write a cookery blog, for example, and are struggling with keeping up the writing, maybe you need to go back to just that for a while – cooking, or visiting some food markets and eating out for fresh inspiration. Some people have come back with their greatest work after these quieter times so don’t knock them – take them as opportunities to feed your soul!
Do you have any personal strategies you use to get yourself out of a rut? If so, I'd love to hear in the comments!