Struggling to stay motivated?
Our Mindfulness Instructor Stani, shares this wonderful blog 💜
You are not alone. Judging by my own experience and speaking to my colleagues and friends, it has become obvious that a lot of us are struggling to stay motivated and focused these days and have this overall blah feeling and it all feels like doom and gloom. In fact, 37% said they have experienced a lack of motivation recently but I think it is even more than that. With all that uncertainty around us, it is very easy to start feeling quite helpless, especially when the weather is bad and there is no holiday on the horizon, or a trip to the shops, spa, restaurants etc. But there are things we can do to shift things around and you can implement them straight away.
Awareness – the first step is actually acknowledging that this is what is going on with you right now. Instead of trying to brush this feeling off, or bottle it up, simply allow yourself to feel that way. When we are resisting our unpleasant experience, it persists and creates secondary suffering.
Self-kindness – once we stop trying to fight whatever we are experiencing, then we can start healing by turning to self-kindness. For me, self-kindness is attending to our own needs and asking ourselves what is it that we need right now. Often it is just taking a break from whatever we are doing. We tend to push through the pain and keep going until we are exhausted, which is the opposite of self-kindness. Also, notice what your inner critic is doing. How do you normally speak to yourself? Are you harsh and unsupportive? Changing that narrative could have such an impact on how you feel. Just imagine a loved one suffering, how would you talk to them? Self-kindness is offering the same support you would do to a loved one but to yourself.
Share – sharing how you feel with your closed ones is so powerful. It will help you feel less isolated and chances are that your partner/friend is probably going through a similar experience. This also increases our sense of belonging, as well as being heard. Don’t suffer on your own.
Shake it off – I mean physically shake off that feeling of helplessness by moving. If you are not a fan of running, skipping or other forms of exercise you could try dancing. Just put a favourite song on and start dancing. It is so powerful. I did this with my two boys the other day. We were jumping around and dancing on Kung Fu Panda soundtrack, which made me feel really recharged afterwards.
Practise mindfulness – this could be through meditation, mindful walking or gentle mindful movements. Mindfulness gives you the opportunity to reconnect with yourself. There are so many ways to practice mindfulness which in a way is an exercise tailored to our brains. It is a skill that could be cultivated and significantly reduces secondary suffering and gives you a choice of how to react. If you can’t change the situation you are in, you could look into changing your reaction to it.
Gratitude – this is a tricky one. We have seen it on hundred different social media posts how we should be grateful for the things we have, which is absolutely true but sometimes when you are struggling it just doesn’t feel like you have that much to be grateful for and it seems that everyone else has it better than you. So, you could do the following exercise, just bring to mind 3 minor things you are grateful for that day, no matter how small, then 2 things you are grateful about your job (we are all grateful for the paycheck at least) and 2 things you are grateful for about yourself. I do this daily before going to bed and it also helps me fall asleep easier.
Trust – last but not least, we just need to have trust that things would improve eventually. Life is a constant flow. I still remember my dad used to say to me - It won’t always be like that. This has stayed with me and is a great reminder that things will change.
To find out more about Stani, check out our instructors area.