Let's Talk Motivation!

Hey everyone! This week we are focusing on Motivation, so let’s have a chat about that big word that causes a lot of problems.

Now you’re probably wondering, “What do you mean causes a lot of problems?” As helpful as motivation is, it can also cause problems and be the cause of problems. How can motivation be the cause? Great question! It’s not always necessarily the cause itself, but the lack of motivation can be the cause of problems. Motivation is an endless loop of insanity, but it is also a core pillar to a healthy lifestyle.

What can cause a lack of motivation? Several things, actually! As I stated in my last post, I have a history with bad Mental Health. I have severe Depression, some pretty bad anxiety, ADHD, and I have chronic PTSD (for those of you who don’t know, that’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). No, I have never served in the Military, been a Police Officer, or a Firefighter; it is a very common misconception that you have to have been in one of those fields to have PTSD. I have suffered in Domestic Violence situations several times in my life and, unfortunately for me, the mental and emotional wounds from it ran very deep which left the imprints of the abuse forever in my memories. Most to probably all DV Survivors will have some form of PTSD and when you have an episode; the fall out can be really bad, including lack of motivation.

Depression and anxiety can also trigger bouts of lack of motivation as well. When you have severe depression like I do (alongside many others, including probably at least six people you know personally) then there are mornings that you can wake up and just have feelings to do absolutely nothing; you don’t want to get out of bed, you don’t care if you eat anything, playing games may or may not be happening, etc. Anxiety can be the same way; you make plans to go out, and then suddenly lack the motivation to move because the thought of going out and seeing people or going into public causes you to panic to the point of paralyzation in fear. THIS. IS. OKAY!!! We as people are allowed to feel unmotivated; but we cannot make it a constant thing.

I, myself, am a perfect example for this. Recently, there was a series of events that triggered both my anxiety and depression really bad; I’ve actually spent most days in bed unless my kids are around. It’s been very difficult for me to want to get up and move around. I also quit my job recently and have had a fear of applying for jobs because my anxiety of being around people for prolonged periods has actually made me terrified to go back to work. The solution to that though is I have begun working at home. I began applying for remote location work, and with Marcevolution restarting I have begun to find the motivation to get back into working out as I do have mobility issues.

I have struggled with my weight in the past, as I was for some reason just unable to gain any weight! I finally managed to get the desired weight that I wanted, and then some, which means that my initial plan a couple years ago to gain the 30 pounds I needed to be healthy was a success and now I can start dropping the fat I gained for muscle. I succeeded in the weight gain last summer, around August, but I have had no motivation to work out and finish my plan. That was because of a combination of bad mental health and bad financial health, which in turn caused lack of motivation and the bad mental health triggered the “I don’t care about finding the motivation”.

How does it cause problems? Well let’s talk about my week last week. There’s this little annoying thing called OVER motivation. Yes, it does exist. Yes, that’s how I lived the last couple weeks. We went into our crunch time mode to make sure we got our first newsletter done, as well as our welcome posts that went out last week before the newsletter. After so long of not feeling motivated to do anything, I got over motivated; and it was horrible! When you get over motivated, you just… Can’t… STOP! I went in over my head, nonstop working on the site like (yes even with my kids around, which severely caused some problems) getting my new Instagram set up specifically for the blog, getting my first post ready, plus helping get the site revamped, the first newsletter, and the e-planner… I went full on and struggled to stop and take a break. In this way, motivation is both a good and a bad thing.

Finding balance in motivation. I will not lie, this is a very difficult thing to do. You want to keep your motivation up, but also you don’t want to get over motivated. Like everything, not everyone does the same thing. I know people who just make small changes to their day to day activities, or another who focuses on making time for self-care. For me, it has been a struggle to find a good balance let alone the motivation in the first place; but I finally found something that works for me. As I live in New York state, it is legal to participate in the use of THC. I take a 25-milligram gummy before bed, and it helps me so much because I take it and both my body and mind relax which gives me a good sleep. With that good sleep, I wake up refreshed and with energy that once upon a time I never had. Waking up feeling refreshed like that and with a big burst of energy, I have the motivation to get up and take on the day!

I know what you’re thinking: there’s negatives to motivation? Yes. But there are so many positives as well! You just have to find that healthy balance.