How to feel motivated?

[Tyler Robinson]

I feel Disorganized and I just don't feel like doing anything. 

Some days I am fine especially when I am happy inside and in general if things are going fine. Or if I received a compliment. 

And then other days i feel sick and just hate the whole world. 

I wish I could feel upbeat everyday and not so low energy all the time. 

Any tips on how to get motivated would help. 

 

[gettoefl]

you are relying on the outside word to spur you on, it has to be gotten from inside

you need to take motivation out of the equation and live from your vision

very little of daily life should be left to chance and everything should be from choice

the day needs to be won from the time you get up irrespective of all happenings

you have life loosely mapped out, how you will proceed and what you will achieve

motivation is for dummies; just get up and do what you must

[Tyler Robinson]

9 hours ago, gettoefl said:

you are relying on the outside word to spur you on, it has to be gotten from inside

you need to take motivation out of the equation and live from your vision

very little of daily life should be left to chance and everything should be from choice

the day needs to be won from the time you get up irrespective of all happenings

you have life loosely mapped out, how you will proceed and what you will achieve

motivation is for dummies; just get up and do what you must

But I don't feel motivated enough. 

[Matt23]

One thing that's worked for me is to just try and do shit.  Especially stuff that I normally wouldn't do; taking mini weekend vacations, accomplishing something that may seem minor or irrelevant to what you see as your LP or life, go to Meetups.  Basically, shake things up a bit. 

I noticed that once I start doing more shit, rather than just thinking about my values and goals and trying to clarify those, I pretty rapidly get more motivation and the motivation feels way more strong and long-lasting (as opposed to fleeting motivation you get from something like visualizing or something).  

Also, just learned from Andrew Huberman's podcast, that apparently things like visualizations, dreamboards, goals and values lists, may help initially start you off, but they actually decrease motivation long-term.  This happens since when you do something like visualizing yourself having your ultimate goal, perhaps drinking pina coladas on a sunny beach, you're actually inducing your mind and body to think it already has it.  This, in turn, reduces the motivating chemicals and mechanisms in your body since it thinks it already has it.  

[Tyler Robinson]

46 minutes ago, Matt23 said:

noticed that once I start doing more shit, rather than just thinking about my values and goals and trying to clarify those, I pretty rapidly get more motivation and the motivation feels way more strong and long-lasting (as opposed to fleeting motivation you get from something like visualizing or something).  

I just don't feel like doing things. And forcing myself feels claustrophobic and trapped 

 

[gettoefl]

6 hours ago, Tyler Robinson said:

But I don't feel motivated enough. 

i am motivated by the fact that i am humbled to have another day of life, another 24 hours to savor marvel luxuriate ... in the unfolding mystery

my heart could stop beating any day but today it hasn't so i have a responsibility to live in totality

it is all in my hands whether i do that, no one else's

[Tyler Robinson]

@Michael569 when I take a break, I feel even more demotiivated. When I see people working on themselves here, it feels a bit stimulating. What one thing you said that resonates with how I feel is that I need to be figuring out the most important thing in my life. 

[Tyler Robinson]

2 hours ago, Michael569 said:

Spend some time alone to think about what you actually love doing and want to be doing. Writing in journals is nice but sometimes action is needed to move things forward. 

I don't particularly enjoy doing anything except journaling and art work. I feel good when I'm journaling. That's the only thing I can do without needing any extra motivation. I don't feel forced when I'm doing it. But any other task except writing/art feels like a pressure on my head. 

I'm most relaxed when I'm talking to friendly people or journaling. And I can only feel motivated when I'm doing relaxing work. 

 

[Ulax]

I'd recommend going through this workbook:

https://www.amazon.com/Books-Janina-Fisher/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AJanina+Fisher

It might be that you have a lot of hypoarousal going on which will make you feel exhausted. The workbook could help you with this and more.

I wish you well.

[Tyler Robinson]

@Ulax thanks 

[Tyler Robinson]

Just now, Michael569 said:

Perhaps it would be worth journaling on whether journaling itself isn't an avoidance of facing this existential question. Mind can be tricky with avoding the important work through something "urgent" but less important. 

One the axis of Urgent vs Important - do you focus on what has low importance and high urgency? How could you get to low urgency and high imortance. That's where the growth is but that's where also the most emotional resistance lies. 

Journaling always helped me brainstorm. Just a tool. 

I think actual action needs tons of motivation and this needs some red energy which I apparently lack. 

 

[Tyler Robinson]

1 hour ago, Ulax said:

I'd recommend going through this workbook:

https://www.amazon.com/Books-Janina-Fisher/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AJanina+Fisher

It might be that you have a lot of hypoarousal going on which will make you feel exhausted. The workbook could help you with this and more.

I wish you well.

Do you know of more stuff that's similar to that? 

[Tyler Robinson]

@Michael569 thank you. 

[Inliytened1]

On 8/29/2022 at 8:58 PM, Matt23 said:

 

Also, just learned from Andrew Huberman's podcast,   

I highly recommend this guys podcasts.  I think If you like Leo you will like this guy- he is just more about the science of the brain which is good for practical stuff and personal development.  But a lot of your motivation levels are directly related to your baseline dopamine levels.  Check out his episodes on dopamine and motivation.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Inliytened1

[Tyler Robinson]

6 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

I highly recommend this guys podcasts.  I think If you like Leo you will like this guy- he is just more about the science of the brain which is good for practical stuff and personal development.  But a lot of your motivation levels are directly related to your baseline dopamine levels.  Check out his episodes on dopamine and motivation.

That's incredible. Thank you so much. 

[Ulax]

13 hours ago, Tyler Robinson said:

Do you know of more stuff that's similar to that? 

@Tyler Robinson Sure.

There is the book, 'Healing the fragmented selves of trauma survivors' by Fisher

You have: https://integralguide.com/

 

[Tyler Robinson]

9 hours ago, Ulax said:

@Tyler Robinson Sure.

There is the book, 'Healing the fragmented selves of trauma survivors' by Fisher

You have: https://integralguide.com/

 

Thanks again. 

 

[Ulax]

@Tyler Robinson You're welcome.

I hope it helps you.

[Matt23]

On 8/31/2022 at 5:52 AM, Tyler Robinson said:

I think actual action needs tons of motivation

Could be...  But also don't forget that the motivation-action dynamic is a two-way street: You can start with intrinsically creating motivation that leads to action, or you can take action that feeds back on itself thus creating more motivation.  

I guess I'm speaking from my own experience, so forgive any misunderstanding.  I've been caught, I think, in focusing too much in thinking that I needed to create or "find" that one piece of intrinsic motivation first (whether through clarifying goals, values, using visualization, etc.).  Years spent doing this with honestly, from my perspective, little to show for it.  But recently I've just been like "Ok, I'm just going to do shit, even if I feel it's not 100% perfect or right, or even if it feels irrelevant and even a waste of time."  This has kind of led me to focus more on experiences in the real world (rather than my mind), which has given me far more motivation and inspiration since I've gotten more real-world experiences that motivate me and make me think "Oh! This is what, for example, taking a mini-road trip every week and driving to someplace new in my city feels like.  I love this!"  Whereas my thoughts about it, prior to doing it, might have been like "What's the point.  It seems so boring and useless."  But I just pushed through my pre-conveived notions of what the experience would be like and just had/created the experience first, which led to new discoveries and sometimes correcting those preconceived notions.

I hope this makes sense and isn't convolluded.  lol. 

But ya, 

I guess the moral of the story, just from my experience, take it as you will, is...

• Having joyful experiences create a feedback loop of motivation, making you want to seek them again.  
• If you short-circuit having experiences by listening to your mind telling you things like "It's not worth it", "I'm not motivated to do it", "It's too much of a hassle", etc., you may miss out on that motivational feedback loop and the great joys, discoveries, pleasures, and meaning in life. 
• "Just Do It (Nike)" = When in doubt, prioritize having the experience, within reasonable bounds obviously (i.e. if you're struggling to pay the rent, don't buy a round-the-world plane ticket lol).

 

Hope this helps a bit.

Again, it's what I've been struggling with probably a lot, so it's from my lens.  Take it as you will.  

And, it's also ok to do nothing and just chill.  

[Tyler Robinson]

9 hours ago, Matt23 said:

Could be...  But also don't forget that the motivation-action dynamic is a two-way street: You can start with intrinsically creating motivation that leads to action, or you can take action that feeds back on itself thus creating more motivation.  

I guess I'm speaking from my own experience, so forgive any misunderstanding.  I've been caught, I think, in focusing too much in thinking that I needed to create or "find" that one piece of intrinsic motivation first (whether through clarifying goals, values, using visualization, etc.).  Years spent doing this with honestly, from my perspective, little to show for it.  But recently I've just been like "Ok, I'm just going to do shit, even if I feel it's not 100% perfect or right, or even if it feels irrelevant and even a waste of time."  This has kind of led me to focus more on experiences in the real world (rather than my mind), which has given me far more motivation and inspiration since I've gotten more real-world experiences that motivate me and make me think "Oh! This is what, for example, taking a mini-road trip every week and driving to someplace new in my city feels like.  I love this!"  Whereas my thoughts about it, prior to doing it, might have been like "What's the point.  It seems so boring and useless."  But I just pushed through my pre-conveived notions of what the experience would be like and just had/created the experience first, which led to new discoveries and sometimes correcting those preconceived notions.

I hope this makes sense and isn't convolluded.  lol. 

But ya, 

I guess the moral of the story, just from my experience, take it as you will, is...

• Having joyful experiences create a feedback loop of motivation, making you want to seek them again.  
• If you short-circuit having experiences by listening to your mind telling you things like "It's not worth it", "I'm not motivated to do it", "It's too much of a hassle", etc., you may miss out on that motivational feedback loop and the great joys, discoveries, pleasures, and meaning in life. 
• "Just Do It (Nike)" = When in doubt, prioritize having the experience, within reasonable bounds obviously (i.e. if you're struggling to pay the rent, don't buy a round-the-world plane ticket lol).

 

Hope this helps a bit.

Again, it's what I've been struggling with probably a lot, so it's from my lens.  Take it as you will.  

And, it's also ok to do nothing and just chill.  

 

I can't thank you enough for this post. Your post is full of wisdom that will be of great help. I'm very thankful that you took the time to write such a thoughtful post. 

I'm going to be implementing a lot of the generous wisdom you offered in your post. 

I will be posting my own experience with motivation and my progress here. 

Thanks again. Incredibly helpful.