How do I get back my confidence and motivation? I used to be so driven and confident.

I was so excited to work on my passions and my career - now I feel afraid I will never achieve the goals I had once set for myself. I fear I’ve lost time and I don’t know how to move forward.
Asked by Sky
Answered
06/05/2022

You expressed a memory of having passion for life and your career and want to rediscover this. Therapy could help you explore this in a way that can revitalize your life. There is not a lot of information provided in your question, but I will answer it in general terms. You seem to have set up some boundaries or walls that have kept you from actualizing the things that you dreamed of doing. We could explore the nature of these walls and how to remove them to increase your energy and creativity to find your North Star. It is like an external boundary you have put up that has limited your enthusiasm for the thing you loved, such as a wall. It would be good to explore the purpose of this wall. Do you feel it's to keep you safe? Are you feeling that you have lost the passion you once had because of depression? Or fear of something happening? We all have boundaries. They fall somewhere on a continuum of being very open and flexible, maybe too open, to the other extreme of being closed off. Somewhere in the middle of this spectrum we can find a comfortable place that allows us to explore. We want to apply our creativity to seek out the things that make us who we are. 

We need to listen to the inner voice to discover who we are. I like to think of good therapy as having a life designer to help clarify what you want. You can look at what worked, what did not have the effect you want and to focus on the unique qualities you have. A good place to begin would be to take a strengths test such as can be found on the VIA website at: https://www.viacharacter.org/

Once you get the list of strengths that are the most important to you, you can explore how to utilize them in new ways, ways you have never tried before.

There are other ways you can tune into your needs and desires. Many people are using the Miracle Morning practices to start each day in a way that promotes good things. It begins with ten minutes of complete silence, then ten minutes of repeating positive affirmations specific to your desires. That is followed by ten minutes of visualization, where you picture in your mind a place that feels safe and relaxing. Following this is ten minutes of some kind of movement of your body. Finally, writing your thoughts in a journal for ten minutes completes the whole hour of focus on you. 

It often helps to do this with others so that you can help each other stay motivated. 

I just gave you a few tips on how you can follow through with getting back on track with you inner desires. You are only limited by your own willingness and motivation to start something that will provide meaning to your life. I hope it helps.