What to do when motivation doesn’t work?

Motivation is a great component to have to help yourself with your drive, your career, your daily activities, among other things.  Sometimes motivation can be hard to find, and it is easy to question why that is the case.  One important step to take if you find motivation is not working is to try a different tactic.  So often people are going about things, in the same way, expecting a different result.  However, it is best to change things up in order to get a different result.  We will not know if the new result will be better, but at least it will be different.  Also, there is also a lot of power in changing things up because it feels forward-moving and not the same.  That forward-moving feeling in and of itself can help instill more motivation. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you are not feeling motivated, it can be a sign of burnout.  If you are burnt out, it can be helpful to reset and relax for a bit.  There is no specific time in order for this to work, but it can be helpful to give some time away from whatever you are having difficulty being motivated with.  As you do that, make sure you are actually resetting and taking some time away.  For example, if you are not feeling motivated with work, it can be helpful to reset by taking a vacation.  However, if you take a vacation in which you are checking your work throughout, that will likely not be a true reset.  

Like when anything is not going well, it can be helpful to evaluate what is working and what is not.  When you evaluate, try to think about the past, but also make sure you are coming up with solutions that are present and future-focused.  It can be helpful to consider your passions and if those passions have changed or not.  Sometimes people need to change up motivating factors and make sure you consider what motivates you internally and externally.  For example, someone might have been motivated by their passion for their career but that passion has worn off, so they will need to consider a new motivating factor.