Feeling down in the dumps? Here’s how to get your motivation back
All of us face a time in life when we are bogged down by the failures and setbacks that we face despite our relentless effort to get things on track. It is easy to lose all motivation during such times to resort to guilty pleasures like binge eating, Netflix marathons, and excessive sleeping. These mar our progress, in turn, making us waste time and lose productivity. People who have succumbed to this find it hard to stand up with strength and resume their life with maturity and responsibility.
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Before it becomes a case of clinical depression, where approaching professionals would be the right choice, you can still help yourself out of this self-created muddle. Watching the UFC lightweight champion Conan McGregor’s confidence on camera or listening to the great Muhammad Ali’s ‘Handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail’ speech are sure-shot ways to up your motivation. Let us see the other ways in which you can come out of your cocoon when it looks hopeless on the outside:
Don’t do too much. Focus on one goal
It is hard to get back your mojo when you have lost it after a personal tragedy or an injury or a loss in business, but it is also because your mind has a lot on its plate. There might be too many things that you are worried about achieving that you can’t dedicate enough time to work efficiently on one. Trying to accomplish three or four important goals at once might not be possible when you are strapped for time. Write down that one paramount goal which will ultimately transform your life: it might be losing all the excess weight and becoming healthy or finishing the book that you started working on two years ago. Whatever it is, focus on it and give everything that you have for it. Seeing yourself close to achieving it one step at a time is motivation enough for you to feel better and take charge of your life.
Seek the help of your support system
All of us have our support group – it could be our parents, siblings, relatives, friends, professors, or anyone else close to us. These are the people with whom you spend most of the time. Find people who will be happy to help you come out of your rut. Ask a friend to motivate you in achieving your goals. Confide all your problems in a special someone who will be empathetic to your cause. If you think there is someone who can help you in a professional capacity, ask them, too. Ask people, and more often than not, they will be ready to help.
Read and watch positive things
If watching motivational videos give you succour, ‘Mulligan Brothers’ and ‘Be Inspired’ are two channels you can check out. Listen to serial entrepreneur and millionaire Gary Vaynerchuk, who gives unabashed and uncensored motivational talks. Authors like Dale Carnegie, Jack Canfield, and Napoleon Hill are mavens when it comes to encouragement, and their books are usually about living better. Draw inspiration from these people, their life stories, and how they overcame adversity.
Think of the good times
When your employees praised you for being a ‘superstar in the making’ or when you were appointed the head of the class, for example, didn’t you feel like the world was at your feet? Relive those moments and imagine how they made you feel good. These were the times when everything looked perfect and felt natural, so use them as fuel to work for the future. Remind yourself that it is possible to get back on a winning note again.
Get excited about something
If there is not a single thing that excites you right now about your life, think carefully and find something to get excited about. It could be a goal, a place you wanted to travel to, a skill you wanted to master, the girl that you wanted to ask out - it could be anything. This will help you get out of your slump, and even if you don’t feel all excited, act like you do. Most of you have heard about the ‘fake-it-till-you-make-it’ mantra. Fake your excitement here. When you have achieved this small feat, take your excitement forward to achieve your immediate goals.
When you do all these little things, you will realise that you are slowly beginning to feel better about yourself and about the future that lies ahead. Remember that no one is immune to depression, but it takes an effort to come out of it, and it is something that you should certainly do. Bear in mind that even a small win is all takes to change the mindset.