Here are a few effective, realistic ways you (and I) can try right now to regain your mojo and start 2018 in the best way possible.
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A couple of weeks ago, my motivation disappeared completely, but since then, it’s come back fighting. So from someone who’s been there, this is how to slowly but surely reclaim your motivation.
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I’ve always been the type of person who likes to please everyone and do as much as possible. I want to do everything - have a fulfilling career, post content seven times a week for my blog, exercise for at least 30 minutes five days a week, spend time with my family, do my hobbies and relax too.
So far this year, this hasn’t been working out that well. I’ve been saying “yes” to everything, taking on a lot of projects alongside my day job and pushing myself with my blog, while wanting to do a lot more. And it’s really taken it’s toll - I’m feeling completely overwhelmed.
When I told all this to my mum, what she said really interested me: “what if you said no to something?”
The truth is, I fear the word no. If I see an opportunity, then I want to take it. I don’t want to regret not doing things. Even when I’m working two late nights a week for my day job and struggling to post content everyday, I still don’t want to say no. I don’t want to give up anything - even when I know I can’t balance it all.
But after getting to the point where this all been affecting me in a negative way, I’ve realised that you can’t do everything. And we need to stop trying to do it all. If I say “yes” to everything that comes my way, it doesn't just end there. It means saying “yes” to giving up more of my time and the aspects of my life that I want to prioritise.
When you start to realise that your work and side projects are impacting on your relationships and you as a person, that’s the point when you need to stop and evaluate.
Saying “yes” to a full-time career, a part-time blog and freelance work meant that I was saying “no” to lots of other things that made me happy. I was saying “no” to hobbies, time spent with family and time dedicated to looking after myself too.
I get that sometimes, working that extra bit harder is necessary. When I was doing the Blogging Breakthrough series on ABOH and turning that content into an eBook, I was really pushing myself to get the work done, and it’s been worth it. Sometimes when you’ve got the chance, it’s great to work that bit harder. But when you work too hard and spread yourself over too many things, you can start to see the negatives hit you in a bad way.
You also run the risk of not doing as good a job, especially if you’re rushing something. At the moment, I’m just about coping with my seven-day publishing schedule. I know that if it gets too much, I’ll have to stop and make some changes. Whenever I complete a job for someone, I don’t want it to be inadequate. I want it to be to the best of my ability - and we need enough time to make that happen.
Can you relate to this?
I bet you’ve been in this place before. Some of you might even be there right now. But I’m telling you this as someone who’s going through this right now - you need to stop.
Why? Because you’re setting yourself up for failure. You’re setting yourself up for burnout. And you’re setting yourself up to lose a lot.
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50% of us suffer burnout at some point in our lives (source).
Probably more than once. No matter how much we love our job or appreciate our lives, we’ll always have ‘those days. The days when we feel we’re not achieving anything. The days when we ask ourselves why we’re doing this. They just happen. Sure, most of the time we’ll bounce back from these situations. We’ll come up with an idea for a new creative adventure, or a solution to improve something we’re not fully satisfied with.
But what happens when you feel like you've lost purpose and meaning?
What happens when you just want to give up completely?
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Do you ever wake up and ask yourself if you’re in the right job? Do you ever think to yourself, is this it? Is there not something better for me? If you do, you might feel like you’re the only one. But trust me – you are not on your own.
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