”Find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.”
We’ve all been there – feeling unmotivated and uninspired. Stuck in our own minds. But know that you can take your day, and life, in a new direction at any time. Even the smallest of changes, and adjustments can turn a mundane routine into a new exciting one; it’s all about perspectives.
Every now and then it’s good to change things up, to keep thoughts and routines fresh, in order to stay motivated and inspired. It’s easy to become under-stimulated if you keep on doing the same things over and over again. And when things don’t happen as quickly as you would have hoped for it’s easy to lose the creativity, and the motivation to move forward. You might not see instant results, something negative happens to you or you might just wake up one morning feeling unmotivated for no particular reason. In these situations it’s even more important that you hold on to hope, and try to see the moment for what it is – a moment to reflect and recharge.
Create space for fresh, new perspectives to enter
If you’re looking for a mini life-makeover, then, first things first, you need to start from within. In other words, start with your mental state, since most often it’s the root to all problems. If you don’t change what’s going on inside your mind – with your thoughts, with how you view yourself and the way you think about certain things – then it’s going to be very hard to find a new sense of happiness, contentment and inspiration.
”You should always try to seek that fluidity, that flowing movement, in order not to become stagnant.”
As humans we’re constantly evolving, constantly growing and learning. To work on yourself, who you are, and who you’re becoming, is an ongoing process. You should always try to seek that fluidity, that flowing movement, in order not to become stagnant. Sometimes we only require a mini makeover, while there might be occasions when we need to start completely over. Whatever it might be, it’s important that you make it clear why you want, or need, this life change. It can be anything from changing your diet and stepping up your health & fitness routine, moving country, finding a new job to taking that giant, bold leap to start a project.
Always figure out the why first, the reasons behind why you’re doing this makeover. Search for that internal motivation, that inner spark. You might think that ”Oh no, I don’t have an inner spark. I lost it years ago, and I haven’t seen it since.”
But guess what, you do have it. We all have it – some of us just have to dig a little deeper in order to find it.
Remove external stimuli
One crucial thing to bear in mind, when going through times feeling uninspired and unmotivated, is to accept your feelings. Don’t push yourself to feel a certain way, to be something you’re not. Keep in mind that feelings are temporarily. The lack of motivation is only a phase, and sometimes the only thing you can do is to take a step back.
You might feel frustrated, doing everything in your power to get your creativity and motivation back. This might work for some, or in some situations, but for others it can slow down the process. Making it harder to bounce back. While I certainly believe that action breeds motivation, there are certain times when we need to slow down, and remove some of the external stimuli.
It might seem as a slow process, and quitting won’t speed it up. Still, taking a step back is not quitting – to get out of your own head can actually free up space for new creative ideas to enter. Don’t fight your current state of mind, accept things for what they are. Face them, and embrace them.
9 ways to turn your day around
With this being said, while you figure your life out and all that, I’ve written a list of 9 things that hopefully can assist you on your journey.
- Connect with nature. There is nothing more relaxing and rejuvenating than observing nature. Finding stillness while for example hiking in the forest or in the mountains will do wonders for your entire being. Escaping the real world for a couple of hours, or even days might boost your creativity and feed it with new flourishing insights. And try to be completely still while doing it; listen to nature instead of the music from your headphones. I’m sure guilty of always having music in my ears, and yesterday I took a walk without music or an audio book, and I have to say that it was very much what I needed. Very calming.
- Tap into your body through movement. Working out has many health benefits, not only does it affect your body, building up your cardiovascular health and slowing down your ageing, but your headspace will feel much clearer. When you’ve crushed out a great workout you’re ready to crush out even more things during the day – to accomplish the tasks you’ve at hand, getting more productive.
- Read. I advice you to read something totally different from what you’re used to. If you’re used to reading fiction, read some kind of study or scientific research. Or if you’re used to reading scientific studies, read a novel. Change things up. The same thing goes with your choice of music; personally I listen to classical music when I need to wind down. Make a new playlist on Spotify – one that will boost your motivation.
- Free write. If you’re one of those who suffers from writers block, and writing is your job, then I would advise you to just write. Write about everything, and nothing – put down all of your thoughts on a piece of paper. It doesn’t have to be great – get rid of the pressure of having to constantly deliver something awesome all the time. However, many times when we get rid of stress, and stop being so hard on ourselves, things start to work with us, rather than against us.
- Reconnect with your why. It’s very easy to get caught up in every day life that we tend to forget about why we’re doing certain things. Re-establish your why and the reasons you’re doing what you’re doing. Connect with your purpose – write down why you like to do the things you’re doing, what would you like to accomplish, and why would you like to accomplish it? If you end up realising that you hate what you’re doing than look at it as a tremendous opportunity to tap into yourself, to find your why again.
- Change up your routines. Spice up your life by making small adjustments; wake up one hour earlier every morning, try out a new hobby, meet up with a friend you haven’t seen in a while, read a book instead of watching a movie, try out new foods, take a different route to school or work. These tiny things might not end up having the greatest impact in your life, but changing up your habits can keep you from getting into a rut.
- Clean. For me, personally, cleaning is rather therapeutic. When I feel unmotivated and uninspired it helps a lot to either rearrange things in the apartment or to get rid of junk I don’t need. When things are neat and tidy around me I feel refreshed, and ready to get on with my day.
- Write your future. Before doing this exercise I like you to get rid of self-doubt and thoughts such as ”I’m not good enough, I can’t achieve my goals.” Just for once, for 20 minutes, allow your self to dream freely. What are your deepest desires? How would you like your future to look like? While doing this exercise write as if it has already happened. Don’t use words such ”I want” or ”I wish”, rather use the word ”I am”. If you could have the life you’ve always dreamt of what would it look like? Be as detailed as possible. You might feel silly while doing this, thoughts might pop up in your head; ”Do you really believe that you could do that?” Why are we so used to doubting ourselves all the time? Wouldn’t it be about time that we once and for all allowed ourselves to be exactly who we wished to be? And you know what, you might not end up achieving all of your amazing goals, but at least you dared to dream, dared to believe in yourself. And that, my friend, is bloody amazing.
- Be mindful of what you’re consuming. It’s good to follow the news, however, to start your day checking what’s going on in the world might not always be the best, or calming idea. Instead – watch what’s going on inside of your body? How do you feel today? And the same thing goes with social media. Social media is a tremendous way of connecting with people from all over the world. To be inspired and motivated. However, it can also have the opposite effect. It’s all about how you use it. You should feel inspired, happy and relaxed after spending time scrolling, not jealous, exhausted and bad about yourself. Unfollow accounts if you feel the need to; choose accounts that lift you up and motivates you. You know best which accounts are good for you. And lastly, who are you spending your time with? What books are you reading? What movies are you watching? What podcast are you listening to? What foods are you putting on your plate? All these things you’re consuming, affect you tremendously – therefore choose wisely.
the MINDFUL manifestor 