"3. You're Demotivated by Lack of Clarity"

"Motivation is central to creativity, productivity, and happiness. Motivation is what causes us to act, and when we act, we create movement, growth, and change; we feel involved, masterful, and significant; we feel powerful through experiencing how we can change the world; and we create more of what we love in our lives."

"Most of us have just one conception of demotivation, which means that whenever you’re unmotivated, you’re likely to assume that you’re struggling with the same problem."

"The truth: Demotivation is a category of problems, containing many variations."

"At its essence, demotivation is about not fully committing to act, and there are many reasons why you might be in that position."

"Having more ways to categorize your demotivation will help you identify the real reasons for your unwillingness move forward."

"1. You're Demotivated by Fear"

"If your fear is big enough, even if you’re also excited to go forward, the part of you that wants to keep you safe can successfully prevent you from going forward into territory that’s both desirable and safe."

"How to get motivated again: To get motivated, you need to deal with your fear. Start by naming your fears so that they’re out in the open."

"What are they telling you about the research you need to do, the gaps you need to fill, and the risk management strategies you need to put in place?"

"2. You're Demotivated by Setting the Wrong Goals"

"She explains that we have an Essential Self and a Social Self."

"Your Essential Self is the part of you that’s spontaneous and creative and playful, the part that knows what’s most important to you."

"Your Social Self is the part of you that has been developing since the day you were born, learning the rules of the tribe and working hard to make sure that you’re safe by making you follow ""the rules."""

"When you feel unmotivated, it’s because you’re setting goals based purely on what your Social Self wants and this is pulling you away from the direction your Essential Self wants you to take."

"How to get motivated again: Take some time to review your goals. Since your Essential Self is non-verbal, you can easily access your Essential Self through your body."

"When your body (and particularly your breathing) shows signs of tightness and constriction, that’s a pretty good indication that you’re trying to follow toxic goals."

"How to get motivated again: If you want to create something different from what you’ve been experiencing, it’s not enough to just know what you don’t want."

"4. You're Demotivated by a Values Conflict"

"This situation causes you to feel conflicted and pulled in different directions as you try to find ways to get what’s important to you."

"How to get motivated again: You need to unpack your values conflict and play mediator."

"Ultimately, all of the parts of you always want the same thing, because they’re all you. Now that you know what you really want, you can evaluate the strategies that each part had been advocating for and decide which strategy would work best."

"Often, once you’re clear on what you really want, you spot new strategies for getting it that you hadn’t noticed before."

"5. You're Demotivated by Lack of Autonomy"

"Studies have found that this decision-making center in the brain is under-developed in people who have depression and that if you practice using this part of the brain and making decisions, depression often clears."

"In his book Drive, Daniel Pink writes about the research that shows that when it comes to doing creative work, having some autonomy to decide what we do, when we do it, how we do it, and whom we do it with is core to igniting and sustaining motivation, creativity, and productivity."

"How to get motivated again: Consider how much autonomy you have in relation to the goals you’ve been trying to pursue."

"6. You're Demotivated by Lack of Challenge"

"Challenge is another crucial ingredient for motivation that authors like Daniel Pink and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, highlight."

"We’re designed to be living, growing creatures, and we need constant challenges and opportunities to master new skills."

"Without challenges, our Essential Self steps in and demotivates us as a way of telling us that we’ve departed from the path that’s right for us."

"How to get motivated again: Review your goals and the projects you’re working on. Are they challenging you?"

"7. You're Demotivated by Grief"

"9. You're Demotivated by Burnout"

"8. You're Demotivated by Loneliness"

"How to get motivated again: If you’ve just experienced a trauma or loss, or you’re going through a major change and finding that there are days where you’re hit hard with Death and Rebirth symptoms, don’t try to make yourself motivated and proactive"

"You need to give yourself a lot of space for nurturing and reflection. Look after your body with good food, rest, and exercise. Express your grief, confusion, and fears with people who can listen lovingly."

"Well, perhaps it’s because we’re designed to be social creatures and sometimes your Essential Self is just longing for some connection with other people."

"How to get motivated again: Take a break and go spend some time with someone you enjoy. You may be surprised at the motivating impact this has and find yourself much more clear and productive when you return to your work."

"I attract overachieving Type A’s, and, as a recovering Type A myself, I know that sometimes we’re banging on about wanting to get more done even after we’ve exceeded the limit on what’s sustainable."

"Your Essential Self will always work to motivate you to move toward what you most need. So if you’re burned out and needing sleep, your Essential Self may even sap the motivation from the things that you’re usually really ignited about–just to get you to meet your core needs again."

"How to get motivated again: Sleep. And then when you’re done sleeping and the quality of your thinking has been restored, check back in with your Essential Self about what’s most important to you. Start building sustainable ways to do more of what’s important to you."

"10. You're Demotivated By Fuzzy Next Steps"

"Your end-goal might be nice and clear, but if you haven’t taken time to chunk it down into smaller goals, you’ll get stuck, confused, and unmotivated when it’s time to take action"

"How to get motivated again: If you want to keep your motivation flowing steadily through all stages of your projects, take time to create clear project plans and to schedule your plans into your calendar."