First off, let’s get something straight: Feeling unmotivated is NORMAL.
It’s okay! There’s nothing wrong or bad about feeling this emotional. We all feel it from time to time. Some more than others, and that’s just fine!
There’s no need to feel shame about not feeling motivated all the time, or even most of the time.
Accepting that you won’t be incredibly highly motivated every day is going to make your health/fitness journey a lot easier.
Now you can go into action mode. Try following this map next time you feel low motivation:
1) Take a moment and think about your “why” — it’s easy to forget about what we want most and just think about what we want in the moment. Let’s say you’re not motivated to do your workout and gaining strength/muscle is a goal of yours. Naturally, sitting at home is more comfortable than starting your workout, so acknowledge that it’s natural to want to stay there. THEN, remind yourself of why you want to gain strength and muscle. Think of the benefits it will give you. That’s step one.
2) See if you can get yourself to START. Get your shoes on. Turn on the oven. Whatever is it, just do the next small things that gets you going in that direction — it might start the habit chain where autopilot can take over. Let yourself know that you CAN decide to stop whenever you want.
3) Tell someone that you “don’t feel like doing X” — getting this out of your head and saying it (or typing it) aloud can make you question a) if it’s true and b) receive support or suggestions. Sometimes we have the habit, in our heads, to just like “I don’t want to do this” but actually deep down you DO want to do it. Getting this thought out there (even text it to yourself if you need to!) can help you evaluate it more objectively.
4) Make a conscious decision. Even if you still decide NOT to do something, consciously deciding that it’s the right decision for you is much better than procrasting and never actually really making or owning the decision. Sometimes it’s okay to say that you don’t want to do the workout, for example, you just don’t want to do that every single time. So at least if you’ve walked through this process and made a conscious decision, you can feel good about the thought process you went through.
What do you do when you’re not feeling motivated?