Killers of motivation: boredom and anxiety
Ten suggestions to avoid being a victim
I believe there are accidental traps in modern culture. This is not a conspiracy theory; it is just a personal observation. When people fall inside the traps, it causes stress and boredom. This can afflict their motivation to live a deeply meaningful life.
Let me explain. I am guilty of all these:
Trap 1: Have you timed yourself in a grocery store or a department store when faced with 20 different kinds of one product? Do you get distracted by new products? Do you get overwhelmed? (There are currently over 200 cereal brands in America).
Trap 2: With so many people and companies competing for our attention, how many times have you been awarded with points and friendly smiles for shifting your loyalty from one product to another? Everyone wants you. Changing your mind is encouraged.
Trap 3: What is the latest news? Have you got some juicy gossip for me? New movies? New TV shows? Netflix? Crave TV? Google? In 2007, Canada had 148 TV broadcasting stations, and the USA had 2200! There is so much information distracting our attention away from ourselves, AND some of the information fed to us is not even 100 percent true. Have you timed your engagement activity on your social media page?
Trap 4: “Keeping up with the Jones’s”. Time for a new fence? Neighbors have one. Time for a new car? Sister-in-law has one. We are consumed with what we do NOT have. We want to be loved for the materials we posses. We use up our energy to acquire objects instead of creating, producing or doing something interesting.
Trap 5: Busy doing nothing — nothing really important and of real value, that is. Some obligations and responsibilities are not necessarily helping us. They become a waste of time and energy.
So how do boredom and stress kill motivation?
The few examples I listed above are why I think people and myself get discouraged and frustrated. This leads to a lack of motivation in pursuing meaningful activities. Distractions pull people away from their true selves and push them towards activities that are not for them. Sometimes it is hard to say no to some people and I end up doing stuff I don’t really like. Sometimes I don’t even know I am doing this until I feel stressed and unhappy.
Ten tips on how to get motivated and stay motivated
- Who on Earth are you? If you do not know yourself as an adult, you are in deep trouble! Jim Rohn’s quote woke me up when he said:
If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.
Know your passions, your shortfalls, your strengths and weaknesses. It is important to stay connected with the dreams inside you. To feed them and to help them grow into the world. This will add excitement to your life. This will give you purpose and you will not end up falling into someone else’s plan. There is no age limit to watering this seed. The only time to act on it is NOW. To stay motivated, own your true self and make it a lifestyle until you die.
2. What is your dream? Are you harboring one? If so, you should seriously start thinking about it, talking about it and planning to give it life. Why? Three reasons: because it will add more substance to your life, because the world needs more dreams to come true, and because the world needs more people doing meaningful things. By the way, it takes BALLS to work on your dreams. This is why the majority do not do it. To stay motivated, just follow up on your dream and watch it grow.
3. Are you truly in love? Truly, truly? Unconditionally? Unapologetically? It can be with a person, an activity, a hobby, a faith, God, your pet… just the act of it sets us on fire. Love and passion gives us hope, reason, meaning, excitement and courage. To stay motivated, you must truly love yourself to be able to love others. Constantly work on you and your love will continuously pour out.
4. Who do you hang out with? Yup, who are they? Are they exciting people?Are they motivating people? Do they turn you on? Tony Robbins says:
Who you spend time with is who you become.
If your circle of friends and family is not “turning you on” it would be wise to start meeting new people. It could even be just one person. It could be a friend of a friend, a community role model, an author, an actor or an artist. To stay motivated, stay close to someone who inspires you.
5. Who is your mentor? Our parents were our first role models when we were kids. Then it was rock stars when we were teenagers. So who are our role models when we are adults? Well, they can still be our parents and rock stars but we need to graduate to different role models, too. Mentors guide us towards following our passions and dreams. There is no shame in having a mentor. A mentor does not always have to be someone far away. It could be someone close by. To stay inspired, stay loyal to your mentor. Your sincere appreciation will build a tight bond between you two that will secure a trusting relationship and give you access to free education on real life lessons.
6. Are you someone’s hero? Really, are you worthy of someone else’s life? Do you bring value to people? Are you offering extra value to your child’s days? Do you care for your employee’s personal family life? Do you inspire your students to excel beyond their expectations? When we are helping others in a profound way, our motivation to continue what we do increases. To stay motivated, take time each day to think about whom you might be inspiring or helping. Acknowledge it and appreciate it. This is the true meaning of what you do and why you do it.
7. Children, animals, and nature. I strongly believe these are the closest things to a higher spirit than anything else. Children’s worlds are full of wonder and excitement that can be so inspiring. We can be like them if we find something new that will bring out the wonder and excitement in us. Being close to animals and nature pull us away from our self-centeredness. Life does not revolve around us. We revolve around life. Animals know this and we can learn tremendously from them. Otherwise, our inflated egos will trap us in a cycle of greed, worry, unhealthy stress and depression. Michael A. Singer writes in “The Untethered Soul.”:
In case you haven’t noticed, you have a mental dialogue going on inside your head that never stops. It just keeps going and going. Have you ever wondered why it talks in there?
He is talking about the ego’s melodramatic nagging in our head. To stay inspired, spend time with children, animals, pets, and in nature. Our consciousness needs to be expanded. The further away we experience life from our limiting ego, the more adventurous we will become in trying new things like travelling and starting new activities.
8. You knew it was coming… yes, exercise! But don’t JUST exercise. That sounds so boring. And really, it will be boring if you are doing it because you “have to” do it. With so many physical activities out there, surely you can find one that will rock your world. You have to love it and stick to it long-term because great things come great efforts. First of all, your lifestyle becomes healthier, and you build long-term relationships that have common interests. To stay inspired, find an activity you are excited about and decide to make it a lifestyle. Out of one physical activity come so many other habits like taking on extra training to improve your sports performance, healthier food choices, and an opportunity to coach others.
9. Think of death often. This is probably the darkest motivational tip. I lost my dear brother and best friend recently and it really put my life into perspective. I have a better understanding of what is important in my life and what is not important. So I “cut the fat” out of my life by simply saying NO to things that waste my time and energy. Death really forces people to value their time living on earth. We are not going to live forever. So if you have been pondering on something, don’t waste another day. It will probably be the most regretful thing you will ever experience if you do not start as soon as possible. Life is short, even for the young. To stay inspired, don’t miss that funeral. Attend it and watch the sadness in people’s faces to absorb the reality of it all. In 2016 there was a preliminary death estimate in Canada of 269, 012 people. Sometimes a dark truth can wake us up from de-motivation.
10. “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe.” This is a quote from Eric Thomas who was a high school drop out and a homeless man. He is now a passionate motivational speaker. It would be good for everyone to listen to him at least once in their lives. He can also be a mentor. I don’t have to say much about this tip because you can just watch and listen to the videos below and experience the elation. One of my many mentors is Jim Rohn. In the second video below, he asks us challenging questions. To stay inspired, search for motivational videos and save them in your library playlist to watch regularly. Humans are mostly visually and audibly driven so watching inspiring videos can boost your mental state anytime. Here are two of my favorites. They are short but will indefinitely inspire you to think and feel in a considerable way:
- https://youtu.be/lsSC2vx7zFQ -Eric Thomas
- https://youtu.be/yUEXOS8nEZ0- Jim Rohn
Conclusion:
We fall into traps every day. Sometimes we escape them. Sometimes we are trapped in them. Other times we avoid them. They are annoying. They are like tornadoes sucking our spirits dry, leaving us tired and drained. Being aware of the traps keeps us centered and focused on ourselves. It’s not easy. That is why activities like meditation and other mental strength training help us stay energized and motivated to live our own TRUE lives.
I will leave you with three requests:
- Please share this article with that one person you think NEEDS motivation. Also, share it with someone who motivates you and tell them WHY they motivate you. Show your appreciation.
- Please like and comment below so that I can learn more about you and your thoughts.
- Go to revolutionizeaging.ca and check out some links featuring ideas of maintaining mental and physical well-being. It’s free.
Thank you,
Sia
