3 ways to find and keep motivation even when you have lost hope

You can be flying high one minute, cruising along, minding your own business, and BOOM… something knocks you sideways before you even realize what’s happening.

Suddenly, even the smallest of things can feel huge… every tiny failure can feel catastrophic, like the world is literally ENDING before your eyes. Doom and gloom sets in, leaving you feeling crushed by the weight of everything you can’t control or isn’t going how you want it to and, boy oh boy… once you’re down, you’re DOWN… Flattened. Low as can be.

“Just snap out of it,” they say.

“Other people have it worse.”

Cue eye roll.

I mean, seriously?

When has saying that kind of thing ever actually helped anyone?

(I’ll tell you when: NEVER!)

They may mean well, but these people are basically kicking you when you’re already down and trivializing things that really aren’t that trivial in that moment (not to you, at least)! They are no help to you. So, you try to shrug it off as best you can, only to realize you have no choice now but to put your adulting pants on… because YOU’RE the only one who can pick you back up again.

That can feel like the hardest thing in the WORLD when you’re lower than low. Your energy stores have been zapped. Your appetite has gone a bit cuckoo. You’re tired. So tired you don’t even want to get out of bed, let alone start trying to push the weight of the world off your sore shoulders.

In short, your get up and go has officially got up and GONE.

It has well and truly left the building.

“But isn’t finding motivation the only way to get yourself out of a slump?”

NOPE!

Motivation is great. It’s powerful and it’s awesome and it WORKS, and you’ve got to fuel it with something… and your cup is completely empty right now — that’s why you’re stuck in this rut! So, you’re going to have to rely on something else instead.

Momentum.

“Okay, Carol, that’s great and all, but how exactly am I supposed to do that?” I hear you ask.

You do it by trusting me and following these steps:

1. Choose your direction. The whole point of momentum is to get you somewhere. So, pick what you’re heading towards. The finishing line of a project? A healthier lifestyle? It’s completely up to you. Just pick one!
2. Start small. When you’re feeling low, every step you take can feel ENORMOUS. Daunting. Scary. Impossible. So, instead of setting the bar way too high for yourself (like saying you’ll run a 5K tomorrow when you can barely even get off the couch right now), be realistic and keep it simple. If you want to take up running, start by getting yourself some running sneakers. Then get yourself something comfy to run in. Next, get dressed and go for a gentle jog around the block. It may seem simple and like it’s nothing to shout about but, believe me, it is. Why? Because doing these tiny things is what’s going to get you where you need to be!
3. Let that snowball roll. Once you’ve followed steps one and two, you’ll have already done the hardest part of this process — getting started. Now, all you have to do is let that momentum you just generated carry you forward to the next small milestone, then the next, then the next… and then HURRAH! Before you know it, you’ll have created a snowball of positive energy that’s not only going to get you where you want to go, but also kick your low mood into the trash where it belongs.

Sounds kinda easy, right?

That’s because it is.

You’ve got this, my friend.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Tony Robbins:

“People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”