Five Reasons for Low Motivation (and How to Get Your Drive Back)

I frequently hear in my coaching business what sounds like a motivation issue.

‘I can’t be bothered.’

‘It gets pushed to the bottom of the list.’

‘I want to but it just doesn’t seem to happen.’

We’re all busy and sometimes it can be easier to not do the thing we promised ourselves we would.

The issue is when you don’t follow through on your promises to yourself too often, you feel rubbish. That leads to feeling even less inclined to take action on your goals. Cue downward spiral.

So what causes low motivation? Because when we know what’s behind it, we can know how to fix it.

Here are five reasons:

You Don’t Really Want Your Goal

What a minute Sara, of course I want my goal. I wouldn’t have set it as a goal otherwise.

I hear you but I can’t tell you the number of times I set a goal I thought I was supposed to want (wanting to manifest a Chanel bag anyone?!).

Sounds obvious but if you don’t really want your goal, you’re not going to do what’s needed to achieve it.

You’ve set a goal that you think you SHOULD want.

When it comes to figuring out if you’ve inadvertently set a ‘should’ goal, ask yourself this question:

Whose voice is in your head when you think about your goal?

An incredible coach that I admire was behind that Chanel bag. Not my voice, not my true desire. Time for a different goal.

Whatever reason you don’t want your goal, realising that opens up space to set a goal you are motivated to achieve.

Fear of Success Is Holding You Back

You’re afraid of what might happen when you achieve your goal. Worried what people might think or friends not liking you anymore or you can’t handle what comes next.

How do you figure out if the fear of success is killing your motivation?

Picture yourself having achieved your goal.

What fears come up? Notice any tension in your body. What is that sensation trying to tell you?

Maybe you set a goal to get promoted but you’re worried about being able to handle the additional responsibility.

That’s awesome insight! Now you have that information, you can work through it. Take note of how your responsibilities have grown over the course of your career and you’ve always risen to the occasion. This time will be no different.

Once you’ve shifted the fear, you’re free to be excited to pursue your goal again.

Your Goal Isn’t Exciting Enough to Motivate You

There is a goldilocks point to setting goals. It needs to be big enough to excite you yet small enough to feel achievable.

Too big, your goal feels unattainable and that demotivates you.

Too small and you’re bored.

In a misguided attempt to avoid setting a too big of a goal, I often see coaching clients set goals that are too small.

They’re scared to admit what they really want to happen because what if they don’t get it. Or what if the DO get it, and they’re afraid of what that might mean (like we talked about above).

A small goal doesn't feel like a big enough change to be worth it. A lot of people struggle with incremental change, feeling like it’s not significant enough to have real impact on their lives. You can see why that kills motivation.

Here’s the question I want you to ask yourself to break out of dreaming too small:

If you were feeling audacious, really allowed yourself to go there, what would you want?

You can focus this to a particular area like fitness or you can leave it open and see what comes up.

The point is to allow yourself to be honest, to open up.

You’ll know you’ve nailed it when you feel energised. Energy = motivation. Welcome back!

READ MORE: Questions I Ask To Achieve My Goal

You’ve Run Out of Energy to Stay Motivated

Speaking of energy, motivation requires fuel.

If you’re feeling depleted, your instinct is to conserve energy.

This could look like being physically depleted (hello being a Mum of baby twins, I know all about that!). It could be creatively depleted. It could be soul level depletion.

All of this is a sign to tend to you. Recharge. Rest. Fill your cup.

You need to take care of you before you can focus on your goals.

A car that is refuelled can keep going and going. A car that isn’t, runs out of petrol and stops.

A very boring, anti magic bullet to achieving goals is being able to keep going. To persist in pursuing the goal. Not giving up before you get there.

Better to pause to refuel so you can keep going.

You’re Missing the Progress You’ve Already Made

I got frustrated recently because I felt like I wasn’t making any progress on my goal.

I had joined a membership with a clear goal to make back my investment. I was seeing all of these other results that members were getting and thought ‘why can’t I do that?!’

When I stepped back and looked at my results, I had clearly made so much progress.

Often feeling like you haven't made any progress, it’s because you haven’t looked for progress. Or you’re so busy looking at what else there is to do, that you’re missing what you’ve done.

And that’s demotivating. It doesn’t feel like a good use of energy to keep pursuing a goal that you’re not making any headway on.

It is imperative to make note on the progress you’re making and OFTEN. This is step six in my goal achievement framework for a reason. It keeps you motivated.

Reignite Your Energy and Move Forward

Low motivation isn’t a character flaw, it’s simply information. Whether it’s setting a goal you don’t truly want, fearing what success might bring, or running on empty, it shows you what is out of alignment and killing your motivation.

The good news? Once you spot what’s going on, you can do something about it. Feeling motivated about your goals is going to make them feel so much easier to achieve. You have energy to pour into them, that propels you through the sticky moment when you could want to give up.

Which reason for low motivation trips you up? Let us know if the tips here help you get your drive back.