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How to Get Out of Bed

4 Things To Consider When You Lack Motivation

By Jen CooperPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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Waking up in the morning, the day can loom ahead of you like Mount Everest. More often than not, my mornings have begun with the, sometimes unbearable, weight of knowledge that once I climb out of bed, I don’t get to rest again until I’m over the top of that bloody mountain!

I often wonder at people that can motivate themselves to great sporting or business victories, while for me finding the motivation to leave my bed is a struggle.

Motivation is the key to everything. I am not talking about the intense type of motivation it takes to be an elite athlete, or super salesman. I am talking about the quiet, unassuming motivation that keeps getting us out of bed every morning. Unfortunately, for some of us this feels like the same thing.

There will always be challenges to living the life you want, and even getting out of bed can be one of them. It is helpful to have some strategies to tackle those times when you are just not sure you can make it through the demands of even the most mundane day. Here are a few things that I have used to help put my feet on the floor and get the day moving.

Realise You Are Already Strong

Remind yourself how strong you actually are. You have at the very least endured your life to this point. Hopefully you have also managed to wring some happiness out of it once or twice.

You have done that.

You have lived and survived every moment, regardless of how much help you may or may not have received. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth or fortune, you have accompanied yourself every step of the way. That has not always been easy. It has sometimes been downright shitty.

There are maybe two people on the Earth that might say that their life has been nothing but an endless string of fortune. And I don’t think I would believe them, either. Life is a struggle. For everyone, in one way or another. And you have managed to survive to this point.

Ok, maybe your life is not exactly what you asked for. Maybe it’s not what you said it would be when you were ten. But you have made it this far. And just surviving is something to be proud of.

You Are Capable of More Than You Believe Right Now

Once you can accept that you are worthy just because you are here, get a bit bolder and start to think about the things that you have actually been able to do while you have been surviving.

I am sure that you have done something in your life that surprised even yourself. I am sure that you have done at least one thing that you can point to and say, “I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to do that—but I did.” If you don’t have one thing that you have felt a sense of achievement about then you have never learned to ride a bike. Or to write. Or speak, for that matter.

Humans feel good about themselves when they have accomplished something. It doesn’t have to be something big or important. As long as we have had to put some effort in to make it work, it feels good when it does.

Remind yourself about the things that you have already accomplished that you wouldn’t have guessed that you would ever do. You don’t have to be grand about it. I know lots of people that have been skydiving, but I don’t consider myself a failure because I have never jumped out of a plane. I have organised a professional function for a hundred international guests and had everyone gush with what a good time they had. I never thought I would be an office temp for 15 years, but I accomplished some interesting stuff in that time.

The thing to remember is that you had no idea that you would end up exactly where you are now. Just knowing that leaves you some wiggle room to expect that today could turn out to be, at the very least, not quite what you expect it to be.

There’s one motivation to get out of bed. What could today bring you if you get up and go out into it? Sure, all sorts of negative thoughts can jump up to answer that question, but we have already established that you have survived splendidly up to this point. The chances are that you will be just fine with whatever is out there.

You Can Decide Not To Be Paralysed

One thing that you can take from realising how strong you are is to also realise that you can decide to shift from how you are feeling right now to something that feels better.

You are in complete control over everything that goes on in your mind. It does not always seem like it, and the control is frequently indirect, but ultimately because you are a thinking, sentient being, you can decide how you are going to feel. You can take conscious steps to move away from thoughts that result in negative feelings, towards those that you believe will result in more positive states of being.

Consciousness is a powerful thing, and you are all-powerful inside your own consciousness.

Be prepared . Create a list of things to do when you don’t feel like it. Often, lack of motivation can disguise itself as selective blindness. We don’t even see the things around us that are crying out for attention, while at the same time feeling bored and looking around for something to do.

A good cure for boredom is to give yourself a little success. Have a list of things that you’ve been meaning to get to, but ‘haven’t found the time for’, and use it as a tool when you are feeling listless and down on yourself.

You will need some discipline to start with, to honour the agreement you have made with yourself to be healthy and productive. Once you have put a little bit of energy into the chosen task, however, you will usually find the motivation to finish it, and you will have turned an afternoon, or even an hour, of depressed sloth into a small victory.

Who Needs You Today?

Often, if you really can’t find a reason to lift your head from the pillow, it is useful to get a bit tougher on yourself. Just considering the people that will need to work harder, or people that might be let down, or even those that are concerned about us is often enough to give us a kick in the backside, and motivate us to action.

It is true that there is no point in being hard on yourself unnecessarily, but self-pity can be a slippery slope. It is important not to put your own self-indulgence before other people’s genuine needs. The difficulty sometimes lies in determining if, indeed, you are being self-indulgent, and if the demands of others are, in fact, genuine needs. Take ruthless honesty as your best friend, and begin from the assumption that you are capable, albeit currently unwilling, to do whatever it is that you are asking of yourself.

And then tell yourself, very firmly, to do it anyway. Ok you may not enjoy it. Ok, you may grumble all the way through it. But at the end of the day you will have done something you started the day not thinking you would do.

Another little achievement.

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About the Creator

Jen Cooper

I take pictures, too.

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