Entry #31: How to Overcome your Lack of Motivation!
I get asked, “Stephanie, can you help me with my lack of motivation?” I am just as human as you are. I don’t want to do my yoga every night or my workout three times per week. I don’t want to switch the laundry so that it doesn’t stink the next day and I have to wash it over again. I don’t love cleaning the bathroom. So how does my house stay so clean, my four dogs get walked, my bed is made every day, and the house has groceries in it just to name a few life non-negotiables? It isn’t because I have more motivation than you. It’s because I have learned the, “Either-Or Method.” Let me explain.
Research shows that you make 35 000 decisions every single day! Webster’s dictionary states that, “Motivation is like an incentive or driving force.” Therefore, if we are making 35 000 decisions daily, you don’t have a lack of motivation. You just aren’t choosing the best decision at the moment. You need to decide what you can look forward to (incentive) so that you can live the life you want.
Some Either-Ors for me are:
- Sticking to my 8 pm to 7 am sleep routine OR feeling exhausted and being unkind due to moodiness as a result of lack of sleep.
- Knowing that digestion slows close to bedtime, I choose not to eat after supper OR snack on whatever, wishing I hadn’t the next day because of the bloating I experience (usually I eat carbs for late night snacking – these calories will be stored as fat for sure!)
- Taking my bipolar meds at 7 pm every night OR taking them whenever, which almost always triggers minor mania. The consequence is that I can’t get to sleep as per my schedule and feel terrible the next day.
I challenge you to take this information very seriously. Take a piece of paper and write down your Either-Ors. You have 35 000 opportunities to change your life forever RIGHT NOW. I hope you see how beautiful a future you can have. It’s time, my friend!
Stephanie Preston creates powerful, humorous videos on managing bipolar disorder symptoms. She is a Social Service Worker, Health Care Aide and suffers from severe bipolar depression herself. She is the proud wife of St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston, loves being a grandma and is Crossfit obsessed. Follow her at www.tiktok.com/@bipolaronthebrain and www.facebook.com/bipolaronthebrain.
