Why You Have Zero Motivation (And What To Do About It)
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Why You Have Zero Motivation (And What To Do About It)
Do you want to hit your health and fitness goals, only to find yourself with no motivation whatsoever?
Maybe you watch an inspiring YouTube video or scroll through fitness TikToks for hours on end, and you want to make a change – but something is holding you back.
It’s important to remember that feeling unmotivated is not a personal failure. We all struggle with a lack of motivation from time to time. But to get you back on track, you need to understand why you’re struggling to make progress.
The reasons for your low motivation
You’re uncomfortable with change
Let’s be honest – most people are far more comfortable when everything stays the same! So when you start to make changes, it probably won’t feel as cosy as snuggling up with Netflix and take-out on the couch.
By changing your habits, you’re forcing your brain to rebuild patterns that it has done hundreds or even thousands of times. The brain prefers to stick to the pathways that it already has established rather than doing something unfamiliar, so there can be a bit of a pushback.
This can tank your motivation on a physiological level – but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep going! The brain is an incredible machine and can learn to adapt to the new patterns as long as you stick with them for at least a few weeks.
The best part? After the initial period of resistance, your brain will start to work with you and keep you on track with your healthy habits and choices.
You don’t think you deserve it
As a wellness coach, I speak to so many who are always placing the needs of others above their own!
You might put your kids first, your partner, your family, your friends or even your work. As a result, you end up sacrificing your own needs, time and habits to accommodate the needs of someone else.
If you don’t think you deserve to prioritise your health (and yourself), it’s going to feel hard. You need to get clear on your mindset around your own needs and why it’s important to make time for your health.
Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup – if supporting others is important to you, your best bet is to take care of yourself first.
You give up before you even start
Do you go into your health kicks and new routines thinking, ‘this is going to be tough’?
If you’re already seeing it as difficult before you even get started, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your mind will actively seek out evidence to prove how hard it is, and this makes it much easier to give up.
This is where we need to work on a mindset shift. You want to notice these thoughts and change the wording in your mind (or on paper if you prefer to write them down).
Ask yourself: how can I shift this from a fixed mindset of change being hard to a growth-based belief of how I can achieve it?
You don’t have a ‘why’
When you start to work on your health & fitness, you likely have a general, surface-level reason for doing so. But if you’re not clear on the deeper meaning, you can’t draw strength from it if things get tough.
Looking a certain way, adding muscle, losing fat? These are typically surface reasons. But what do those mean for you, when you dig down and keep asking yourself ‘why’?
Do you want to lose body fat and improve your body composition so you can feel more energised every day? Does adding muscle help you to perform better at work or hobbies? Will these goals help you to become the person you want to see yourself as? Maybe you want to set a good example for your kids or loved ones so they can live longer, healthier, more active lives.
You’re trying to be someone else
Have you ever found yourself mimicking another person’s routine, lifestyle or diet? It might be someone you know who you look up to, or it might be an influencer or celebrity.
While there are certain things that we can learn from seeing how others manage their health and fitness, it can be a slippery slope. If your time, budget, priorities and lifestyle are different, you’ll be setting yourself up to fail. And constant failure is incredibly demotivating!
Instead, you need to find what works best for you. Really get to know yourself and what your mind & body respond to. There’s no point in having a healthy 5am routine if you’re a night owl, or trying to do 2hrs in the gym every day if you’re juggling 3 kids!
By making choices that are authentic and sustainable for your life, you’ll find it much easier to stay on track.
My personal experience with low motivation
As someone who lives in Melbourne, the last few years have been a rollercoaster when it comes to motivation and productivity!
I noticed a pattern where we would go into lockdowns, and suddenly my brain would scrap long-term goals completely.
Because of the restrictions, we couldn’t make normal plans, organise things or even lock in events in the future. This trapped feeling trickled down into my daily thought patterns, which left me with no real motivation to work on my health & fitness goals (or really any goals!)
Luckily, I’ve learned not to rely on motivation to keep my healthy habits on track.
Instead, I’ve built them into a routine so I keep doing them even when I feel tired, flat or generally unmotivated. That is a big part of what I teach my coaching clients to achieve in their own lives!
Want to learn how to achieve your health & fitness goals without needing to feel motivated 24/7?
If you’re sick of feeling overwhelmed, unmotivated and unsure where to start, now is the time to take action.
Together, we can overhaul not only your nutrition and exercise, but also boost your motivation and master your mindset – learn more about my 1:1 coaching here.
Hey there, I’m Rachel!
NUTRITIONIST, PERSONAL TRAINER, WELLNESS COACH
Here I share healthy recipe ideas, training plans, and nutrition & wellness advice you need to know.
Check out my free guide to healthy eating to design your own version of a healthy lifestyle so that you can feel energised and vibrant, or hire me to work my magic on your health through mindset, nutrition, and movement.
While we make every effort to make sure the information in this website is accurate and informative, the information does not take the place of medical advice.