How do I motivate myself when I feel completely lost?

Yes, one of the most powerful aspects of myself that I’ve learned is to just show up.

I’m prone to overthinking and over-analyzing. Those activities just add stress and deplete energy. I’ve learned, push past that curtain and curtail those traits. Just show up, and — as some company urges — just do it. It’s a great way of bringing down the dams that keep me from moving forward. Once I’m started, yes, momentum carries me on.

Part of my writing process for just showing up is to take a walk to shift my thinking. That also creates new expectations for what is going to happen and what I’m going to do. I sit down with a cup of coffee and the computer, turn on the latter, and let it boot up. Then I open the necessary docs, take a few deep breaths, and tell myself, “Okay, time to write and rock.” Sometimes I resist, answering, “Yeah, screw that,” to which I answer, “Oh, yeah? Screw you.” Then I say, “Oh, go screw yourself,” and laugh at the silliness of it all. That helps shut down that part of self resisting the writing, and so, I begin.

I’ve learned that I must be many things for myself, from teacher, mentor, and coach to con-man, psychologist, and task master. The tricks that worked yesterday or last week lose their edge. Sometimes new tricks and approaches need to be found and explored. Just as you mentioned in stress, motivation is often situational, even when it’s the same job to be done.

Thanks for another enlightening post. Cheers