motivation is never lost
pov from a run with a san francisco run club :)
Bringing another lesson from Nike Running global head coach Chris Bennett to the journal this week :)
The guided runs from half marathon training gave me lots of little pieces of wisdom that have stuck with me, and one of my favorites is about motivation. So many of us have dealt with the difficult feeling of lacking or losing motivation. Whether it happens while working toward a goal, completing a challenging task, or just in our daily energy and enthusiasm, we have all said it at one point or another - “I don’t have any motivation.”
I’ve found myself thinking and saying those words more than I’d like to admit throughout my life, but Coach Bennett shared a powerful idea that helped me reframe my mindset around motivation. Midway through one of my runs, as I was going through the motions, a spark went off in my head when he said, “motivation is never really lost if you have the motivation to find it.”
Motivation is something we hold within us that we cannot release, no matter how many times we say we’ve lost it. If it existed at one point, it does not have the ability to escape us. The motivation that brought you to start working toward a goal or made you take a risk is with you on the days when the goal feels unachievable or the risk feels like it was not worth taking. That spark of energy came from you, and you still have it during the moments you feel like it’s gone.
When we are running low on motivation, we can find confidence and comfort in our recognition of that and in our desire to gain more. In fact, our motivation is what allows us to acknowledge our struggle and feel the tough feelings that come with it. We do not need to know the solution or key to tapping into more motivation in those moments. We can find peace in knowing our motivation is the force that’s there telling us something is off - and in knowing we are not stuck where we are.
It’s uncomfortable and exhausting to feel a lack of motivation, and telling ourselves that we have lost our motivation will only further the discomfort. In those times, we can help ourselves by accepting our lower level of motivation as temporary and trusting that so much more motivation already lies within us, and we have the strength to rediscover it. We will continue to go through unmotivated periods, but we will never truly lose our motivation.
Next time you feel yourself beginning to say or tell yourself that you’ve lost your motivation, remind yourself of this lesson. Your motivation is never lost. It may feel lower or tougher to channel at times, but it is always there. Keep looking, and you will find it.
xo,
han
