I must confess, motivation to get work done has been a bit of an issue for me lately.
Maybe it’s because it’s summer, and the weather is good, and I’d rather be outdoors than chained to my computer.
Maybe it’s because I had a really busy summer, and am feeling burnt out and like I need a break.
Maybe it’s the 7-yr-old I’m hanging out with.
Whatever it is, it seems like it’s harder to get myself to focus and “put my nose to the grindstone,” as my dad always says. (what kind of an expression is that?? Hmm… research for a future blog post…)
Sometimes lack of motivation can have a deeper meaning. Like, you’re not motivated because you aren’t passionate about what you’re doing, even though you have been passionate about it in the past.
Many creatives will move from one art form to another, or be constantly seeking out new forms of expression. It’s just who we are. We like new challenges, and once we feel like we’ve “been there, done that,” our interest in that topic can wane and we’ll start to look for the next thing. It’s at this point that your motivation drops.
My friend, Carla Reiger, wrote a book that looks at change and reinvention through a work of fiction (it’s a great read, and has it’s origins in a true story, but this isn’t a book review post!). Last week she wrote this great post for her blog, and I wanted to share it with you.
It’s about that transition time in our lives when we are inbetween worlds: with one foot still in our old life (because of finances, for example), and not still entirely in our new life. It’s a tough time: awkward, often painful, but ultimately neseciary, and so rewarding when you emerge on the other side.
People are reinventing themselves at a rate never before seen in history–and it is growing exponentially. As the world changes, the way you belong to the world keeps changing, too. Yet, few of us have had a role model for reinventing ourselves over and over again. Just a generation or two ago people tended to stay in the same job, career, home, and relationship their entire life.
As a result, there exists a huge proportion of people perpetually in transition and entirely challenged about how to deal with it. Transitions are especially uncomfortable when you are between two worlds. You can’t go back to the old, but you haven’t yet found your way with the new. It’s like the winter of change when the old harvest is now gone and the new one needs time before it can manifest.
Carla has developed a tool for helping you to go through this change process, and you can read the rest of the blog post, and find out more information about her Art of Reinvention white paper here.