Where is my Motivation Fairy?

During this time of COVID-19, I have found my level of motivation extremely low. With the lack of regular routine, crunched time to fit everything in, I haven’t known what to do with myself. The last couple of days, I have been motivated. I cleaned my house and today, I cooked a nice breakfast AND made lunch for us. My youngest was wondering why I cooked lunch. Granted, they are old enough to prepare their meals and typically do for lunch or we have cereal/toast for breakfast, I had to laugh. I had found my motivation. Some days though, I feel like someone has popped my motivation bubble and I don’t want to accomplish anything other than sitting in my special chair catching up on shows (basically I watch endless hours of Hulu or Netflix). Sounds thrilling, right? Instead of thriving, I find myself in survival mode.

Survival Mode

I consider my survival mode my time of just trying to get through the day. You know how the story goes, right? Going to bed, I have full intentions of waking up early to get my workout in but my 10-year-old decided to not sleep through the night yet again. He crawls in bed with me because he knows that Daddy is still gone and sleeps right up against when he isn’t wiggling around. Do I get a good night sleep? Nope, I wake up more exhausted than when I went to bed. Since I’m tired, I don’t get up to do my workout and reset my alarm for later in the morning. The alarm goes off later and I’m still tired. I know I should have just gotten that workout done. My feet are dragging and my brain is foggy. I start moving through my work day, feeling off. I am restless and I reach for another gluten free pumpkin bar. I grudging record those extra calories knowing that it’s my fourth one for the day. How is it only noon? I continue through my work day and don’t take my scheduled walk. At the end of the day, I feel like crud and realize that I’m being short with my boys. If only I had gotten my workout in that morning.

Does this sound familiar at all? It’s all too common for me. I keep asking myself where my motivation fairy went but I must have scared her since she isn’t coming back. I need to pull up my britches and take accountability for myself. If my fairy won’t help me, then I need to help myself.

Thrive in Your Environment

Your motivation is there, like my abs, it’s just buried deep sometimes. As moms, as caretakers, and all the other roles that we have, we need to commit to ourselves just as much as we commit to others. I can’t tell you how many times I have rolled my eyes at the saying, “You can’t take care of others when you don’t take care of yourself.” My retort is always, “Who has time for that?” When I’m in that survival mode, I need to make time for me because it impacts my day so dramatically. We need to be better for ourselves so that we can be better for others.

Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes life truly gets in the way. Give yourself grace! Be flexible with your expectations! If you aren’t able to get your workout in first thing in the morning, get it in later during your day. If you’re not a morning person, workout when the time is right for you. The important part is to get it part of your regular routine. I did great in April – July because I committed myself to doing an 80-day program. I didn’t want to disappoint myself by skipping a day. Sit down to reflect on your goals. What can you commit to without overexerting yourself? Don’t start too large with your goal but also don’t shortchange yourself. Work on this goal and incorporate it into your normal routine. It takes over 21 days for something to become a habit so if you don’t have it locked down on day 3, that’s okay! Just keep going, you totally got this!

Tips

Ready to fire your motivation fairy and get your motivation back yourself? I have a few tips for you.

• Have an accountability partner. Who can you call to keep you going when it gets hard or to celebrate your wins?
• Make it fun. Exercise does not need to be painful. As long as you are active and busy, that counts!
• Get your family involved. Find something that you can do together. My kids and I like to do Just Dance to get our wiggles out (and it’s a great cardio workout for me).
• Write it down. Commit to yourself and follow through.

You can be your greatest cheerleader or your greatest roadblock. That is up to you. As you go through your journey, remember to give yourself that grace. We aren’t perfect and we shouldn’t hold ourselves to such a high standard. This is something that I continue to work on.

Just be you!