Motivation. Where is it when we need it? Where does it come from? You’ve probably experienced times when you felt highly motivated. On the other hand, you’ve likely gone through periods of low motivation.

There is a motivation spectrum, and it’s helpful to recognize that:

• Motivation isn’t guaranteed.

• Motivation needs to be cultivated.

• Motivation goes through cycles.

• Motivation thrives on clarity.

• Motivation isn’t always instant.

• Motivation responds to progress.

• Motivation can be intrinsic, extrinsic, or a mix of both.

• Motivation strengthens with purpose.

• Motivation is restored by pauses.

• Motivation can be reactivated.

• Motivation flourishes with satisfaction.

• Motivation grows through resilience.

Based on my personal experiences and working with my virtual organizing clients, I have identified five factors that most often disrupt motivation. They are:

• Feeling overwhelmed.

• Lacking clarity.

• Being exhausted.

• Having unrealistic expectations.

• Not having support.

When you face a motivational challenge, use this list of quotes and ideas to help identify what you need at that moment.

7 Powerful Motivation Quotes to Feel Inspired When You Need It Most

1. Motivation needs to be cultivated.

You may experience a burst of energy, providing the motivation to get started. However, that’s not enough. Developing consistent habits encourages progress and increases motivation.

As Jim Ryan says, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”

2. Motivation thrives on clarity.

One of the most common motivational challenges is not being clear about the driver behind your actions. Without defining your ‘why,’ it becomes difficult to build and maintain motivation.

Cindy Sullivan says, “Not tuning in to the why behind our actions can translate to a lack of motivation to get the work done.”

3. Motivation responds to progress.

Don’t underestimate the power that making progress has on increasing your motivation. Redefine what progress means. It can include taking small steps, getting support, and acknowledging your wins.

Greg McKeown says, “Research has shown that all forms of human motivation, the most effective one is progress.”

4. Motivation strengthens with purpose.

Striving to reach a goal can be either motivating or de-motivating. If the goal is unreachable, you’ll probably feel less motivated. If your goal is right-sized, doable, purposeful, yet challenging, it will strengthen your motivation.

Ari Tuckman, PsyD, says, “Goals that feel impossible are de-motivating. Much better is a goal that may feel like a stretch, but is still possible – and actually worth the effort.”

“Motivation responds to progress.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

5. Motivation can be reactivated.

Exhaustion and overwhelm can derail motivation. The good news is that pausing and stepping away from your task to reenergize can reignite your motivation. Struggle no more. Is it time to take a quick break?

Anne Lamott says, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

6. Motivation flourishes with satisfaction.

Have you considered how satisfaction influences motivation? There is joy and gratification in reaching your goals. This pursuit, along with the positive results you experience, nourishes your motivation.

Cassie Holmes, Ph.D., says, “Being a goal-driven species, we aren’t motivated merely by pleasure itself; we also gain pleasurable satisfaction from our accomplishments.”

7. Motivation grows through resilience.

No journey or pursuit happens without challenges. There will be hiccups and obstacles along the way. Keep pushing forward despite setbacks. Your motivation will grow stronger because of your resilience.

Japanese proverb says, “Fall seven times. Stand up eight.”

Why Does Motivation Matter?

Motivation comes in many strengths, from low to high and everything in between. When your motivation is fully in gear, it can feel like you’re in a state of flow. Obstacles are non-existent or easily solved. However, when motivation is low, it feels more like you’re walking through molasses. Even taking a small step can feel impossible.

It’s helpful to understand and develop motivation strategies. What inspires you most when your motivation is low? Which idea or quote resonates most with you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you need support with motivation, activation, or organization? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s talk. You can:

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Email me at linda@ohsorganized.com or

• Call 914-271-5673

Organizing and sustaining motivation is possible, especially with support.

Do you create obstacles for yourself before embarking on the next step? These might include a list of self-imposed pre-requirements before you can take the next step or tackle a new project.

Perhaps your goal is spring cleaning and organizing. While that’s a great goal, instead of beginning the process, you set parameters that make it nearly impossible to take the next step.

For instance, you prefer tackling this project in big time blocks rather than shorter, focused sessions. However, your life commitments and energy levels aren’t conducive to organizing three, four, or five hours at a time.

As a result, what happens? Things stagnate because you don’t have large swaths of time to move your project forward. You frontloaded the project with an obstacle that closed your mind to alternative solutions and experimentation.

Does this sound familiar?

What Are Toxic Preconditions?

A few weeks ago, I discovered the term “toxic preconditions” in Oliver Burkeman’s newsletter, The Imperfectionist. He learned this concept from James Horton, a social scientist who questioned why people who want to write more don’t.

Horton observed that some aspiring writers had “misguided beliefs” that might have seemed helpful but undermined their confidence, causing them to write less or not at all.

Burkeman says that what’s behind toxic preconditions is “the strong desire we have for some kind of guarantee – before we embark on a new activity, or even allow ourselves to relax into life – that it’ll all unfold safely and securely, that we’ll retain the feeling of being in control.”

He advocates how freeing it is to let go of that need for a “guarantee.” Burkeman says, “Getting past toxic preconditions is less a matter of being willing to step into the unknown than of realizing that you’re already in the unknown.” He goes on to say, “You never had control; all you had was anxiety.”

“Do you set parameters that make it nearly impossible to take the next step?”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Letting Go of Toxic Preconditions

There are three aspects for releasing toxic preconditions:

1. Observe – Notice when you are putting up obstacles to the extent that you can’t move toward your goal or next step.

2. Accept – Acknowledge there are no guarantees. Instead, move forward with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to experiment.

3. Release – Let go of any preconditions that are toxic. Be willing to take that next step without first doing a, b, c, d, or e. Go forth without all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

I want to re-establish my daily walking habit. In the past months, I put up obstacles based on the weather, which I can’t control. I won't walk every day if I’m only willing to walk when it’s warm and sunny. I’ve been telling myself, “It’s too cold.” Or, “It’s too dreary.” If, instead, I adjust the parameters, like the length of a walk, wearing more layers, or walking inside instead of out, I’ll be more likely to reach my daily walking goal.

“Getting past toxic preconditions is less a matter of being willing to step into the unknown than of realizing that you’re already in the unknown.”

— Oliver Burkeman

What’s On the Other Side of Toxicity?

Let’s face it. Life has challenges. However, how often do you create obstacles and make things more complicated than necessary? If you tend to hinder your progress, I encourage you to explore new options. Release those toxic preconditions that aren’t serving you. Experience more movement, flow, and success.

Have you encountered toxic preconditions in others or yourself? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, editing, planning, or working on that next step? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Figuring out next is possible, especially with support.

Have you experienced stress and anxiety when working out what to do next? Those negative emotions and thought loops can contribute to doubt and inaction.

What if instead, you chose a more supportive way forward? What if next wasn’t so stressful?

There are lessons to learn about figuring out what’s next from various sources. These can help you progress in a quieter, more curious, and gentler manner. How would it feel if the next step was less contentious?

I will share three sources that have inspired and helped me: a crocus, a quote, and a message. I hope they will be helpful for you, too.

Three Lessons About Next

1. The Purple Crocus

I’m taking one cue about next from nature’s playbook. Spring is my favorite time of year. While I love the entire season, I especially enjoy pre-spring. Seeing tiny signs of color and growth slowly transform the gray winterscape is uplifting.

One of my most joyful sightings is when the purple crocuses with their bright green stems emerge from the dirt to bask in the sunshine. I’ve often written about my delight in spotting the crocuses and the hopeful feelings they evoke.

Lesson for Finding Next: Channel the confidence and energy of the crocus. Envision yourself emerging from indecision and gently take your next step. Allow the hopeful feeling that new growth brings to guide you forward. The crocuses bloom, and so will you.

2. The Quiet Quote

In Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks, he shared a Carl Jung quote about next that resonated with me. I thought you would appreciate it, too. Jung said,

“. . . quietly do the next most necessary thing.”

I love the emphasis on “quietly.” Do you often go forth loudly, brimming with self-doubt, putting up obstacles, or fighting every step of the way? Instead, what if you approached that next thing in a calmer, lower volume manner?

Lesson for Finding Next: Change the volume of your approach to next. Turn down the sound and minimize the obstacles to help you find next with greater clarity, curiosity, and focus.

“. . . quietly do the next most necessary thing.”

— Carl Jung

3. The Internal Message

The messages you tell yourself can help or hinder progress. I recently wrote about deviating from my routine for wrapping up last year and planning the current year. My departure from previous patterns, wasn’t just a change. It was more like I didn’t do any of those rituals, at least, not in the formal way I had been for many years.

Wrapping up the year and planning for the future involves several steps and requires considerable time. Given all that was going on, it didn’t happen. Here we are and it’s almost spring. I officially decided to stop berating myself for not accomplishing my self-imposed expectation, and instead focus on what makes sense at this juncture.

One of the tasks was figuring out my motto for the new year. It didn’t happen. Instead, I decided that the theme from last year, which served me well, gets to have another year to work its magic. With quiet ease and a gentle prompt, I remind myself, “You got this.”

Lesson for Finding Next: Repeating something that works isn’t cheating. Using the familiar to build from is a kinder, gentler path forward. Next doesn’t have to be complicated or completely different. Let next make sense for this present moment.

Reimagining How Next Happens

There are various ways to reduce stress and anxiety about determining your next steps. Nature's prompts, inspired quotes, and reframed internal messages can help you change how you navigate next.

How would reimagining next make a difference in your life? Which of these ideas resonate with you? What helps you figure out next? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, editing, planning, or figuring out your next step? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Figuring out next is possible, especially with support.

Making a change in your life can be challenging. Have you ever wondered why? Here are some common obstacles you might encounter:

• Feeling unsure about how to create the change you desire

• Feeling defeated as the change you desire appears unattainable

• Feeling a lack of energy or resources to manifest the change

• Feeling overwhelmed by other responsibilities in your life makes focusing on intentional change seem unrealistic right now

• Feeling frustrated by the time needed to create change

• Feeling unclear about the change you want to make

• Feeling resentful that you want to make a change but would rather focus on less stressful activities

• Feeling the absence of a support system

Yet, despite these potential difficulties, you still want to make a change. Change is possible when you’re in a negative, stress-filled state, but it’s more challenging. What if you could create a starting point that is more conducive and encouraging?

I recently discovered something that could be a game-changer (no pun intended).

The Value of a Morning Activation Ritual

In Joseph Nguyen’s book Don’t Believe Everything You Think – Why Your Thinking is the Beginning & End of Suffering, I read a passage about developing an “activation ritual.” While Nguyen applied this concept to reduce stressful thoughts, I can see how the idea of rituals could be useful for facilitating change.

Nguyen says, “Most of us are used to spending the majority of our day in a state of stress (thinking).” However, when you stop thinking and stressing, that energy can be redirected elsewhere. Without channeling it elsewhere, you will likely revert to a thinking and stressful state.

He suggests creating a morning activation ritual that helps you “get back into a state of non-thinking and flow. It can be an activity that helps you feel grounded and allows you to practice getting into a state of non-thinking.”

Consider centering activities such as meditating, exercising, journaling, or making tea. “An activation ritual enables you to build momentum in a positive direction immediately when you wake up so that it’s easier to stay in that state of non-thinking for the rest of the day.” Nguyen suggests that it’s possible to “channel the newfound energy into our goals of inspiration.”

“An activation ritual enables you to build momentum in a positive direction . . .”

— Joseph Nguyen

Create Your Activation Ritual

Do you start your day gently with a nourishing and grounding routine? Or are your mornings often rushed and chaotic?

You have the opportunity to create a centering morning ritual that will energize you, reduce stress, and enhance your ability to make the change you desire.

Here is one approach to creating an activation ritual:

• Establish a consistent wake-up time.

• Select one grounding activity before beginning your day, such as exercising, meditating, or journaling.

• Do this for one week.

• Observe what happened.

• Depending on what you discovered, continue or alter your activation ritual.

Beginning the day feeling grounded and nourished will cultivate an internal state that promotes the change you want.

What change would you like to make? How can a morning activation ritual benefit you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support creating routines, organizing, planning, or inviting positive change? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Change is possible, especially with support.