Nobody is in charge of setting my goals, giving me feedback, or adjusting my environment in order to help me succeed. Nobody is making sure that I eat healthy, get enough sleep, or eat the right foods. There are plenty of voices spouting opinions and influencers showing off their achievements, but when it comes down to it, how am I supposed to maintain a high level of motivation so I am showing up for my family, my work, and myself?
Motivating myself doesn’t come naturally to me, and it used to be my biggest challenge. Most of my motivation came from needing to meet the expectations of others, even if they were expectations of clients who were paying me.
For the longest time, I was showing up to be what others needed. From the outside, I looked productive. I was delivering on client expectations and was there for my family. However, during my 30s, my health was deteriorating.
In my early 30s, I developed what my doctor said was a light case of acid reflux. It really slowed me down. It affected my sleep, which affected my energy. It was getting harder for me to do much other than get the bare minimum work done. Honestly, had I not been working for myself with nobody to pick up the slack, I probably would have let more fall through the cracks.
My symptoms continued to get worse, and with that, so did my motivation. My thyroid was also off. Now I found myself taking two medications every day to manage things I knew my body should be able to manage on its own.
A few years later, I decided to figure out the acid reflux issue on my own. My doctor had essentially given me a life sentence of taking the medications. I first attempted to see if it had to do with the food I was eating. I eliminated almost everything from my diet. When eating vegan didn’t work, I went further and ate a plant-based-only diet for about four months.
After almost a year of eating this way with no changes noticed, I decided to take a food sensitivity test. The test showed several items that my body did not tolerate well, and the majority of the items listed were plant-based foods that I had been eating for the last year.
I was at a new low. I had cut out everything and still had problems. I was depressed and motivation was at an all-time low. I was the last one out of bed every morning and most mornings only got up because I was still self-aware enough to know how pathetic I looked. It would take me all day to get my work done, and at the end of the day I would get back into bed to repeat the cycle.
I can’t remember exactly when the switch inside me flipped, but one day I had enough of it. I knew that nobody was going to make any change happen for me, so it was up to me. This is how change happens in my life. I come to a point where enough is enough and I pivot without a moment’s notice.
I decided to start getting up early to work out. I struggled to make good food choices first thing in the morning, so I decided to make lunch my first meal of the day. I had also read a bit about how intermittent fasting helps the digestive system rest and reduces inflammation. These two things got me started on making more choices to care for my body. I also decided to stop taking the medications I had been prescribed.
I realized that my body, the most important productivity tool I have, needed to be cared for. Later on, I found out that I did not actually have acid reflux; I had low acid, which meant that my stomach was struggling to digest the foods I consumed, causing them to ferment in my stomach and cause bloating and discomfort.
My 30s were also coming to an end, and I was not about to take these issues with me into another decade of my life. As my health improved and my body felt better, I had more energy and was able to focus and stay motivated.
Now I wake up at 4am to work out, journal, and read the Bible. This practice has truly transformed my life. As I write this, I have struggled to get up in the morning after having a crazy schedule while in Alaska with one of my sons, but I also recognize when my body needs more rest and I give it the rest it needs rather than try to power through life and hope for the best.
I have had a few motivational setbacks these past few weeks. Because I know more about my body now and what it needs to operate well, I know that the fog keeping me from seeing clearly is caused by sleep disruption and too many days in a row of eating unhealthy.
Being highly motivated means setting myself up for success ahead of time. Making the decision to get good sleep, work out, eat right, and read my Bible as a top priority. Everything else is better when I do those things. These are things that nobody is going to tell me to do every day. I have to do them.
What foundation do you need to build to stop depending on external pressure for motivation?