Lately I have just felt done and bored. I have all these goals, but have the mindset of “What’s the point?” I went a week without posting a blog, and most weeks I only get one out and don’t meet my goal of getting out 2 blogs a week. I have no motivation to do anything. In this blog I will try to find the reason and some ways to get out of this slump and give myself motivation to keep going.
What’s Going On?
I have honestly asked this question, and had some friends ask me as well. My answer: I don’t know. Like I mentioned in the intro of this blog, I have goals. I have things I want to do, places I want to go, goals I want to reach. And yet I feel like there is just no point. Someone asked me if it could be depression. I don’t think so. I’m not shutting down completely. I go out with friends and make plans with them, but when it comes to the rest of life, I seem uninterested.
Are you stressed?
Not any more than usual. And I’m managing the stress that I do have, I think. I remind myself that God is in control. I talk to others about what is stressing me out when I do feel like it’s overwhelming. There are other ways I can manage it as well, like doing some self care. Yoga to help relax the body, or go for a massage. I could go for a walk and listen to music, or my favourite podcast.
What’s the First Step?
The first step is knowing that something is wrong and trying to figure out what it is. I’m in that step right now. There are some ideas that I have, and I will share them with you.
Missing my past self
The other day I was looking through some pictures of when I was in New Zealand and I felt sad. I missed that version of myself. In New Zealand I was adventurous and tried all sorts of new things. With the friends I made out there I did a lot of stuff that I don’t have the opportunity to do out here in Manitoba. I was also exercising regularly and was in the best shape of my life. So, what happened? I came back. When I got back to Manitoba I went back to the same job I had before I left for New Zealand. Everything went back to the usual grind. Eat, work, sleep, repeat. I got a new job after a few years, but even that was only a temporary reprieve.
No self belief
I may come across as confident and like I can take on any challenge. The truth is, I’m terrified. Starting this blog and putting myself out there, writing for other people to read about my life, and possibly judge it was hard. When I had the idea, it took a while before I actually started. Even with the positive feedback I get, I still doubt that I’ll ever be good enough to make a career out of it. I wrote a blog about having the fire ignited in me to write and publish a novel, but I have so much doubt that anyone would even want to buy it. There are fitness goals that I want to reach, but are they even possible? What’s the point in trying?
Get Up
This is the next step. Once you identify what you think is keeping you down, get up. Don’t let yourself stay in that place. That leads to darker places and we don’t need that. What does that look like? Pursuing those goals, even if you think it’s pointless. For myself, I have to push through my self doubt and keep going. There’s a song from a movie, Zootopia I believe the movie is called. And part of the lyrics are “I want to try everything, I wanna try even though I could fail” I told my best friend yesterday that I want to live my life this way. I have also heard that, “The road to success is littered with failure.” We have to keep going.
Motivating Ourselves
This step is quite difficult for me, and I know this to be true. If I have someone doing something with me, I am much more motivated to keep going. However, when I have to be my own motivation, that is when I struggle. I’ve seen it throughout my fitness journey many times. I would stop going to spin class, to the gym, or even jogging. Did I enjoy those things? Spin class and jogging yes, the gym was not too exciting because I didn’t have a plan.
So, how can I motivate myself? I’m not quite sure at the moment, but this is one step in that. If I tell all of you that I’m going to be working on my motivation in fitness, blogging, and getting my novel done, now I have to follow through. Will I be perfect? Heck no. However, I am determined to not stay in this slump any longer. Starting today, I am getting out of it. I will work on my fitness, even when I don’t want to. I’ll tell you what my biggest goals of the year are, and I hope you will all hold me accountable.
The Big Goals
Okay, here it goes. I want to finish my book and self publish it before the year is over. I want to be putting out 3 blogs a week by the end of the year. My fitness goal is a bit of a two part goal. The first part is I want to run a 10k in the Manitoba Marathon this year. I’ve run 5ks in the past and this year I want to run a 10k. The Manitoba Marathon is June 18, so if I don’t post a blog after that about my experience, please call me out on it. The second part of my fitness goal is to be able to see a huge difference in my progress photos from February 1st of this year to January 1st of 2024. I didn’t take a picture on January 1st of this year. I will be sharing my halfway point on July 1st, or at least that is the goal. My best friend and I are going on a trip in July and leaving on July 2nd, so that blog might be delayed.
So, those are my goals for the year, and I hope you will all cheer me on and help me reach them. I also hope that by following me on my journey, I can inspire and encourage you in yours. These blogs are never supposed to be all about me, but I want to encourage all of you in them. I hope I can do that. Thank you for all of your support, and for your patience as I went through the slump. I’ll link the Manitoba Marathon below if you are interested in tackling any of the races yourself, as well as my personal Instagram account. Remember, anything can happen if you try.
https://www.instagram.com/stephfo1989/
https://manitobamarathon.mb.ca/
