Have you been hard on yourself for feeling tired & unmotivated? Have you judged yourself for not achieving your goals? Well…. there is a reason why you are feeling that way: you may have been living in survival mode.
May be just getting through each day has taken everything you have. Dealing with stress, difficulties, and the constant pressure of getting it all done may have left you with nothing in the tank. It’s exhausting. Just handling life’s basics is sometimes too much, isn’t it? You end up having nothing left to propel yourself forward.
You are not lazy or unmotivated. You are tired. There’s a big difference. A lazy person isn’t fully engaged or doesn’t want to put in effort. But you’ve been giving this everything you have, non-stop, just to keep your head above water. It’s no wonder you have no energy left for more. It’s easy to think there’s something wrong with you for not having more energy or motivation. But living life in a perpetual state of high stress and high demand takes its toll. Of course, you feel depleted and uninspired at this point. No one can run at a sprint indefinitely without consequences.
It’s time to recognize how hard this constant struggle has been. You deserve compassion for what you’ve endured, not criticism because your cup is empty. The good news is, you can start to refill it. Start by being more selective, reducing demands, choosing self-care, and self-compassion, setting boundaries, asking for help and prioritizing time to rest and reflect.
This will help you gradually move out of survival mode, and regain the strength to thrive once more.
Self compassion is so important: I find that I routinely beat myself up and have to stop and reflect that that is what I’m doing so that I can dismantle that dysfunctional and discouraging behavior. Thank you so much for the reminders!