Motivation strategies

[TunnelVision]

Hello All. I've been an occasional visitor here over the past few years and thought I'd check in with you all on what you are doing to build your motivation again when you are on the path to recovery from anxiety.

I recently started taking medication to help deal as it had become a major problem and in the past year or so had spiralled down to the point I have lost all interest in doing anything much outside of the day to day. However I have other physical health issues I need to deal with and am struggling to keep motivated to do that.

I know I am able to get stuff done. I work full time, have 3 kids and take care of a whole house by myself. But I need to start making my health a priority in there somewhere and I really struggle with keeping that going.

I am still in the settling in phase of taking the meds and I know that once I've reached a more 'even' state I will be able start addressing other issues a bit better, but I guess my fear is that any motivation I'm able to build will just dwindle like it always does. So I'm looking for some strategies that will help me with that and would love to hear what works for you.

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

In my experience positive thinking or motivation doesnt dwindle away, it's built upon until there is rarely any negativity present.

I, however, also found that you can be the most motivated person however depression, anxiety etc has no effect at all on how motivated you be, eg I'm highly motivated and positive but my down periods with depression bipolar etc still exist. Acceptance of this is crucial to my well being.

Here is a few threads that might be of interest. You only need to read the first post of each. If you wnat to discuss them repost. 

https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/anxiety/anxiety-how-l-eliminated-it/td-p/183873

https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/staying-well/motivation-search-and-rescue-it/td-p/38279

https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/staying-well/30-minutes-can-change-your-life/td-p/154525

https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/staying-well/acceptance-is-this-our-biggest-challenge/td-p/14769...

TonyWK

[sbella02]

TunnelVision,

Thank you for opening up to us here, we're glad to hear from you.

It may be small, but something that I do to get myself in that motivated mindset is making my bed in the morning. Better yet, having some kind of a morning routine. It gives you a small sense of accomplishment to start your day, and can set you on a good trajectory for the rest of your day.

Also, listening to pump-up music really helps me. It also gets me in a motivated mindset.

Social support and encouragement can also be great for helping us stay motivated. If you're wanting to keep up a gym routine for instance, having people who also like going to the gym can help motivate you to do so. This isn't always achievable, but the premise remains the same for most tasks/activities.

Motivation in general is hard to achieve. And there are some days where we just aren't feeling it, and that's okay. We mustn't be too hard on ourselves on these days, as they happen for everyone.

Hope this helps, please keep chatting with us if you wish. We're here to support you.

All the best, SB

[TunnelVision]

Thank you white knight and sbella02. I really appreciate your help and kind words.