When you lack motivation, the risk isn’t that you do nothing at all. It’s that you quietly abandon the things that matter the most, such as the work that moves the dial and the habits that keep you sharp. Photo: nextsource.com.
Paul Lyons has advice for coping with those times in the office or in life generally when, for one reason or another, you just don’t seem able to get started.
No matter how senior or driven you are, there are some days when you just don’t feel like getting off the runway.
The energy isn’t there, the work feels heavier than it should, and the voice in your head is busy negotiating delays: “I’ll start after one more coffee … after I clear my email … after tomorrow’s meeting …”
The risk on those days isn’t that you do nothing at all. It’s that you quietly abandon the things that matter the most, like the work that moves the dial and the habits that keep you sharp.
You cannot force yourself to feel fired up on demand. What you can do is change what you ask of yourself on those flat days.
Instead of “perform at 10 out of 10”, the rule becomes to show up, lightly.
Here is a simple way to do that.
First, decide what showing up means today. Pick one meaningful thing you’ve been avoiding, like a piece of deep work, preparation for a conversation, or perhaps a habit that you care about (such as exercise, reading, thinking time).
Name it in one line out loud: ”Today, showing up means 20 minutes’ work on the strategy paper.” Or: ”Today, showing up means going for a walk rather than skipping it entirely.”
Clarity and doing something matter here. If you don’t define it, your brain will happily skip it.
Next, lower the bar to something you can actually do in your current state. Ask yourself: “What is the minimum viable version of this I’m willing to commit to today?”
That might be anything tangible, such as 10 focused minutes on the document instead of an hour; walking around the block instead of your full training session, or drafting bullet points instead of a polished deck.
You are not giving up on ambition, but you are protecting consistency. This is about keeping the thread intact so tomorrow isn’t a restart from zero.
Finally, on flat days, keep your self-talk light and accept that it is fine. Any heavy judgment (“I should be doing more”) is wasted energy. You don’t need drama. You need completion.
When you have done your minimum viable version, stop. Take a minute to notice the difference between: “I did nothing, again” and “I did a light version, and I kept the promise.”
That second sentence is worth a lot over time as it builds the identity of a quiet resolve that says: “I’m someone who turns up, even when I’m not at my best.”
Over time, that identity will do more for your results than bursts of enthusiasm ever will.
You will still have flat days; you’ll still be human, but instead of those days wiping you out, they become days where you maintain momentum, protect the habits that matter, and carry your future self a little closer to where you want to be.
Paul Lyons is an experienced business leader, adviser and coach enjoying a diverse career across Australia and Asia. He can be contacted at [email protected]. This article first appeared on the Mental Toughness blogsite.
