How to Motivate Yourself When You Feel Like Giving Up
Take a break not an exit route
Every good athlete embraces the importance of rest and recovery. The most intelligent ones understand that the only way to undergo a period of intense training is to follow it up with a well-balanced recovery phase.
“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.”―Alan Cohen
Take Usain Bolt for an example. He’d take at least one month off after each season to recover mentally, and if the following year didn’t include a World Championships or Olympics, he’d take closer to two months off. And yes, he’s as close to a real-life Superman as humanly possible.
But for some reason, us regular folk seem convinced that such advice doesn’t apply to us — even if the fastest man on the planet lives by it. We’re falsely led into the idea that ‘rest’ is reserved for the weak.
We spend 3 hours at the gym because we feel the need to conquer our New Year’s resolutions. We’re up till 3 am every night to ensure we publish 20 blog posts a week. But guess what, sunshine? Doing this is only going to result in mental (and physical) exhaustion.
Rest Is Crucial in Sustaining Productivity
When you feel like you’re on the verge of quitting, it’s your cue to take a break not an exit route. You’ve worked hard, now let your mental muscles repair.
Don’t pick up your laptop to write — lock it away in a cupboard if you have to. Freeze your gym membership for a week. Put your ukulele back in its case. Use your time away to switch off.
Taking regular breaks is an intelligent way of ensuring long-term success. Use the time wisely. Reflect on how you can avoid burnout the next time. Contemplate how to better flex your passions into your daily routine to bring about a happier, healthier version of you.
Who knows, maybe you’ll stumble onto the powerful awakening you’ve so desperately needed to accelerate your potential to the next level. Maybe you’ll realise that you’re better off writing 10 quality blog posts instead of 20 mediocre ones. Or as Russell Eric Dobda once said,
“Taking a break can lead to breakthroughs.”
But a Break Is Only a Break If You Return
I get it. You’re equally worried that taking a break will destroy this wonderful routine you’ve built for yourself. You’re concerned the results you’ve compounded over many weeks, months, and years will suddenly disappear.
And while you might accept the fact that you need to take some time off, you’re worried you might never return. You’d like to believe that your time away from hearing the sweet sounds of the ukulele will naturally prompt you to pick up from where you left off, but what if you don’t?
Your concerns are valid. You have every right to question yourself. Why? Because taking too long a break may lead you towards the destructive path of quitting.
But instead of allowing this fear get to you, why not intentionally set a return date prior to escaping for a few days?
Mark the date in your calendar. Set a reminder on your phone. Do whatever you have to do to remind yourself, that after a 10 day period of no exercise, you’re going to pick up your gym bag and head straight to the bench press machine.
But how long is “too long”?
Well, a simple heuristic might serve you well.
If you’ve been working out consistently for one year, give yourself one week off. If you’ve been writing every day for the past two years, take a couple of weeks off. One week for one year of consistency.
Feel free to apply whatever model that will work best for you and your mind/body. But make this decision at the start of your recovery period. “Seeing how things go” will undoubtedly encourage you to perpetually postpone your return date to enjoy a few more days of relaxation — and then your fear of quitting might even turn into a reality.
In short, commit to your return date by setting it in advance. It’s what separates those who are merely taking a break from those who will ultimately quit.
A Final Thought
Never forget how the only person that actually expects you to become a “super-human” in your chosen field is the little voice inside your head.
Whatever you do, don’t let this guide you into the dark forests of burnout. But equally, don’t let your inner voice convince you that you’re better off giving up something you’re good at, when in reality, all you needed was a break.
Ultimately, it’s never about throwing away the good habits and hobbies you’ve formed over the years, it’s about remembering to recharge the batteries that are powering them.
