10 Biggest Motivation Killers and how to fix them

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Motivation Killers

Motivation is not a sticky beast! It is an oft-discussed topic but it doesn’t last long. Some believe that motivation is like a virus that can be caught but it is never long-lived. The only long-term quick fix is to find motivation killers.

Motivational tool-kit has many things – stories from peers, emotional videos, tweets, books, and snapshots of great accomplishments. Every time we buy motivational books or listen to podcasts sharing the secret to motivation, we get inspired!

How long this motivation lasts? Does it last forever? The answer is simple – It doesn’t last forever. If you say that it stays put then, you’re lucky.

But what if I tell you that you must arrest motivation killer to survive and prevent it from affecting you? Wouldn’t you want to fix it?

Here are 7 Motivational Killer of which you must be aware of:

1. Lack of clear goals

There is no greater motivation killer than a vague or unrealistic goal. Who likes to board a train without knowing the destination and route it takes? (Except if you are adventurous). The same rule applies to our goals and objectives. When you sit in a train you know it’s destination and the route it takes. Even if you don’t know the route you know the ultimate destination. You need to have moderate and attainable goals so that you can make an entire flowchart to achieve it.

Quick fix: Make Unambiguous, measurable and clear goals accompanied by a deadline for completion boosts motivation and productivity.

“All successful people have a goal. No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do.”- Norman Vincent Peale

2. Negative and toxic people

Negative people have only one goal in mind- to bring you down. They will tell you 99 reasons why you can’t achieve your goals or drag you down to their level. Sometimes it is easier to find faults in others than fixing the faults in their own life. They have a problem with every solution.

Quick fix: Stay away from toxic people. Express gratitude as it helps us to see what is there instead of what isn’t.

“The worst person to be around is someone who complains about everything and appreciates nothing.”

3. Fear of Failure

When we are moving towards our dreams, fear of failure is inevitable and logical. We have two choices: we can let it prevent us from fulfilling our goal or we can use it to boost our motivation. Fear of failure has a twin sister – procrastination. This not only kills valuable time but also affects our approach towards fear.

Quick fix: You don’t have to immediately defeat your failure. Use it in your brainstorming session and find a solution to your fear. Face your fear!

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill.

Motivation killers #success #failure #motivation

4. Setbacks

Past failures, experiences, and setbacks are the biggest motivation killer. You cannot move forward if you are still thinking about your pasts.  Learn from your mistakes but don’t let it stop you in making decisions.

Quick Fix: Drop your baggage of shame, regret, unhappiness, mistakes, grudges, etc. This is the only way you can move forward. Practice self-compassion.

“Renew, release, let go. Yesterday’s gone. There’s nothing you can do to bring it back. You can’t “should’ve” done something. You can only DO something. Renew yourself. Release that attachment. Today is a new day!” – Steve Maraboli

5. Comparison

What better way to kill your motivation is to compare yourself with others? The comparison is futile, it doesn’t solve your purpose. Comparing your skills to the skill set of an older, more experienced person or comparing your brand to a more established brand. Almost all of us fall into the trap of comparison and it makes us feel overwhelmed, insecure and lost in the noise.

Quick fix: Attain more skill sets and practice gratitude.  It will boost your confidence and motivate you to work harder.

“The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”― Steven Furtick

 

What do you think about these Motivation Killers? What else do you think should be there on this list? Wish to read some awesome quotes on fear of failure, then check it out here.

Lots of love,

xoxo

94 thoughts on “10 Biggest Motivation Killers and how to fix them”

  4. I think 2 and 3 are really everyones main problem nowadays ! We need to avoid negative people from our life to stay focused on our goals!

  6. Toxic people can ruin your mojo like no other. Surround yourselves with goal oriented people with ambition and they will raise you up with them.

    1. Toxic people are definitely difficult to deal with. Thanks for sharing your views…I am glad that you liked the post! 🙂

  7. This is such a great post. For me no. 2 & 5 are the greatest motivation killers.Thanks for sharing this post. 🙂

  8. A motivation killer for me is definitely falling out of my routine. I’m a person of routine and when there’s a slight change in it, it throws me off easily. I should really work on that. 🙁

    Comparison is a really big motivation killer, I agree. People compare themselves to others way too often. 🙁

    1. Breaking routine is your motivation killer…I think I should’ve added this to the list. Thanks for sharing!

  9. I generally have spurts of motivation that arrive and depart on their own accord. One thing that has let me stay on course even if I am not motivated is making clear to do lists. Thanks for the great post.

    Gayathri @ Musings Over Nothing

    1. To-do lists definitely set the mood…I love making lists, it helps in so many different ways. Thanks 🙂

  10. It’s slightly ironic that I’m reading this as I am fobing off work because of a complete lack of motivation! But they are great tips to get things done and keep going.

  12. Thank you for taking the time to share this, one often thinks that motivation is something that comes and goes and it’s only by luck whether it choses you. Time to start applying this to my life!

  14. I love all these tips! I have been seeing “get rid of toxic people” quite a bit lately and I feel like this is a sign for me haha. I love what you wrote about not having clear goals. Vision boards and bullet journaling really helps me get my goals in order so I’m more likely to accomplish them. This was a fantastic list with lots of practical advice!

    1. Vision board and bullet journaling is a great step to work towards your goals. Thanks for sharing your views…I am glad that you liked the post! 🙂

  16. I agree with you motivation is only viable when you have a plan and clear goals. Sometimes setting unrealistic goals can hinder the results thus lose motivation. Great post.

  17. Fear of failure is such a key thing for me at this timeand I love your solution of facing it head on. Thank you for the advice ?

  19. I’d say that Fear of Failure is my major setback! But I have learned that if you don’t just go for it, themn someone else will and you’ll always be left wondering what could’ve been!

    1. Thanks for sharing your views. Fear of failure is something we all have but if we work on it and believe in our dreams, we can achieve our goals. 🙂

  20. Fear of failure can definitely stop you from effectively working and it has happened to me often. Learning to believe in yourself helps you overcome your lack of motivation x

    1. This is so true…learning to believe in yourself is so important. Thanks for sharing your views, I am glad that you liked the post! 🙂

  21. Fear of failure and lack of clear goals actually push one to true failure. We need to drat clear goals and take on with challenges and failures and get up with a gung-ho to succeed. Loved the motivation .

  22. For me, comparison is probably my worst. That, and I have a very “I want it now” personality. I’ve been learning to reign that in lately, but I get frustrated when things don’t happen as quickly as I think they should.

    1. This happens to me all the time. It is difficult to not compare ourselves but it is better to stay away from the comparison. Thanks for sharing your views…I am glad that you liked the post! 🙂

  24. These are all SO true, and I definitely agree with you. I think specific goals are super important and you really should believe in yourself and challenge yourself to become a better person.

  25. All of these motivation killers are toxic for health. Especially the points toxic people and fear of failure makes us feel down and demotivated. Thanks for sharing.

    1. Agree with you completely. Thanks for sharing your views…I am glad that you liked the post! 🙂

  26. Motivation is the one thing that I find so difficult to keep up, and what helps me is actually to “keep my eyes on the prize”. I’ve learnt that the only way to deal with toxic people is to just stay away from them; sometimes they are difficult to recognise because they use phrases like “I care about you”, “I don’t want you to get hurt”, etc.

    1. Oh Yes! This is so true. These disguised toxic friends make life more difficult as you never come to know if they mean what they say or they are enjoying our situation. Thanks for sharing your views…I am glad that you liked the post! 🙂

  28. All five tips are worth for gaining motivation in life. Keeping away from toxic or negative people is the most important for me. Thanks for sharing!

  30. These are really great tips and how to overcome motivational Killers. Fear of failure is a huge one I think that most people suffer from so they don’t even try. But having clearly defined goals and small steps that you can take in order to reach your goals makes it much easier and many people who have succeeded have said one of the things that was the motivation for them was that fail because it forced them to be better. Great post! Great tips!

  31. Yes!!! Comparison, negative people and fear of failure are 3 huge areas where you can loose motivation, you see someone else’s success and think you’ll never get there without seeing how hard they work behind the scenes or without knowing their goals. Listening to toxic people try to keep you from achieving success because they don’t want you doing better than them and that fear that you’ll fail and be judged or laughed at. Great post!

  32. I think not having clear goals, or goals that inspire you is easily one of the biggest motivation killers out there!

  34. I needed this extra bit of motivation today. Great reminders! I couldn’t agree more– comparison steals joy and can be toxic. This quote really struck a chord: “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”― Steven Furtick

    Thanks for sharing!

  35. I definitely can relate to the setbacks one. Sometimes it’s hard to overcome all of these things to get motivated! Thanks for sharing x

  36. I had negative and toxic people in my life who were definitely motivation killers and I just had to remove them from my life at the moment. I’m trying to be the best me possible and only need positive people around me. Thanks for sharing this post!

  37. Great list and tips to remove motivation killers from your life. #5 though seems like a double edged sword. I agree comparison is the thief of joy most often and has often put me in a funk. However, I don’t think you need to remove “Comparison” but rather develop a better outlook toward it. If you don’t compare yourself to the best then how can you Set Goals as in #1?

    1. I agree with you completely…your outlook is everything! But sometimes when we keep comparing with others, we try to either imitate them or start criticizing ourselves. If you do competitive analysis and take the time to understand their model, it can help you in setting goals and plan to achieve it. 🙂

  38. These are all true. I relate to set backs and toxic people. It’s crazy how our mind gets so numb when were surrounded by toxic people and how easily we lose our way. Thanks for sharing.
    Maria | https://imommy.co

  40. I could not agree more with your comparison point. We totally compare ourselves to everyone else’s best moments! Even if we know that’s the case, it’s still so hard to stop ourselves from thinking that way. Also, I need to create clearer daily goals for sure! Thanks for the tips.

  43. Thank you for sharing such a great article . This blog is inspiring me and all the reader for sure . Motivation killer yes its true , in my side scare to make a mistake or on your blog written fear for failure is always stopping me to move forward .

  46. This is 100% spot on. I love it! Thank you for sharing because I believe we have all experienced this at one time or another in their lives.

  48. I so agree with all your points that you have mentioned. It is important to stay away from all the toxic people to prevent negativity in our lives!

  49. I think when it comes to blogging, I’m always comparing myself to my favorite bloggers…even though I’m doing quite well. I keep telling myself to use their blogs for inspiration only.

  50. Great list! In the end it comes down to getting things done no matter what. There will always be something you can use an excuse. All starts with mindset and persistence.

  51. I couldn’t agree more with the point about comparing myself to others. I’ve discovered that when I’m feeling down about my blog or procrastinate when it comes to working on it .. it’s because I’ve been spending too much time online. I start to tell myself my work will never be as beautiful or wonderful as anyone else’s and think “what’s the point” Unplugging completely for a few days always solves the problem! x

  52. Clear goals are a must. In my experience, they also have to align with what you really want. When I first started my business, I wasn’t really motivated. I quickly realized that it was because I had set the wrong goals. Once I thought through and redefined my goals in terms of what I really wanted to do, it was much easier to achieve them.

  53. The moment I rejected toxic people from my life, I became motivated to do better and be better. I am much happier now.

  56. You are so right!! I think 2,3 and 5 are the greatest motivation killer. We must deal with our mistakes in life. We are better off. We get motivation for every mistakes we can do.

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