Remember how eager and how much career motivation you had when you first started your job. You wanted to reach for the stars and help the company as much as you can. Your creative ideas would flow nonstop.
But somewhere along the way, you became complacent. Nothing motivates you anymore and you’ve become comfortable in your job. Your drive to succeed is gone.
Here are some ways to see if your motivation is gone and how to fix it.
Signs You’ve Lost Motivation in Your Career
You Remain Quiet Even When You Disagree With a Proposal
You used to speak up and offer your opinions. You wanted to succeed. If a project or idea didn’t seem right, you offered up an alternative idea that you thought would work much better.
But nobody at work agreed with you, especially the decision-makers. The project moved forward without your input and nobody paid any attention to the points you made. It didn’t matter how often you said something about it, nobody listened.
Now you’ve lost your career motivation. You don’t care about the outcomes of projects anymore. You don’t care anymore if they make bad decisions. And you continue to be quiet and unmotivated.
You No Longer Share Your Ideas
There was a time when you first started your current job, that you were excited to help and make an impact. Maybe you could spot an inefficient process or a new way to approach certain projects.
Perhaps your ideas weren’t used and nobody seemed interested in them. Or maybe you started to just do what that team has always done with their processes. You simply gave up on making any improvements. And you start to think that a change would just be a burden for everyone.
Your enthusiasm is gone and your creativity is lying dormant. You’re just going with the flow and have an ‘I don’t care’ attitude. Maybe you feel completely competent within the current workflow and don’t care about looking for ways to improve anything.
Your career motivation has left you. And you sit at your computer wondering if your motivation will ever change.
You no Longer Try to Advance Your Career Where You Work
There was a time you were eager to advance in your career. You looked for opportunities everywhere and were anxious to apply to a new position with the company.
But you got comfortable in your current position. You can do your job really well and you no longer think about taking something on that requires more responsibility.
You’re happy to just do your job and meet those requirements. But that spark is gone!
Related: The Silent Soul and Career Crusher
Take Action – Either Quit or Work Harder
You may have suffered several disappointments in your career that may have caused you to lose your drive. You don’t even care about getting a raise anymore. Giving up was the easiest option.
You’re in a rut. Once in a rut, it’s harder to get out the longer you stay. Sort of like a car stuck in a rut, nothing can be done to get that car out except if someone pulls it out.
Once you’re comfortable, it’s hard to see what the benefit of making a change would be.
But if you want to get your career motivation back and be excited again about your work, you have two options to help you. Either quit your job or work harder to get what you want. At some point, doing nothing feels like the best option for you.
But you start to realize that you want to get out of that rut and taking action is what will break you free. The feeling of helplessness will disappear. Once again you will have purpose and direction in your career. Your motivation will return.
Here’s a quote by Leonardo da Vinci. He said, “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Being willing is not enough, we must do.”
Here’s another quote from the fictional Star Wars character, Yoda. He said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
Maybe you gave up trying a long time ago. But if you want your career motivation back and to get excited again at work, you should do something about it. After all, you spend most of your time at work!
Define Your Fears and Face Them
If nobody listened to your ideas when you first started your job, you may have developed a fear of trying and making a mistake. Fear can also cause you to freeze in place. Fears can be real or not real. Whichever one they are, you have to name your fear and face it if you want to overcome fear. If you search yourself and discover you have a fear about something, then name that fear and face it.
It’s better to face whatever fears you have developed and work through them, than wait for them to just go away on their own. They never will. You have the choice of controlling your fears or letting them control you.
Whatever may have happened for you to lose your career motivation, know that it can be fixed. Whether it’s fear, anxiety, loss of motivation, or your job just got too boring, take action to get your inspiration back.
Take stock of what you really want in your life and find out what’s stopping you from getting it. Journal if you have to. Let all your feelings out whether negative or positive. Get to the bottom of why you lost your motivation. You can regain it again and live a life of purpose.
What steps are you going to take to get your career motivation back?
