Comments on: How to Overcome Apathy (If You Can Be Bothered…)

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:39:42 +0000

I found much of your article to be informative and useful. Your advice to list goals was a wonderful idea. I did, however, find that it seems to allow room for people to wiggle out of things that they do not want to do and do not feel motivated to do. If we have a goal that we want to accomplish, there are times that we have to push through the apathy and see our goal to the end. At the moment, I have no motivation. None. I am totally apathetic. I have ignored my housework. The house is a mess. I have not done anything to move forward in life. I have always depended on others to help me out of situations that I have caused through making poor choices. I now realize that I have to find a way to push forward toward the goal of having my children wanting to be around me again. I have allowed myself to fall into a pattern of trying to change things, getting frustrated and going back to square one over and over. Unless I find a way to motivate myself to become independent, I will never gain my girls’ respect. So, while I see your point, I cannot agree that we can always move toward another goal until we see certain goals through. Finding the motivation to do these things is difficult. I should be motivated out of love for my kids. They stay with family most days because of my lack of ability to follow through on things. They do not trust that I will make sure that they have clean clothes or get them up for school on time. I have become so lazy that I do not even know where to begin. I do know that I have to begin to make change and not one idea or motivational thought I can write down will be a bit of use unless it gives me some goal to work towards that will contibute to the main goal. That is the hard part. I’m now so bogged down with things that I do not want to do that I have no clear picture of where to begin. I only recently took responsibility for the fact that, I alone, have caused most of my difficulties in life. I did not have to take the easy way out. I should not have taken the easy way. In the end, that has been the worst mistake I’ve made. Now, at nearly 40, I have to change almost everything about the way I handle life. What your article lacked was a way to move past the apathy and find a way to work towards something that is necessary. It is fine to work towards other goals that make one enthusiastic. It is not good to focus all time and energy on those goals and overlook the ones that we do not the steps we must take, but need to find a way to take them anyway. Perhaps, I missed something when I read the article or am missing the point. I just felt that it could cause others to give up on something that they may later regret. Personal relationships are not always able to be repaired and we lose loved ones at times. By remaining apathetic in regard to what we need to do to repair our personal lives, there might be a time we feel regret, but find it is too late to do anything about it.

By: Alexandrina

Alexandrina — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:38:06 +0000

Really great article! I’m facing some motivation issues recently and I found your thoughts very useful!

Thanks and keep on going!

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:07:49 +0000

What a great article and as I read through I found the soundest piece of wisdom I could ever hope to find amongst all these thousands of self-help “gurus”: productivity only matters if you have a reason to be productive.

Everyone needs goals and direction in life and without a dream or something to focus on working towards then we drift around aimlessly, half finishing projects with no real purpose.

I definitely believe that if it’s not working then there’s something wrong – if you don’t have the motivation to keep you going then you need to look at just what it is you’re trying to achieve.

I’ve just finished reading a book on a very similar subject. It’s called Live What You Love by Bob and Mel Blanchard. They are two people who one day decided to actually see what it would take to achieve their dreams. They followed a guide that involves Deciding what you want to do, Researching your options, Evaluating your goals, Acting to make your plans a reality and finally Maintaining your dream to make it last. Yes, that all spells D.R.E.A.M which is a bit gimmicky but the book is full of sound advice and well worth a read.

By: Nadine

Nadine — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:58:08 +0000

I picked this article to read because today I’m feeling apathetic, possibly because I’m low on energy due to a cold, but apathetic none the less. I tried your idea of listing goals/desires, and after I wrote down about the 15th one I felt inspired and got up to work on a small project. So thanks for a great idea!

By: MrPositioning.com (Stanley Bronstein)

MrPositioning.com (Stanley Bronstein) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:21:10 +0000

Scott:

You hit the nail on the head when you said productivity only matters if you have a reason to be productive.

THAT is what we are all looking for in life, a purpose !!!

I ask the readers of this blog, do you have a personal mission statement? What is your reason for being? We should all be able to some up our reason for being in a few sentences. By knowing who we are and why we are here, we will be able to determine what it is that we need to do and how we should spend our time.

For example, my personal mission statement says:

My purpose in life is to help others find their purpose in life, and achieve it !

One sentence that says it all …

In my books, I’ve shared many exercises designed to help others figure out their purpose in life.

Excellent article, I love your topics. Please keep up the good work.

Stanley F. Bronstein
Mr. Positioning
Attorney, CPA, Author & Professional Motivational Speaker

By: Scott Young

Scott Young — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:49:25 +0000

Bitcloud,

I completely agree, that’s why I needed to include an exception in my conclusion.

I wish there were an easy answer for when you should persist and when you need to switch, but there isn’t. I tend to lean towards persistence, but there are key moments where it is better to lean the other way.

Generally it’s a good idea to consult why you started the goal in the first place. If you can still reconnect with that core drive, even if it has been diminished from frustrations, you probably need to keep pushing on.

Great comments everyone.

Best,
-Scott

By: Richard (reachingabetterplace.com)

Richard (reachingabetterplace.com) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:31:51 +0000

I find the best way to overcome apathy is to recognise that it makes me feel worse than I do when I’m stuck in with the work of the latest goal – I might resist that work for a while at first but I’ll eventually get into it and feel fine again.

By: Jeff@My Super-Charged Life

Jeff@My Super-Charged Life — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:28:26 +0000

This is a great article! I’ve dealt with motivation issues from time to time and I think you are right on track here. One key for me is to remember not to make any rash decisions about goals or projects when I’m tired. It is easy to feel apathetic when you are run down. I usually table the matter and sleep on it. Sometimes it helps me to give the whole thing a rest for a few days or over a weekend. Once rested and relaxed, I usually find the energy to regain my motivation and direction.

By: Albert (http://thoughtsintime.co.za/)

Albert (http://thoughtsintime.co.za/) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:07:55 +0000

Oops, one more thing. This post also reminded me of an old Robert Fulghum quote: “That which isn’t worth doing, isn’t worth doing well”.

By: Albert (http://thoughtsintime.co.za/)

Albert (http://thoughtsintime.co.za/) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:06:46 +0000

Great post. What is the the point of hurrying to a destination that is not clear or interesting? A lot of the productivity blogs miss this point.

One more thing from my own experience: Often apathy is often a sign of burn-out or fatigue. So have a good night or weekend’s rest before you decide to quit your job and move to Guam!