We can spot a defeated person a mile off. They are hunched, placid, and trying to fake a smile. In short, their energy and life force is gone. They have lost interest in life. Maybe you’ve been there—sick and tired of the mundane of life, bored of the repetition, and uninspired by the journey and daily routine. In this article, I’ll take a look at some of the contributing factors that can lead you to this destitute and barren place and identify specifically what you do about it to find your way back to a world of inspiration and uplifted self. The real reason you experience a loss of interest is that you aren’t connected to that fire inside, that thing that lights you up—your purpose. Whether you’ve lost it due to circumstances out of your control, a marathon of high stakes pressure and pain, or you’re frustrated with the demands of life, you’ve let it go and accepted a state lower than your normal as your normal. Perhaps you are wondering, how this could have happened? Where did it start?
The Reality of the Situation
At the crux of it, you’ve stopped believing that anything is possible for you. You’ve hit pause on dreaming big and applying that powerful ingredient of faith and action to your mission. This is the truth of the matter. The acceptance of a low state has a significant impact across a wide variety of daily life choices. This, in turn, causes other things not to go your way and reinforces your loss of interest in life. We must make it a habit to remember that it’s the small choices we make daily to connect with meaning, stand tall regardless of the challenges and uncertainty, and walk towards our greatest vision boldly. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s not easy. But it is a process, and it can be mastered with practice. It takes effort to make the "right" choices. That process starts with identity. Once you identify who you want to become and contrast this with where you currently are, you can being to operate your life by a series of principles and rules that support your vision of your future self. This is one of the major ways you can keep yourself in a state of peak interest and momentum in life. The way to reignite it is to do what you do best. Do more of what makes you feel like you are alive: falling in love with the story of what you are selling all over again or with the outcome of your bigger vision for your life (your purpose) and with reaching your greatest potential—falling in love with fulfillment and a commitment to delivering your best. In other words, it all stems from an attitude that has reconnected with the magic of possibility.
Why Do We Experience a Loss of Interest?
Let’s now take a look at some of the more tangible reasons a loss of interest in life can take hold. It's sneaky, so it's worth paying close attention to so that you can learn to recognize the signs.
1. Like a Stranger in the Night
It creeps up on you like a stranger in a dark alley. You have a sense that it's behind you, waiting, watching, and ready to strike at the opportune moment. I am talking about
burnout. That dreaded word we associate with slowing down and something that happens to "other people" but not us. With burnout, often we are aware on some level that it’s around the corner, but we don’t take the corrective steps to do anything about it until it’s too late. It could be you have been pushing too hard. We see T-Shirts with "NO DAYS OFF" and "Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat," and this gives the impression that everything we want is on the other side of the grind when in fact, the grind can make us feel completely flat. We must indeed connect with the joy, possibility, and potential of the present moment while building our vision for a better life, and do that we need to infuse self-care into our ‘musts’ for our life. You must quite literally impose a ritual of
self-care on yourself. Now, for some of you, this will seem quite strange. You might be thinking: "You mean I should stop!?" You may even need to exert more willpower than anticipated to get yourself a massage or sit quietly and read a book. It will seem counter to your objectives, like a deterrent, an obstacle, a bump in the road trying to take you off course when in fact, this commitment to self-care is aligning you with exactly where and who you need to be. The goal is to do things that are new to bring yourself to life again—anything from getting a massage, taking a bike ride, going for a walk in nature, enjoying an art class, attending yoga, and starting a new course—n
ot every now and again but as a daily priority Even something as simple as turning off screens after 8:30 pm is a gift of self-care to yourself. It’s time to invest in yourself. It’s the only way to stave off the threat of burnout and avoid the dizziness-inducing and confusing roller-coaster that suddenly brings everything screeching to a halt. To go faster, slow down. This allows you to work smarter and harder.—to optimize and notice when you feel like you’re starting to dip and lose sight of your big goals. When you notice this, learn to acknowledge within yourself that it’s time to course-correct and bring yourself back to channel your inner wellbeing. Better yet, make it a daily priority—a rule. You’ll be sure to avoid the dips and dodge the barren wasteland of burnout singed with limited human potential.
2. When You’re Not Pushing Yourself
The flip side of burnout that also causes a loss of interest is you may also be too comfortable. I know it sounds strange, but comfort has a way of making things mundane. There’s no risk, no adventure, no valiant quest to pursue, and this is a problem. As humans, when we aren’t pushing ourselves, we aren’t growing and because all of life is growth, it makes sense that due to this, our interest in life starts to wane. The way to address this swiftly is to do some activities that you are afraid of doing that would need you to raise your energy, think more deeply, and connect with your inner strengths. Again, it will require you to take some action and put yourself on the path to success by volunteering or seeking new frontiers to conquer. When you can notice this inner spark for life start to fade gently, guide yourself back by taking the action on things that you find challenging but recognize as good for you. For example, try asking for an opportunity to present to the company about a specialist topic you know about or going the extra mile by drawing up a territory plan for a new market and then requesting to pitch it to the management. When you take these types of actions, you are signaling to yourself that you trust yourself, you are engaged with life’s miraculous way, and you are open to the adventure. Funnily enough, this is also an act of self-care in itself. These type of purpose-filled actions swiftly take you away from your everyday groove and require you to raise your mental and emotional game while keeping you in pursuing the most ambitious version of yourself.
3. It Pays Dividends
The next factor that can take a hit on your interest and cause it to nosedive is sleep. Sleep equals recovery and instead of seeing this as downtime, you must view it as allowing your body and brain to do its best work, process information, allow you to come back stronger, balance your serotonin replenish the levels of dopamine, and repair and grow. You might have noticed that the best ideas come to you when you’re in the shower or walking in a field. That’s because we let go of the noise and relax enough to let dopamine and creativity rise. According to Matthew Walker, "sleep is your superpower." You can watch his TedTalk below.
Ways to Fill Up From Within
The hardest thing about maintaining any great level of success is knowing what you must do to achieve fulfillment while battling the demands of life. This is even harder when you have a loss of interest. You know the path you must follow but are caught trying to keep everything going (including your self-care) despite the interruptions, bad moods of others, crying babies, bad weather, and anything else that tries to hold you in place. The growth element of all of this comes from staying above the noise and prioritizing self-awareness around how you are feeling so that you can adjust as required. It comes from practicing self-care daily despite the annoyances and the need to want to honor our emotions, such as frustration and being right. Success is here, not only within reach—it has arrived. It is within, and we must fight to protect it. Every day, we each have the same set of variables but we decide how we interact, what we see, and how we operate and conduct ourselves. Holding yourself to a higher standard is what cuts through the mediocrity and allows you to adopt a new set of principles for yourself.
- I will not adopt your mood.
- I will not pick up what you are putting out.
- I will not stop the good vibes, abundance, and recognizing the presence of the spirit that's all around me.
- I am connected to my inner self and my greatest potential.
The way is to forgive to be at peace—to move forward regardless of the niggles that come to trip us up, deplete our energy, and keep us from the tranquillity of success. Success is found in quieting the noise and doing it anyway. Success is who you are and how you choose to respond. When we depend on the external to make us feel happy, inspired, and alive, we deny the reservoir of love within. Inner guidance, inner
self-love, inner fulfillment are where the external success begins, not the other way around. Engage fully with that. Read it again, and make sure you take it in fully. This is your journey. Your growth and your success to experience, love, and be grateful can build, share, and change lives. The key is to do something novel that’s also enriching for you.
- Walk around nature. Let your mind flow—witness the abundance and power of life.
- Get a massage. Allow yourself to replenish and refuel.
- Attend a gym class. Sweat out the toxins daily.
- Bike with friends—enjoy inspired conversation and the beauty of nature.
- Start a new activity, and open yourself to the world.
- Have a new experience, and meet other inspired individuals.
- Read a new book, or go on a self-development adventure.
- Detach from what you think it all means.
Do only what makes you feel fully alive on this plane—in this aura. Float. Operate in a state of optimism with a non-complaining attitude and a smile. Believe that it all will work out in your favor and that the universe is working for you and your greater good. Live your bliss. Take responsibility for the story you are telling yourself.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, one of the main reasons we find a loss of interest in life is that we have gotten too comfortable. Comfort is an illusion. Similarly, if you’ve gone too hard without joy or have not prioritized an appropriate amount of sleep, you feel this negativity. We want to operate at the intersection of tasks that are deeply challenging yet achievable. That’s just how we humans are wired. We like problems that require us to apply our intellect. This is the state where can feel in flow—be most effective in our learning and growth while feeling alive.
“Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.” ―Viktor E. Frankl
You choose what goes into your head. What your mind thinks, feed it well.
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