Liv Walde
Finding motivation and passion can be a real hard struggle for some people.
For others, it’s as if they pop out the womb ready to boss-baby hustle, armed with a 6 shot iced latte and filing papers galore.
And living in a world where hustle culture is heavily celebrated, it can be tough to feel heard or understood if you’re not of the boss-baby caliber.
Perhaps you’ve been labeled lazy. Or unmotivated. Or sloth-like (guilty party here!)
When in reality, you know your calling is out there somewhere – you just haven’t found it yet.
Plus, all the guilt-tripping and accusatory labels make you even less motivated to go looking for your passion.
Does this nasty cycle sound familiar?
If it does, continue reading about the 7 behaviors often displayed by those who lack passion and drive (often without them even realizing it):
1) Bland indifference
A clear indicator that you may be lacking drive and passion is if you frequently find yourself indifferent to pretty much everything.
Noodles or Pizza for dinner?
“Don’t care.”
Get subbed onto a new and exciting project at work?
“Meh.”
Invited onto a yacht to sail around the Caribbean (the holiday of your dreams).
(Cue a shrug of the shoulders and expressionless face.)
What’s likely is that without any purpose or passion firing up your emotions, you find it difficult to get excited about almost anything. Even things that absolutely tickle your fancy usually.
And unfortunately, this indifference often bleeds into your relationships with others. You seem lackluster and listless in their company, which causes many to believe you’re losing interest in them (or that you’re purely a bit of an a**hole.)
This indifference isn’t a character flaw (at least not in your case) but a sign that you really do need to invest in yourself and find whatever it is that lights you up inside.
2) Unable to even set or achieve minor tasks
Without bigger things to work towards, you find yourself suddenly stumbling at the minor ones.
Doing the laundry? Out of the question.
Replying to text messages? Maybe in 3 months time…
Showering? Sounds absolutely exhausting!
Suddenly, even simple, everyday chores feel like climbing Mount Everest. They seemed practically insurmountable, and you end up falling deeper and deeper into a hole of apathy and self-loathing.
This isn’t because of your laziness or a lack of ambition, either. It’s simply that your inner drive has taken a backseat in all areas of life, making everything feel ten times more arduous.
What’s worse is that others misinterpret this downward spiral as utter slovenliness…
When really, you’ve just lost sight of everything that makes you tick and are consequently struggling to find motivation to complete even the most minor of chores.
3) Procrastination station
Procrastination is a common thread amongst individuals who have yet to find their drive and passion.
And I’m not talking about being lazy or disorganized as a general personality trait, but far more about decision paralysis experienced by those who lack purpose.
Chronic procrastination and a lack of self-compassion are often heavily intertwined, meaning that people who tend to delay tasks are often harsh on themselves.
All this inner cussing and tearing at one’s self-worth leads to an even further drop in motivation, and spurs on a toxic cycle.
People often label procrastinators as being lazy or incapable, but it’s not about their capability to perform these tasks in the slightest.
The challenge is in them finding the drive and passion that initiates action rather than delay.
4) Woah, look at that butterfly! (Distractions)
Your mind tends to wander when you’re not truly invested in a task.
Hence why gazing out the window, watching clouds or butterflies (or literally anything other than your work at hand) seems suddenly so deeply exciting.
For those who lack purpose and passion, this inability to focus isn’t due to a short attention span. Instead, it’s likely the activity in question doesn’t ignite their passions or interest, making it far harder for them to engage with it.
Their mind wanders, their eyes gloss over, and they otherwise think of anything but what needs doing…
The answer to a wandering mind is finding something to capture its interest.
A new hobby, a new book, a new dream – all of these pathways can keep a wandering mind rooted and concentrating.
5) Feeling like you’re stuck in quicksand
Everyone else seems to have their life paths done and dusted, yet you?
You have no idea where you’re headed.
And the more you watch everyone else get promoted or change career paths or settle down and get hitched, the greater the sense of doom and gloom grows.
It’s a never ending cycle that worsens the more you compare yourself and get stuck in your own head – so try to scramble out the sand and remind yourself that everyone is on their own journey.
Just because you’re in a different place to those around you doesn’t mean that you’re not on your own journey to finding what ignites your passion and propels you forward in life.
6) Hermit’s life for me
Ah yes, the comfort zone.
Warm, soft, squishy. Why ever would you leave?
Oh, you haven’t spoken to another soul in weeks? (Houseplants don’t count).
You’ve declined dinner invitations, rejected social outings, and not even messaged your mother back?
Eeek! Sounds like someone’s a little too stuck in the comfort zone to me.
Feeling suddenly overwhelmed at having no passion or purpose can often mean that we retreat even further to what we know and what we find comfortable.
Making it even harder to find anything that ignites our passions (unless these things can be discovered from the comforts of our home sofas).
You’re likely not even adverse to a lil’ adventure seeking, but that worry of never finding what you’re meant to do means you’ve cut off any possibilities of adventuring.
So, if you’re currently often to be found within the comfort zone, don’t worry!
You can start browsing for new hobbies and opportunities from within your safe haven.
Your internet browser is a good place to start, and even home based hobbies can fire up a great deal of new interests.
7) Settling for less
Thinking yourself unworthy and incapable, you might be settling for less; in relationships, career positions, or even self-development.
And it’s not because you don’t wish for more. You just can’t currently find the drive to reach for it.
But trust me – you are capable of everything you dream of (and more.)
So, if you’re settling for less, it’s high time for a wake-up call.
This is your life we’re talking about, and you only get one shot at it, so give it all you got.
8) You’re trying too hard to find your purpose
Sounds counterintuitive, I know.
But if you’re searching high and low, in every nook and cranny and under every hay bale, you might just be searching too hard.
But sometimes, our ‘purpose’ comes to us when we’re not looking.
Often, our purpose is already there and waiting – we just haven’t realized how content we are with it yet.
Maybe it’s as simple as just enjoying each and every day as it comes.
About feeling blessed to be alive and to be healthy.
Getting wrapped up in earning huge salaries, securing jet-setting careers, or being paparazzi-level famous can get in the way of what is sometimes a far more homely and comforting life purpose.
So if your purpose hasn’t magically appeared to you yet, don’t despair.
You might already be building it without even realizing it (or just be looking in the wrong places when it was with you all along).
Final thoughts
In the hustle-centric world we live in, where the boss-babies seem to thrive effortlessly, it’s all too easy to feel lost and unmotivated.
If you resonate with the behaviors listed above, the good news is that you’re not alone, and there’s a brighter path ahead.
Everyone’s journey to finding their passion is different and uniquely their own – yours being no exception.
So allow yourself patience and kindness, and keep going, keep discovering, keep exploring.
Somewhere along this windy road, you’ll stumble upon your own unique version of passion and drive.
Once you find it, you’ll realize it was worth all the time and self-understanding in the world.
