Before his Tony and Grammy award-winning portrayal of Aaron Burr in “Hamilton,” Leslie Odom Jr. was thinking about quitting acting. Brie Larson felt burned out and briefly left the industry during a “crisis of confidence,” before she returned to ultimately nab an Oscar. If there’s one thing all professional artists can likely agree on, it’s that making a career out of art can be exhausting. The good news is that even when you feel unmotivated, you’re not helpless. Here are 12 ways to revive your desire to keep moving forward.
Motivation is a complex process informed by many factors that work together to make the desire to pursue a task appealing. If any of those factors are off, you may find the idea of continuing to pursue your goals daunting—and may even be tempted to quit. Here are just a few things that can contribute to a lack of motivation.
- Physical or mental needs not being met: At its core, motivation is about finding the energy to do something, and that energy has to come from somewhere. Improper diet, dehydration, lack of sleep, and a lack of physical activity can all result in our bodies feeling tired and rundown, which leaves us with little energy to pursue what we want. Similarly, if you’re not taking time to do things you enjoy or lack an effective support system, you may find you lack the mental and emotional energy to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
- Chemical imbalance: One of the key symptoms of depression is a lack of motivation and the inability to find pleasure in activities you once enjoyed. Other neurological conditions such as ADHD, anxiety, and autism also can affect executive function, which is the brain’s ability to prioritize and execute tasks. People who experience any of these conditions may have a hard time staying motivated and may benefit from speaking to a doctor or therapist about their symptoms.
- Lack of purpose: Sometimes the day-to-day grind of pursuing your goals can make it easy to lose sight of why we set them in the first place. If your life looks substantially different from what you imagined, or if you never put much thought into your destination to begin with, it can be a challenge to keep going in the same direction.
- Self-doubt: Anyone who has ever auditioned knows how competitive the performing arts can be. For every job you manage to book, there’s probably someone else who feels like they just missed out. Sometimes, the person who misses out is going to be you. It’s normal, and maybe even healthy, to sometimes doubt whether you truly belong in the profession you chose. However, when this doubt grows too big, it can turn into fear, and you run the risk of getting stuck in one place, unable to move forward.
- Feeling overwhelmed or burned out: It’s not uncommon for performers to live paycheck to paycheck, work multiple jobs, or go for stretches of time with no work. That sort of unsteady lifestyle and heavy workload can take a toll on even the most optimistic go-getter, especially if you’ve been at it for a while and don’t know whether anything bigger or more stable is waiting for you around the corner.
- Goals not aligning with reality: If your goal as an actor is to become an A-list movie star that draws a seven-figure salary for every role you book, that’s probably not the most realistic expectation to set for yourself. Not only is that a rare achievement that only a tiny percentage of working actors can claim, but even those who do eventually get there typically work for many years before they receive the sort of recognition that can launch them to superstardom. Maybe you will get there someday, but in the meantime, setting your sights sky-high right from the start can lead you down a quick road to disappointment.
- Distractions: A cluttered workspace, an unpredictable schedule, or simply scattered habits can draw your focus away from the bigger picture. It’s hard to be intentional about pursuing your goals when something unrelated is always tugging at your attention.
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A number of strategies can help you respond to a lack of motivation and keep on keepin’ on. While you may not find yourself filled with dogged perseverance right away, these tips can help you start making progress again.
1. Figure out your purpose
- Determine what you ultimately want. You originally chose your career path for a reason. What was it, and what were you hoping to get from it? Why is it important to you? Is that vision the same now, or has it changed over time? Pinpointing what you truly want for yourself makes it easier to see what you need to do to achieve it.
- Visualize yourself down the road. What does success look like to you? Can you imagine yourself having achieved your goals? Hold that image in your mind, and return to it any time you worry you might be losing your way.
2. Do some self-reflection
- Try journaling. If you have a hard time figuring out why you’re struggling with motivation, try journaling for a while. Make note of your actions and feelings as you experience them, letting your thoughts drift wherever they want to go. Sometimes writing things down can grant us insight that thinking alone may not.
- Seek feedback from trusted contacts. Often the people who know us well can see us more clearly than we see ourselves. Ask some of the people close to you what they’ve observed about you, and if they have any insight into what might be contributing to your lack of motivation. You may be surprised by their answers.
3. Identify problematic patterns
Once you’ve gathered information by journaling and talking to the people who know you best, look through it all and see if you can identify any patterns that may be negatively affecting your pursuit of your goals. Are you talking yourself out of promising opportunities? Waiting too long to prepare for auditions? Adopting a self-defeating mentality before beginning a job? Being honest with yourself can be hard, but it’ll be worth it if it helps you get out of your own way.
4. Set SMART goals
Aiming for the sky is great, but how do you plan to get there? By using SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-based—to craft your goals, you create a plan not only of where you’re going, but how you’re going to get there.
- Specific: Rather than setting vague goals such as “become a better actor,” focus on setting specific goals that are both attainable and quantifiable. Possible examples could be “complete an acting class” or “memorize my lines within three weeks.” Whatever it is, make sure your goal focuses on one area of improvement at a time rather than aiming so wide that you can never hit all of them at once.
- Measurable: There’s no point in setting a goal if you have no way of determining whether you’ve achieved it. Subjective goals leave room for the goalposts to keep getting further and further away. Set goals that have an objective endpoint, and once you’ve reached it, set another.
- Assignable: Who’s in charge of getting you to your goals? You are. So when you’re setting goals, stick to things within your control. The goal of landing a role in a blockbuster movie depends on the casting director, director, talent pool, and a thousand other things, but preparing your audition sides is entirely up to you.
- Realistic: There’s nothing more frustrating than setting an impossible goal that you can never reach. Some people might find that incentivizing, but most are more likely to be discouraged upon realizing they will never achieve their aims. That’s why it’s important to set goals you know are within your grasp, so that you can guarantee you’ll eventually cross the finish line.
- Time-based: The performing arts are a fickle industry, and some projects can move quickly while others drag along at a snail’s pace. So rather than relying on the industry to regulate your goals, use temporal guidelines instead. Whether that means setting deadlines for yourself or using time management tricks such as the Pomodoro method is up to you.
5. Reward yourself for making progress
Every time you hit a milestone, whether that’s completing a Pomodoro session or nailing an audition, give yourself a reward. Strive to make the reward proportional to the effort you put in; maybe for a productive Pomodoro, you give yourself a few minutes with a good book, and for the audition, you treat yourself to ice cream. Whatever you choose, small rewards can be a great incentive to get you from one milestone to the next, so make a point to celebrate every step forward, even if it seems incremental.
6. Cut back on multitasking
We all have a million things to do, and everyone thinks we can tackle them all at once, but the truth is that no one really can. Figure out your priorities, and then apply them to everything on your to-do list. Work down that list from top to bottom, instead of trying to take on everything simultaneously.
7. Take care of your body
It may seem tempting to forego your physical health in service of chasing your dreams, but remember that if the former goes, the latter probably goes with it. Make sure your body is functional so that the rest of you can be, too.
- Eat well and stay hydrated. Eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water is crucial if you want to be at your best. Make sure your diet is rich with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and drink three or more liters of water per day.
- Get enough sleep. Everyone has neglected sleep in service of something that seemed more urgent at the time, but the truth is that you just won’t be able to function well if you’re sleep-deprived. Make sure you’re getting enough rest—at least seven hours a night—so that you are fully equipped to make progress toward your goals during your waking hours.
- Exercise. While some artistic paths are inherently more active than others, all of them can benefit from a lifestyle that incorporates plenty of physical activity. Remaining active not only prepares you for potentially taxing jobs, but will also help keep you at your physical and mental best.
8. Take time to do things you enjoy
Artists need time to replenish their reserves so that they have the energy to create. Even though you may feel like you need to spend every waking minute working toward your goals, it’s important to take some time just for you to engage in hobbies, see friends, and chill out. Then, when it’s time to go to work again, you’ll have plenty of resources to devote to the task at hand.
9. Create routines that work for you
We can’t all be morning people, and we can’t all be night owls. While it can be helpful to listen to what works for others, you’ll probably be able to tell pretty quickly if those same techniques work for you. Pay attention to how your energy levels fluctuate throughout the day, and delineate your tasks accordingly. If you’re most creative and energetic in the mornings, maybe that’s when you should be filming auditions rather than answering emails.
10. Cultivate a growth mindset
Being an artist comes with a lot of setbacks and challenges, but the way you frame them can make all the difference. Having a growth mindset means that you’re always looking for chances to improve, rather than viewing your actions through a pass/fail lens.
- Treat mistakes as learning opportunities. So you lost out on a role, bombed your performance, or received terrible reviews. It stinks, but everyone has been there at one point. However, if you decide to treat those events as opportunities to learn and grow, then they’re not failures. Actually, “failure” only applies if you view those moments as an endpoint; if you keep going, they’re just stumbling blocks along the path. Try to determine where you went wrong in that instance, and apply that knowledge to your next challenge.
- Keep looking toward the next thing. If your setbacks are simply stumbling blocks, then they weren’t ever the real goal to begin with. Rather than looking back at every instance where you could’ve done better, think of your missteps as important lessons on your way to something bigger. Looking forward instead of back is a great way to keep your momentum from stuttering to a stop.
11. Minimize distractions
It’s hard to remain focused on your goals if you’re constantly distracted. Minimizing the things that pull your focus leaves more mental energy to target what you truly want.
- Step away from social media. If you’re someone who has never seen the appeal of social media, congrats—you’re already several steps ahead. But for the rest, try unplugging from the platforms every now and then so you aren’t tempted to take a break from whatever it is you should be doing. Delete the apps from your phone, move them to another screen, or use a productivity filter such as Freedom to keep you from absently clicking. Whatever you do, you’ll likely be more productive if you dedicate time solely to your creative pursuits rather than giving into the siren song of social media whenever it raises its voice.
- Embrace “do not disturb” mode. Your phone might be what’s keeping you from achieving your goals. In that case, you probably want to make friends with the “do not disturb” setting that silences notifications for a designated period of time. Most devices will also allow you to set exceptions for this setting in case of emergency, so you won’t need to worry about being unavailable in a time of crisis.
- Organize your workspace. Some people just don’t see clutter, but others can’t ignore it. If you find yourself mentally or emotionally drained by the physical arrangement of your workspace, it’s worth taking a few minutes (or even a few hours) to spiff it up to your liking. You’ll be amazed at how much more productive you are when you’re not noticing all the little things that should probably be moved somewhere else.
12. Spend time with people who encourage and inspire you
Sometimes when you’re laser-focused on achieving your dream, you might miss the forest for the trees. As you organize your life into a formation more conducive to achieving your goals, don’t forget to make time for the people who have supported you along the way.
Not only is a strong support system vital when it comes to the severe ups and downs of a rollercoaster industry, but it can’t hurt to have a few people to hold you accountable as you reach for the stars. After all, it’s easy to give yourself a pass, but far harder to slip a flimsy excuse by someone else—and who knows, maybe eventually you’ll be in a position to inspire others who are in the same spot you are in now.