Inspiration. It’s what drives us towards change and innovation. It also fuels us to strive for growth and a better life. It motivates us to do more.
But what do you do when you find that you’re lacking inspiration?
Well, everything just kind of feels monotone when it comes to achieving your goals.
Without realizing it at all, I just find that I have been uninspired. I know what I want for my future ̶ to become a professor, have a family, and just have a happy and fulfilling life. The first reason is why I’m trying to get my Ph.D. now. I enjoy what I am doing, but it just feels different than when I started grad school.
I should be grateful for the position that I’m in. I’m somewhat financially stable. I’m slowly trying to make more friends in this pandemic. I love the research that I am doing. I should be grateful. However, it just feels like something is missing from it all. I’ve just been in a rut recently.
Not feeling inspired might be linked to my mental health, but it could also be the luck of the draw. I don’t have the energy to push myself for higher things except for what’s expected of me. And this vicious cycle is draining. I lack the energy to push. But then I sink deeper in this rut, and then the cycle just restarts. I’m just tired of things.
Unsurprisingly, I see a therapist every week to work on trying to improve my mental health. What we try and do is help me frame my experiences differently and help me handle past trauma while also improving my current state of life. I talk through my problems and stressors, and we figure out ways to get past them. Therapy is relevant because I can apply it to my current issue of being in a rut.
I just need to try and find the energy I had when I started grad school. Back then, I felt on top of the world, and I could do so much. Now I’m just exhausted. This is what I want to be doing with my life currently. I just need to fall in love with it again.
My goal is to start framing my mindset towards getting out of this rut. What’s necessary is finding the inspiration, that spark, the energy to push me towards greatness. I need to add color to whatever I’m doing so my life doesn’t feel muted and neutral.
However, I have to pace myself. I don’t want to become overwhelmed and then become content with my current place. That’s not the goal; positive thinking is the goal. Energy-building is the goal. Growth is the goal. I have the potential for greatness during my time here at TAMU. I just need to actually set my trajectory for it. All the pieces are available to me and can be put into place in an instant. I just actually have to start. Writing this article gives me the push towards that goal, and hopefully, I reach it sooner rather than later.