3 Soul Questions to Ask When Feeling Unmotivated

These days many of us are finding ourselves on Zoom call after Zoom call. No matter what the focus of the virtual meeting, we always discuss how everyone is holding up during this surreal time of uncertainty. One comment that often comes up is feeling a lack of motivation to do anything constructive. Many have a felt sense of isolation and loneliness that no video outreach, no amount of television binge-watching can fill. While these shared feelings are understandable, after all, we are wired for human connection. It got me thinking about how are we using this time of physical separation? Maybe there is an unexpected gift to be recognized in this era of ‘sheltering at home.’ If there was ever a moment to have the space to slow down, to reflect on what you want to do, how you want to be, and take the courage to do it, it is now. Globally, we all have a permission slip to take a time out, at some point, in this forced journey of social distancing and staying in one place.

The question is, how do we, more specifically, you, want to spend this time?

One way to start answering this question is through meditation. Sitting in stillness so you can ask your higher self, ask the universe, the hard questions, and allow for whatever comes up, without attaching to any thoughts or ideas. If you have heard of free-form writing, where you write for fifteen, twenty minutes without editing or judging your work, this is similar. Though in the form of allowing the rising and drifting of thoughts.

As you sit in meditation, ask these three soul questions that I learned from Deepak Chopra, and simply notice what comes up.

Who am I?

What do I want?

Why am I here?

What you may find in this stillness is that you have a voice, and it is genuinely uniquely yours. You may even realize that you beat to a different drummer than the rest of society, and that is more than okay. Celebrate it. Recognize and embrace your gift, your difference, as well as those of others.

We are like snowflakes, each one of us is different and beautiful in their own way. That difference, that uniqueness is what makes the world go round. Instead of feeling like you are not good enough, or like an outcast, not like everyone else, say, “thank God, that I am not.” Pride yourself on being original. Pride yourself on having and speaking with your voice, speaking your truth.

Stand up and stand in your voice. Then take one step, then another step, then another step, until you are keeping your own pace, your rhythm. Embrace, wallow, submerge, immerse into whatever is your drumbeat. Hear your music. Play it loud. Dance to it. Sing to it. Let your drumbeat permeate every ounce of your being. Inhale it. Exhale it. Rejoice in your beat, in your sound. Keep pace with your drumbeat until you are no more.

Whoever said that we all have to go to the same beat, keep the same pace, probably has never truly let go. These folks have not permitted themselves to explore the truth that lies within. If each person did, they would discover and love themselves for who they are, not punish or try to squelch their voice because it is different.

It is when we go to another drumbeat that we land on the moon, we explore the depths of the ocean. It is when we stand in what is special about us that we go from ordinary to extraordinary. That is when we unapologetically step into the greatest version of ourselves to become the Einsteins, the Mandelas, the Gandhis, the Musks, the Bezos of the world.

Who will you become if you beat to a different drummer? Who could you become if you tuned into your music? Or, perhaps, the more poignant question is who you will be if you do not?

Ask yourself, right here and now, what is the music not just in my head, what is the music that is in my heart? What is it that I long to say and do?

Then ask yourself if you are ready to listen to the call of your drumbeat? Are you ready to dance? If the answer is yes, when will you take your first step? Will it be when you are absolutely prepared, and everything is perfectly timed? Or, will it be now, embracing the uncertainty, and dancing wildly in this present moment?

So, what are you going to do with this time? How do you want your life to look post-COVID-19? Sit, ask yourself the three soul questions I mentioned, then be still. Use these answers as motivation on the days you are not feeling like doing anything.