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How to motivate yourself when you feel like doing nothing:
- Don’t try to motivate yourself.
- Stop trying to force yourself to do something.
- Forget the guilt-tripping.
- Then, ask yourself what you’re avoiding. Ask yourself the questions you’d ask a friend or lover or family member who’s stuck: Hey—something going on? How are you doing?
Want to go deeper?
There is a tonic, or antidote, to wanting to be other than we are. To cutting through aggression. To finding true compassion, true empathy, for others—and for ourselves.
It’s called maitri. It’s called unconditional friendliness toward ourselves. It’s simple. It’s hard.
The point of life, after all, isn’t just to eat, sleep, brush our teeth, get married, work, travel, etc. It’s to be of benefit. And when we think of others, first, we discover our own joy comes right along.
Maitri isn’t about ego. It’s about building the kind of empathy for yourself that will, if unleashed, enlighten our entire world. And gosh our world needs you to be kind to yourself, right now.
IMAGE: @GIULIAJROSA
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