Ruminating vs Doing, Learning new things

[Runenight201]

Hi everyone. I'm attempting to be more of a doer, and less of a just thinker. I've got lot's of ambition but very little follow through.

I love anecdotes, so if anyone used to be a big time procrastinator and ruminator, but found doing anything to be incredibly difficult, what exactly did you do? Anyone here used to be really bad at learning new things, but then did something to now tolerate, enjoy, and seek out learning new things?

 

[steel_reserve]

Hi everyone. I'm attempting to be more of a doer, and less of a just thinker. I've got lot's of ambition but very little follow through.

I love anecdotes, so if anyone used to be a big time procrastinator and ruminator, but found doing anything to be incredibly difficult, what exactly did you do? Anyone here used to be really bad at learning new things, but then did something to now tolerate, enjoy, and seek out learning new things?

I use prayer.

When something is spinning around up there I ask God to make it happen or take the thought away from me.

 

[Runenight201]

That's awesome that prayer can induce those psychological changes for you. It never did for me. I remember as a kid fervently praying to God before my soccer games because I'd be so nervous and scared to play in them. The games usually turned out to be a negative experience for me.

Now that I'm agnostic I've ceased using prayer as a means to alleviate my suffering, but rather as a means to give gratitude. When everything slows down and I give thanks for the food I'm eating I end up feeling very peaceful from such an exercise.

I think above all I'm suffering from a physical condition primarily, which in turn creates psychological suffering. I feel all this bloat and sluggishness and disease and waste in my stomach, and it in turn makes it very difficult to make growth. I can do a slow healing of all that disease in me through fasting and focusing my mind elsewhere, but eventually I must eat, and that in turn usually poisons me again and I have to repeat the cycle.

Maybe the answer is and always will be, to create a healthy body which in turn creates the healthy mind. Well if I must pray, I pray for my digestive functions to be healed and for all that sluggishness to leave my body!

 

[golder]

That's awesome that prayer can induce those psychological changes for you. It never did for me. I remember as a kid fervently praying to God before my soccer games because I'd be so nervous and scared to play in them. The games usually turned out to be a negative experience for me.

Now that I'm agnostic I've ceased using prayer as a means to alleviate my suffering, but rather as a means to give gratitude. When everything slows down and I give thanks for the food I'm eating I end up feeling very peaceful from such an exercise.

I think above all I'm suffering from a physical condition primarily, which in turn creates psychological suffering. I feel all this bloat and sluggishness and disease and waste in my stomach, and it in turn makes it very difficult to make growth. I can do a slow healing of all that disease in me through fasting and focusing my mind elsewhere, but eventually I must eat, and that in turn usually poisons me again and I have to repeat the cycle.

Maybe the answer is and always will be, to create a healthy body which in turn creates the healthy mind. Well if I must pray, I pray for my digestive functions to be healed and for all that sluggishness to leave my body!

I’m agnostic but I’ll also pray for you brother. You’re on the right track, keep persevering!

 

[Summer]

It’s kind of like sleep paralysis for me. You’re semi-awake and know you’re having a bout of sleep paralysis. All it takes is gathering the will power to shake yourself fully awake.

 

[Summer]

For me, I wanted to get better at guitar and learn some music theory. For many years I’ve played guitar extremely casually and was also so slow at writing music because I didn’t know the technicals. One day, in a state is boredom and depression, I realized I had nothing better to do so I searched some videos and began studying and practicing. Learning new things really beats my depression into submission.

 

[Gustav3Y]

What I have noticed at a friend that is smart as society is concerned is that she is paying attention to so many little things that her days get super tiring for her, no long term plans, only present and trends. Also very low tolerance to what is not perfect, thus why put the effort?
Then this results in not having sockets in certain rooms because the place where wires are is not ideal, the sockets sold in stores are not great design, etc, so finally lack of places to plug things.
Seeing this attitude made me think that sometimes low tolerance and concentration on extremely small details can stop progression and to some degree I may have done similarly in life.

 

[Beastmode]

Hi everyone. I'm attempting to be more of a doer, and less of a just thinker. I've got lot's of ambition but very little follow through.

I love anecdotes, so if anyone used to be a big time procrastinator and ruminator, but found doing anything to be incredibly difficult, what exactly did you do? Anyone here used to be really bad at learning new things, but then did something to now tolerate, enjoy, and seek out learning new things?

Consider what you want to do and find others who are already doing it. See where you can add value to them as they're already in the "doing" aspect.

I'm a big thinker as well. I only struggle with this when I try to go at things by myself.

 

[Makrosky]

Hi everyone. I'm attempting to be more of a doer, and less of a just thinker. I've got lot's of ambition but very little follow through.

I love anecdotes, so if anyone used to be a big time procrastinator and ruminator, but found doing anything to be incredibly difficult, what exactly did you do? Anyone here used to be really bad at learning new things, but then did something to now tolerate, enjoy, and seek out learning new things?

I still procastinate but for me a big game changer was... that at some point I realized that if I don't do whatever needs to be done, nobody is going to do it for me. Took a lot of years for my brain to realize this.

Also of course depression, anxiety, poor metabolism, etc. do not help. But they are not the only factor.

 

[somuch4food]

I'm currently diving into the Enneagram. It is a personality tool that can help understand ourselves better as well as our inner workings. It can help put words and perspectives on some innate behaviors. There are 9 core personalities in this tool and 27 subtypes. Personalities are also interconnected. It's a fluid tool that attempts to make sense of human beings. I think it does a fairly good job. It will always be hard to categorize human beings.

The tool has shown me my weaknesses and my innate behaviors that work against me, but it has also shown me a few ways that I can work on them to become more balanced.

Procrastination and rumination, for me, are ways to avoid fully engaging in what matters to me. According to my personality type, I avoid engaging in life in fear of conflict and separation which resonates with me. I find it easier to go with the flow of other people without putting my foot on the ground. I bury my feelings and needs and go with the needs of others instead. This is my default mode of action. I must work on acknowledging and communicating my emotions to wake up to *my* life. Finding purpose is really important I think.

The other thing that helps me most is to disconnect as mush as I can from the Internet and its continuous stream of information. Information is only valuable if it serves a purpose in your life. Learning for the sake of learning does not add value to life and is actually a stress to the body. New information is a form of stress.

I still procastinate but for me a big game changer was... that at some point I realized that if I don't do whatever needs to be done, nobody is going to do it for me. Took a lot of years for my brain to realize this.

Also of course depression, anxiety, poor metabolism, etc. do not help. But they are not the only factor.

Well said, that's how I realized I needed to take personal steps towards health. Nobody is going to make me healthier, but myself. The path to better health is hazardous though.

 

[Nomane Euger]

Hi everyone. I'm attempting to be more of a doer, and less of a just thinker. I've got lot's of ambition but very little follow through.

I love anecdotes, so if anyone used to be a big time procrastinator and ruminator, but found doing anything to be incredibly difficult, what exactly did you do? Anyone here used to be really bad at learning new things, but then did something to now tolerate, enjoy, and seek out learning new things?

Hi i used to be a great procrastinator living in my idealised fantasy for at least my whole existence up until 23 years old ,what made be act on what i wish to do,IS stop investing energy focus and on things that i dont think were benefiting me long terms such as video games,social medias etc.from my personal experience,i have a limited appreciation potential for everything,and if i exhaust it on things such as video games,social media,porn,then i wont have as much energy to invest in things such as walking,nature,street workout, outside social interaction with women,reading,listening to interesting audio podcast...etc and i wwill enjoy them way less than if i would not have exhausted my potential of appreciation on these unfruitfull things long term such as social media porn video games.second is things that increase my energy and motivation,first one very ripe fruits specifically semi blood tarroco oranges,second having money,third talking to womens with out submitting my self and "friend zoning"my self,4th sunlight.with out fruits most of things that require me to moove feel forced.i used to be a really slow learner,i became an exellent learner as i improved my sleep and i ate organ meats such as liver kidneys brain,i use my walking speed to gauge my motivation energy and appreciation potential of everything,the higher the better,the slower the worst,and how good music feel,i can not not dance when my appreciation potential is high even if walking in the street,when it is low,music sounds like noice hurting my ears.its good to get bored and stop doing these over stimulating things because then you start to reflect about what has value and you act toward it as you want some entertainment,if even in a state of high appreciation potential still you do not enjoy doing something,then dont fool yourself and stop doing it exept if the long term benefit overcome the present non appreciation. when i stop playing video games i have the motivation to walk up to 7 hours per day from shop to shop just to find the best fruits,when i play video games way less motivation to walk.i listen only to music that increase my energy,power and motivation,i dont listen to any music that make me feel negatives feeling such as sadness,melancholy,fatality,impotency and that diminish my power,and i guarantee you 90% of musics at least make you feel these negatives feelings that have their places when they are inevitable such as the death of a family members,but should absolutly not be cultivated when there is no reason,i listen only joyfull african musics most of the time.i dont spend time with peoples if they make me feel worst about my self and i have no control over the feeling despit my will.a personal advice,stop watching yourself in the mirror to much specifically if there is days that you find yourself displeasant to watch from certains perspectives because this can have a significant negative impact on all these positives aspects that i talked precedently,as long as you are not absolutly dreadfull,hormones and behavior matter way more with women from my experience

 

[InChristAlone]

That's awesome that prayer can induce those psychological changes for you. It never did for me. I remember as a kid fervently praying to God before my soccer games because I'd be so nervous and scared to play in them. The games usually turned out to be a negative experience for me.

Now that I'm agnostic I've ceased using prayer as a means to alleviate my suffering, but rather as a means to give gratitude. When everything slows down and I give thanks for the food I'm eating I end up feeling very peaceful from such an exercise.

I think above all I'm suffering from a physical condition primarily, which in turn creates psychological suffering. I feel all this bloat and sluggishness and disease and waste in my stomach, and it in turn makes it very difficult to make growth. I can do a slow healing of all that disease in me through fasting and focusing my mind elsewhere, but eventually I must eat, and that in turn usually poisons me again and I have to repeat the cycle.

Maybe the answer is and always will be, to create a healthy body which in turn creates the healthy mind. Well if I must pray, I pray for my digestive functions to be healed and for all that sluggishness to leave my body!

The digestion part sounds like most of your issue. What is your diet like? Do you feel like you have low stomach acid? I have to use a bit of histidine hcl every now and then to get things going. I also just discovered thiamine hcl can get digestion moving pretty good too.

 

[Tim Lundeen]

Could be learned helplessness and associated brain chemistry. Take a look at Recovery from Alcoholism and Addiction in Six Easy Steps — **** Portion Control

 

[fr@]

I’m agnostic but I’ll also pray for you brother. You’re on the right track, keep persevering!

This must be the best comment that I've read so far in the entire Internet space.
Since you mentioned that, I'll start practicing on my methods on how I'll pray.
I'll pray for all of us, to have our daily unrelenting energy to do the things we need [biceps emoji]

 

[fr@]

[At OP]

It's hard to Procrastinate &/or Ruminate if you have responsibilities.
And the more important your responsibilities are, the more difficult it is to Procrastinate &/or Ruminate.

But as far as just sharing my approach to learning:

1. I'll only pick something that's important to me at the moment
+ 'cause there's lots of times where you just want to learn everything there is (which is very unlikely)
+ there's actually a saying 'you can afford anything but not everything' which totally makes sense to me

2. Sketching out in your mind's eye what you know about the subject before diving in
+ this will give you key pointers to look out for (and will make you ask more questions)
+ and those questions will also make you think whether it's right for your to learn it or not

3. Learning would be much easier if you have someone else to relay the information (or something in reverse where you have a mentor)
+ 'cause if no one's going to check you, it'll be easy to just half-**** anything
+ and if you're playing sports, then this must be second nature to you

4. I'm not into learning new things (unless it goes back to #1)
+ 'cause there's only so much time in a day
+ sometimes it's just your ego telling you do so (like this idea of becoming an 'übermensch')

On a second note... I find it distasteful to sound like a guru, 'cause I'm actually a goofball (I hope it helps though)

 

[redsun]

Hi everyone. I'm attempting to be more of a doer, and less of a just thinker. I've got lot's of ambition but very little follow through.

I love anecdotes, so if anyone used to be a big time procrastinator and ruminator, but found doing anything to be incredibly difficult, what exactly did you do? Anyone here used to be really bad at learning new things, but then did something to now tolerate, enjoy, and seek out learning new things?

Get tested for adhd and get treated. Diet rich in micronutrients and animal protein, supplementing extra nutrients helps a lot but sometimes its not enough. Executive dysfunction and low energy to sustain mental effort and perform non-compulsive , desirable (you want to do them) tasks is at the core of this problem.

 

[skuabird]

What's helped me become more of a doer:
> Figure out what's really important to you and make those things your "Big Rocks"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VNmIxkyHd8

> Like many here, I've also found a lot of benefit from prayer. Even just praying to help me find what I need help with, if that makes sense. As well as just mindfulness mediation.
> It's helped me to know it's okay to be a shireling- live an ordinary life, take pleasure in the smallest of things. It's these smallest of things- "oh, I could make that clean" or "I can make this more tidy or beautiful" or taking the time to make a more complicated meal that can get you moving and help stay in motion. It's also small steps that will help with the confidence needed to add on steps and learn more.
> Also knowing e-motions are a signal to get you in motions. Like anger helps you stand your ground or voice your concern to others. Sadness may be an indication you need to change something, etc. I was repressing some emotions and when I did I became extremely passive, more likely to distract (look at phone to scroll, click to the next youtube video, etc.), numb out instead of actually engage mindfully with my surroundings. For me it helped to communicate my emotion and helped it pass. Similar to @Nomane Euger's thoughts ... things like video games and scrolling through internet posts are mini-dopamine hits. If you stop doing certain things like that (you may think you're being passive but your brain is active) you can gain a bit of energy back just from that.
> Finally, tracking my temp and fixing my metabolism

 

[Hayley]

Hi everyone. I'm attempting to be more of a doer, and less of a just thinker. I've got lot's of ambition but very little follow through.

I love anecdotes, so if anyone used to be a big time procrastinator and ruminator, but found doing anything to be incredibly difficult, what exactly did you do? Anyone here used to be really bad at learning new things, but then did something to now tolerate, enjoy, and seek out learning new things?

I have had problems with procrastination in the past but it has gotten better for me with years of discipline and finally trusting myself that I can and will achieve what I need. Not that I still don’t struggle, especially when energy is low. But I now identify as a doer and that helps.

-one easy thing is to make a reasonable “to do” list. Review the list in the morning and the evening to set you up for the next day. The physical act of ticking off an item on your list is a great dopamine boost that can help get things going.

-Remember to acknowledge yourself for the things you do achieve. soak in the success. This is very important. If the entire process of getting stuff done is all stick and no carrot, then you will subconsciously want to procrastinate even more.

-Make sure to break up big projects into manageable bits that can be reasonably accomplished day to day.

-my last tip is to work on activity by time spent rather than goal achieved. You know you can work on something for 20 minutes, but if it’s not finished that’s okay, you completed your goal of doing 20 minutes. This makes the task so much less daunting.

You got this.

~fellow adhd type thinker :)

 

[Ignoramus]

I'm an achiever but I went through a devastating creative block recently that lasted for over a year. It taught me many things about myself and I could write a lot on the subject.

I think it's different for different people in different situations (obviously), but I think for me the lesson was about removing resistance instead of struggling against it all the time. Sometimes it's really hard to figure out what the resistance is though. I think 'loose ends' in our lives take up a lot of mental RAM, and resolving these subconscious issues frees up a lot of energy for creation. In the same way that tidying your room tidies your mind (and gets the momentum of 'doing' going -- a lot of this is about momentum and habit), actions like fixing your relationship with your parents and forgiving those who have wronged you in the past frees up a lot of willpower and mental space to think about and do other things.

Every day we have scripts running in our heads. We define ourselves as 'smart', 'ugly', 'lazy'; whatever. We have complex narratives about ourselves and others that we use to help us survive and understand the world. It can be worth thinking about where we picked up these definitions, and whether it might be a good idea to re-examine and replace some of them. These scripts can not only be limiting, but can also use up a tremendous amount of energy. Have you ever awoken from a good sleep or meditation session and just felt so innately happy, free and energetic, only to be sucked down into your daily malaise only 20 minutes later? The tired and stuck feeling comes from all this mental energy we are using to define ourselves, others and the world around us.

Take covid, for example; I found myself thinking about the issue for hours, and planning clever responses in preparation for the daily vax arguments with my roommates. This mental masturbation was really about serving and defending my ego, and I noticed that it caused a precipitous drop in my own productivity to think about these matters. Letting go of the need to defend my opinion - and more so of my need to be 'right'- really felt like a weight off my shoulders. A big part of my journey has been about learning to care less about what others think of me in general. This lets me make decisions with outcomes that actually bring me closer to what I want, and not closer to what my imagination believes others would be impressed by, or whatever. It is also a much simpler strategy that requires way less effort, which means more energy can be spent on the acquisition of one's goals.

A big puzzle for intelligent people is 'Why do anything at all?' - after all, laziness is an efficient strategy that prevents one from wasting energy. This is something you have to solve for yourself, and it might take you years to do so. I have to remind myself often of why I do things, or otherwise I just end up watching YouTube because it feels so good in the moment (especially with a bellyfull of gelatin!)

If we strip back all the ego's defences then we end up in a place of emptiness, which I sense you might be in now. Have you been meditating a lot? Maybe you have cleaned your dirty canvass and are now left with an empty one. The way to move forward now is to define what you care about. You might be at a point where you can only make truthful decisions, so that might be one of your values. I think it's a good idea to really clarify our values and use them as our guides. Making them really clear and simple means we don't have to overthink our actions, and can instead just do.

Have you ever met somebody who is quite basic intellectually, but despite this has achieved incredible success? Of course you have, and you'll notice that there is something 'basic' about most of the greats in history too (as far as achievement is concerned, anyway). You might ask yourself 'What do they have that I don't?', but this is the wrong question! It's really a matter of you having something that they don't. And what is this thing that you have that they do not? It's the mental junk. It's these countless scripts that you acquired at some point to help you survive, like that ransomware that came with your hard drive cleaning program. You are squandering your energy in elaborate, beautiful circles and considering variables and perspectives that these other people would never think of... and this is slowing you down. These people don't have the heavy emotional bags that you are carrying around at all times while you desperately try to keep up. Once you let go of these bags you will be flying towards whatever dreams you can imagine for yourself. It starts by letting go of all the bull**** you have accumulated.

There is also a different kind of motivation that is driven by pain and distress. This is the motivation of the ego - the 'I'll show them!' vibe. You can experiment with this if you want, but from observation these people (including my former self) end up alone, miserable and disliked. They are working to achieve somebody else's dream, because they aren't truly aligned with their highest values and motivations. They are not operating from a place of love. A lot of wise people think that the universe itself is love, and that by going against this love you are going against the fabric of everything itself.

Anyway, if you are not motivated then either:

1) you are exhausted from the complicated world that you have painted for yourself
2) you are not doing the 'right thing'
3) you are unhealthy*
3) you are enlightened.

*Don't be like me and waste too much time ruminating on this. You won't be perfect all of the time, and your heroes aren't either. The greats of history didn't all have perfect thyroid function or whatever; get over yourself.

It's probably a combination of #1 and #2 for most people.

To solve #1:

-Meditate to become aware of your thoughts/scripts as they come up. Therapy might be helpful. Practice constant awareness of your own thoughts and feelings.
-Recognise that a lot of your thoughts are just shitty emotional loops that feel familiar, but aren't actually serving you or mankind.
-Change your thoughts as they arise. This is only possible by cultivating a high level of awareness at all times. You have to first recognise that you are in an emotional grip before you are able to change the pattern of thinking. This may take many years.
-Practice letting go of everything; every definition and construction; no 'self', no 'other', no 'place'... see what happens...
-Decide who you want to be, what thoughts you want to think and what you want to do in this lifetime. Make a firm decision and be clear on your values. It's ok if these values change with time, obviously.
-Imagine yourself as who you want to be. Be that person at all times.

To solve #2:

-You may be doing the 'wrong thing' entirely with your career/life path. It may make sense for you to be doing what you are doing 'logically', but your subconscious/God/whatever-you-believe may have other plans for you. If you aren't happy in your work and you aren't helping others by doing it then you are doing the wrong thing, and you will encounter resistance of some kind. It is very difficult for a human to knowingly do something that harms them (even those who cut themselves tend to so because they think they will benefit from the action); in the same way, it is very difficult to do work that harms the self, and not using your time wisely is self harm/ slow suicide. You might not realise this, but your subconscious does, and that's why it feels bad to work on the wrong things.

-Make a big Venn diagram with three circles:

1) what you most enjoy doing (write literally anything - even if it's jacking off or whatever)
2) what you are good at (even if it's beer pong...)
3) what you can make money from
4) [optional] how you can benefit the world and help others

See what appears where these circles intersect, and have a think about if you would like to pursue any of these options as a career.

-I think a lot of intelligent people are alexithymic to a degree. People ignore, discredit and repress their emotions in favour of the 'superior' tool of logic. This creates an innate problem of nihilism. Problems can be solved easily, but there is no motivation to solve problems in the first place. Emotional understanding must be gained in order to find the passion that will fuel the accomplishments that will benefit the self and others. It is hard to 'practice' emotions, but one can start by simply asking themselves 'How does this make me feel?' Instead of 'What do I think about this?", and get into a habit of doing that throughout the day. At first the feelings may be very small and unclear, but with repetition a lot of understanding can be gained. Soon the emotional signals of 'right' and 'wrong' will become more clear, and it will become easier to move in the direction of what feels good.

-Ask people close to you 'What would you do if you were me?' or 'How do you think I could add value to the world?'. Sometimes their answers can be really helpful as you might be too close to your own problems to clearly see them. My roommates told me that I was too much of a contrarian. Of course my ego did not like to hear this; "Sheep! You are sheep!" it screamed to itself in frustration... But you know what? Maybe they were right, and maybe I have wasted a lot of energy existing in this way. Sometimes we have blind spots in this way.

-Getting around motivated people can be really helpful. Even if you are an introvert it can be nice to talk big goals with fellow achievers, even if it's just by text message.

Anyway, I think a lack of awareness and truth is at the heart of this motivation problem for most.

Then of course there is all the stuff already written here; take a bunch of niacinamide or whatever dopaminergic stuff, sleep properly and blah blah blah

Good luck man! We're all gonna make it ?

 

[InChristAlone]

I'm an achiever but I went through a devastating creative block recently that lasted for over a year. It taught me many things about myself and I could write a lot on the subject.

I think it's different for different people in different situations (obviously), but I think for me the lesson was about removing resistance instead of struggling against it all the time. Sometimes it's really hard to figure out what the resistance is though. I think 'loose ends' in our lives take up a lot of mental RAM, and resolving these subconscious issues frees up a lot of energy for creation. In the same way that tidying your room tidies your mind (and gets the momentum of 'doing' going -- a lot of this is about momentum and habit), actions like fixing your relationship with your parents and forgiving those who have wronged you in the past frees up a lot of willpower and mental space to think about and do other things.

Every day we have scripts running in our heads. We define ourselves as 'smart', 'ugly', 'lazy'; whatever. We have complex narratives about ourselves and others that we use to help us survive and understand the world. It can be worth thinking about where we picked up these definitions, and whether it might be a good idea to re-examine and replace some of them. These scripts can not only be limiting, but can also use up a tremendous amount of energy. Have you ever awoken from a good sleep or meditation session and just felt so innately happy, free and energetic, only to be sucked down into your daily malaise only 20 minutes later? The tired and stuck feeling comes from all this mental energy we are using to define ourselves, others and the world around us.

Take covid, for example; I found myself thinking about the issue for hours, and planning clever responses in preparation for the daily vax arguments with my roommates. This mental masturbation was really about serving and defending my ego, and I noticed that it caused a precipitous drop in my own productivity to think about these matters. Letting go of the need to defend my opinion - and more so of my need to be 'right'- really felt like a weight off my shoulders. A big part of my journey has been about learning to care less about what others think of me in general. This lets me make decisions with outcomes that actually bring me closer to what I want, and not closer to what my imagination believes others would be impressed by, or whatever. It is also a much simpler strategy that requires way less effort, which means more energy can be spent on the acquisition of one's goals.

A big puzzle for intelligent people is 'Why do anything at all?' - after all, laziness is an efficient strategy that prevents one from wasting energy. This is something you have to solve for yourself, and it might take you years to do so. I have to remind myself often of why I do things, or otherwise I just end up watching YouTube because it feels so good in the moment (especially with a bellyfull of gelatin!)

If we strip back all the ego's defences then we end up in a place of emptiness, which I sense you might be in now. Have you been meditating a lot? Maybe you have cleaned your dirty canvass and are now left with an empty one. The way to move forward now is to define what you care about. You might be at a point where you can only make truthful decisions, so that might be one of your values. I think it's a good idea to really clarify our values and use them as our guides. Making them really clear and simple means we don't have to overthink our actions, and can instead just do.

Have you ever met somebody who is quite basic intellectually, but despite this has achieved incredible success? Of course you have, and you'll notice that there is something 'basic' about most of the greats in history too (as far as achievement is concerned, anyway). You might ask yourself 'What do they have that I don't?', but this is the wrong question! It's really a matter of you having something that they don't. And what is this thing that you have that they do not? It's the mental junk. It's these countless scripts that you acquired at some point to help you survive, like that ransomware that came with your hard drive cleaning program. You are squandering your energy in elaborate, beautiful circles and considering variables and perspectives that these other people would never think of... and this is slowing you down. These people don't have the heavy emotional bags that you are carrying around at all times while you desperately try to keep up. Once you let go of these bags you will be flying towards whatever dreams you can imagine for yourself. It starts by letting go of all the bull**** you have accumulated.

There is also a different kind of motivation that is driven by pain and distress. This is the motivation of the ego - the 'I'll show them!' vibe. You can experiment with this if you want, but from observation these people (including my former self) end up alone, miserable and disliked. They are working to achieve somebody else's dream, because they aren't truly aligned with their highest values and motivations. They are not operating from a place of love. A lot of wise people think that the universe itself is love, and that by going against this love you are going against the fabric of everything itself.

Anyway, if you are not motivated then either:

1) you are exhausted from the complicated world that you have painted for yourself
2) you are not doing the 'right thing'
3) you are unhealthy*
3) you are enlightened.

*Don't be like me and waste too much time ruminating on this. You won't be perfect all of the time, and your heroes aren't either. The greats of history didn't all have perfect thyroid function or whatever; get over yourself.

It's probably a combination of #1 and #2 for most people.

To solve #1:

-Meditate to become aware of your thoughts/scripts as they come up. Therapy might be helpful. Practice constant awareness of your own thoughts and feelings.
-Recognise that a lot of your thoughts are just shitty emotional loops that feel familiar, but aren't actually serving you or mankind.
-Change your thoughts as they arise. This is only possible by cultivating a high level of awareness at all times. You have to first recognise that you are in an emotional grip before you are able to change the pattern of thinking. This may take many years.
-Practice letting go of everything; every definition and construction; no 'self', no 'other', no 'place'... see what happens...
-Decide who you want to be, what thoughts you want to think and what you want to do in this lifetime. Make a firm decision and be clear on your values. It's ok if these values change with time, obviously.
-Imagine yourself as who you want to be. Be that person at all times.

To solve #2:

-You may be doing the 'wrong thing' entirely with your career/life path. It may make sense for you to be doing what you are doing 'logically', but your subconscious/God/whatever-you-believe may have other plans for you. If you aren't happy in your work and you aren't helping others by doing it then you are doing the wrong thing, and you will encounter resistance of some kind. It is very difficult for a human to knowingly do something that harms them (even those who cut themselves tend to so because they think they will benefit from the action); in the same way, it is very difficult to do work that harms the self, and not using your time wisely is self harm/ slow suicide. You might not realise this, but your subconscious does, and that's why it feels bad to work on the wrong things.

-Make a big Venn diagram with three circles:

1) what you most enjoy doing (write literally anything - even if it's jacking off or whatever)
2) what you are good at (even if it's beer pong...)
3) what you can make money from
4) [optional] how you can benefit the world and help others

See what appears where these circles intersect, and have a think about if you would like to pursue any of these options as a career.

-I think a lot of intelligent people are alexithymic to a degree. People ignore, discredit and repress their emotions in favour of the 'superior' tool of logic. This creates an innate problem of nihilism. Problems can be solved easily, but there is no motivation to solve problems in the first place. Emotional understanding must be gained in order to find the passion that will fuel the accomplishments that will benefit the self and others. It is hard to 'practice' emotions, but one can start by simply asking themselves 'How does this make me feel?' Instead of 'What do I think about this?", and get into a habit of doing that throughout the day. At first the feelings may be very small and unclear, but with repetition a lot of understanding can be gained. Soon the emotional signals of 'right' and 'wrong' will become more clear, and it will become easier to move in the direction of what feels good.

-Ask people close to you 'What would you do if you were me?' or 'How do you think I could add value to the world?'. Sometimes their answers can be really helpful as you might be too close to your own problems to clearly see them. My roommates told me that I was too much of a contrarian. Of course my ego did not like to hear this; "Sheep! You are sheep!" it screamed to itself in frustration... But you know what? Maybe they were right, and maybe I have wasted a lot of energy existing in this way. Sometimes we have blind spots in this way.

-Getting around motivated people can be really helpful. Even if you are an introvert it can be nice to talk big goals with fellow achievers, even if it's just by text message.

Anyway, I think a lack of awareness and truth is at the heart of this motivation problem for most.

Then of course there is all the stuff already written here; take a bunch of niacinamide or whatever dopaminergic stuff, sleep properly and blah blah blah

Good luck man! We're all gonna make it ?

Amazingly well written post! Totally agree with all of this!