What kills motivation?
Aaron Francis wrote about this in his newsletter, and I can’t stop thinking about it:
“Maybe, working hard doesn’t lead to burnout, but the lack of hope leads to burnout.
If you're working really hard for something that you don't believe will pay off, it's easy to lose motivation. But if you believe that the thing you're working on will have a payoff, the amount of work almost doesn’t matter.”
Working on something I believe in gives me an unbelievable amount of energy. I can work 12 hours a day and feel like no time has passed. I'm highly activated. I'm motivated by the promise of a future payoff.
But sometimes, I've kept working even when it became clear that the payoff wasn't going to happen. I kept showing up, trying to do the work, but I became numb. I couldn’t get moving. My productivity grinds to a halt.
“Burnout is nature's way of telling you that the perceived reward isn't worth the effort.” – Matt Wensing
I remember feeling this way when I started my snowboard shop. Initially, my partners and I had so many ideas, plans, and creative visions for the business. It was fun to work long hours. We were running the equivalent of a marathon every day, but it felt effortless. But eventually, the reality of running a retail business caught up with us: the bad margins, theft, long hours, and low pay. Taking a vacation or time off didn’t help, because “the perceived reward no longer felt worth the effort.” We realized that it was a high-risk business with low potential.
(I've written about effort and outcomes here)
What to do when your motivation runs low
When your motivation is high, you feel like your efforts can produce the results you want.
When your motivation runs dry, it might be time for introspection: “Is my work helping me make progress?” If not, it might be time to explore a new direction.
The hard question is: how do you know when to persist through a difficult time? When is it time to pick a different path?
Consider James Dyson, who went through 5,126 failed prototypes before succeeding. His persistence paid off because his core vision, of creating a better vacuum, remained compelling to him.
Dips and Cul-de-Sacs
This is where Seth Godin's concept of "The Dip" becomes useful. The key is learning to distinguish between:
A Dip: The difficult middle phase where progress slows and most people quit, but there's a meaningful breakthrough waiting on the other side. You might be exhausted by the grind, but you persist because you can still see a believable path to success that justifies the effort.
A Cul-de-sac: A dead-end situation where you're working hard but going nowhere. No matter how much time and energy you invest, you'll never make meaningful progress toward your goal – you're just stuck in comfortable mediocrity.
Honestly assess the situation you're in. Step back from your day-to-day grind and ask yourself:
Does the original dream still excite you?
Is there a realistic path forward that justifies your current effort?
Are you seeing any signs of progress?
If yes, you may be in a Dip worth pushing through.
But if you realize that you're spinning your wheels with no realistic path to meaningful progress, it might be time to pivot.
This ties back to Aaron's insight about hope. When you can see a believable path forward – even through difficulty – you’ll have the drive to keep going. When that hope disappears, it could be a sign that it's time for a new direction. Listen to that signal before you burn yourself out completely.
Cheers,
Justin Jackson
Connect with me on:
🦋 Bluesky
💼 LinkedIn
🐘 Mastodon
🧵 Threads