For people with ADHD, motivation and sustainability are inextricably linked. In order to sustain a process, we must find the intrinsic motivation to do it.
It’s typical for people with ADHD to struggle with motivation to get started with a task. There’s a myriad of decisions that deplete executive function, which can defeat us before we even start.
On top of that, stress, going off medications (because of shortages or because you forgot to take it), and other factors can deplete dopamine.
When it comes to workouts, low dopamine can make physical pain worse, presenting a bigger barrier to getting started with even the smallest movements.
To save that executive function, it helps to have someone else set the strategy and give you the plan, so all you have to do is show up and implement.
When Getting Started Fails to Get You Going
Usually once you get started, you’ll find the momentum to keep going.
That said, sometimes that doesn’t work. Some days, dopamine is depleted to the point where even that small step to get started feels too big.
Other days, taking that small step isn’t enough to generate the momentum you want to ride.
Motivation feeds on the dopamine loop, which feeds on accomplishment. So it’s important to set yourself up to win — especially when your body and mind are in resistance to taking even the first step.
If you try to push too hard, you’ll only set yourself up for frustration and fatigue, killing your motivation to try again tomorrow.
Here are some mindsets and strategies that I have found helpful on the days when my body and mind are resisting my best efforts to get going.
(1) Reframe Your Purpose
There’s many reasons to exercise: better health, immunity, the dopamine surge that often comes with it. The boost you get in your focus after. But all of these are outcomes that are in the future.
As the late Alan Watts used to say, the purpose is in the now. He used to speak about the importance of not striving for the “golden goodie.” The golden goodie is any reward that is in the future.
As Watts said often, the purpose of dancing is to dance. Not to get to the other side of the floor.
You don’t swim to get to the other side of the pool. You swim because you enjoy the water.”
The moment you try to make it a means for something else is when it becomes work, or chores. This is when we tend to resist and when we need people to “hold us accountable” to doing it.
Find the purpose in the thing itself, no matter how small that thing is.
(2) Release Your Striving
I have found that the harder I strive, the harder it is to sustain the effort. The more I desire a specific result, the more tedious the process becomes.
When I strive too hard, or when I’m chasing a specific goal, inevitably I get frustrated if I fail to meet it.
When I’m pushing through pain, the process is not fun.
That makes me less likely to want to come back to the gym tomorrow.
There’s no better way to set yourself up for a lack of motivation tomorrow than to push too hard today, to leave feeling physical pain, or to end a session feeling demoralized by what you’ve done.
When I release attachment to any outcome, not only do I enjoy it more, but the result is usually better.
This approach helps with my motivation to come back tomorrow. It also helps create sustainability.
(3) Create a Contingency Plan
On days when I’m struggling to find motivation or energy to start or continue, it helps to have a contingency plan. The contingency plan ideally includes things that
- I know I can do with ease
- Get me into a rhythm
- Build my confidence
- Leave me feeling good in my body
- Are fun
If I can find something I can do, find a rhythm in its repetition, and sustain it for a duration of time, and have fun doing it, I’ll leave the gym feeling better about myself and my effort, and fueled up to return tomorrow.
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