How To Get Out Of A Funk
The Amplified Impact Podcast
September 16th, 2023
Confession time: I’ve been stuck in a motivation slump lately.
We all have those moments, right? Here’s how I tackle it:
- Know Your Cycles: Understand that motivation ebbs and flows, and what works for others might not work for you. It’s okay.
- Permission to Rest: Don’t feel guilty for needing a break. We all do. Even pro athletes have off-seasons.
- Structured Routine: Establish a routine, even when you don’t feel like it. Your mood follows your actions, not the other way around.
- Boost Your Mood: Have a list of activities that boost your spirits—music, inspiring videos, walks. When you’re down, pick something from this list.
Remember, your actions drive results. Don’t let a motivation slump keep you down. Keep pushing forward!
TWEETABLE QUOTE:
“I find it just very, very helpful to have a list of things that I know I’m like, okay, even though I don’t feel like doing this, I know if I do do it, it’s going to have the positive impact I’m hoping for.”- Anthony Vicino
LEAVE A REVIEW if you liked this episode!!
Let’s Connect On Social Media!
instagram.com/theanthonyvicino
Join an exclusive community of peak performers at Beyond the Apex University learning how to build a business, invest in real estate, and develop hyperfocus.
Learn More About Investing With Anthony
Invictus Capital: www.invictusmultifamily.com
Multifamily Investing Made Simple Podcast
Passive Investing Made Simple Book: www.thepassiveinvestingbook.com
Episode Transcript:
Anthony Vicino:
Alright, it’s time for some confessions. Over the last month or so, I’ve really been struggling with my motivation, my energy, my ability to focus and to sit down, get my ass in the chair and do the work. This is normal. I’ve come to accept that this is part of the natural ebb and flow of my work cycle. Sometimes I am high energy, high focused, and I’m just driven and very clear about what I want to accomplish. And other times I go into these lulls where the energy is low. For whatever reason, I can’t muster the motivation. So I’ve learned that this is one of my natural cycles and I’ve come to accept that.
Anthony Vicino:
However, there comes a point where that natural cycle, because it is so easy to get into that slippery slope, that negative feedback cycle, that death spiral, it’s easier to get into that than it is to get on the virtuous cycle going up. And so sometimes what happens is I will get into these lulls, into these plateaus, and I will allow myself the mental space to say this is okay. It’s okay to be here. I’ve been here before. I know I will come out of it. I know what it takes to come out of it. And that this is just a temporary state of existence. And it is not a reflection of my worth as an individual.
Anthony Vicino:
I’m not tying my results or my actions or my abilities or anything like that to my self worth. In fact, I’m just tying my intentions to my internal confidence, we’ll say. However, with all that said, it is so easy to get into those downward spirals and get stuck there. And so what I want to share today is how I get unstuck. Step one in this whole process is to understand your cycles and your particular unique way of going through the world. And this doesn’t get talked about nearly enough from business gurus like myself, or talking about productivity or personal development, is that your mileage will vary. The things that I’m sharing with you, they work for me. They’re the systems or processes that have worked for me.
Anthony Vicino:
And through sharing them, because you are also a human driven by biological and chemical reactions, maybe they’ll also work for you. But you’re a weird, unique snowflake of a human and so am I. And so what works for me might not work for you. And I think it’s important to recognize that I can share with you the systems, the processes that have worked well for me. And in theory, they could work for you. But if you don’t get the same results, that doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It’s just your mileage may vary. And what you need to do is collect information.
Anthony Vicino:
You collect systems and frameworks and then put together your own Frankenstein system that works for you. And I want to share that because sometimes I get down into these funks because I’ll look at other people in the world and what’s working for them and their habits or routines and all that stuff and be like, why don’t I do that? Why doesn’t that work for me? I’ve tried that and it sucks. Blah, blah, blah, blah. And so that’s step one. Step two is giving yourself permission to go through these kind of down and up cycles. Just recognize that that’s kind of part of the natural human existence. You can’t always be on at your best and think about, like, Olympic caliber athletes, football players, whatever sport analogy you want to use. They have on seasons, they have off seasons.
Anthony Vicino:
They have seasons where they need to be more on in the playoffs and the championships. And then they have times when they can just kind of go sit by the beach and pack on a couple of pounds and not worry about anything. And in the same way, I think that’s the same for us as entrepreneurs and business people. But the problem is our championships are playing out every single day. And if you’re not careful, if you don’t allow yourself the space to take that break, to have that offseason, then the game will eventually grind you down. You can’t play at the highest levels constantly without a break, without a reset. It’s not possible. You will just eventually break down.
Anthony Vicino:
So you got to give yourself permission to play this game. Almost similar to how we had middle school or high school, where we had the season, where we’re in school, we have these semesters and we’re learning, and it’s great. And then you have the off season of summer, right? It’s almost like you need to have one of those when it comes to your business or just adult life in general, because if you don’t do that, you’re just going to eventually burn yourself out. Now when you go through those down cycles and you’re coming out of your summer months and you’re like, I need to get back. I’ve allowed myself enough time in this space. It’s time to get back and to restart the engine, so to speak. And this can take some effort. Sometimes your motivation from just having been on vacation, taking time off, giving yourself that space, sometimes your motivation will just naturally start to bubble up and you will be, like, chomping at the bit to get going.
Anthony Vicino:
But sometimes you can just find yourself kind of like the rock that’s rolling down the hill. It’s hard to stop that thing, and it’s gaining momentum. And without some application of energy into the system, it’s just going to keep going, barreling down the mountain. And so we need to do something to change its course. And that is where I was in this last month, where I was like, I’ve been in this state for too long. It’s time to actually change states. And there’s some things that I do that help with that. First thing I do is I start to implement a structured routine into my day.
Anthony Vicino:
This is 90% of it. Because your mood follows actions. It’s not the other way. Your actions don’t follow your mood. Your moods follow your actions. So when you start taking confident actions towards your goals, your mood starts to align with that. And so understanding just that your emotions follow your physiology is a really important concept. Now, when I’m in my natural state, I don’t like to have a lot of morning routine structure anymore.
Anthony Vicino:
I just kind of like to wake up and go with the flow. I have some things that I do somewhat consistently these days, but I’m not super strict with it. However, if you were to rewind ten years ago and for like the first five years of my journey, maybe a little bit longer, actually seven years, eight years, I was very rigid waking up early, and I was doing a very structured morning routine because I needed to establish discipline. That was the most important thing. It wasn’t really that doing that morning routine was putting me into the right state of mind and right physical state to go do great work. That was part of it. But the bigger part was I needed to show myself. I needed to prove to myself that I had the capability of being disciplined and using willpower and being focused on a thing that I wouldn’t necessarily have wanted to do, which was waking up early, taking cold shower, journaling and all these things, right? They were hard.
Anthony Vicino:
And in making them hard, I was building the muscle of somebody who can do hard things. And over time I developed that muscle and I said, you know what, I don’t need to keep doing that because I know I have that muscle. I have the ability to flex and do the hard thing when I need to do it. But over time, that muscle does start to atrophy. And when I go into these negative cycles, sometimes the thing that gets me out is to get back into that mental gym and start doing that lifting again, start building the discipline, start showing myself that this is a person that I’m capable of being. And so what I start doing is I start setting my wake up time more rigidly. I start getting more rigid about my eating, I start getting rigid about what I do immediately upon waking. And what’s really helpful for me, again, is understanding your mood, follows your physiology.
Anthony Vicino:
And so right as I get out of bed, I get into a cold shower, shock the system, do that hard thing right away, and then I go and I do some breathing exercises. Wim HOF has a really great guided breathing exercise. It’s like twelve minutes long on YouTube. Go check it out. It’s free while sitting in front of a red light. So I do those three things to really manage my physical state immediately upon waking. Try to reset the stress level, reset the calm, the poise, kind of prepare myself for the day, and then I go for a walk with Jamie. I will get some sun into my eyeballs.
Anthony Vicino:
And from that, just like those four things cold shower, breathing, sitting in front of the red light, and then going for a walk and getting natural sunlight, that really helps me set my physiology for a productive day. And so that can be just what it takes. Again, I’m saying your mileage may vary. Don’t get hung up on doing the exact same protocol as me. That’s not what’s important. What’s important is for you to understand what are the systems, the tools that work well for you. And this is important for when you’re feeling sad or you’re feeling lonely, to know, like, hey, when I’m feeling these ways, some things that help me get out of that funk is like happy music or like this playlist or watching these types of videos or going for long walks. Having that list of things that, you know, can put you into an elevated state so that you can kind of pick and pull when you’re in those doldrums.
Anthony Vicino:
I find it just very, very helpful to have a list of things that I know I’m like, okay, even though I don’t feel like doing this, I know if I do do it, it’s going to have the positive impact I’m hoping for. Because at the end of the day, like I like to say, the universe doesn’t care how you feel. It doesn’t care what you intend to do. It only cares what you actually do. Your results are driven by action, not intention. And so you might not want to do the work, but you know that if you do, it will lead to the result. And for me, I don’t want to take the cold shower, but I know it will lead to the result of feeling good about myself, for having done the hard thing or feeling good because now my physiology is in an elevated state thanks to the cold shock, right? So I wanted to share this with you guys, because even as I’ve been talking about it, get animated, get excited about it, because it’s so easy to get your wheel stuck in the mud. It’s critical to being a high achiever peak performer that, you know, what are the ways for you to get your ass out of the mud and get back on the trail.
Anthony Vicino:
So this is just what works for me. Take some of it. Take some insight, tinker with your own protocols, but create that list of things that, you know, hey, if I execute these things, it puts me back into a good mood. So take that, run with it. I hope it brings you some value. As always, I appreciate you guys being here. I’ll catch you around the bend, back around here tomorrow. But until then, stay hyper focused.
Anthony Vicino:
My friends.
This Week On YouTube
These 3 Daily Habits Made Me A Millionaire in 3 Years
Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
1. Unleash your hyperfocused mind to dominate life, business, and everything in between? Here’s how:
→ The Hyperfocused Masterclass: the exact system I used to overcome ADHD, write 12 books, build 4 businesses, and acquire $70M of real estate.
There are a handful of spaces left in The Hyperfocus Masterclass for those who want to snag the early bird preorder special discount of $49.
Email anthony@anthonyvicino.com to let me know you want on the waitlist.
2. Learn to passively invest in commercial real estate with better returns, less risk, and zeo hassle.
→ Invictus Capital: my real estate private equity firm.
→ Multifamily Investing Made Simple: Top Apple Podcast.
→ Passive Investing Made Simple: Amazon Best Selling Book with 100 5 star reviews.
3. Want more like this? Check out these 3 popular articles from the vault:
