Manifest Motivation: 4 Practical Tools to Create Momentum When You Feel Stuck

When you live every day with ADHD, finding—and holding onto—motivation can often feel like an impossible task.

Along with the standard difficulty with executive function skills—like getting started—most often, our motivation is tied to emotions. If you “don’t feel like it”, 9 times out of 10, you probably won’t do it.

This is a very common experience—especially if you live each day with ADHD. You are not alone.

But, you may be interested to learn that you can work around those feelings and still grab on to the motivation you need to keep moving forward.

Resourcing

Recently, on an episode of Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast, Pete Wright and I had the pleasure of sitting down with our very good friend, James Ochoa, to discuss the struggle of finding motivation through the messy tangle of our emotions.

Through this conversation, James introduced us to the concept of resourcing. At its core, resourcing is simply collecting and using tools or resources to help you get the job done.

The idea of resourcing can be used universally, in any situation: wearing glasses to help you see, wearing a coat and hat outside to keep you warm, using a wheelchair to get around when you’re unable to walk, and just about anything else you could possibly think of.

When we narrow the focus to look at resourcing for ADHD, the resources we’re looking for are often tricks, strategies, and tools to help you move forward when it feels like your ADHD has you stuck.

Finding Your Resources

During those moments when you find your motivation lacking, instead of giving up, try leaning on the tools and people around you to create or manifest your own momentum.

Below, I have put together four short, practical tips around resourcing, inspired by our talk with James Ochoa:

1. Layer your resources (Internal and External)
   Build a “web” of supports: alarms, time blocking, a friend to check in, music, comfort objects—the options are endless. The important thing to remember is finding options to help motivate you—both internal and external motivators.

2. Keep searching until you find the ‘Why’ that lights you up
   Sometimes, the best motivator is the reason behind what you need to do. Why do you need to get it done? Give yourself a reason to want to get started. If the first reason you think of doesn’t energize you, try asking yourself a few questions until you find the answer you’re looking for.

3. Use agreed-upon, functional pressure
   Choose gentle accountability that works for you. During our discussion on the podcast, Pete and James used a text check-in as an example: having someone ask “Did you call?” can create enough pressure (with care) to get you moving.

4. Aim for realistic success
   Don’t expect 100% every time. James even suggests building strategies where you can expect an 8/10 success rate. As James shared during our conversation, “Eighty percent is good enough to get moving.”

Create Your Own Wind

Finding and harnessing motivation is hard—no doubt about it. But, I want you remember, it’s not all-or-nothing; this is a gradual process that takes practice as you discover the resources that work best for you. It takes time to build the skill of finding the resources to add to your toolbox.

When you can’t seem to find the motivation to keep going, just remember: You have the power to create your own wind to power yourself forward—even on the days you don’t feel like it.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Nikki Kinzer

🎧 Listen to our full conversation with James Ochoa on The ADHD Podcast