Motivating Through Anxiety

There are times when I know exactly what I need to do, but I still cannot get myself to do it.

I will have work in front of me, deadlines coming up, and a pretty clear understanding that putting things off is only going to make me more stressed. Yet somehow, the stress itself becomes the thing stopping me from starting. When that happens, I have found that one of the best things I can do is find something that fires me up.

For me, it is honestly Rocky. There have been so many times where I have been tired, overwhelmed, or just completely unmotivated, and I will pull up a Rocky training scene or one of those speeches that I have probably already watched twenty times. It sounds a little ridiculous when I write it out, but it works for me.

Sometimes I do not even need the video. I just sit there and think really hard about where I want to be in a few years. The university I want to go to. The kind of person I want to become. The things I want to build. The version of myself that I would be proud of. Stress can make you feel frozen. Your brain starts making everything seem bigger than it actually is. One assignment becomes ten different problems. One bad grade suddenly feels like it means something about your entire future. You spend so much time thinking about the work that you almost forget you are capable of actually doing it. A strong motivator can interrupt that feeling. Excitement, competition, music, a speech, a goal, or even thinking about someone you want to prove wrong can create a burst of energy and alertness. Part of that physical response can involve adrenaline, which is one of the hormones your body releases when it needs to become more activated and focused. The important thing is that I am not trying to make the stress disappear. I am trying to redirect it. Instead of sitting there thinking, “I have so much to do,” I try to turn that feeling into, “Alright. Let’s see what I can get done.” That distinction has helped me a lot. Motivation is obviously not some magic cure. Watching Rocky does not suddenly write my essay for me. Thinking about my future does not make a difficult assignment easy. There are also days where I am genuinely exhausted and forcing myself harder is probably not what I need.

But when the problem is that I feel mentally stuck, finding something that genuinely motivates me can be enough to get me moving. And getting moving is usually the hardest part.

If you want to try this, think about what actually makes you feel something. Not what is supposed to motivate you. What genuinely does. Maybe it is a song you always listen to before a game. Maybe it is a movie scene. Maybe it is remembering how hard you have already worked. Maybe it is imagining yourself opening an acceptance letter, making a team, finishing a project, or becoming the person you have been trying to become.

Use it. There is nothing embarrassing about needing that extra push.

I think we sometimes expect ourselves to wake up every day naturally motivated, focused, confident, and ready to work. I definitely do not. Some days I have to manufacture that feeling for myself.

So when stress starts making you feel stuck, do not always assume that you need to become calmer before you can start. Sometimes you need the opposite. Sometimes you need something that reminds you why you care in the first place.