Why You Lost Your Motivation After Spiritual Awakening (And What Moves You Now)

If you have no motivation after a spiritual awakening, you are not broken and you are not lazy. Something changed in what was driving you. I know this from the inside.

After my spiritual awakening, I lost the motivation. I was building a startup that was actually going quite well: a lean team, an investor, a product that was working. I was happy with what we were creating. But I couldn't keep pushing myself the way I used to. Becoming a big CEO, a successful tech entrepreneur, didn't have the same pull anymore.

That is confusing. You still have a life with responsibilities, but the way you used to get yourself moving doesn't work anymore.

What was actually driving you

With awakening I experienced distance from my thoughts. For the first time I could see what my mind was doing. There were all these ideas about who I should become, what I should achieve, what my future should look like. And underneath that ambition was a feeling of not being good enough yet. I needed to prove myself, to become someone, so that I could maybe feel good about who I was.

I started every day at minus two or three. A really productive day brought me back to neutral.

Once I saw that, I couldn't use that stick on myself anymore. Projecting a future self and forcing myself toward it started to feel like giving up the present for the future. Some of what I used to call motivation was actually the pressure to become somebody I would accept.

That is what most people miss about losing motivation after awakening. Often the motivation didn't disappear. The pressure stopped working.

Freedom, and uncertainty

When that pressure loosens, there is freedom. There is also uncertainty.

How do you move without disciplining yourself?

What replaces it: flow

For me the answer was flow, and by flow I mean surrender. Instead of using the mind to control the body and thinking ahead, I need to do this, I need to do that, it is closer to an active meditation. You let life move the body.

You already know this state. In a conversation with a friend you are usually not in your head deciding what to say. On a dance floor you are not planning your next step. The first time I experienced it clearly was sparring in karate. If you think about which kick to throw, you are too late. You wait, like a cat, and let the body respond. The moment you get in your head, you tense up and get worse, when what you want is to be loose like a whip.

Your mind stays useful in this. It still organises, plans, remembers and receives good ideas. The difference is less gripping and less interference.

Desire changes after awakening

My desires changed after awakening. Something older came back: I wanted to help people discover something of what I had experienced. I had seen that desire at eighteen, watching personal development speakers, and never allowed myself to follow it.

So a second way through the lack of motivation is to stop holding on to old desires and ask what your desire is right now. Where do you feel natural energy, excitement, interest? Can you move toward it, or along with it?

When desire brings resistance

Desire often comes with resistance, because we're not happy with where we are compared to where we want to be. And desire keeps expanding. Finish a marathon and you want an ultra. I finished a quarter triathlon and wanted a half. That expansion is beautiful, unless you judge yourself for where you are. Then desire turns back into pressure.

Accept where you are; it is the natural stepping stone. Then feel into the desire and notice what comes up. Pressure? Fear? Pain? Something may still want to be felt. And if the desire is change-the-world big, it can excite you and block you at the same time. Honour it, and go step by step.

A teacher of mine put it simply: start at the beginning. In a new relationship you don't want to be thinking about the wedding. You want the excitement of this moment, or you lose the spark.

Motivation after awakening

After awakening, your motivation may not be mental anymore. It becomes an everyday exploration: what is here, what wants to move, what is my desire, and what is one honest step toward it that isn't forced? When you stop using pressure as your main way through life, a lot becomes possible. And your quality of life matters more in the end than what you achieve.

FAQ

Is it normal to lose motivation after a spiritual awakening?
Very common. Often the old motivation ran on pressure and a sense of not being enough. Awakening makes that visible, and then it stops working.

Will my motivation come back?
In my experience it doesn't come back in its old form. It changes source: from pressure to flow, and to the desires that are actually alive in you now.

What if nothing interests me at all?
If the flatness is deep or lasts a long time, please also talk to a doctor or psychologist. Not every loss of drive is part of an awakening. Asking what do I want and entertaining that might also help.

If you want to explore this with in a personal conversation with me. Book a free call with me here 👉🏻 https://calendly.com/keesblok/gratis-kennismaking