Surviving a “down” cycle? (Part One)

Sometimes it's hard to remain optimistic and charged up, no matter what. Everything is cyclical and when the "down" cycle comes, how to keep the faith in what we're doing without getting discouraged? I know that it’s completely human to feel that dip — that moment when the energy drains out of the room and the purpose that felt so clear yesterday suddenly feels foggy.

When that happens to the best of us, we’re not doing anything wrong. we’re just brushing up against the natural rhythm of being people who care deeply and pushes too hard. So how can we stay steady through these cycles? 

First, we need to remember that down cycles aren’t signs that we’re off‑track. They’re just part of the track. We ought to treat the “down” cycle as information, not judgment and not think things like “Something’s wrong with us”, “Maybe we’re not cut out for this” or “Why can’t we stay motivated?” But in reality the dip is often simply our mind saying: 

• “I need rest” 
• “I need perspective” 
• “I need to reconnect with meaning” 

All this means that we must re-frame the dip as a signal, rather than see it as a failure. Above all, we must remember that if motivation is cyclical, commitment should remain steady. A good example is to see the two elements as follows: Motivation is like weather — it shifts, sometimes dramatically. Commitment is like climate — it changes slowly, with intention. 

In the next blog, we’ll see how to handle dips in order to re-emerge much stronger, so please, stay tuned!