Motivation Will Come and Go
It’s better to show up and do something half-assed, then to just blow the work off as unimportant.
Watching the expectation and desire of a probationer fade over time is a regular occurrence on the job. More often then not they don't know why this has happened and are not able to articulate or understand the reasons for the fading. This loss of drive usually just leads to them falling back into old habits and activities. It's important to let them know right at the beginning that they will not stay as focused or enthused about the change they want in their life and that they will need to keep plugging along to achieve any sort of lasting effect. Thinking ahead like this is difficult, especially when things feel like they are going well. Unfortunately, things will not stay well, or perfect, and people need to be prepared for this change.
Motivation will come and go. More often go. Expect this to happen and plan for it. It's too easy to get caught up in the initial frenzy of excitement when you start a new goal, project or idea. But that excitement and motivation will quickly fade as the mundane, uncomfortable, daily requirements take hold. Knowing this happens and being able to see it taking place will help you manage this fading motivation better. This will mean you need to dig deeper into your willpower to push through the loss of motivation. This may mean scaling back your expectations a bit and just being satisfied you showed up.
The key to getting through any of this is continuing to show up. Do not stop, especially if you are still in the beginning stages of creating a new habit or process. It’s better to show up and do something half-assed, then to just blow the work off as unimportant. Once you let your mind know that something is not important enough to put your time and energy into doing, you will then give yourself permission to just stop altogether. By at least continuing to commit to your goal, even if not at the greatest effort on your part, you are telling your mind that this is important and you are more likely to continue working on it into the future.
Make sure to prepare yourself at the beginning for this change in attitude that will take place in the future. If you come into the start knowing that there will come a time when things will get hard, mundane, and boring, you will not be caught off guard when it happens. You will have already planned how you will work through the down times and difficult moments. Even if things don’t feel as good as before, you will know that your efforts are not in vain, but are building on themselves, making you stronger and better as a person. So, continue to show up when things are hard and you will be able to push past your lack of motivation.