No motivation? No worries.
You’ve probably experienced that feeling when everything in your business just flows.
Ideas spark. Energy feels endless. You’re taking action, and it feels almost effortless. You’re feeling confident, you’re feeling positive, you’re totally motivated.
Imagine you’re a sailing boat. You’ve got the wind in your sails, the wind of motivation. And your boat is flying through the waves, crossing the sea at a rate of knots.
But what we can be sure of, is that weather changes, and the wind will drop.
What happens to your boat then? It slows down. It might even come to a total stop, just bobbing up and down in the same spot.
Just like when motivation inevitably drops, when the excitement fades, self-doubt creeps back in, or confidence quietly slips away, that’s when many business owners feel stuck, come to a halt, stop taking the action, stop moving forward.
Does that feel familiar?
So what do we do?
We wait for the wind to return. We might beg and plead for the weather to change, try and persuade the sky to change and the wind to return. And yet, we know how futile this is. We know we can’t will the wind to return. It’s a waste of our energy.
We can think of motivation in the same way. We often have far less control over when our motivation comes and goes than we think we do. And when we spend all our energy in trying to persuade it to return, this can be a deceptive waste of our attention and energy.
We tell ourselves we need to feel motivated before taking the next step. Just like we need the wind in our sails for us to move forward.
But what we very often forget is that we also have some rowing oars.
The wind and the oars
Think of your business journey like being in a small sailboat. The wind — your motivation — is wonderful when it’s there. It pushes you forward with ease, fills your sails, and reminds you of why you started.
But the truth is, wind is changeable. Some days it’s strong, others it’s still. You can’t control it.
Your oars, however, are always there. They represent your tools — your mindset, your habits, your ability to stay flexible and keep moving even when the conditions aren’t perfect.
When we build the skill of rowing — of taking small, intentional actions even when motivation is low — we stop being at the mercy of our moods. We keep moving forward, steadily, consistently, and sustainably.
How to row when the wind stops
Keeping up momentum isn’t about forcing yourself or pushing through in a way that drains you. It’s about learning how to respond differently to your thoughts and emotions, so they no longer control your direction.
This is where the science of psychological flexibility comes in — the foundation of Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT).
It’s about learning to:
Notice your inner experiences (like doubt, fear, or fatigue) without letting them dictate your next move.
Reconnect with what truly matters to you, so your actions are guided by values, not fleeting emotions.
Build habits that support progress, based on how the brain learns and sustains change.
These are the skills that help you row when motivation disappears — and they brilliant thing about it, is they’re learnable.
Over time, as you strengthen these mental muscles, you’ll find that even when the wind drops, you don’t lose direction. You simply pick up the oars and keep going — calmly, purposefully, and with a sense of trust in yourself.
Because your power doesn’t come from the wind.
It comes from your ability to steer, to row, and to keep choosing movement — even on the still days.
Ready to build your oars?
If you’d like to explore how to strengthen your mindset, build psychological flexibility, and create habits that keep your business moving even when motivation dips, let’s talk.
This is the work that changes everything — not by giving you more wind, but by helping you become a more confident, steady sailor.