Why You Still Feel Lost and Unmotivated

A customized roadmap for people who don't vibe with typical productivity advice.

Following your energy is a trap.

You know that feeling when you’re excited to start something new?

They told me to follow my energy. But little did I know that I was being lured by a vampire.

Let me explain…

Curiosity is a great motivator but it comes with conditions:

You have to be brutally self-aware.

If you’re not careful, that hype will fizzle out just as quickly as it came along.

This is the part they don’t tell you…

If you have any degree of a hyperactive mind (like ADHD) and you don’t set constraints on your energy and emotions, they’ll hijack your brain.

Then a faint but familiar feeling comes along:

You see, I grew up addicted to video games and social media.

My parents didn’t enforce many restraints.

No shame to them, they did what they could with what they had.

But ya know what that looks like as a 20-something?

  • Pulling all-nighters on Kingdom Hearts to figure out what the hell Riku’s problem is.

  • Skipping classes to discover why Naruto’s such a dick but curious about his hidden past.

  • Or binging the entire series of How I Met Your Mother for 2 weeks straight because I didn’t have close relationships of my own.

Luckily now at 30, all that’s changed.

But I didn’t hold back when it came to anything coming from a screen (eh).

The problem with multi-passionate people’s lack of consistency is:

Lack of constraints (systems).

There’s an epidemic of low discipline and it’s causing a lot of our mental health problems.

Society promotes:

  • Instant gratification

  • Overstimulation

  • And overconsumption

We’ve been trained to seek the climax – the high that comes from achieving goals or “getting to that victory.”

This doesn’t work well long-term.

So what do we do then?

Stop trying to keep up with everyone.

The problem with typical productivity advice is that it works for only one type of person.

Neurotypicals (as they’ve been called) have an easier time just following instructions or guiding themselves to be productive on the right things.

You know the people who seem to have it all figured out?

Let’s just call them Normies.

They seem to achieve effortless success while we sit here struggling for an ounce of clarity thinking, “how can I get a slice of that?”

Just get it done” doesn’t always work.

Others habitually self-sabotage because that’s how their environment and genetics shaped them to be.

Are these people doomed to be “lazy procrastinators” their whole lives?

The Focus Spectrum

If you’ve tried productivity systems like Pomodoro, GTD, time-blocking, or Building a Second Brain and got instantly overwhelmed, I feel you.

These systems are great in theory and they do work but you need something more sustainable.

Stop listening to Energy Vampires (Normies).

We need an approach to remain consistent despite the dips we will inevitably experience (especially if you like all the things).

Consistency is the key to success after all, isn’t it?

A better way of working for multi-passionate people.

The biggest problem for poly-passionates is doing too much too fast.

Remember the energy thing?

It’s very limited.

So we need to start with something super simple.

One perspective that has helped me is reverse engineering my ideal life.

I know you’ve probably heard this somewhere but dedicating time to doing it right will help limit the river of distractions flowing your way.

You will keep getting lost if you don’t know where you’re going.

Let’s start with your ideal life and break it up into chunks (like chocolate chips if that helps):

  • Long term

  • Mid-term

  • Short term

So you can at least have clarity on where to start.

Reverse Dream Setting – Your path to confident action

My biggest mistake was trying to plan my days without a target.

1) Break down your ideal life, into goals and milestones:

  • Ideal life (or day)

  • 1-year goals

  • Quarterly

  • Monthly

  • Weekly

  • Daily

2) Brain dump for 20 minutes on what your ideal life looks like.

  • Set a timer and write like a madman (or woman)!

  • No edits, no judgment, just write.

  • This lets your mind go unfiltered and more true to what you’re tuned into.

3) Give yourself 1 week to map this out.

Pro tips:

  • The more specific the better!

  • Don’t think about “right” or correctness.

  • Use this ChatGPT prompt to make sense of it.

  • Use numbers and metrics where possible (i.e. 6 figures per year, lose 10 lbs of fat, 3 vacations per year).

  • Break down into potential milestones for your 10, 5, 1 year, quarterly, and monthly goals.

Here’s an example:

Ideal life goal: Financial and time freedom (no outstanding debts), plenty of assets, and cash flow from multiple sources.

10-year goal: All debt is paid off, making 6 figures per year working 20 hours per week.

5-year goal: Mastered the skill of copywriting and using it to ghostwrite for clients at $5k per month in addition to 9-5 job.

1-year goal: Practice writing skill. Help people for free. Get results and testimonials. Obtain first 3 paid clients for online writing business.

Quarterly:

  • Q1: Booked 20 calls

  • Q2: Booked 40 calls

  • Q3: Booked 75 calls

  • Q4: Booked 100 calls

Monthly: Written 12 emails

Weekly: Complete newsletter article

Daily: Write 500 words

Now get to work but allow flexibility!

Work in 1-week sprints – evaluate how you’re doing and change direction if necessary at the end of each week.

This plan isn’t set in stone but it’s meant to give you enough structure to execute with confidence!

Finally, use this thread to make the most of your limited time:

That’s all for now.

What questions do you have?

Was this a slice of clarity or more confusing?

Please let me know and leave a reply here or on Twitter (X). It helps me tailor my content to serve you better.

See you next week!

P.S. If you haven’t read last week’s letter, I sent out a poll.

It’s 1 question and takes 15 seconds to read and vote.

The responses will help me know what full guide to create for you.

Thanks!

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