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25: How the Feeling of Pointlessness Can Derail Us

25: How the Feeling of Pointlessness Can Derail Us

Released Thursday, 8th December 2022
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25: How the Feeling of Pointlessness Can Derail Us

25: How the Feeling of Pointlessness Can Derail Us

25: How the Feeling of Pointlessness Can Derail Us

25: How the Feeling of Pointlessness Can Derail Us

Thursday, 8th December 2022
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Episode Transcript

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0:46

Something that I've noticed the derails a lot of people's goals

0:50

or attempts to form new habits.

0:53

Is the feeling that it's pointless to even try.

0:56

If it feels like it won't matter if you do anything, why would you try.

1:01

So when people feel like this, they usually give up.

1:04

And it's a pretty understandable. But what if we want to break through that barrier, then the opportunity

1:11

here is to learn how to work with these feelings of pointlessness.

1:16

If we can find a way to feel empowered when things feel pointless.

1:20

A whole new range of possibilities open for up, open up for us,

1:24

including the possibility of moving through the most difficult parts

1:28

of a project or a habit change.

1:32

What would it be like if you worked with the desire to give up when

1:35

things felt hard and pointless? Let's look at how to recognize the feeling of pointlessness and then how you might

1:44

work with it to create something new.

1:48

So, how do we recognize feelings of pointlessness?

1:52

It can be difficult to recognize this stumbling block.

1:56

So let's look at some common ways.

1:58

Uh, of what it might look like in your life.

2:02

You missed a few days of a new habit. Maybe it's a workout meditation journaling.

2:07

And you feel discouraged and you want to give up.

2:10

The reason is the feeling of pointlessness. Ah, I know I'm never going to get this.

2:15

I suck. I can't do it. You think no one is going to care.

2:21

You want to write a book or blog for example, but you have the feeling that

2:26

you're writing it and no one will read it. That feels pointless.

2:31

So you might not even try. You want to sign up for something that could change your life?

2:36

Maybe it's a new course. Maybe it's some coaching or a mastermind group, for example.

2:42

But you think you won't actually pour yourself into it.

2:46

So. You won't get value out of it.

2:49

What's the point. If I'm not even going to show up for it.

2:54

You feel overwhelmed by the huge pile of tasks, clutter email in front of you.

3:00

And you feel like you can't tackle all of it, so you don't even start.

3:05

It feels like too much, like something you can handle.

3:09

So it feels pointless to even try. Every time you give your best effort, things return back to where they were.

3:18

No matter how hard I try things just end up the same way.

3:22

So you just give up. Or you feel like you have the same conversation with someone and

3:29

it's just not getting anywhere. It's frustrating.

3:32

Because you're going around in circles. It's pointless to even try with this person.

3:37

So it's best to just exit. Fire them quit breakup.

3:41

Ghost them. You were giving your best effort and then you got derailed by

3:47

something out of your control. Maybe you got injured, maybe you got sick.

3:52

Maybe it was someone else's mistakes or crisis or world events, a pandemic.

3:57

Why even try. You feel lost in the unknown?

4:03

It's better to stick with what, you know. Or you're so far behind with bills that it feels impossible to catch up.

4:10

So you ignore them. You can see in all of these situations.

4:16

That it applies to just about everything in life.

4:20

Wanting to meditate. Date, declutter exercise.

4:23

Get out of debt, create something meaningful.

4:26

Build an amazing team. This feeling of pointlessness stops us on all fronts.

4:33

But it's time to take it on. How do we do that?

4:37

How do we work with that struggle?

4:41

There's nothing wrong with feeling pointless, the feeling of pointlessness

4:46

at times, it's it's human feeling. It's human nature.

4:50

The difficulty comes when we believe it and we make it mean something.

4:55

So my encouragement is to make it mean nothing other than it's

5:00

just how it feels right now. That's meaningful to the extent that we can always care about how we feel.

5:09

I feel sad, lonely, uplifted, curious, playful, angry.

5:15

They matter, but they're not the entire world.

5:20

Feel the feeling, give it some compassion.

5:25

Breathe. So we have to take it head on just like we talked about in the last episode.

5:33

Then we've got to find a way to feel more empowered.

5:37

Missing one or two days is just an expected part of the

5:40

process of learning and growth. Messiness is a part of life.

5:45

Something beautiful to love and embrace.

5:49

This coming from a perfectionist. If no one will read a single word of my writing, would there still be something

5:56

powerful for me in the writing process?

6:01

If I keep ending up in the same place, is there something for me to look at here?

6:06

Something that I could learn from it? Would that make these repeated attempts valuable to me, if I learned something.

6:16

If I keep failing to finish a course or a program.

6:20

Is there an opportunity to shift something?

6:24

To shift, maybe change gears to something that would be more powerful for me.

6:29

What would it look like if I changed this pattern forever?

6:33

Could I let myself be curious when I'm lost in the unknown.

6:38

If I'm far behind, could I focus just on taking the next step?

6:45

If I have a mountain of tasks. Could I love the activity of climbing that mountain.

6:50

Could I find joy in each step.

6:54

What would it look like to find meaning in the place that feels pointless?

7:00

Let me know what things that you feel are hard and pointless for you right now.

7:07

Maybe we can tackle these together.

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