083 Did Menopause Steal Your Motivation? How to Find Your Spark

Are you feeling like menopause has stolen your motivation? You’re not alone. In this episode of The Strong Bones Coach Podcast, Carly explores why motivation feels harder to find during menopause — and why that’s completely normal.

Discover how hormonal changes, life’s demands, and outdated expectations can create a perfect storm for feeling stuck. But more importantly, learn practical ways to reconnect with your spark through self-awareness, values, and small joyful actions.

You'll also hear how looking after your body - especially your bones - doesn’t need to rely on willpower alone. It’s about showing up in a way that feels aligned with who you are now.

✨ Reignite your motivation
 ✨ Protect your bone health
 ✨ Take action that feels good for YOU

Would you like me to guide you through this next phase of life? Book a free clarity call HERE

Thanks for listening to the Strong Bones Coach Podcast

If you'd like to get in touch to ask a question about today's episode or to find out how you can get support from my coaching, reach out on the following links:

hello@carlykillencoaching.com

https://www.instagram.com/thestrongbonescoach

Thanks for listening to The Strong Bones Coach Podcast!

If you’d like to get in touch with a question about today’s episode or find out how I can support you with coaching, here’s how to reach me:
📧 Email: hello@carlykillencoaching.com
📱 Instagram: @thestrongbonescoach

Do you crave unshakable confidence in your strength from midlife and beyond? Would you love to achieve your goals without sacrificing family time or self-care?

Ready to take your strength to the next level? Start building a stronger body and healthier bones with my Strong Bones Starter Kit—your step-by-step guide to safe and effective strength training at home.
👉 Click here to learn more and access today

🌟 Stay connected and inspired with daily wellness tips on Instagram @thestrongbonescoach.
🌟 For tailored advice or personal queries, email me at hello@carlykillencoaching.com.

Thank you for being here, and I look forward to supporting you on your journey to strength, health, and confidence! 💪🦴✨

Transcript

Carly: 0:37

Hello and welcome back to The Strong Bones Coach Podcast. I'm Carly Killen, your host, your coach, educator, and guide through the maze of menopause, midlife and bone health. Today we are talking about something I know so many of you have been feeling, and that is a lack of motivation. Maybe you found yourself saying, I just can't seem to get back into a routine, or maybe you're saying, I know what I should be doing. I just can't bring myself to do it. And if that is you, I want you to know you are not alone. This episode, we are going to unpack why motivation might feel like it's gone missing how menopause plays a role, and most importantly, how you can reignite your spark without waiting for motivation to magically reappear. So let's get started. So let's start with motivation in and of itself. And perhaps you'd be surprised to hear that motivation is not really the problem. It might be our expectations. So if we get real here, motivation isn't designed to stick around. That's a bit of a myth. Motivation is so much more like a spark. Well, this is how I like to see it anyway. It comes in flashes. It's there to get you to take action. And then it naturally falls away after you've done what you needed to do, which most of the time is to get started on something. So it's there to get you started, to get you interested. That initial excitement to just push you over the line for doing something that might be new, maybe a little bit scary, maybe a little bit exciting, but it's not there to keep us going. So you might join a new gym. It's new, it's exciting. Perhaps it's a little bit shiny, but when it comes to showing up there each week, the motivation that you had when you started might not feel like it's there because you've already joined the gym. You've maybe gone a couple of times and now it feels a little bit more routine. This is where motivation has done its job So then it's time to look at other ways to keep yourself going. So when we think of ourselves as needing to feel motivated all the time in order to take the action, what really keeps us going is clarity, values, and the small wins that we can celebrate along the way. It's more about feeling connected to the reasons why you are taking the action, and this is what sees you through the natural dip in motivation. The reason you keep putting one foot in front of the other, and when we enter our perimenopause years, it's often a time we find ourselves questioning why we do what we do. Perhaps you've been doing life on autopilot, keeping up with what everyone else wants. Eventually there comes a point where we want to ask, what do I want? What do I really want? And this often needs us to take a pause and take stock. So if you're sitting there and thinking, why don't I feel like doing anything? You're not broken. You're human, and you're navigating one of the biggest physical and emotional transitions of your life. So be gentle with yourselves here. So let's move on to why motivation feels even harder in menopause. So let's bring menopause into the mix. Now during your perimenopause and menopause, we know that your hormone levels are changing. They are fluctuating up, down, perhaps gently sailing their way towards a new lower level that will sit there when you reach your post menopause time. And it's the estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone is where these fluctuations are happening. And these can have. A big impact on your energy, your feeling of wanting to do things. It impacts your mood, your motivation. It can affect your energy and your sleep. Hello, with 3:00 AM wake up, and it can increase feelings of overwhelm or brain fog when we have those emotional impacts of changing hormone levels. So this means your usual drive or that go-getter energy might not feel as accessible. It might not feel as consistent as it has in the past. And to that, the mental and emotional load of midlife work, family caring for others, it's no wonder that showing up for yourself can feel really hard. But here's the empowering path. I hope I can empower you with this. It doesn't mean you need to give up, just means you need to have a look at a new way to relate to motivation one that works with your midlife experience, not against it. So let's look at how we can reignite the spark. I'm gonna offer you three ways to find your drive again. So how do we reconnect to that spark? I do have three powerful but simple ways you can have a try for yourself. And if you do, I would love you to let me know. I do love any feedback or anything you want to share from anything you try In my podcast, what I do really is inspired by the feedback and comments that I get. So always happy to hear anything that you would like to share. So firstly, we can look at how we reconnect with your why. You can start to ask yourself, why did this matter to me in the first place? If it was a strength goal, why does that matter to you? Was it to feel strong enough to lift your suitcase, to walk up the stairs without pain? That's an example to your kids or grandkids or to protect your bones so you can keep your independence. There is a wealth of goals. There is, uh, so many reasons that you can choose, this is just a small example, but perhaps go into those deeper reasons. And that doesn't mean that if you have a, a weight loss goal that that's not valid. Of course it is. Just see what's underneath that too. What will that do for you? What will make you feel good when you achieve that goal? And this is where you start to find the spark which you can call upon when you have those motivation dips. Next, perhaps check in with your values. When your values are clear, your decisions become easier. Some examples of questions you can ask yourself are, is this goal feeling right for who I am now? Does it reflect with what I truly care about or does it fit with how my life looks now and how I want it to look in the future? Now, this is work I do with all my clients along their journey. We do some deeper work on this, and it serve as a compass, as we navigate our way to connecting with a feeling of purpose and fulfillment. Whenever we set a goal, we need to make sure it fits. With the life you have now and the life you see for yourself in the future, because anything you choose to do that does not fit with your values will start to become even harder. You'll start to notice more obstacles you might find. You can achieve it, but it has no meaning for you not doing what you wanted. You're not experiencing the things you wanted from it. This can often show up as reaching a goal and thinking what next? What Now, why did I even do any of this? Perhaps even feeling disappointment that you're not feeling quite as excited about the end goal as you were when you started at the beginning. So by making sure we are connected to your values. We ensure that your precious time and energy is spent on things that do truly make a difference to your life. And next, connecting with joy. Now let's be honest. If everything feels like a chore, you are not gonna stick with it. And yes, there are times when we need to show up and do things we don't really feel like in the moment. This is where your why comes in and your values. But instead of forcing a certain routine or nutrition approach, perhaps you can ask yourself a few questions like, what feels good to me right now? What will help me feel nourished and satisfying? What could I do to make this even 10% more enjoyable? So even when we are in need of choosing the thing, we don't feel like. You can also focus on finding joy elsewhere to tasks that are unrelated to your to-do list, your program, your routine. That way you stay in trust with yourself. That even though there are times we need to do the hard thing, joy can be just around the corner. So this can be connecting with very small things, perhaps getting out for some fresh air, doing some coloring in. Um. Even hopping on a swing at the park. My personal favorite, these tiny little things that don't need to take very much time or too much effort, just punctuate your day with little spots of joy so that if we are feeling like we're in a bit of a grind, there's ways to break it up and still take care of yourself. Joy is absolutely underrated, especially in midlife, but it's essential. It helps you find momentum, even if it's just a little bit. Then of course, one big why for you here? Let's not forget. There is a really good reason to keep showing up even when it's hard. As women in menopause, we're at stage where our risk of osteoporosis increases due to our drop in estrogen. But the good news is strength training, movement, enough protein, rest, consistency. They all play a huge role in protecting our bones. So you don't have to overhaul your whole life. You just need to keep moving forward with intention, with focus in line with your values and things that matter with you. A walk, a workouts, one good meal, one deep breath at a time. One, check in with yourself. It all counts and it all adds up. So if motivation has been missing, maybe it's time to stop chasing the perfect plan or the ideal version of you from 10 years ago, maybe. The invitation here is to show up as you are today with self-compassion, curiosity, and courage. You're not failing. You are recalibrating, and you absolutely can begin again, even right now. So if this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to share it with a friend and let me know on Instagram or via my email, Carly. Or through my email, Carly killen pdt@gmail.com, and if you're feeling a little lost with where to begin or how to find your spark, again, remember, I'd still offer free 30 minute clarity calls, which you can book on my website, carly killen.com. So until next time, stay strong, stay grounded, and remember your strength starts with how you show up for yourself. See you next week.