Finding (and Keeping) Motivation Is Hard - You Are Not Alone

Hello, and welcome to my new blog.
All jokes aside, it's really been a while since I last wrote published a blog post..
I just didn't have the power or motivation to finish any post.
I'm even wondering if I do have it now.
I did start quite a few posts, but they very soon became a bit too long, or I lost attention.
And after one or 2 writing sessions I just stopped and moved on, to the next post I wouldn't finish.
That's been going off and on for about a year I guess.
I wrote published 2 posts in 2021 so far, that says it all.

After finishing the actual Power BI post and this prelude, I decided to split them up into 2 separate posts.
This post has become more of a motivation/#pbifamily post, the second part is about the November 2021 Power BI Desktop update.
This does mean you'll have to wait a bit longer for an in-depth Power BI post. But that actually gives me the chance to create another post in a very short time frame. 😀

But... We're all in this together

Going to Power BI Next Step in September, and all the fun and learnings I had, really did get my attention and created some sparks for new energy on writing and speaking, even on new topics. But as you have guessed, that also didn't quite come through all the way.

I guess doing a major home improvement project also doesn't help, right?

Exciting times, because we are now 1 month into our home improvement project! 🧱🏠
From start...
1/2 pic.twitter.com/tKKfrz3vvc

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) October 6, 2021

Eventually, it turned out really great, I'm writing this blog post out of my new office! The office is not quite finished all the way yet, and there's still a lot of work to do before everything is finished, but a major step up already!

We are getting somewhere.. Now for some decorations :-) #homeoffice #pbifamily pic.twitter.com/arTzs7ViTC

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) November 26, 2021

Re-energize

I also get a lot of help from and inspiration for running in these times, from all my buddies at #runhappy:

19k early this morning! #runhappy Happy Sunday 🌞 @erinstellato @SQLBalls @SQLRockstar @wstrasser @bweissman @SQLFlipFlopsDBA @heymiky @kjonge @cporteous @transmokopter @landrews5807 @widowpage @ko_ver @sqlespresso @sqlworldwide @mwdarab

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) November 28, 2021

Thank you for that, Erin, Bradley, Thomas, Wolfgang, Ben, Jim, Michael, Kasper, Craig, Magnus, Leslie, Lynn, Koen, Monica, Taiob, Mohammad, and others that occasionally join!

It's important to get new energy, in whatever way you do that. I love to go running 150k+ per month and have regular stand-up or lunch walks, but do whatever suits you. Just make sure you go away from your screens once in a while every day. Go play with your kids/dog/cat/spouse for a few minutes 😉

You are not alone

Luckily I know I'm not alone in this, .
This tweet from yesterday actually sparked my interest in writing a new blog post:

I wonder whether the pandemic has changed me permanently, or whether it's because we're still in the middle of it. I don't have the same energy or motivation as I used to, even if I wish I did. Not as productive. Do just need to relearn habits? Get myself together? Hm 🤔

— Cathrine Wilhelmsen (@cathrinew) November 30, 2021

That's why I do think that December can be a turnaround. Let's at least try, right? 😃

The End

I wrote this post almost in one go (alright, I was distracted a few times when searching for the tweets I wanted to embed 😀).
It's nowhere close to anything I've ever posted.
Way out of my comfort zone.
But if it helps only one person, I'm happy.
And if not, it actually helped me already.

If you need motivation/help/anything: reach out.
Leave a comment here, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, in real life, whatever suits you.

Have a great day! 💛