Behavioral Activation- How to Get Motivated to Do Stuff that You Don't Want to Do. Anxiety Course 30

In this practice

Key teachings

• Action Precedes Emotion: engaging in beneficial behaviors even when motivation is low, to improve mood and motivation.
• Breaking the cycle of withdrawal: consciously choosing to act against tendencies to pull back due to anxiety or depression.
• The 'Vanilla' Principle: intentionally engaging in activities that are good for you, despite not immediately wanting to do them.
• Behavioral Experimentation: using actions as experiments to challenge unhelpful thought patterns and build new learning.

Ideal for

• Individuals seeking strategies to overcome procrastination and inertia.
• People experiencing low mood, depression, or anxiety-related withdrawal.
• Anyone looking to boost motivation and psychological well-being.
• Practitioners interested in an action-oriented approach to mental health.

Lesson

Instructions

Boost motivation with behavioral activation! Learn how to overcome procrastination, manage depression, and get things done even when you don't feel like it. You'll get instant access to all 10 life-changing courses, live weekly Q&As, and a supportive community for just $27/month. Learn how to manage anxiety, process trauma, regulate emotions, and build lasting resilience so that you can live a deeply rich and meaningful life!

When you’re depressed you don’t really feel like doing anything that will help you, not only does it sound like a lot of work and you’re exhausted, but also, you just don’t feel like it. You don't feel motivated.

-“If I don’t feel like being social, so I won’t go out today” - “If I feel anxious about having a hard conversation, it’s probably not worth the effort” -Getting showered and dressed sounds exhausting, so I’m just going to stay in my pajamas all day, but then when I’m invited to do something - I feel insecure because I didn’t get dressed so I don’t go, and when I go to the store I know I look slobby so when I run into someone I know I don’t talk to them because I’m embarrassed, then I go home and feel even worse than before.

Behaviors lead to a cycle of lower mood It’s easy to see this tendency we have when we’re anxious or depressed, we tend to pull back, to withdraw from things, including stuff we used to enjoy. And this makes you feel worse, and that perpetuates the cycle, making you withdraw more. And your motivation decreases. I think people always assume the thought or emotion leads to the behavior, but behaviors also lead to emotions.

During Covid, lockdowns changed our behaviors - we spent more time alone, we couldn’t go out with friends, and many of the activities that brought us pleasure were out of reach. And, by simply changing our behavior, many people felt a change in mood. Rates of depression and anxiety approximately doubled to the point where around 40% of people reported symptoms and many people attempted to cope with substance abuse. This change in mental health had nothing to do with our inherent biology, it had to do with our behaviors.

I feel sad so I won’t go out, so then I feel sadder, so then I won’t go out more, so then I feel sadder.

But if simply suppressing behaviors causes mood changes, simply adding in behaviors can also cause mood changes. Have you ever gone out with friends, even though you weren’t feeling like it, and by the time you were done, you were feeling way better?

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Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership:

Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month:

In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love

If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Steps

• Act Different to Feel Different: a core technique encouraging proactive behavior despite lack of motivation.
• Identifying and Planning Activating Behaviors: choosing activities that are fun, provide accomplishment, or foster connection.
• Behavioral Scheduling: consciously planning and performing desired actions.
• Self-Observation and Tracking: monitoring mood changes in response to behavioral activation.

Benefits

• Increased motivation and a sense of accomplishment.
• Reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety.
• Improved emotional regulation and resilience.
• Enhanced social connection and engagement with life.
• Breaking cycles of procrastination and withdrawal.