How to Overcome Apathy and Rediscover Your Passion

Apathy is defined as the absence of emotion. It’s white noise. Dead air. You feel like a chunk of flavorless tofu. Not happy. Not sad. Not angry. And certainly not passionate.

You’ve probably heard people say they knew they were out of love when they no longer got angry. The relationship had flat-lined, love had disappeared, and it wasn’t worth the effort of anger anymore.

10 Ways to Change If You’re an Apathetic Person

1. Start with perspective

Apathy is a temporary state of being. It doesn’t define you. You aren’t lazy, passionless, stupid, boring, unmotivated, or any other label you give yourself while you feel apathetic. Apathy doesn’t define who you are, just how you feel right now. You won’t feel this way forever.

2. Define the cause

If you can, figure out the trigger or cause of your apathy. Was there an event that finally took the wind out of your sail? Do you feel hopeless about something big in your life? Is there a pattern of negative thinking that is keeping you down? Think deeply about why you are feeling apathetic and if there is any discernible cause. There may not be, but if there is, it’s important to know.

3. Change the things you can

If you do recognize a cause or trigger for your apathy, is there anything that can be done about it? What adjustments can you make or actions you might take to remove or mitigate the cause? Write these down and begin brainstorming real ways to take action on them. Just taking control of small pieces of the cause or trigger will afford you a sense of control over your life, which can help break up apathy.

4. Create small disturbances

Whether or not you know the cause for your apathy, start creating small disturbances in your life and schedule. Shake things up a bit. Do things in a different order in the morning. Go in earlier to work. Talk to a new person. Just break out of your regular routine. Your daily routine, though sometimes comforting, can also trap you in apathy and boredom.

5. Create a mood

Put yourself in situations and with people where you feel the most energized as often as possible. Is there a room in your house that has the most “positive energy” for you? Spend time in that room. Does music make you feel happier? Then play more music. Are there people who lift your spirits, make you laugh, and draw out the best in you? Then purposefully spend time with those people. Mindfully put yourself in environments that don’t feed your apathy.

6. List past joys

Sit down and think about everything in your past that made you come alive with excitement and enthusiasm. List situations and events both in your personal and professional life. Then next to each situation, list the specific elements of those situations that fostered the good feelings. Tease out the feelings and values these events fostered that made you feel so good.

7. Find the low-hanging fruit

Look at your life right now to see where you might be overlooking situations that could foster those same feelings and values. See if there are places you might focus a bit more attention and time to reignite feelings of engagement and motivation, or at least lessen the apathy.

8. Pick one thing

If you’ve been toying with ideas and interests, but you aren’t sure which one you should pursue or invest time in (hence your apathy), then match them to the values and feelings you outlined in point #6. Just pick one to focus on for a while.

9. Break it down

Since you’re feeling apathetic, you won’t have much energy to devote to tackling a big, multi-layered project. So break down the interest into the smallest possible action steps that are manageable but slightly challenging. Take small, manageable, forward-moving, slightly challenging actions every day. Then commit to doing these actions every day for 6 weeks.

10. Learn about habits

Snapping out of apathy involves forcing change. You force it in well-considered, but small and manageable increments. Making change is basically creating a series of new habits. Forming habits involves a special skill set that is easy but important to understand. Learn the method and you will have the tools to snap out of apathy.