By: Eileen Shea

We’re entering into a new year, but the global health crisis that has been at the forefront of all our minds continues — now for the third calendar year. 2022 is the start of both a new year and a new normal.

ARO is now hosting our first online event of 2022 — Finding Motivation: Transitioning to a New Normal as the Pandemic Continues — where we are addressing a variety of questions about resolutions, goals, diversity, outreach, and the overall impact of the pandemic on the Abuse Care Community. Join us at https://www.facebook.com/AbuseRefugeOrg for new content every day from February 20th through 26th.

We are covering questions like:

● How do you find motivation when seeking to achieve new goals?

● How has your motivation been affected by the pandemic?

● How do you feel pandemic-related isolation has impacted the prevalence of abuse? What can we do to address this?

● How do we prevent isolating and be more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community?

● How do we recognize individuals’ differences as strengths while creating equality?

Each new calendar year is simply a reminder to reflect on what you want to work towards, as well as provide a much-needed psychological reset. Perhaps the new year brings an even greater sense of motivation or ability to succeed, even though the change of one digit doesn’t truly make you more capable of success; you were always capable.

A new normal is creating consistency with something new. You may set new goals in various aspects of your life including spiritual growth, personal growth, relationships, career, finances, and health, each bringing different kinds of fulfillment and benefits with the success of each change. In the beginning, a challenge can be exciting, but sometimes your skills may be lacking. Over time, as your skill level increases but the ‘challenge’ does not, it’s easy to get bored. Conversely, you may set a goal that is unrealistic and unattainable which can result in undue stress and anxiety. Combating boredom and anxiety to stay motivated and dedicated towards your goals is the real challenge for some.

Part of the success of goal attainment has more to do with forming habits and developing a routine. It’s important not to focus too much on the reward or outcome, but rather on the process and progress made towards a goal, even if it doesn’t happen in the way or time that was expected.

Sometimes it’s okay to start with the end in mind. Other times, you may get in such a rush to reach the end goal that you miss important steps along the way and things won’t work out how you envisioned. Finding the motivation to keep going when facing new challenges along the way can be particularly testing. Maintaining motivation requires planning for progress to not be linear. Remind yourself why you’re working towards a goal when setbacks arise.

What Does Motivation Mean?
Motivation describes the wants or needs that direct behavior toward a goal. Simply put, it is the reason why you self-improve. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsically-motivated behaviors are generated by the sense of personal satisfaction that they bring. Extrinsically-motivated behaviors, in contrast, are performed to receive something from others. Finding motivation can come from something small, an immediate or short-term benefit, or something greater that stems from your deepest desires and personal life’s purpose.

Reflect: Did the pandemic have a positive or negative effect on your motivation?

Some of you may have taken this time to embrace change. You may have found yourself out of work or isolated due to stay-at-home orders. Resiliency and courage are taking the circumstances you are given and doing your best to make, or at least see and focus on, the positive aspects of those circumstances. Perhaps the pandemic reminded you to be grateful for your health and time with loved ones. Perhaps the pandemic only highlighted how fragile wellness is or how limited the time we have is. Where does your perspective stem from? Are you a Victim or Survivor?

ARO and the Pandemic
The pandemic has impacted the world of non-profits considerably. Many private donors shifted their efforts towards more local initiatives or even cut back on donations due to financial hardship. Government funding and grants have been delayed because of other necessary national needs. At the start of the pandemic, with many people displaced and jobless, ARO found itself with plentiful skilled and dedicated volunteers due to the availability and access to remote capabilities; however, as many now return to work, those willing, interested, and able to commit to this type of role are harder to find.

And yet, there is still a large group of our volunteers that have been with us who wouldn’t have considered seeking out a volunteer role if they hadn’t been out of work. These dedicated volunteers at ARO have found their motivation to participate regardless of monetary compensation because the work we strive for is meaningful and impactful.

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t — you’re right.”

This emphasizes how much attitude determines success or failure. Perspective is everything when it comes to finding and maintaining motivation.

To learn more and to take action, join us on Facebook Live every day between February 20–26 for new content as we bring awareness to the impact of COVID on abuse prevalence and the LGBTQ+ community with our first online events series of 2022→ Finding Motivation: Transitioning to a New Normal as the Pandemic Continues.

Interested in sponsoring our event? Email eileens@abuserefuge.org to find out how.