Why Motivation Might Be the Last Thing You Need Today

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In this episode

When your energy is low, the last thing you need is another motivational video.

Yet that's exactly where most people go — and it's making the low feel even lower.

In this episode, I share what I discovered on a day when I couldn't find motivation no matter how hard I looked. Instead of forcing it, I tried something different. And it worked.

What you'll get from this episode:

Why consuming positive, high-energy content when you're depleted actually backfires
The concept of state-dependent energy — and how to work with your state, not against it
The one thing you can do right now when you're feeling low that actually moves you forward
Why giving yourself permission to feel low might be the most productive thing you do today

If you struggle with energy dips, burnout, or feeling guilty for not being "on" — this episode will change how you approach your low moments.

This isn't toxic positivity. It's an honest, practical look at what low energy really is — and what it's trying to tell you

“Permission to feel is often more helpful than pressure to improve.”

Luca

Key takeaways

Seeing other people’s highlights can make you feel disconnected, even when you’re genuinely happy for them.
Social media usually reflects what is shareable, not the full reality of someone’s life.
Knowing that social media isn’t reality doesn’t automatically change how it makes you feel.
Not every difficult emotional state needs more motivation or positive input.
Sometimes the healthiest response is to take a break instead of trying to push through.
Positive messages can backfire when they don’t match your current emotional state.
When your internal state and external input don’t align, it creates emotional friction.
In difficult moments, you often need space more than advice or solutions.
The urge to immediately fix or reframe your feelings can prevent you from processing them.
Changing your physical state—walking, exercising, making coffee, or stepping outside—can be more helpful than consuming more content.
Not every experience needs to be documented, shared, or turned into content.
Quiet, ordinary moments can be restorative when you allow yourself to simply experience them.
You’re allowed to have off days without trying to make them productive or meaningful.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is close the app and reconnect with your own life instead of someone else’s.
Permission to simply be where you are can be more powerful than forcing yourself to feel better.

Resources:

GO OWN IT ALL

A Step-By-Step Method To Live With Intention, Take Action And Own What Comes Next, written by Luca Savazzi.

Grounded on Four Values:

Presence - Slow down and start where you are
Connection - With your heart, yourself, others
Ownership - Thoughts, Feelings & Impact
Courage - Take action even if the outcome is uncertain

Together, they help you slow down, reconnect with yourself, and move forward with purpose and confidence, even when fear or doubt show up.

Find out more on my book GO OWN IT ALL

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Click to read the episode transcript

Hey, it's Luca and welcome to the Luca Savati podcast. Okay, so this morning I was scrolling through my social media, you know, LinkedIn, Instagram, and it was the kind of scroll where you're not really looking for something specific. You know, you're just scrolling people sharing their wins, reflections of the year, gratitude posts. Here's what worked for me. Here's what I'm excited about. New projects, new jobs. And as I was scrolling, I noticed something really specific happening inside me. Instead of feeling inspired, I felt worse. And I actually caught myself thinking, "Oh, shut up already." And immediately after that, I just closed my browser. I sat there. I mean outside was a gray morning. It was cold. I already woke up feeling a bit and so far scrolling and seeing all that positivity and momentum, it just made me feel even worse. And so I stopped and thought, what's actually going on here? Because it wasn't jealousy. It wasn't bitterness. It wasn't that I'm not happy for the people in my network because I actually appreciate people sharing what excites them. But I wasn't connecting to it. And that confused me because we all hear this, right? That your brain looks for reinforcement that positive input, affirmation, motivation leads to positive feelings. So why wasn't I feeling lifted by this? Why was seeing all this positivity making me feel worse, disconnected instead of motivated? That question stayed with me and then I reminded myself people usually post things that are going well. highlights what worked, what they're proud of, progress. And that's not fake. That's human. We all do it. I do it. We usually don't post the messy parts, the low energy mornings, the self-doubt, the days that feel, which also makes sense. But you know what that also means? It means that what we're seeing is not reality. What we're seeing is sharable. And knowing that doesn't magically make you feel better, but it does take away the idea that something might be wrong with you. I mean, everyone has days that suck. They just don't end up on your feet. And what I want to be clear about here is not social media behavior or algorithms or why people post what they post. That's not what this story is about. The point is not every low energy moment needs encouragement. Sometimes what you actually need is a break. Permission to not be on. permission not to reframe everything immediately. No pep talks, no affirmations, just permission to feel what you're feeling because you're feeling it. Cuz motivation is stay dependent. And this matters because if you're already disregulated, disconnected, or feeling low, more positive input can actually backfire. Not because positivity is bad, but because it just doesn't match where you are. And when input doesn't match your state, it creates friction. So, let me give you an example. You know, when you're just full of something and you just need to vent. I mean, you don't need solutions. You don't need answers. You don't need fixing. You just want to say it out loud and get it out of your system. You want someone to listen, anyone. And when that someone jumps in with active advice or a positive spin or a reframe, I don't know about you, but that really pisses me off because I'm not looking for answers in that moment. I'm looking for space. I just want to sit with it. I want to process it. I want to get it out of my system. That's it. And social media can do the exact same thing. When you're already low and you keep scrolling, you're basically letting thousands, millions of people talk to you, give you advice, offer solutions, telling you what you should do, what you shouldn't do, when what you actually need is quiet. So, no, this isn't about finding better content. What helped me was just stopping, giving myself a break, accepting that today is what it's going to be, and it's going to be a bit off, and then turning down the noise, and doing something for myself, something physical, something ordinary. We are so used to sharing everything we do. This time I chose not to because not every moment needs to become content. Not every feeling needs to be shared. So here's what I'll leave you with. When you notice that something makes you feel worse instead of better, stop. Close the app. Close the laptop. Change your state physically. Get up. Uh get outside. Go for a walk. Make coffee. Bake something. Go to the gym. Do one thing that doesn't need to be shared. And stay off social media. No lesson, no post, no outcome. You don't need to fix anything and you don't need to turn anything into something. So, no pictures, no videos. you're allowed to just be who you are and where you are. So that's it for today. Thank you so much for hanging out and I really appreciate our conversations. And if this episode made you think of someone you care about, a friend, a partner, a family member, go ahead and share it with them and tell them what made you think of them. I'm Luca and I look forward to seeing you in our next conversation.

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