How Coaching and Counseling Can Help Fix Motivation Problems in Men 

Experiencing the occasional drag of low motivation is a normal part of the human experience.

No matter how energetic a person is or how exciting their lives are, we all have days when we’d rather hide under the sheets than get up and pursue our goals.

But when our lack of motivation becomes chronic–going on for two or more weeks with no end in sight–it’s often a symptom of a deeper and more pervasive problem. A problem that needs to be resolved–fast.

Motivation is the linchpin of every journey we want to go on in life. Without it, you’ll always be struggling to make meaningful progress and take the actions required to live the life you want.

But with it, there is no challenge too great or goal too big.

Whether we’re trying to build the relationship of our dreams, launch a new business, transform our bodies, or level up our self-care and sense of self-esteem–our ability to create inner motivation on command will determine whether we succeed or fail.

The problem? Outside of “inspirational” YouTube rants (that claim you just aren’t working hard enough), there are very few tools or resources men can turn to for support when they’re struggling with low motivation.

That’s where motivation coaches and counselors come in. You can continue doing things the way you’ve always done them–and get the same results. Or you can take a different action.

Asking for help and getting the support you need to make lasting changes in this area of your life.

In this article, I’m going to share exactly how a motivation coach can support you in your journey, the signs you’re ready to hire one of these coaches, and what to expect throughout the process.

What Does a Motivation Coach or Counselor Do?

Just like there are different forms of therapy for mental health–ranging from psychodynamic to behavioral to humanistic to cognitive behavioral therapy–different motivation coaches and counselors bring different skills and processes to the table.

However, the fundamental principles they use to support their clients share a few key similarities.

1. They Help You Identify the True Causes of Low Motivation

Most men assume that low motivation stems from their own character or personality, that they are simply lazy and unmotivated person who doesn’t have the “goods” required to achieve what they want.

But this is rarely the case.

After coaching thousands of men, I’ve found that the real challenge is not about personality, but self-awareness. And most men simply lack the level of self-awareness needed to accurately diagnose the source of the symptoms they are experiencing.

Whether it’s a toxic relationship, poor habits in their physical health, disengagement in their career, a low energy social circle, or simple boredom, the causes of low motivation are rarely as simple as we think.

More often than not, there are a 1-2 “leverage points” that have a disproportionate impact on our drive and energy. When pulled, they can lead to massive changes seemingly overnight.

I’ve had clients who went from believing they had clinical depression to experiencing almost inhuman levels of energy in a week–simply by ending a relationship, moving to a new city, or saying “no” to the unreasonable demands being made by their boss.

The right motivation coach will help you identify these leverage points in your life to help you reach the next level in your life.

2. They Teach You How to Get and Stay Motivated

Once you’ve removed the sources of low motivation holding you back from the energy and life you desire, the next step in your journey is to actively cultivate motivation through specific habits and practices.

Whether it’s writing down goals, meditating, challenging yourself physically, or surrounding yourself with other high-energy people, there are a plethora of tools you can use to control your mental state and tap into states of high drive and ambition on command.

A motivation coach or counselor will not only know the most effective tools and strategies to motivate their clients, but they’ll know how to ask you the right questions to identify the tools and strategies that will work for you.

Instead of spending months or even years on trial and error, they’ll shortcut your learning curve and help you figure out the tools you need faster than you would on your own.

3. They Give You the Tools to Perform EVEN When You Lack Motivation

Finally and most importantly, the right coach or counselor will understand one simple truth: No one feels motivated 100% of the time. There will be days when you don’t feel like showing up.

When you’ll want to hit ‘snooze’ and pull the sheets over your head. When you don’t want to do the things you need to do–even if you’ve been doing everything right.

But with the help of the right coach, you’ll develop the grit needed to follow through and take action even when you aren’t feeling motivated.

They’ll give you the tools and training you need to persist even when the deck is stacked against you.

By showing up consistently, regardless of feelings or desire, you’ll unlock a level of performance and power most men never experience.

5 Causes of Low Motivation in Men (and Surefire Signs a Motivation Coach Can Help)

As I mentioned earlier, the reasons most men experience a lack of motivation rarely are rarely as simple as laziness or personality.

There’s always a bigger driver behind your experience.

After coaching thousands of men, we’ve discovered that there are five primary reasons for feeling unmotivated.

1. You’re Struggling with Burnout and Overwhelm

Let me be clear. Hard work is important.

It’s an essential part of creating the life you want and maximizing the human experience. But there’s more to life than simply paying your dues and showing up at the office.

Your career is just one of the many journeys that make life meaningful and fulfilling.

Yet most men place all of their energy and attention on this single journey, believing that if they make enough money or achieve enough accolades every other area of their life will magically fall into place.

For most men who are feeling overwhelmed, burned out, and unmotivated, the solution is simple. They need to re-examine their beliefs around hard work and hustle and begin to shift their focus to the other areas of their life.

As much as we’d like to believe otherwise, we’re not superhuman. The long workdays and nonstop hustle take a toll on our mental health.

Rest and recovery are essential parts of peak performance. But in a society that trains us to “hustle till our face falls off,” they don’t come naturally.

The right coach can help you strike the fine balance between pushing yourself to achieve your goals and making time and space to fully enjoy and experience your life.

In my experience, the more you pour into the other journeys of life–your relationships, social circle, health, adventure, and personal development–the more effective and successful you become in your career.

2. You’re Plagued by Self Doubt and Imposter Syndrome

Another common cause of low motivation in men is a deeply rooted lack of self-belief.

When a man doesn’t feel capable of overcoming the challenges he’s facing in his life, it’s easy to lose trust in himself, to doubt himself, his abilities, and his potential.

Like an elephant tied to a rope, many men learn helplessness early in life. When you don’t believe that it’s possible to solve a specific problem in your personal or professional life, you subconsciously decide “It’s better if I don’t even try.”

Coaching can help you uncover the self-defeating stories and beliefs you have around your abilities and rewrite them into something more empowering.

They’ll help you learn, through experience not theory that “What one man can do, another man can do. If it’s been done before, it can be done again.”

3. There’s Fundamental Misalignment Between Your Values and Lifestyle

Motivation (or the lack of motivation) is never the source of your problems.

It’s a symptom.  It’s your brain’s attempt to get you to slow down and pay attention to something that isn’t working.

If you find that you’re struggling to stay motivated on things you normally enjoy, this is often an invitation to look at the areas of your life where you’re out of alignment with your highest vision and core values.

What many men forget is that life doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Everything affects everything else.

If you’re settling in a relationship that doesn’t serve you, it can drain your energy and motivation to show up in your career.

If you’re working a job that’s misaligned with your core values, it can steal the joy from other areas of your life and leave you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

If you’re trapped in an addiction or bad habit that reinforces a negative self-identity (i.e. porn, alcohol, drugs, etc), it can wreak havoc on your self-esteem and mental health.

The problem is, that most of us are so deeply enmeshed in our own day-to-day reality that we struggle to identify these patterns and behaviors without external support.

We can’t see how our struggles are interconnected and therefore, we can’t solve the real problems holding us back.

A coach will help you identify the areas of misalignment and bring them into congruence with your values and vision. Eliminating the cause of low motivation at the source instead of simply solving the symptoms.

4. You’ve Adopted Habits of a Low Motivation Man 

Motivation is not only an emotional state, it’s a habit.

There are specific practices and tools you can use to predictably motivate yourself. And there are specific vices and mistakes that will predictably cause a lack of motivation.

If you’re sleeping less than 7 hours a night, eating highly processed foods, consuming entertainment that damages your mental health, reinforcing limiting beliefs, or surrounding yourself with low-energy people, you’re going to lack motivation.

Inversely, if you’re well-rested, pushing your body regularly, protecting your mental health, and surrounding yourself with other motivated and high-caliber men, motivation is inevitable.

But changing these habits first requires an awareness of them.

This is where coaches can help.

The right coach will not only be able to identify the most important habits you need to develop or overcome, but give you the tools you need to change them.

5. You’re Experiencing Physical or Mental Health Issues

A few years ago, I lost all of my motivation seemingly overnight.

For years, I’d been a hard-charging high energy guy.

But back in 2019, I could barely get myself to work for more than an hour a day.

I knew that something was wrong, but I just didn’t know what.  After going to doctor after doctor, I finally found the sources of my low motivation.

I’d developed a severe case of heavy metal and mold poisoning. And I was suffering from acute depression following the death of my father and a close friend (who I lost less than a month apart).

The experts I worked with were able to prescribe an effective treatment that helped me get back to my old self in a matter of months.

Although these types of physical or mental illness are rarer than some of the other causes I’ve listed here, unaddressed physical and mental illness can be the cause of low motivation.

In these cases, it can be helpful to work with both a motivation coach and a mental health professional or functional doctor who can help you solve your challenges from all angles.

How a Knowledge for Men Coach Can Help You Increase Motivation and Drive

Once you’ve decided whether or not motivation counseling and coaching are right for you, the next question becomes “Who should I hire to help me?”

Here at Knowledge for Men, we’ve been helping men with motivation, confidence, and relationships for more than a decade.  And there are a few key distinctions with our approach that set us apart from other coaches.

1. We Offer Objective Insights Based on Proven Experience

Unlike your friends and family, when you work with a coach, they aren’t entering into the relationship with biases and beliefs about who you are or what’s possible in your life.

Their only priority is to see you succeed. Meaning that they’re willing to give you the raw and unfiltered truth the other people in your life can’t.

Just as importantly, many men don’t have highly energetic and motivated men in their lives who are leading by example.

So whatever advice they receive from friends or family is based on theory or “nice ideas” they heard online.

With the right coach, you’re getting insight from someone who has walked the walk and knows exactly what you’re experiencing.

All of our coaches have completed at least 1,000 hours of 1-on-1 coaching sessions and have a proven track record of success–in many cases spanning multiple decades.

In other words, whatever challenge you’re facing, they’ve helped someone who has been where you are and they know exactly what works (and what doesn’t).

They know how to quickly identify the behavioral patterns and mindsets causing low motivation and can give you the objective insights you need to quickly improve them.

2. Our Coaching Will Help You Become a Fully Grounded Man 

Like I’ve said over and over again, becoming a more motivated and alive man isn’t just about writing down your goals, improving your self-esteem, or working harder.

It’s about creating a life where motivation is your default setting.  Where you’re on many different journeys in different areas of life that excite you and give you energy.

And that’s what the coaches at Knowledge for Men specialize in.  Our goal inside of coaching isn’t just to help you become more motivated or energetic.

It’s to help you become a fully grounded man who has mastered the game of life.  A man who is multidimensional and fully alive.

Consciously creating the reality he desires instead of settling for whatever reality was given to him.  Yes, we can help you increase motivation and drive.

But that’s only the first step.

Once you’re waking up energized and on fire every morning, the next question becomes, “How can I use this motivation and energy to create a more exciting and passionate life?”

That’s the question we’ll help you answer.

3. They Provide Unwavering Accountability to Guarantee Transformation 

Finally, and most importantly, our coaching will not only help you identify the patterns, habits, and beliefs you need to change. But we’ll give you the in-the-trenches accountability you need to actually follow through and do it.

For most men, knowledge isn’t the problem.  They know what they need to change. It’s just that they have difficulty changing it.

But, when a man is held accountable by someone he deeply admires and respects, failure isn’t an option.

It won’t matter if you’re feeling motivated or not. By giving your word to your coach, you’ll force yourself to follow through and take action.

Because the pain of disappointing them will be so much greater than the pain of taking action.

With the combination of objective insight, groundedness, and accountability, you can make massive changes in your life, faster than you ever believed possible.

What It’s Like to Work with a Knowledge for Men Relationship Coach

Before you consider working with any coach you need to ask yourself one simple question:  “Am I ready and willing to put in the work required to take my life to the next level?”  If you’re…

  • Highly coachable, willing to admit when you’re wrong, and ready to challenge your beliefs
  • Serious about increasing your motivation, leveling up your life, and willing to invest significant amounts of time, money, and energy to solve the problems you’re facing
  • Ready to take ACTION on what your coach shares (even when it scares you or feels uncomfortable)
  • Committed to the long game and understand that all change takes time and patience

You’re ready to pull the trigger. However, if you’re…

  • Stubborn and set in your ways and unwilling to consider new ways of doing things and solving problems.
  • Looking for a “magic three-step solution” to your problems
  • Prefer theory to action and would rather spend time talking about improving your motivation than actually doing the work
  • Searching for a “quick fix” and expecting to solve problems that have been going on for years in a matter of days

Coaching won’t be able to get you where you want to go.  Not because it doesn’t work. But because you aren’t yet ready to do the work.  No matter how qualified a coach is or how effective their strategies are, they can only help you as much as you’re willing to be helped.

What Does a Knowledge for Men Motivation Coaching Entail?

Our program, Project Grounded Man relies on three key tools to help you achieve your goals inside of your motivation and life:

1. World-Class Training

First and most importantly, is the training component of the Project Grounded Man experience.

Most coaches and counselors simply show up once a week, share a few quick ideas, and then go on their way.

But here at Knowledge for Men, we’ve built one of the most powerful personal development curriculums for men on the planet.

It’s a comprehensive 12-month system designed to help you assess and improve every area of your life. From your health and energy to your career and bank account to your relationships and sex life.

As I’ve mentioned, many motivation problems stem from other problems in your life.

When your career, self-worth, social life, and health aren’t in order, your motivation suffers.

Our curriculum is designed to not only help you identify the blind spots you need to see to fix your motivation but to become the hero of your own story and create a life on your terms.

2. Group Coaching and Accountability

In addition to the core training and lessons, we offer weekly group coaching sessions with one of our elite-level coaches.

Again, every coach is required to have 5+ years of experience and 1,000+ hours of actual coaching on the record.

The men you’ll be learning from have worked with Fortune 500 CEOs, special forces operators, and everyone in between.

During these small group calls, you’ll have the opportunity to ask your questions and get direct feedback and accountability from the coaches. Just as importantly, you’ll get to learn from your brothers inside of the experience and see how their own journey mirrors yours.

If you’re wondering why the sessions are done in a group setting and not 1-on-1, the answer is simple. After more than a decade in the industry, we’ve found that group coaching is the most powerful tool for transformation.

Because not only do you still get access to 1-on-1 accountability and feedback, but you get to learn from other men going through the experience with you.

By seeing their journey and the challenges they experience, you’ll gain a more objective understanding of your own reality (and have the opportunity to share in your new journey so you don’t feel alone in whatever pain you’re experiencing).

3. Elite Brotherhood

The third and final component of the Project Grounded Man experience is unlimited access to an elite brotherhood of men going through the same experience.

Including Project Grounded Man alumni who are still showing up to the community and coaching years after graduating to continue supporting the tribe.

You’ll get to work through your problems together, being supported and held accountable by other men you admire and respect.

The truth is… growth is painful. But the pain is easier to bear when it’s shared.

How Much Does Motivation Coaching with Knowledge for Men Cost?

As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”  And coaching is no different.

So I want to be transparent here… If you’re living paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford to take a nice vacation without going into debt, this program probably isn’t for you (but we have a ton of free content on the site to help you in the meantime!)

While our program is very affordable–especially when compared to a year of therapy or many of the other coaching programs out there–it isn’t cheap. We believe that when you pay you pay attention.

When I first founded the company nearly a decade ago, I would often offer my services for free because I thought I was helping someone out.

But the truth was, they never experienced a change.

They didn’t have any skin in the game and so they weren’t willing to actually take action on the lessons I would share or the insight I offered.

But if you understand the value of relationship coaching and want to learn more about our different payment options, I encourage you to submit an application and schedule a call with one of our client success specialists.

They’ll walk you through all of the details of the program, how it works, what you’ll get, and what the investment is.

How Long Should I Expect Before I See Results?

Your results depend on the action you’re willing to take and the level to which you’re willing to show up fully to the experience.

However, low motivation–except in cases of mental illness or serious physical conditions–is often one of the easiest problems for men to solve. Especially when they have the right guidance and tools.

That said, the results you see depend entirely on your level of commitment.  We’ve had clients transform their entire lives in less than 90-days.  And we’ve had clients graduate from the program without making any meaningful progress.

The training, coaching, and resources they had access to were the same.

But their level of grit and commitment were what made all the difference.

So the results you see are up to you. If you sit on the sidelines and hide behind excuses and alibis… nothing will change. But if you play all out and commit fully to this journey, you can expect big things.

What Are My Next Steps?

If you’re ready to get started, your next steps are simple. Simply submit your application for the program and schedule a call with one of our client success specialists.

We’ll walk you through everything you need to know and help you decide whether or not this is the right fit for you.

I want to be clear, this isn’t a high-pressure sales call where we’ll guilt trip you into an investment that isn’t right for you.

It’s a fun, casual conversation where we’ll get to know you, your challenges, and your goals and then we decide together whether or not it makes sense to become a part of the Project Grounded Man brotherhood.

The Times Have Changed. This is the Way Forward in 2024.

Here’s how I can help in my new FREE training on becoming a stronger Grounded Man:

1. The new path for men that creates a purpose driven life and doesn’t require you to lose your personal power, put women on a pedestal or sacrifice your goals.

2. Why men consistently settle and ignore the most important areas of life like the quality of their intimate relationships, social life and happiness and how to optimize all three without sacrificing professional growth.

3. The biggest mistake 97% of men make that breeds loneliness, breakups and emasculation that is absolutely reversible with this counter intuitive strategy.