What to Do When Life Feels Meh: Fresh Science on Reigniting Joy and Motivation

How to Break Out of the "Meh" Feeling and Reignite Purpose Before You Graduate

@uneedacoach

💡 Why This Matters (Especially Now)

If you’re a junior or senior in college, you might be:

• Coasting through your routine

• Feeling weirdly numb, even if life looks “good”

• Unsure what you want next—but unmotivated to figure it out

  
  

This isn’t laziness. It’s habituation—a totally normal brain process that makes you tune out what’s familiar.

The danger? You stop noticing the good stuff. And you stop feeling urgency to change the not-so-good stuff.

In her new book "Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There," Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist and behavioral researcher, explains how this works and how to snap out of it.

In a recent talk I attended, she explained:

"Most of us have a lot of wonderful things in our life, or at least some good things. Maybe it's a good job. Maybe it's a loving relationship. Maybe it's a comfortable home, but those things often seem not to have as much impact on our daily joy as you would expect them to.

"At the same time there might be sub-optimal things around us in society or in our personal life, so cracks in our relationships, inefficiencies in the workplace, but because they've been there for a long time, we tend to over time, not notice them as much, and if we don't notice them, we're not motivated to change.

"This is what we've learned about why this happens, and what can we do to regain sensitivity both to the good stuff—so we can feel the joy again—and to the bad stuff, so we can be driven to change."

We thought you might enjoy a summary... repurposed for college students.

In this blog, we’ll cover:

🧠 What habituation is and why your brain tunes out both good and bad stuff in your life

🧠 How this affects your motivation, happiness, and creativity during college

🧠 Simple strategies to break the routine and rediscover joy in everyday moments

🧠 Why small changes and learning new things can boost your mood and make life feel richer

🧠 How to navigate big decisions and change with confidence as you approach graduation

Let's dive in!

🧠 The Brain’s "Autopilot" Problem

Your brain is built to filter out repetition so you can focus on what’s new.

That means:

• Your dorm, class, even your friends can start to feel “meh”

• You stop noticing problems because they’ve always been there

• You stop appreciating what you once were excited about

This is called habituation—and it’s why the same daily schedule that once felt exciting now feels like a blur.

🌀 Good News: You Can Wake Your Brain Back Up

First, let’s break this down.

The Vacation Study

A travel company found vacationers are happiest 43 hours in, and then joy declines. Why?

• The firsts (first beach view, first cocktail) bring delight.

• Repetition dulls the magic.

  
  

Apply It to College:

Think about your firsts in college—first class, dorm, club, relationship.

They felt big. Fresh. Important.

Now? You walk the same path to class. Eat the same lunch. Worry about the same major.

You’re not failing. Your brain just got used to it.

🎢 The Same Happens with Emotions

You can get used to happiness—but also to stress, even sadness.

Your brain adapts to both. That’s why people stay stuck in situations they don’t love (majors, jobs, relationships).

But it’s also why you might feel nothing when something great happens.

That flat, low-key disconnection? It’s not just “senioritis.”

It’s habituation.

🧭 So What Can You Do?... Wake It Up. On Purpose.

1. Break Up the Good

If you love something, take little breaks to re-appreciate it.

• Don’t binge-watch your favorite show—space it out

  
  

• Leave campus for a weekend, then come back

  
  

• Take a mini social media break and notice how it feels coming back

  
  

Sharot calls this dishabituation—interrupting the pattern so your brain notices joy again.

2. Swallow the bad whole

Doing something annoying (like cleaning, or a long reading)?

Power through.

If you stop and restart, your brain re-sensitizes to the pain.

Finishing in one go = less suffering overall.

Breaks for joy = Good

Breaks for chores = Bad

3. Add Variety—Small Shifts Count

The brain loves novelty. Even tiny changes spark alertness, energy, creativity.

Try this:

• Sit in a new spot for class or studying

• Join one new club or event this month

• Interview someone with a totally different major

• Take a new route to your favorite coffee shop

  
  

These don’t change your life—but they wake it up.

4. Learn Something You Don’t Have To

Brain scans show learning brings more joy than money.

• Learning = novelty

• Novelty = wakefulness + curiosity + reward

  
  

Try a random course. Watch a video on something new. Shadow someone.

Don’t do it for your resume. Do it for your brain.

🎯 When You're Craving Change

If you’ve been asking:

“Should I change my major?”

“Should I really go to grad school?”

“Am I just bored or actually stuck?”

Here’s what research says:

In one study, people flipped a coin to decide whether to make a change.

Those who made the change—even randomly—were happier 6 months later.

That doesn’t mean be reckless. But it does mean:

If you’re considering change, your brain already knows something is off.

At uNeed A Coach, we help you test-drive bold ideas through small, curiosity-driven steps—so change becomes a choice, not a crisis.

✨ Even Creativity Needs Change

Ever feel like your ideas are dry?

Or you’re just recycling the same thoughts in every paper, conversation, or journal entry?

That might be your brain saying: “I need new input.”

Creative people actually habituate more slowly—they stay alert longer, which allows for more interesting connections.

You might not need to try harder. You might just need to shake things up.

🌈 What Makes a Good Life — in College And After?

People think it’s about:

• Joy

• Purpose

  
  

But Sharot says there’s a third ingredient:

Psychological Richness = A life filled with variety, challenge, change, and learning

This doesn’t mean chaos. It means stretching out of autopilot—even once a week.

🧭 Your Challenge

If college is starting to feel flat, don’t blow it all up. Just try this:

• Do one thing this week you’ve never done before

• Say yes to one invite you’d usually turn down

• Ask yourself: What’s something I used to love but stopped noticing?

• What would make me say: “Huh, that was different.”

  
  

That’s the start of a richer, more awake life.

🔚 Conclusion: Look Again

At uNeed A Coach, we help college students and recent grads move from autopilot to action.

This moment of your life isn’t just about planning the future.

It’s about reawakening to the present—and deciding who you want to become.

When you feel stuck, the problem might not be you.

It might just be time to look again.

Let’s rewire that brain together. 🧠

Your next big insight might just start with a tiny shift.

Get in touch today for a free discovery call!