I've studied self-development and all that for many years, so this isn't just off the top of my head stuff here

Based upon my own struggles, at times, with exactly what you describe.. here are my thoughts...

First, your goals are simply not big enough to motivate you. Take a step back and look at a bigger picture of yourself and your life. Don't just look at what your goals are, or even your reason behind the goals. Instead, look at what your core values are. What are the basic things that are most important to you (ie: Relationships/people, character/integrity, lifestyle/material things/money, etc.). There are lots of materials available to help you sort this out.

Here's my thing... I've always lived very frugally because my TIME was more important to me than anything. I wanted time to enjoy my life and do whatever I wanted to do. This didn't always come down to just play. I've spent ungodly amounts of time helping others and helping animals because those were important to me at the time, and the freedom I had because I lived frugally (and wasn't tied to a j-o-b, I worked part-time in my own business) allowed me to do that.

I'm not a lazy person, I just have a different take on life than most. I want to make a difference. I can't do that working a j-o-b speding 40+ hours there. I've often worked 60+ hours on my own projects which made a huge impact in some way to benefit others.

Well, so now I am changing course to make substantial money through Internet Marketing. But material things are not important to me so... how do I motivate myself to make this money? Simple... I'm doing it to further causes that are important to me. I'll get to a point I can live a little better because I'll have more money, but the bulk of what I make/earn will go toward making a real difference for people and animals. (I'm currently working to help batworlddotorg build facilities for an assurance colony to hopefully prevent extinction of many species of bats now threatened by WNS.) So that's my current "thing".

Your reasons have to be bigger than your desire to "play".

Secondly, beating yourself up doesn't help a thing. Allow yourself downtime when you need it. This is important. It let's your mind/spirit re-group. It's okay to play sometimes, but just don't let your life become all play. Put limits on it for yourself. I often take a full week to play, then I come back to my projects with renewed strength and determination and am not sitting there wishing I could go play (game/tv/whatever) instead, because I've satisfied those needs for a week... to the point I'm sick of movies/games whatever.

My suggestion to you is to look inside yourself to see if perhaps you have not centered upon the thing/s that are truly important to you. Maybe you haven't found your bigger/biggest reason/s for wanting what you think you want, or think you should want.

I tried so hard for many years to chase money because I knew I was smart and knew there had to be a way to make more on my own than at any job. At 21 years old, I figured out a way to make $100/hour working for myself. That should have been the ticket right? Well, what happened was, I couldn't motivate myself to work more hours than what I had to to pay my bills because the money really wasn't important then. I didn't have a strong enough motivation at that time. In other words, I am not money-motivated... I'm cause-motivated, and it took me years to figure that out.

Thirdly, don't follow the pack. Like me, maybe you are not meant to be a 9-to-5er. Maybe material things are not as important to you as you think they should be. You can't force a square peg into a round hole, or if you manage by sheer force you'll be absolutely miserable anyway... so don't try. Figure out who you are and what's important and ignore everyone else around you.. you don't have to be like or follow anyone else.

Well, that should give you something to think about, I'll stop for now.

Chris

Figure out a bigger goal...one that will be hard for you to achieve...one that excites you. When I have one of these, I wake up and it's the first thing on my mind. When I don't have one, I drift. Find something big to tackle that makes you think "Geez, what if I actually *accomplished* this?!"

I sponsor a child in Burma. My goal is to sponsor 1000 children. That keeps me going.

Make yourself get out of the house and go volunteer at a nonprofit / community service. Seriously, go serve someone else in need.

Find an organization of volunteers who regularly serve others who may be:

-Homeless
-Hungry
-Elderly
-Disabled
-Addicted
-Lonely

It's amazing how inspiring helping someone else can be. We forget our own feelings for a while. We find the joy in freely giving. We make life a little more bearable for someone less fortunate. And somehow find the strength to be thankful and not give up.

Blessings to you.

Depending on what's going on today, there may be two reasons for your feeling uninspired, unmotivated, etc:

One may be a real case of the Resistance -- your own laziness, outside distractions, or some other negative force keeping you from making a difference. If that's the case, then you only have one choice: show up, do the work.
However, if you're feeling empty, be careful. You could waste hours sitting in front of a computer screen or with a guitar on your lap. If this is the case, you may need to step away and go do something that fills you up -- play with your kids, listen to music, go for a run.

But don't be fooled; Resistance is still waiting to snatch you up at the earliest possible moment.

Once you're full again, get right back at it. Start creating and continue working through the Resistance.

The solution is easy, yet the answer is hard to find.
In fact you already answered it yourself.
It is:
Start appreciating someone/something else and be loving, giving, sharing.
Sort of like "donating" your loving energy with no expectation of return.
Once you start giving - you open yourself for receiving anything, including inspirations of your next great endeavor.

Gleb