We often assume that people lose motivation because they’re lazy, distracted, or undisciplined. But more often, the cause is subtler: a lack of opportunity to grow. Motivation is tied less to willpower than to momentum. When we sense progress, learning, stretching, becoming slightly more capable than yesterday, we naturally want to keep going. When growth is blocked, the opposite happens. No amount of pep talks or productivity hacks can replace the quiet drive that comes from feeling you’re on an upward path. This is why talented people can burn out in stable jobs, and why so many ambitious projects stall. It’s not that the people involved stopped caring. It’s that they stopped changing. If you want to preserve motivation, in yourself or others, make growth possible. Remove the unnecessary ceilings. Create the chance to struggle with something just out of reach. Because in the end, people don’t quit when things are hard. They quit when things stop feeling meaningful.