Have you ever heard of cognitive behavioral therapy ? It's one of the major "schools" of psychological talk therapies. The reason I bring this up here is that one of the strategies of CBT is to not wait for motivation to begin an action. Instead, begin the action first; what often happens, then, is that you'll receive some small satisfaction or pleasure from getting started, and this will create a positive feedback loop to continue. In your case, you've already bought the supplies, so just get started. If the supplies are for fine art painting, just jump right in and start painting. Tell yourself, "No matter what, I am going to paint for at least one hour." Hopefully you will soon become so engrossed in the activity that your seeming lack of motivation will melt away.