What a year! The last 12 months have been CRAZY! Let’s recap – I left a secure career as a CEO, launched a new coaching business, sold our home, bought a home (downsized over 1300 sq ft!), received my professional coaching certification, bought our daughter a new puppy, started teaching part time at the University of Alabama again, accepted a full time position to teach at UA, and wait for it – adopted a new born daughter!!! When I put it all down in writing and reflect on all the changes that have occurred for me and our family, it makes perfect sense that I have been feeling completely overwhelmed. I haven’t known for a while if my world is moving forward, backward, or in a circle. I have been beating myself up for not blogging enough, not socializing enough, not answering emails in a timely fashion, not getting papers graded quickly enough, not having our new home perfectly put together yet, sucking in relationships, and on and on. I am a perfectionist in a lot of areas of my life and when I feel as though things aren’t perfect, I get depressed. When I get depressed I tend to become paralyzed and do nothing. This can have a terrible snowball effect because I’m depressed for not getting things done and now I’m doing less! I’m not sure if you can relate to this or not. This morning I decided it was time to press a reset button. I needed to cleanse myself of stress and the burden of feeling inadequate. I want my mojo back!
It is very normal in life to experience times when we feel as though all our motivation has taken a vacation without us. We live busy lives and it is hard to maintain high positive energy levels all the time. When I need to shake off the pressure I put on myself and get reenergized, I do a couple of things. I’ve decided to share those with you today in hopes that they can work for you when you find yourself needing to hit a reset button.
1. Focus on being grateful. Stop focusing on what you don’t have or what you have not accomplished. Instead reframe every situation to find the aspects of it for which you are thankful. I tell my coaching clients that when frustrations begin to arise, stop, take a breath, and name 3 things about this situation for which you are thankful. There is always something! Right now, I am frustrated that I am behind on my work for school and some volunteering duties. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to teach, that I am involved in my community, and that my life is so busy with family duties that I am behind! With each gratitude that you voice you feel yourself relax. By the time you get to the third one you will notice your shoulders have relaxed and you are feeling a bit more at peace. Try it! I’d love to hear your stories about how this worked for you.
2. Find the thing(s) that give you energy and DO IT! Everything in life either creates energy or consumes energy. When we spend the majority of our time doing things that consume energy we become tired and eventually burned out. As a working mom and wife, I spend quite a bit of time in activities that consume ALL of my energy. I never seem to have enough time to do everything. I then feel guilty using any time to do something for myself. I now know that taking that time is the best thing I can do for me and everyone around me! I plan what I do during my “Me Time” to be sure that it is something that will create internal energy and not consume it. I love motivational books. I also love to exercise. I combine the two and now try to exercise at least 3 times per week while listening to an audio book or podcast. It gets me going! What is it for you? Make a list of the things that make you feel very energized. Then more importantly, make time and DO THEM!
This morning I listened to some great podcasts while running. Ok, maybe it was a walk/run! I am a bit out of running shape. After I finished, rather than focus on how out of shape I feel, I voiced 3 gratitudes. I am grateful for the ability to get outside and walk/run. I am grateful for the busy, crazy wonderful life I have that takes a lot of energy! I am grateful to have the ability to share this information with you and my clients! I have a pep in my step today and I am smiling as a I write this!
Have a great Monday, week, and life!
-Gina Simpson is a professional business and entrepreneurship coach and founder of Soluna Strategies. If you are interested in working with Gina to reach your full potential, email her at gina@solunastrategies.com. Her passion is your success!