How do you feel when you wake up in the morning these days? Do you feel inspired, energized, and looking forward to the day ahead?
Waking up with that kind of high-energy emotions likely sounds like a tall order right after being forced indoors with days that have felt repetitive and monotonous. For high performance, we’re always looking at how we feel because we need to access those emotional messengers to figure out just what that information is telling us. A lack of inspiration could indicate that it’s important to take time to re-focus and re-energize.
Nothing drains our mental focus, motivation, and inspiration more than the distractions of the day, mundane tasks, and all of the short-term fixes we may have turned to for a quick hit to our brain’s reward system (coffee, alcohol, social media, Netflix).
This is where high performers can do check-in and calibrate where we are going in our daily decision-making and where we are getting distracted and off track. If you are looking to recharge and feel inspired again the first step is making a choice to give more attention and effort towards activities and things that feel meaningful to you. That will energize you and open you up to feeling inspired again.
Here are some ideas for recharging this week:
- Try a digital detox for a day.
- Get outside for a walk or a run to improve idea generation.
- Connect with driven and supportive colleagues or friends.
- Make an effort to recharge in an environment that lifts you up such as going for a hike or a walk in nature.
- Listen to music, an inspiring Ted Talk, podcast, or audiobook.
- Make time for yoga and meditation.
- Learn something new.
- Read an inspiring book.
- Embrace a new healthy habit.
- Express yourself creatively.
- Make a conscious decision to let go of something that isn’t serving you.
