It’s that time of the year when we’re ‘meant’ to BOUNCE into Spring. I don’t know about you, but right now I don’t feel like bouncing!
Any change causes ambivalence and the transition from Winter to Spring is definitely an unsettling change. Suddenly it’s the end of the year, not only are you realizing that you’ve not addressed all those New Year’s Resolutions you set at the beginning of 2016, but also time’s running out to achieve them .
For me, when I’m feeling overwhelmed with all I have to do, there are a few things I do that help. So let’s look at how we can sustain our BOUNCE by drawing on the acronym SPRING.
STOP
When we’re feeling unsettled, the hardest thing is to force ourselves to stand still or sit with all the un-comfy feelings. I personally find distracting myself by keeping up the momentum of life and ‘doing’ rather than ‘being’ a lot easier. But, is this sustainable? Will it lead to us being more effective in performing the many tasks ahead?
Where can you stop in your day? Where can you ‘be’ and not ‘do’?
POSITIVE SELF-TALK
There are aspects in all our life-roles that are not so attractive. For me, I love what I do but the business aspect, especially all the finance and administration side, really taints my enjoyment of what I do. In fact, I was having a conversation with my a colleague after spending a day with my bookkeeper. I was relaying how much I ‘hated’ the admin. side of my business. After my rant he stopped me and highlighted that my attitude (whilst he understood) was not helping my business’ success. Both the more and less enjoyable aspects were coexistent and reliant on each other. Telling myself that ‘I am bad at the business side’ was not helping me to perform better in the aspects of my work that I did love. What’s more, telling myself and others that ‘I hate’ or ‘I’m bad at …’ was only filling my mind with negative thoughts. I was unintentionally causing collateral damage to my business. How could it be a business that I loved when half of it was something that I hated?
Be mindful of how you both perceive your roles and how you convey them to others. Are you unintentionally portraying these negatively? Try not to lose sight of why your doing the task and what it can lead to. How can how those tasks you perhaps dislike enable you concentrate on the aspects that you love?
REFLECT –
Make a time in your day to stop and have time- out. Often the prospect of making time to reflect on what you’re doing and why seems a bit of a time waster and only means generating more issues and work. If like me, you avoid this reflection – ask another (whether it’s a family member, supervisor or manager) to hold you accountable. Having someone to go through it with you also means that they can shed light on possible ‘next steps’ and add their perspective to your own.
Who can you speak with to help you reflect and simultaneously hold you accountable?
INTERESTS
What do you enjoy doing? Things that make you smile? Do what you enjoy more often. Give your every day meaning. Right now I am doing yoga more often, taking my dog for spontaneous walks or organizing more catch up with friends. It’s amazing how, by immersing yourself in meaningful activity and surrounding yourself with positivity is contagious. It’s likely that now you’ll be able to tackle your ‘to do’ list!
Doing what you enjoy will counteract the negativity you draw from other tasks you perhaps don’t find very exciting. Your energy supplies be replenished to help you endure the more mundane aspects of your life..
What can you do that you love and which gives your every day meaning?
NETWORK
This time of the year is probably a great time to draw on others’ skills around you. However, being tired and time-poor we often tend to do it ourselves. We become fearful that the task involved in delegating will only put us in a more vulnerable position, highlighting what we couldn’t accomplish alone and zapping time we don’t have! But I have learnt this year how empowering delegating can be if we choose to perceive it in a positive light. View it as utlising another’s strength rather than seeing it as a failure of not being able to complete the task ourselves. This year, with launching Reinventing Emma, has been a lot busier and has meant that I could only sustain the fast pace and do what I enjoyed more if I delegated.
Who could you delegate a task to, to ensure that it’s not only done better but you can put more energy into what you love!
GRATEFUL –
At this time of the year it’s easy to become resentful and bogged down and swamped by how much you need to accomplish with a very depleted fuel tank. But choose to fill your mind with things you are thankful for.
What has happened today in your life that you’re grateful for?
So, when we’re feeling ambivalent about the next chapter in our lives, let’s choose to ground ourselves by being mindful of what I’ve spoken about.