Mid-Winter Blues – 6 Tips to Find Your Light and Grow Yourself In the Process
Unfortunately, for some of us, the winter can be a time when we get stuck in a rut. Complacency is a difficult thing to avoid, and even harder to overcome. Consider trying these 6 suggestions in order to find your light and grow this winter, and hang in there, spring will be here before you know it!
1. Take a Stand – Everyone has a “should I” or “shouldn’t I” nagging question under the surface – so answer it. Throw yourself behind something NOW and make it matter – a person, an idea, a product, a move, etc. Quit something or begin something, draw a line in the sand. Make a decision to do it, then open yourself to the possibilities and grow as you expand!
2. Broaden Your Circle – Step outside your current communities (family, friends, church, clubs, roles, companies, industries) and broaden your perspective and everyday activities, freshen your mood and introduce more possibilities. You’ll experience some sort of “Wow, Who Knew” factor – just by stepping out and beyond. Take in the challenge and stimulation from who knew about what’s new!
3. Honor Something – Identify something very specific that you have neglected and give it renewed care – your car, your bike, your golfclubs, your body, a broken or lost relationship, your pet, your hobby, a high school or college friend, your house, a long overdue apology, etc. Experience the fruits of your labor of love and intentional care and feel energized and rewarded (plus it’s contagious)!
4. Start a New Ritual and Keep It – This is nothing more than a very small yet very important new habit (akin to honoring something). The simpler and easier the better because it has a greater chance of sticking – meditate, stretch, break for tea, coffee or a juice, introduce a daily reading or intention, doodle, write, have a daily chat or my favorite – walk and talk (with your mask and six feet apart)!
5. Be Your Own 180 – Silly but fun and harder than you think. Starting NOW, show up as the opposite of you – if you are the quiet one – talk, if you are the one that typically holds the floor - listen, if you are the fast one – slow down, if you are the ideas junky – ask others for their thoughts and opinions, if you rarely go first - go first, if you always have the last say - defer to others, if you are the giver – receive, if you always pay - let someone else pick up the tab, if you always build the plan/agenda – ask someone else to create it. You will build muscle you were never going to access, gather insight you were never going to gain, develop more self-awareness and build better relationships in the process! It can be super hard and even harder to sustain, so for all you challenge junkies out there, give it a whirl!
6. Hunt for a Quality – Pick a quality and find it everywhere for at least a month and every time you do, comment on it – preferably to the person exemplifying it. I am hunting resiliency because I want more of it. And now I have my eye on it, so I am getting it. Once you want it, you can spot it and once you acknowledge it with another, it becomes within reach! Happy Hunting!
Bonus – Try all 6 of these or some combo and intensify the effect and create more lasting impact.
Enjoy and have fun!