In my previous blog, we looked at uncovering your vision for your harmonious life and some first steps towards that. For some of you that will have felt clear and easy. For others, I expect you will be thinking “But I’m nowhere near that, what do I do?!”
How are you? Taking an honest look at ourselves
“How are you?”
Do you immediately respond to that question with some version of “Oh I’m fine”? If so, you’re not alone.
I’m asking “How are you REALLY?” because I’m speaking to a lot of people at the moment who are bone tired, exhausted, fed up, just wanting to crawl under a blanket somewhere and ignore the world for a while. If life has got chaotic and all the different aspects are overlapping and feeling out of control, I can almost guarantee that you are feeling frazzled and tired. Frazzled and tired is not a good state to try to make major life changes from!
If you are feeling like that you are also very much not alone. So many of others are trying to juggle all of the things in our lives too, and, alas, hiding under a blanket may not be a viable option! So, before you do anything else I suggest that you look to your energy levels.
In a perfect world, we would be able to stop, rest, and take time for ourselves exactly how and when we need. Unfortunately this world isn’t perfect, and many of us need to find ways to replenish our energy levels whilst also looking after the kids, doing our job, managing our home and so much more.
First, replenish your energy
Replenishing your energy levels is the starting point for much of the work I do do with my clients, regardless of the area of life we are focussing on.
Rest or replenishment
Whilst we are focussing on ways to replenish our energy it is helpful to get something straight. Rest and replenishment are not the same thing. Rest, is doing nothing, which avoid depleting our energy further, and goes some way to helping us rebuild our physical energy supplies. Replenishment, on the other hand, is actively doing something that rebuilds our energy. We need both rest and replenishment on a regular basis.
So, let’s look first at how you might get a little more rest:
- An early night and starting fresh after a good sleep,
- A week, or more, of early nights
- Staying in: taking a week off from evening activities
Begin with the end in mind
If you’ve ever read the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People you’ll be familiar with the habit: “Begin with the end in mind”. We need to know where we want to get to, in order to ensure we get there. As with the article on finding harmony in your life, when looking to replenish ourselves it can be helpful to identify when we feel more energised.
So, take a moment to identify when you feel energised. When you think about actions you might take ask yourself “Does this move me towards that feeling?” If it does then do it! If it doesn’t, don’t. You need to listen to yourself here, for example
Loading the dishwasher before bed = clean kitchen in the morning = more energised? Do it.
Loading the dishwasher before bed = straw that broke the exhausted camel’s back? Don’t.
Energising actions
My approach to radical replenishment is often to start with a list of things I could do to replenish myself. That might be a hot bath, a walk on the beach, some time in the garden, journaling, an early night and many other things.
The important thing is these are things I COULD do. It is very easy when we are exhausted to create a plan to be not exhausted and then exhaust ourselves by trying to be extra busy un-exhausting ourselves! This is your dream list of things you know will make you feel good.
Personally I try to make sure as many of them as I can are small things. While a big act like taking yourself to the spa for the day can be super replenishing, it’s like having a really big meal. You feel stuffed for a short while, and then you’re hungry again. It isn’t something you can do all the time on an ongoing basis so it has limited use. We’re looking for snack-size replenishment here.
What energising actions might you take? Make yourself a list. Here are a few that might work to get you started
- Loading the dishwasher before bed to create a clutter free space to begin your morning
- An energising dance class or workout.
- A good chat with a friend.
- A walk in the sunshine and the fresh air.
Your challenge: daily replenishment
Now, I’d like you to do at least one thing off that list every day for a week. Keep gently gently giving yourself those little boosts over time. Reflect and try to notice the impact it has.
Feel free to continue this for longer than a week, in fact it is ideal to replenish yourself regularly.
Once you are feeling less worn out it is time to move on to the next stage in working towards a more harmonious life: Creating and maintaining boundaries.
If you’re not already a member then please do join us and tell how your replenishment is going in my Facebook group, Soulfire Community. To read more ways to find harmony and achieve your goals ensure you have signed up to my newsletter.