Shaking out the Sluggishness
So how’s the New Year’s energy working for you?
Are you excited and ready to rock?
Or do you wish that you could just slip back under the covers, turn off the alarm and go back to vacation for a bit?
I bet for most of you it’s a mixed answer. A little excitement, a little dread, some fear and some desire for a longer vacation.
I know that I’m feeling that way. Going to India was like a spiritual soul-shifting trip for me and I find that coming back has brought on a mixture of unexpected emotions.
I have a deep desire to preserve the stillness and quiet that I experienced there along with a wild excitement to create an amazing 2015. And already there are some days where those two emotions just don’t seem to match.
Perhaps you are experiencing something similar? I know that many of my Money Club and Platinum clients have commented on the same thoughts.
If this is showing up for you – I have a few suggestions that may help you get into the groove and still preserve the calm you created over the holidays.
First, spend some time getting organized and creating a plan. Decide what your top three goals are for the next 90 days. How much revenue do you want to generate by March 31st? Now what are the activities you need to do to get there?
The reason creating a plan helps is because it takes out the “thinking”. You can just go on automatic and get things done. This really helps when you are trying to get the momentum and flow back.
Second, don’t overdo it! I’ve watched so many entrepreneurs come back after vacations and pull 10-12 hour days. Their bodies have been rested so this becomes possible. But remember that your mind needs a gradual come back! Use a timer, be realistic and work normal hours. That way all that rest you created won’t just disappear in the two days you’ve come back.
Third, remember that vacations CHANGE you. I did an 11-day Vipassana silent meditation retreat a few years ago. I came back to the middle of NYC and I literally just couldn’t leave my apartment for social occasions for about 4 weeks. Everything was just too stimulating for me (thankfully, Jai came over and sat with me for hours, and it was one of the reasons we’re so close now). One of my friends wisely counseled me, “Monica, you have a new skin now, you need to learn to live into it.”
I’ve come to realize that this new skin happens whenever we take a real break. We shift and change. It’s a calling to honor our new needs and desires – a chance to really grow from the inside out.
If you ignore this calling – it will just rear its head in ugly ways – procrastination, overwhelm, sadness and the like.
Honor the new parts of you and see where you can fit them with the old responsibilities and routine. For me this has looked like 15 minutes of yoga and five minutes of meditation every morning. It’s also looked like allowing myself moments of total silence and being in the middle of crazy days.
What does this look like for you?
Please leave me a comment about how this struck you and how you are getting back into the New Year. It just gets so lonely over here without your comments!
