Getting Out From Under The Covers - 8 Strategies to Get Out of a Funk

I found myself nodding along with humorist, author and human motivation expert Lisa McLeod as she shared this in her blog when the recession hit in 2008, 

 “I want to go back to bed, pull the covers over my head and have somebody
wake me up when my 401(k) bounces back. I don't know about you, but I'm f
inding myself so jittery about, well everything, that it's all I can do to surf the net.
Kind of ironic, isn't it? I should be working more, but I'm so anxious…
that I'm actually working less”

There was so much bad news about the market and jobs that it was easy to get caught up in everyone's anxiousness.   

And, when bad things happen, it is pretty natural to think that you have no control.

But when I got tired of hiding under the covers, I've realized that there are things I can do to feel better.

Human Motivation Strategies

Once I start taking back some of my control - I am more productive, hopeful and focused.  

And that focus results in new business ideas, new potential alliance partners, more energy, more fun and more wake-up-ready-to-go-days.  

It turns out that the key to human motivation has NOTHING to do with changing what's going on OUT THERE, and EVERYTHING to do with focusing on what's going on WITHIN ME.  

The actions I often take are pretty simple:

• I am more selective about what I say, who i spend time with and I what I focus upon.
• I decide that staying glued to the financial and news channels, following every up and every down, only drags me down, negatively impacting my own levels of human motivation. Especially if I’m deciding whether things are working out or not working out based on the latest peak or valley.

Here are some simple improving human motivation actions that have always help me shift and lift:

•  #1 Write lists of appreciation - I write until I run out of things to write or until I feel a sense of relief. (I do this during my 15 minutes of Tune In Time every day.)
  

• #2  Spend more time and energy with people (and on projects) that are interesting and challenging to me.  (Know your strengths and USE them.)
• #3  Plan my days, the night before, by picking 3 to 6 high leverage actions that I WILL complete the next day. (No more 50 item to-do lists to overwhelm me as I start the day - this is something that I cover in detail in my stress management book.)
  
• #4  Pay attention to how the things I'm watching and listening to make me feel. Turn off news and t.v. shows that are depressing and negative, that bring me down.
  
• #5  Discontinue the delivery of the local news paper. (I'm surprised I don't miss it at all. To keep in touch about business I'm reading the Wall Street Journal instead.)
• #6  I challenge myself to deliberately focus on what IS working, and NOT adding to or chiming in, when others are complaining.
• #7  Taking time to appreciate clients and friends by sending out thank you notes, with hand-written notes of appreciation in every card. (As I shared in #1, I make writing lists of appreciation a daily habit. It is so simple, free, not time-consuming and lifts my outlook EVERY TIME!)
• #8  When I first wake up, I say and mean this statement  “Today, no matter where I go, no matter what I do, I choose to focus on what I want to see.”  It starts my day off by orienting me toward my intention to focus on the positive.

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Human Motivation is All About Improving Your Focus - NOT Trying to Control Circumstances...

Back in 2008, when everyone around me seemed to feel upset and anxious, I felt better. The only thing that I adjusted was my focus. 

Today, when I remind myself that I can't control outside circumstances, the world or even one other person and that it’s not my job to try to change every thing for every one, I feel so much better.  

And in this mindset I can actually do good work and make a difference where I can.

I know that this more positive orientation is one that takes practice and focus, and that there’s a place and time for looking at what you don’t want, BUT if we pitch a tent and stay there we get stuck, feel anxious and want to crawl under the covers and hide - essentially losing our natural human motivation and energy.

I will look at what’s wrong for a moment, I certainly don’t want to be ignorant. But once I see it, I'm determined to then turn my focus toward the desired improvement I want to see.

I'm so pleased to re-remember that I'm in charge of where I focus and that I can choose. With this type of focus I can live the wake up eager lifestyle I believe is available to everyone, which is a life that is strong, purposeful, joy-filled and authentic.

Natural human motivation and energy, is natural - we just have to tune-in to it.

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120 Stress Management
Strategies and Daily Tips Digital Book:
Mind, Body & Spirit Insights for Professionals
See a Complimentary 36-page Preview, Here

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