1. It is a powerful reminder to find a way to make the day count.

2. It reminds me that I have a choice.

3. It reminds me to do something (or many things) each day that are meaningful to me.

4. It reminds me to be grateful for each day, no matter what.  

• Do something kind for yourself. This might look like doing something you love that you don’t usually make time for, giving yourself a five-minute break to breathe and have a cup of tea, or asking yourself “What do I really need right now?” then doing it.

• Do something thoughtful and generous for someone else. This might look like helping someone out with something, or telling someone that you’re grateful for them and why, or writing someone a note and sending it to them in the mail.

• Do something productive. This might look like doing that thing you’ve been meaning to do for ages but haven’t gotten around to getting it done, making appointments that you’ve been putting off, or cleaning an area in your home.

• Do something you wouldn’t normally do. This might look like going to the movies in the middle of the week, or baking a cake even though it’s no one’s birthday, or going for a walk on a trail you’ve never been to.

• Do something—anything—that is meaningful for you. Something that makes you feel like you’ve made the rest of the day count.

Wouldn’t you love to be consistently creative? It’s great when our friends and family support us and think we can do anything as long as it involves words, and a keyboard or pen.
The truth, though, is that we all get stuck from time to time.
Creativity is fickle.
Getting past the stuck places can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be.
Here are seven techniques I use to boost my creativity and get out of a creative funk. I’m sure they’ll help you too!
After the first one, they’re in no particular order except for number seven, which is best used as a last resort.

Method 1: Keep Your Brain Full

The first step in generating an idea is to stuff your brain, and keep it full.
Feed your brain with everything: random stuff that has no real purpose or goal, as well as input related to your current project.
You can find input in a wide variety of places including books, blogs, images and music. Movies, television and videos are other great sources of material to feed your brain.
The most important part of this step is focusing on what you’re putting into your brain, not what you’re hoping to get from it. The output often bears very little relationship to the input.
When you stuff your brain as full as possible of really good stuff, you’ll get good stuff back out without even trying.
Mary Jaksch highlights the importance of focusing on input rather than output in - Refuel Your Creativity.

Method 2: Keep a Wheel Book

The term “wheel book” comes from Henriette Anne Klauser’s book Write it Down, Make It Happen. “Wheel book” feels much more adventurous than “ubiquitous capture device,” which comes from David Allen’s Getting Things Done.
Whatever you call it, you need a place where you jot things down, whether it’s a notebook, a voice recorder or a smartphone.
There are four rules for wheel books:

1. Choose a wheel book that you love and will use.
2. Keep your wheel book with you at all times.
3. Capture everything in your wheel book.
4. Review your wheel book regularly.

Of course “capture everything” doesn’t mean literally everything.
A good method is to write down ideas, questions, reminders and things that make you think, smile, laugh or frown. Fortunately for me, I use an electronic wheel book, because a lot of things make me go “hunh?!” and I’d need a new notebook every Monday.
Look at your notes at least once a week. Look through them when you’re stuck and need a spark of inspiration.
Even a small spark will do. You can fan even the tiniest spark into a creative flame, if it is a good spark.

Method 3: Create More Downtime

During a rare lunch with a friend yesterday, I had a mini-epiphany.
I feel better after an actual lunch break away from my desk, than when I “take a lunch break” on the couch but work the entire time.
I’m amazed by this downtime thing and I’m going to try it again someday soon.
Time away from your creative work—to rest your body and your mind—matters. Pushing to exhaustion only leads to poor writing and poor health.
I’m committing to real downtime every day. I encourage you to do the same.
How should you spend your downtime?
Resting and relaxing are great downtime pursuits. You might enjoy solving puzzles or making things. Perhaps you would enjoy getting out and spending time in nature. If you’re stuck for ideas, here are 21 Unexpected Places to Find Your Muse. Why not use a couple of ideas this week?

Method 4: Be Still

This method is about stilling your mind.
Fortunately for me, it doesn’t always require a still body.
If you meditate or would enjoy meditation, that’s an excellent way of being still, but there are other ways.
My favorite ways to still my mind are writing and photography. I’m convinced I could take photos of ham sandwiches for half an hour at a stretch, or write half a book without pause, and feel as refreshed as if I’d slept eight hours.
Whether your stillness involves sitting, walking or activity, do something that makes your brain go “aaaaah.”
Not the “stick-out-your-tongue-so-the-doctor-can-look-down-your-throat” aaaaah, but the “I-just-sat-down-in-a-hot-tub-with-a-glass-of-wine-and-a-plate-of-chocolate” aaaaah.
If your brain loves sitting meditations, sit. If it loves rock climbing and hang gliding, climb and fly.
Your brain needs time to work in the background when it’s not expected to do much else. That’s why we get ideas in the shower.
So be still.

Method 5: Add More Nonsense to Your Life

You probably know that as a writer, you need an imagination and a few other things.
While a modicum of talent is handy, time, training and practice are essential.
Another ingredient also trumps talent: Nonsense.
Writing is serious work. Even writing funny words is serious work.
Nonsense lets your brain relax and take a little bath in silliness to wash away the stress and be refreshed.
When you find yourself stuck or stalled, take a moment to indulge in a little nonsense. If your office happens to not have talking guinea pigs (as mine does), spend some time on social media, or call up your favorite silly person and talk about nothing for five minutes.

Method 6: Relax

Tension creates more creative holes and ruts than anything else, and we need to find a way to periodically release this tension.
When I grow frustrated with my writing, I take a moment to listen to my body and assess my environment.
I roll my shoulders and neck a few times to get the stiffness out, sit up straight on my chair and pull it forward so I don’t slouch. I also shut down my email and turn on some music.
I call this relaxing in place, as opposed to stretching out on the couch with my feet up and a book in my hands.
Relaxing in place means simply taking a moment to make the necessary adjustments in your environment and your body, to let the tension flow away.
This is not a substitute for downtime and crashing on the couch with a book.
That kind of relaxation isn’t a substitute for on-the-fly relaxation in place, either.
You need both to keep your creative brain functioning at its best.

Method 7: Be Creative Anyway

Eleanor Roosevelt spoke my favorite words about creative ruts. “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
When I feel that I don’t have a single creative idea in my head and probably never will again, and that work just isn’t happening for me today, I try the techniques I’ve listed above.
Most days one of these techniques, or five or six, will ease me back into creative flow.
If they don’t, I take the nuclear option.
Here’s how you do it.
Start writing.
If you’re working on something, review the previous section and start from there. If you’ve finished your previous project, copy the last two paragraphs into a new document, review them and delete all but the first sentence of that passage. Start writing as if you are writing these paragraphs from the start.
Start with a goal of writing 100 words. When you reach 99 words, and you will, stretch your goal to 200 words.
Keep pushing yourself forward until you feel you can keep going without pushing. If you reach your average daily word count, that’s great. If not, that’s great, too. The point of the exercise is to write anyway, and not let your brain lock up.
This technique always works.
I can count on one hand, without my thumb or one of my fingers, how many times, in 25 years as a professional writer, I’ve used this technique and not found my creativity click into place.

Grab Your New Toolbox and Start Creating

You now have a set of techniques to boost your creativity and get past the stuck places in your writing and your creative life.
Some of the ideas are simple, while others may feel like a stretch. The last one probably feels more like a medieval torture rack than a “stretch.”
Whether a particular technique seems too simple to work, or too much trouble to try, give all of them a try anyway.
I use these tools because they work. And that’s why I’m recommending them to you.
Which of these tools are you the most excited about? Let me know in the comments.






Source

So how do we get there from here?

How Does Change Work?

Ever have those days when you feel you’re dragging a ball and chain behind you?
Everything is a struggle. Your productivity has tanked, your energy is at rock-bottom, and you just want to crawl in a hole and suck your thumb.
Sometimes it’s easy to identify why we’re so lethargic. We might feel physically ill, the weather is bleak, or the stars are out of alignment. Conditions out of our control can vaporize our energy and smack down our motivation.
Most of the time, however, our fatigue and burn-out is the result of our daily habits. We sabotage ourselves with thoughts and behaviors that create a toxic environment for vitality, well-being, and achievement. You may not even be aware how your own habits are affecting you. 

If not, here are 42 bad habits that suck your energy:

1. Sleeping too late

The alarm clock rings, and you hit the snooze button — again and again and again. Before you know it, you have just three minutes before you have to hit the road if you’re going to be on time. You start your day stressed and agitated.

2. Skipping breakfast

Skipping breakfast is one consequence of sleeping too late. But many of us simply get in the habit of skipping it because we’re lazy or misinformed. Skipping breakfast actually makes weight control more difficult. Breakfast gives us the morning fuel to perform our best and stay alert.

3. Eating a bad breakfast

Ok, good for you — you ate breakfast. But a pop tart or glazed doughnut doesn’t count as a healthy breakfast. These choices cause a huge blood sugar peak that leads to an even bigger sugar crash. Plus, they’re loaded with fat-packing calories.

4. Constantly checking email

The ding or vibration of an email arriving has turned us into Pavlov’s dogs. We’re compelled to check the inbox when the bell rings, which constantly distracts us from the task at hand. Then it takes more energy to pull yourself away from the inbox and re-engage in our work.

5. Getting lost in social media

Once you get started on social media, you can find yourself lost in a rabbit hole of silly videos and mindless discussion threads. After a few hours, when you pull your head to the surface, you realize you’ve just lost a chunk of time doing nothing.

6. Skipping exercise when you’re tired

There’s no doubt exercise energizes us and has a host of health benefits. If you have the habit of skipping it when you’re tired, you’re depriving yourself of energy you could use for productivity and enjoyment.

7. Drinking too much alcohol

Alcohol is a depressant. It gives you a buzz at first, but after a few drinks you feel tired and sluggish. The effects linger the next day, impacting your energy all day long.

8. Getting angry in traffic

Traffic alone is enough to suck your energy, but if you allow other drivers to get under your skin, now you’re just compounding the problem. Put on some relaxing music or a book on tape, and use the time productively.

9. Wearing heels

Of course heels make your legs look great, but what are they doing to your feet, knees, and back? Heels can be painful, cause bunions, and alter the anatomy of your calf muscles. That’s plenty to get stressed about.

10. Isolating yourself

Humans are social creatures and need others for their emotional well-being. Even introverts need time around others to feel happy. Too much isolation can lead to excessive worrying, negative thinking, and even depression.

11. Being a perfectionist

When you need everything to be just so all the time, it causes a lot of anxiety and stress. Perfectionists have a hard time relaxing or letting down their guard. This stress can lead to a host of physical symptoms and emotional disorders.

12. Watching too much TV

Every hour you watch TV is an hour you aren’t doing something more interesting or productive. You lose time with family and friends, program yourself with negativity, and subject yourself to subliminal messages from advertisers. The stress from TV shows may show up in dreams, worries, or self-expectations.

13. Overthinking and worry

We get in the habit of allowing looping negative thoughts to invade our minds. We allow worry thoughts to take up residence and create internal havoc. Overthinking and worry are bad habits that can be replaced by positive thoughts and productive behavior.

14. Over-scheduling your life

We over-schedule our lives with tasks, obligations, and events that force us to rush from one thing to the next in a frenzy. With little down time to relax and recharge, we’re constantly in a heightened state of activity that leaves us depleted.

15. Cluttering your work space

Physical clutter often reflects your mental state. When you remove clutter, you can improve your mental state. Clutter is distracting and demoralizing and makes us feel out of sorts. Get out of the clutter habit, and your productivity and energy will improve.

16. Tolerating negative people

Certain people can be the biggest energy drains in our lives. We get so used to their bad behavior or negativity that we simply allow it to continue and put up with the annoyances. Tolerating this slowly drags you down and keeps you on constant alert.

17. People pleasing

We think pleasing others will keep everyone happy and prevent the discomfort of letting someone down or making them angry. But when we do this at the expense of our own self-respect and happiness, we deplete our emotional energy.

18. Over-checking your appearance

When you feel overly conscious of how you look, you get in the habit of looking in the mirror over and over to make sure things are OK. The mental energy expended to remind yourself of this only compounds the energy expended to constantly worry about your appearance.

19. Over-checking a bothersome symptom

When you have an unexplained symptom and get in the habit of checking it incessantly, you’re sapping your energy through unnecessary worry and distress. Avoid this tiresome habit by going to the doctor if a symptom lasts more than a week or so.

20. Asking others opinion

When we don’t feel confident in our own judgment, we get in the habit of seeking reinforcement by asking others what they think. This habit alone takes a lot of energy, and add to that the stress of feeling insecure about your inability to make a decision. Practice making small decisions on your own so you can drop the validation habit.

21. Staying up too late

Staying up late throws off your sleep cycle and makes you tired the next day. Getting too little sleep not only sucks your energy, but also it can create a host of physical ailments. Lack of sleep exacts a toll on perception and judgment.

22. Snacking late at night

Late night snacking can cause poor sleep and indigestion. It can unnecessarily add to your daily calorie intake and lead to weight gain by throwing off the body’s metabolic cycles
 

23. Working too many hours

You may think working long hours makes you more productive. However, too much of anything isn’t good. Working too much can impact your sleep, creativity, relationships, and health. Create a new habit of life balance by leaving work at a reasonable time.

24. Remaining sedentary

Being over-scheduled, stressed, and tired as a result of other bad habits leads to a sedentary life. Because we feel bad, we lose motivation and get in the habit of a being a couch potato rather than exercising. There are so many health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

25. Saying yes when you mean no (or vice versa)

This habit can be a part of people pleasing or simply a result of laziness. It’s more expedient to give the answer with the least resistance. But later we regret it and feel stressed as a result.

26. Assuming the worst

Constantly fearing the worst possible outcome is a dreadful habit. We’re in a state of fight or flight anxiety 24/7. This wrecks havoc on our health and mental well-being.

27. Picking fights with your spouse

When we feel stressed or out-of-sorts, it’s easy to lash out at those close to us. This may temporarily bring relief, but in the long-run, it causes even more stress, depleting our emotional energy.

28. Eating junk food

Junk food has little or no nutritional value. Most of it is empty calories that make you fat and create addictions to more of the same. Junk food doesn’t energize — it depletes you.

29. Buying too many lattes at Starbucks

Not only are you over-caffeinated, but you’re spending too much — not an energy promoting combination.

30. Gossiping

It might feel good for a few minutes to dish the dirt about someone, but it eventually catches up with you in the form of guilt, mistrust from others, or retribution. Gossip is simply negative, and negative things deplete your energy.

31. Giving up too soon

When things get tough, the tough don’t give up. If you’re in the habit of quitting too soon, you lose self-respect and confidence.

32. Having knee-jerk reactions

Our first reactions aren’t always the best, especially in an emotionally-charged situation. An immediate reaction of anger or defensiveness might be regretted later, causing embarrassment or more problems.

33. Avoiding confrontation

It might feel like you’re saving energy by avoiding conflict, but you’re really just prolonging the problem. It takes energy to hold yourself back from facing a situation and dealing with it.

34. Lying

Lying goes against your integrity. It makes you feel shame, guilt, and anxiety. All of these feelings deplete your energy. A habit of lying undermines the trust others have in you.

35. Over-spending

When you spend more than you can afford to spend, you create low level anxiety, embarrassment, and guilt. You feel out-of-control and undisciplined. For a while, stop the spending habit cold turkey until you manage the problem.

36. Accepting unacceptable behavior

Family members, children, and work associates can treat you with disrespect. If you allow it to continue, you give away your power and dismantle your boundaries. The pain of the behavior and your habitual acceptance of it is depleting.

37. Leaving your bed unmade

It’s a small thing, but an unmade bed sucks the energy from a room. It looks messy and disorganized. Make your bed daily and get started on an orderly foot.

38. Working on vacation

Vacation is a time to replenish your energy and restore balance in life. Even if you love your work, give yourself a break from it so you can completely refill your tank.

39. Pretending things are Ok when they aren’t

This goes beyond just avoiding confrontation. It’s an active choice to shove down your feelings and act as though you don’t have them. Denying your feelings causes deep emotional turmoil that sucks your energy and joy.

40. Taking things personally

Sometimes our sensitivities get the best of us, but if you’re in a habit of getting your feelings hurt, you might need to examine a deeper cause. Perhaps you’re a highly sensitive person, but you need to adapt to a less sensitive world so others don’t cause you constant pain and stress.

41. Wearing uncomfortable clothes

A shirt with an itchy tag. Pants that are too tight. A jacket that makes us overheat. We might look amazing and professional, but our clothes are making us crazy. Why put up with that and allow it to distract you? Get in the habit of wearing comfortable clothes that still look great.

42. Focusing on the past or future

Focusing on the past can create feelings of regret and remorse. Dwelling in the future fosters longing and agitation. Put your energy in the present moment, the task at hand. Right now is where you’ll find all your happiness and energy. 


Source

What bad habits do you have that deplete you of energy and drag you down? Have you overcome them? If so, please share how you did it in the comments below.

• Keep the promises you make.
• Express yourself freely, regardless of your environment.
• Admit when you flirt with someone and don't conceal your true intention about him/her.

1. When do you believe you are not congruent, in which situations do you lose the ability to show your congruence?
2. What can you do about it?