This is a guest post from Tess Marshall of The Bold Life.
If you feel like your life is dull and your energy is flat there are several small things you can do to change your emotional state. ?You only need direction, a little willingness and a decision to take action. What do you have to lose? Your best life awaits you!
Read on to learn how ignite your inner light. ???
Learn to say no. How many times per week do you say ?yes? to something you don?t want to do? When you feel uncomfortable telling someone ?no? use the following sentence, ?? No ?that?s not going to work for me.? ?Then pause. If the other person asks again, repeat the statement, ?No, that?s not going to work for me. Pause.? Remember you don?t owe anyone an excuse or explanation!
Give yourself an extra hour. Either rise an hour earlier or go to bed an hour later than normal. Make this your ?time. I love to exercise. When my girls were young, I would write in my journal and go for a four mile run before they were even out of bed. It was a great way to begin my day.
Keep your commitments. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Put each promise that you make on your calendar and follow through with it. Lead by example. Your children will notice and become responsible as well.
Celebrate what you get right. Moms are good at beating themselves up. Each evening reflect on what you got right during the day. Regularly praise yourself for a job well done. Parenting is the most difficult job in the world. Give yourself credit.
Notice the beauty around you. Life is difficult. Things go wrong. Tragedy happens. The media would like us to believe that the world is coming to an end. ?It is not. Begin to take notice of the small beautiful moments and things in your life. For example, notice a smile, a bird?s song, the fresh smell of clean clothes, the foam in your latte. We are rich in so many ways. Don?t miss them.
See the humor in things. Laugh. You can tell how healthy a family is by the amount of laughter in the home. Don?t take yourself or others so seriously. Learn to lighten up. My husband used to advise me when all four of our girls were teenagers to ?lighten up? when I was worried. He would say, ?No matter what happens, ?the sun will rise and the sun will set? and ?the balls rolling, you can?t stop it!? He was right on both accounts.
Reward yourself. Give yourself regular rewards: a night out, a long walk, a hot bath, or new music. I used to feel depleted and resentful especially during the teenage years. Kids can be greedy and demanding. If you don?t reward yourself, who will?
Eat together and eat mindfully.? Make dinner time sacred. Slow down. Enjoy. Make it uplifting. Don?t discuss problems. Save those for regular family meetings. We used to set a timer for 20 minutes at the dinner table. The girls had to sit at the table even if they weren?t eating.
Don?t put it off until ?someday. ?One of my friends has a very stressful job. She has always wanted to learn how to play the piano. She decided to take lessons on Thursdays during her lunch hour.? Find a pocket of time and learn something that brings you joy. Make the time now.
Love. Love. Love. Give up the need to be right. Give up petty arguments. Choose happiness instead. Always remember that no matter what happens, we can begin again in any moment. Learn to apologize and forgive each other. Grievances are a waste of time.
Let go of fear. Stay in the present moment. Learn to expect the best. Make positive assumptions about the future.?Stop listening to negative media in all forms. Expect things to go well.?It?s a wonderful time to be alive!
Be Bold.?
Go after your dreams. Dare to take a risk. Ask for what you need. Be who you are. Speak your truth. This is your one chance to ?live life to the fullest. You can do it. I have all the faith in the world in you.
Tess Marshall works as a life coach and author who teaches others how to live a bold, fearless, and meaningful life. Download her FREE ebook, ?How to Be Bold? and check out her course, ?Take Your Fear and Shove It.? Follow Tess on Twitter and Facebook.
Photo: Stuart
Great post! My problem is not being able to say “no”. I love the suggestion of using the sentence “ No that’s not going to work for me.”
Thanks!
I love those thoughts! I do put off things till “someday”, and I need to learn not to!
I have been working on saying no this year. It has really helped my balance for sure! Great tips.
I’m getting better and better at saying no, and because I do that, it helps me stay on top of my commitments even more.
But wait, you LOVE to exercise? Really? I hate it. I’ve been doing it, but I hate it.
letting go of fear has been the biggest for me. Me being afraid I wasn’t good enough stopped me from trying too much
I have recently been placed in a place that I have to learn to be bold…. great list!
Those are ALL great tips but I especially love Give yourself an extra hour- I swear by this & it works well for me :)