Have You Been Feeling Uninspired?

Have you been feeling uninspired lately? One thing that I have heard from many individuals is feeling uninspired and bored during this time of social distancing and working from home. At first, we worked to make sure we had structure and routines, we scheduled zoom calls with family and had virtual happy hours to create connection. There was a novelty to “the new normal”. That novelty seems to have worn off for the most part.

People feel tired of the uncertainty. They feel disappointed at the changes that have occurred and routine has settled in for many. While routines help us to feel organized and provide structure to our day to day, they can also become dull and tedious over time after repeating the same patterns of behaviors that are associated with the same emotion experience time and time again. So how do we create habits that fulfill us rather than drain us of energy?

This week I was given a task of self-care. Now being a therapist, I have built up rituals and routines that support my wellness to be able to provide support to others. I am a firm believer in building routines that are preventative and encourage vitality rather than burn out.  I would say I have a pretty solid routine in place full of yoga, meditation, exercise etc. However, recently some of that routine has felt just that, routine. And if there is one thing that I have learned it is that it does not matter what you are doing, it matters why you are doing it. Is it really self-care if it is just going through the motions? So, I gave myself a challenge to be more intentional.

I challenged myself. I started an inner conversation with myself that was different from the previous weeks of auto pilot yoga sessions and walking just because it is good for my dog. I started setting an intention for each activity that I engaged in. I committed fully to that activity, even if it was sitting on my couch watching a television show. I committed hardcore. If I was going to binge that Netflix show I was going to let myself enjoy it. I asked myself how I wanted to be during that workout and how I wanted to show up for that hour. Did I want to just get it done or did I want to have an awesome workout that fueled my body and my mind?

At first, I did a lot of internal eye rolling at myself. For anyone who knows me personally, they know I love a good pep talk. Now, I was giving myself those inner pep talks before the gym, before yoga, before taking my dog for a walk. I was also rolling my eyes at my inner cheerleader. But slowly I started to feel more energized. I started to feel excited about my day again. Things started to feel like opportunities for experiences rather than just the same old routine I did every day to be able to show up for others. It started with a simple question of, “how do I want to be?”.

Setting small goals and intentions for ourselves improves our motivation. It allows us to work towards something that we can see results from right away. We prime ourselves for success rather than falling victim to the habits of emotions and behaviors that we have formed from blindly following a routine without meaning. Remember, it is not what we are doing, but why we are doing it that matters. Allow yourself to fulfill that why this week. This week I challenge you to ask yourself, “How do I want to be?”.