Injection of inspiration!
After the flurry of optimistic planning in January, we meet many clients who actually find February a more challenging month; freezing cold and perhaps needing an injection of inspiration to bring both themselves and their plans to LIFE over the next few months!
Below we have pulled together a little melting pot of ideas to help reconnect you to YOU as well as those you love - including literal pointers on ‘how to make shit happen!’
1. Hobbies you loved as a kid / always meant to try:
- Did you love dancing, drawing, horse riding, writing or climbing as a kid? Try it again! Research local options and get it booked in your diary - either solo or invite a friend to try it.
- Is there an activity that you know you really love whilst you’re doing it and it leaves you feeling recharged and energised? Whatever it is….PLEASE carve out time to do more of it. Remember that if you want the people you love to get the best version of you, you need to recharge your own batteries - yes life is for learning, creating and contributing but it is also for enJOYing!!!
2. Something you’ve been meaning to learn more about / skill to develop:
- Feels overwhelming sometimes right? How on earth can you create enough time to study a new subject? Start small….like teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini small!
- Listen to a podcast on your commute, read a few chapters of a book in the bath or listen to an audible book whilst doing the house chores or walking the dog
- If you spent just 15 mins each morning reading a little more about your chosen subject, that would equate to nearly 2 hours per week / 8 hours per month / 96 hours per year which is equal to over 2 weeks at work (based on an 8 hour day) learning about this subject. Can you imagine HOW much you could expand your knowledge?! Great dinner party nuggets right there.
3. Places you would like to visit:
- Be specific. Not just Scotland but what type of scenery makes you wistful, which cities boast architecture that sets your imagination on fire, where in particular produces the food that gets your taste buds tingling?! Do you want adrenaline or peace and quiet, a luxury hotel or a secluded cabin bathing in the sound of the sea? How long would you be going for, do you know anyone to ask for accommodation recommendations and what’s your budget? Enjoy doing the research and GET. IT. BOOKED.
- Even if it's in the second half of the year and feels like a lifetime away, once it's booked, you know that when you do your 2019 reflection this magical trip will have happened to you - rather than being something you still haven’t got round to doing…
4. People you want to see - or meet!
- Those people that make your heart feel as though its full of sunflowers? Or make you feel as though you want to see the world and swim in every sea within it? Prioritise your time with them; plan exciting trips together - even just for the day or weekend.
- Relationships that you want to nurture? Take the time to understand what that person is interested in, what their secret passions and hobbies are and what lights them up - then arrange to do it with them! It lets you into their world, mind, heart….and you’re bound to experience something new and perhaps something you never new you might love too.
- Want to meet more like-minded people? Put yourself out of your comfort zone and go to the book club, animal movement class, hiking expedition or jewellery making event alone. Speak to new people, show an interest in them and feel your confidence spread like wings.
5. Experiences you’ve always fancied….experiencing:
- Hiking Ben Nevis, visiting inspiring art galleries, intoxicating your senses at the theatre or a live gig; this life of yours is - let's be honest - whizzing by….so do the research and book the ticket!
- Again, this might be months away and may only realistically be once or twice per year - but what extraordinary, life affirming memories they will be to look back on; expanding your heart, mind and understanding of the world.
6. Mini opportunities to evoke wonder:
- Go outside tonight and look at the stars
- Get up in the morning to watch the sun rise
- Cook a dish from a different culture
- Stay curious - remember everyone has a story to tell and can teach you something
- Listen to a podcast from someone who inspires you
- Stick a pin in the atlas and read a little about that city or country’s history
- Take the time to linger and reminisce over old photographs - get friends or family together and get the photos out, letting old memories bubble up….over a glass of bubbles perhaps!
- Set your inner child free! Dance naked (perhaps indoors), kick the leaves up, run wild, sing at the top of your lungs, PLAY and feel alive!
This moment, this day and this life is about who YOU are, the energy you bring to the world and the joy that you suck out of it like a juicy peach.
We would love to hear about the activities and experiences this inspires you to try! How will you design a life you love?