“I don’t know where my energy has gone!” This is a common complaint as age. You just don’t feel like you did when you were young and full of beans!
Life coach and author Donna Portland hears similar laments from all kinds of people. Some years ago, Portland felt the same. So, she took steps to change the things that contributed to this feeling.
In her book Positive Habits Get Results, she has compiled highly useful information for anyone wanting to rediscover a zest for life.
Here are Portland’s top five tips for bolstering your energy levels:
Time Management
Life’s daily responsibilities take up our time and headspace; children, family obligations, work, debt, ill health, distractions etc. It all adds up to mounting stress and sapped energy levels!
Identify and eliminate the activities that sap your time. The two main culprits are:
- Watching Television. Is this your default activity when you get home? You may want to switch things up and indulge in a variety of other activities too.
- The device habit. Smart phones, tablets, laptops, and PCs have completely changed our world, but there are some drawbacks. The time spent netsurfing and playing games squandered hours. When you add up the time it takes to check feeds on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter you will start to see where your time goes.
Avoid energy-stealing habits
Being a couch potato, doing a job you hate, and being around negative or toxic people, sap your juice.
Three common energy-stealing habits are:
- Being a “yes” person. Learn to say “No” and stop constantly giving to everyone else. By valuing your time you enable those around you to become self-sufficient and give them the greatest gift!
- Overcommitting. Think of ways you can reduce your obligations.
- Soldiering on. Slow down or take a break to give yourself time to re-energise. Get out into nature or do something “that sparks a light in you” and you will find the drive and energy from within.
Adopt a regular practice of gratitude
Lewis Howes said:
“If you concentrate on what you have, you’ll always have more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you’ll never have enough.”
Make it a habit to express thankfulness and appreciation on a regular basis, for the big and small things alike. The benefits of adopting an ‘attitude of gratitude’ include:
- Enhanced well-being and satisfaction
- Higher quality relationships
- Better physical health
- Improved mood
- Reduction in depression symptoms.
If the gratitude process is hard to get started, you can begin by asking yourself, “What could I be grateful for?”, and see if the ideas start to flow.
Positive Habits Get Results by Donna PortlandConsistent meditation
Many successful people espouse the virtues of daily meditation practice because they’ve discovered that meditating is one of the best ways to give yourself some peace and quiet in this very hectic world. Meditation aims to help you to regain focus, reduce stress, gain a sense of calm and a feeling of wellbeing.
There are six basic types: Mindfulness, Movement meditation*, Mantra, Visualisations, Guided, and Sound healing. To find the best method for you just start looking! There is a famous Buddhist saying: “When the student is ready the teacher will appear!”
Pick a meditation technique and do it at least 3 times (or more) per week. Yoga and Tai Chi are forms of meditation, so if you’re not great at sitting still, this might well be how to start your meditation journey.
It is the things that we consistently do, day in and day out, that govern how we feel. Start making some changes to your daily habits to regain your energy and for lasting and positive impact over time.
Maintain a regular sleep routine, good hydration, diet and exercise
First things first, if your physical body is not thriving, you can’t expect your attitude and energy levels to be high!
Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining good health and well-being.
A regular routine is the best way to get good sleep. Try to get to bed earlier and allow sufficient time and avoid stimulants and food late at night so that you drift off more easily and sleep more soundly.
Typically, teenagers from 13-18 years are recommended to get from 8-10 hours and adults are recommended 7–9 hours of sleep per day.
Maintain good hydration: Very simply, drinking more water gets rid of lethargy, muscle weakness and headaches! When you’re well hydrated the appearance of your eyes and skin also improves and it’s easier to lose weight.
A guide to how much water to aim for is 2½ – 3 litres per day – depending on your body size and activity levels.
If you want to put back the spring in your step and your zest for life, you’re to pay more attention to your diet.
Forget diet crazes, products, pills, and apps. Keep it simple and focus on fresh and unprocessed vegetables and fruit.
And don’t forget to exercise. The more you do, the more you can do! Much is written on the subject, but it just comes down to two very simple principles:
- Move your body to get your heart rate up, get the blood circulating and the joints lubricated.
- Get some momentum going, so that it becomes a daily habit to expend energy.
It doesn’t matter what type of exercise you start with – or what you do next. Just do something that achieves (a) and (b) above!
Donna Portland is a Master NLP coach and hypnotherapist and works as a Life Coach, helping people reach their aspirations and dreams to achieve their success – whatever that means to them. Learn more at her website: www.DonnaPortland.com.
