With the winter months creeping up on us we often find ourselves in a ‘funk’ of sorts, with darker days, colder temps, and a lack of motivation. In her newsletter this week, Maxine Dunn provides 4 ways to stay motivated and keep the energy flowing in your business, instead of hibernating the winter months away.
With full permission and credit, here is Maxine’s latest offering. Enjoy, and take notes!
4 Tips to Bring Fresh Energy Back to Your Biz
by Maxine Dunn
You’ve probably had the experience of feeling uninspired about your business. Whether you’re a voice actor like me or working in any self-employed career, there are times when you can feel your enthusiasm fall flat.
Well this malaise can have a lot to do with your energy.
Specifically, your personal energy.
If your own personal energy feels stale; if you’re not learning new things; if your physical business environment (where you spend your time working) is boring, annoying, or uninspiring; if you have habits that aren’t serving your greater good; or if you don’t spend any time introspecting on your journey; you won’t thrive in the way that you’re truly able to.
Your personal energy is EVERYTHING.
I really want to impress upon you: Don’t underestimate the impact and the importance of HOW YOU FEEL EVERY DAY in relation to the actual success of your business.
Whether it’s improving your health, clearing out clutter, or letting something go that’s not working, positive energy is universal and will benefit not only your life as a whole but your entrepreneurial business efforts as well.
So let’s get started with some easy-to-implement tips on how to freshen up your energy!
Change up your environment
What you surround yourself with on a regular basis affects your personal energy. Changing your work environment or bringing something new into it can have a profound effect on your business. And this includes getting rid of things in your environment that are stale or are no longer working.
- Place new artwork, motivational quotes, or a colorful clock on the wall near your desk.
- Get rid of old business items that you no longer need: outdated business cards and letterhead, old photographs, or computer files that are obsolete.
- Clean off and organize your desk every evening so it’s a pleasure to come to every morning.
- Buy a comfortable, ergonomic office chair that feels good to sit in!
- Fix the dripping faucet, oil the squeaky hinges on your front door, and replace the burned-out light bulb on your back porch. Fix what needs fixing.
- Keep fresh flowers in your office or your work area as often as you can. The energetic impact of beautiful fresh flowers will be palpable!
Establish a new (good) habit
What you do habitually on a regular basis affects your personal energy. Whether it’s business-related or not, establishing a new, positive habit will release a positive hit of energy which will spill over into your business.
- Take 15 minutes each morning to do some gentle stretching as soon as you get out of bed.
- Drink more water throughout the day. (A MAJOR energy booster!)
- Open your mail immediately and respond quickly to emails. Become a “do-it-now!” person and stop letting mail pile up.
- Set one day a week to be absolutely work free. Set aside time for yourself and just watch your positive energy increase during the rest of the week.
- Eat breakfast every day.
Commit time each day to learning something new
Keeping your brain active and learning new things is one of the best ways to infuse positive, active energy into your life. And your business. Don’t let your learning level off just because you’ve been in business for a while. Keep stretching! And keep forging those new neural pathways!
- Learn a new language with those wonderful Rosetta Stone DVDs.
- Get a book out of the library on calligraphy and give it a go.
- Take a beginning yoga class.
- Purchase contact management software and learn how to use it well.
- Sign up for Lumosity.com and practice “brain games” every day.
Click here to read my inspiring article, “Are You Still Learning?”
Start keeping a journal
Writing about what you’re going through, the good and the bad, is one of the best ways to keep your energy fresh and moving forward. Whether you write about an event that happened years ago, a client debacle that happened last week, or a wonderful dream you had last night, journaling will keep you thinking creatively about your life.
Even writing for 10 minutes a day will eventually result in wonderful new insights for you: A fresh new way to interpret a business challenge; a rediscovery of a core strength you’d forgotten you possessed; creative ways to handle a new risk you’re facing; or a brand new idea may blossom in your mind.
Writing freely without interruption and with no agenda, even for a short time each day, is one of the best ways to release both trapped and untapped fresh energy you may not have had access to before.
- Purchase a journal to write in. Whether it’s an imposing leather-bound journal or lovely floral notebook from Barnes and Noble or a simple spiral notebook from Office Depot, buy a journal (notebook).
- Just get started. Open your journal. And start writing. And if you can’t think of anything to write about and think your life is boring, write, “I can’t think of anything to write about and my life is boring.” Just get started.
- Keep it up. Make journaling one of your new habits and as the days and weeks go by, just watch your business energy increase.
The point of this week’s article is: Any change in your energetic focus will affect all parts of your life. Including your business. And when you introduce new, fresh energetic pursuits into your life, they WILL positively affect your business.
So here’s your action plan for this week to freshen up your energy:
- Change up your environment
- Establish a new habit
- Commit time each day to learning something new
- Start keeping a journal
Maxine Dunn is a voice-over artist and on-camera spokesperson who has been in the business for 25 years. Over that time she’s also become a very savvy solopreneur. Her weekly newsletter is full of advice, insights, and motivation. If you’ve not signed up to receive Maxine’s newsletter, I recommend you do so, asap. (Maxine’s website)
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