Challenging times are a part of life. Though you might be feeling exhausted and even powerless while trying to restore your energy, you need to remember that it happens to everyone. It could be a difficult financial period, a complicated situation in your close relationships,
loneliness, health issues, a harsh defeat, or a failure that has drained you of your energy; but either way, it's temporary, and restoring energy is an important next step. Everything in life has cycles. Sometimes you just feel down, and that's ok. But eventually, the wheel turns, and you'll get back on the horse. It may be challenging to see that in the middle of your struggle, but it's all temporary. In hard times, when it's hard to see the way out, it's important to remind yourself that you are the one that is making the decisions, and you're the one that has the ability to choose. You can choose how you are handling your situation. You can dwell and stay stuck on your difficulties and unfortunate situation, or you can help yourself getting better and restore your energy one step at a time. How can you make tomorrow better than today? You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You just need to stay positive and change your current daily routine bit by bit. The following five simple tricks will also make a huge difference for you, enabling you to improve your mood quickly and help you in restoring energy during tough times.
1. Connect to Your Inner Child
The first thing that you have to do when you're working your way out of the hole is to forgive yourself and to be compassionate. If you're going to keep dwelling on your mistakes and continue beating yourself up, it will be nearly impossible for you to find more energy inside you. When you're forgiving yourself and being compassionate with yourself, you're putting less focus and energy on the problem, and you're on the right track for restoring your energy. A powerful trick for accessing this energy is by
connecting to your inner child. If your 8-year-old self was in this situation, what would you tell him/her? Can you connect to the feelings that you felt during hard times that you've been through as a young child? Can you remember how intense those feelings were? How would you cheer him/her up? What would you tell your little self if he/she were in the same situation instead of you? When you are trying to see things through this perspective, you automatically feel empathetic and compassionate. Every time you're detecting negative emotions or thoughts, think about the situation that troubles your mind as if your 8-year-old self was going through it. You'll be amazed to see how different your automatic responses to your 8-year-old self's way of handling the situation is. Can you give yourself the same gift of compassion and generosity?
2. Change Your Physical State
Are you exercising? I'm sure that you know that exercising is an
all-natural treatment to fight depression and stress and understand the massive advantages of physical activity. So are you exercising? Your emotional state, quality of life, and level of performance are inseparable from your physical state. When you're going through a rough patch, it's time to restore your energy by changing this, as your physical state is a major factor determining how you feel. You don't have to be the toughest person alive and begin running ultra marathons; you just need to instill more movement in your current routine and schedule. Understand that when you're changing your physical state, your emotions change as well. If you are currently feeling that you are drained and have no energy, that you are powerless and exhausted, isn't that the time to take a look at your physical routine? What are you doing most of the day? Are you sitting? Lying down on the couch or in bed? Stuck in your car or office seat most of the day? If that's the case, isn't it obvious that adding more movement and activity to your daily routine can pump up your energy((Everyday Health:
Why Exercise Boosts Mood and Energy))? What kind of physical activity do you like to do? What kind of movement can you insert into your daily schedule? It can actually be something small, like stretching your back for 10 minutes in the morning when you're waking up and before you go to bed. It could be taking a short 20-minute walk while listening to your favorite music before going to work, or after you're coming back from work. The level of intensity doesn't really matter. What's important is to be persistent and to insert a steady physical energy boost several times a day. Pump it up!
3. Connect With Your 80-Year-Old Self
Imagine now the exact opposite from trick number 1. Now you're not a kid, but you're looking at your old wrinkled 80-year-old self. You've seen so much, you've experienced so much, you've achieved so much, you've lived life for a long time. Now, when you are looking back at your long and rich life, do you remember what happened to you back then when you went through a difficult time? I'm actually not talking about the current period. I want you to look at another difficult time that you've had, one that you've overcome and come out stronger than before. You know exactly what you did right and wrong, and what helped you in that period. And now, let's get back to your current situation, as your all-knowing 80-year-old self. When you are looking back at this specific time, how do you feel? Do your feelings and thoughts suddenly look small and irrelevant? Over an entire life-span, does this period look consequential or more like a footnote? A typo? When you are trying to see things through this perspective, you automatically feel calm, even stoic. Every time you're detecting negative emotions or thoughts, think about the situation that troubles your mind as if your 80-year-old self were reflecting on it. You'll be amazed to see how different your automatic responses as your 80-year-old self are. Can you zoom out from your current situation and see it through a
life-time perspective? You know that you've successfully got out of difficult situations before, so let your 80-year-old self perspective give you some experienced framing regarding your current problems.
4. Imagine Your Ideal Life
When you're going through a rough time and are looking for help in restoring energy, it's important to imagine and think of a better tomorrow. When you're in a bad situation, or when you are giving everything you've got trying to achieve a big, challenging goal, fighting to stay determined when times get tough((Vision, Belief, Change:
5 Tips to Stay Determined When Times Get Tough)), it's important to remember that a new day will eventually come when the challenge has been overcome. And if you know that things will improve over time, why not imagine your ideal life? Why not go with it all the way and imagine something that really excites you and makes you feel alive? When you are imagining an ideal picture of your
future life and your future self, you're connecting to a positive mental state. And when you are in a positive mental state, all of a sudden your problems seem smaller, and your energies and capabilities feel much more robust and accessible. How can you instill these 5-minute positive breaks during your day? How can you adopt this powerful, positive, and energetic visualization and connection in your daily schedule? This is something that is definitely worth the time, since you know how fun and relaxing it feels to daydream every once in a while. Five minutes of a positive mental state is a great way to energize yourself, to give yourself a little break from everything that's going on in your life. And these 5 minutes accumulate as you'll have more energy with every positive mental break that you'll take. After a while, you'll see that these positive breaks are becoming your positive anchor, fueling you with energy and optimism and enabling you to find more in yourself as the power of momentum works its magic.
5. Find Someone to Look up to
Who do you look up to? Who do you adore? Whether it's a friend or a relative of yours that you appreciate a lot, or a celebrity athlete, movie star, or singer, they're people just like you. They have also had bad times! Take some time to listen to their stories. Can you imagine what they went through? And what they did to bounce back? How did they restore their energy during tough times? If they were in your shoes, what would they do in this situation? Furthermore, can you imagine what would they tell you if they were next to you right now? If you'd share your story with them, what piece of advice would they give you? How would that advice affect you? Remember, they're people just like you, with strengths and weaknesses, that overcame obstacles, and you can gain power and energy from connecting to their stories and seeing yourself in the same situation.
Final Thoughts
Remember, tough times are temporary, but the techniques you build in learning about restoring energy in your life can last years and help you through countless challenges. Find what works for you and what helps you maintain a positive outlook in the fact of any difficult moment.
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