When's The Last Time You Celebrated YOU?

2/14/2022

The Monday Moment
Designed to get you in touch with and be deliberate about your energy of being.

How did last week go for you? Did you remember to take 90 seconds to breathe deeply throughout the day; especially when anxiety or overwhelm set in?

I made a commitment seven years ago that I would no longer work from a state of ramped-up energy (what I fondly call the buzz) and the feeling of pressure to get everything done.

I was determined to work from a relaxed, calm state. At first, I was taking 90 seconds to breathe more than 10 times a day. (It only amounted to 15 minutes out of my entire day!) And guess what? Over the course of 6 weeks, the calm state became my norm. I rarely feel anxious anymore, nor overwhelmed. I would argue that I get more done now with a higher rate of satisfaction and quality than I ever did when I worked under pressure.

I hope you noticed some nice changes within yourself.

Today we’re focusing on Celebrating.

When we take time to celebrate, we move our energy to a higher level of positivity. We also help our brain remember the things we are celebrating in a way that makes those things easier to access long term.

When I say celebrate, I’m talking about taking a few minutes to reflect and specifically identify those things that went well and your role in that success. It’s easy to check things off our to-do list, but to take full advantage of what we’ve done well, we need to stop and think about what we did.

Maybe a difficult meeting went well last week. When you reflect, you realize you took the time to prepare, you set an intention before going into the meeting and you were fully present. That’s worth remembering, making note of, and integrating into how you work.

Week 2 - Monday Moment Habit Creator

Take a Moment - Plant your feet flat on the floor.
Take 90 Seconds - To breathe in through your nose, slowly, and out through your nose slowly.
Concentrate - From that place of relaxed calm, think about the things that went well last week. There might be one. There might be 10.
Take 60 Seconds - Allow yourself to smile and take credit for your part. Notice how you feel. More than likely, you’re feeling proud and positive. You could be a bit surprised. Bask in those good feelings for 60 seconds.

Make note of what you did that you want to form a habit around and deliberately practice those things this week. Put reminders in prominent places for yourself so you continue to build the new habit.

This Week’s Challenge:
At any time this week, if you notice your energy dropping, STOP, breathe slowly for 90 seconds, and then resume your work from a place of calm and presence.

If you’d like an accountability buddy, go ahead and email me what it is you are focusing on this week.

I’ll be doing this exercise along with you. I’m already smiling about the things that went well in my last week. I’ll smile even more when I see what you are doing as well.

These are the subtle ways that great leaders manage their energy and build their awareness. As the world continues to change faster than ever, these are the habits that will serve you well regardless of what is going on around you.

Warm regards,