You have a dream.
Or rather, you had a dream.
In fact, you had lots of them.
But then life happened. Bad things happened. And worry crept into your life, sucking the wonderful energy out of you like a leech.
And now you feel flat.
Bored. Grey. Uninspired. Heavy.
And you don’t know how to get back the spark. How to ignite. How to get back ON.
You want fireworks and magic. You want long summer nights and belly laughs. You want wonder and passion.
Heck, you don’t even ask for amazing, right now all you want is to feel a little bit better.
Anything is better than this limbo.
Right?
But baby, you don’t have to settle for less. The is hope – bucket loads of it.
Here are 17 tips to get back the spark in your life and feel alive again!
17 tips on how to invite passion and inspiration back into your life
Write a love list
Sit down with pen and paper and make a list of everything that you love. Include all the things, people and concepts you are attracted to, passionate about and interested in. Don’t limit yourself.
Take opposite action
Very often, what we most feel like doing is not what would help us the most. So if you’re having low energy – you often feel like hanging out at home, while getting out and doing something actually would be more helpful. The same thing goes for feeling uninspired – we often don’t feel like doing anything. So whatever it is you want to be doing right now – try experimenting with doing the opposite. Sometimes doing something you’ve never done before will excite and ignite you like nothing else.
Loosen up
Being uninspired and feeling detached often has a physical component, as we very often end up stationary or doing physically slow things. A good way to guide yourself to a better mental state is to do something physical, like dance, running, or hiking – or yoga. Anything that will move and stretch your body will help you thinking become more flexible too.
Do something fun and unusual
I know you’re not feeling it right now, but there’s nothing like doing something spontaneous when you’re uninspired. Try something you have never tried before, like a trapeze class, a photo safari or go to a lecture on a topic you know little about yet.
Pump up your creativity
Even though you might not feel particularly creative, doing something that requires you to stop thinking and start doing is usually a great way of getting inspired. If you need ideas – try fingerprinting, writing or crafting something with your hands. Pinterest is great for DIY ideas!
Talk about your dreams
Tell a friend about something you would like to do one day. Try to describe it in as much detail as possible. If you don’t have a friend you can talk to about this, try writing it all out. See if you can reconnect with a dream by thinking differently, or connect with a new dream entirely.
Smile and laugh more
Smiling and lauging – even faking it – will make you feel happier. I’m not encouraging false laughs here, but if you are feeling low and uninspired, try watching a comedy or just smiling to strangers. This totally works! You might feel goofy, but if that can make you laugh of yourself – even better!
Focus on what you are feeling, not what you aren’t
As the Buddha said; “Suffering is arguing with reality”. When you are feeling flat, uninspired and tired – but feel like you should be feeling passionate and excited about something – you feel even worse than if you just focus on what you actually are feeling.
Do what interests you the most
You might feel like nothing excites you. Like you don’t have anything. But I’m sure there is something in this wide world of possibilities that is more interesting than other things. You don’t have to be wildly in love – just moderately curious. Start there.
Read Feeling Good when Life is Hard
A little shameless self-promotion is allowed from time to time, right? No, seriously – I have written a whole e-book about how to feel good in times of stress, overwhelm and change. I have a full chapter on identifying and following dreams in there. It’s good!
Let nature hold you
Sometimes all we need to get back on track is to allow ourselves to be off track for a bit. Take a walk in nature, walk barefoot on the beach, lie down in the grass and feel the earth support you. Relax, then move on.
Pay attention to your black and white thinking
When we are not in our element, it is very easy to slip into absolute thinking. As in “I am never inspired. Or I am not interested in anything. Or I always feel stuck”. Watch out for words like never, always, nothing, everything, everybody, nobody, everywhere, anywhere etc. Try to see if there is a good middle way in there. A good way of checking your thinking is to ask yourself “is this true?” whenever you catch yourself thinking in absolute terms.
Don’t be avoidant, isolate yourself or over-think
One of the best pieces of advice someone gave me when I was searching for my purpose and passion was to don’t avoid doing things that need to be done (like paperwork and housework), don’t isolate yourself by staying in too much, and don’t think too much about what to do, why it’s not working, where to go and so on. In other words; do the work, get out there and spend more time acting than thinking!
Be limitless
So much of our stuck-ness originate from these short words; can’t, won’t and shouldn’t. So when you are searching for your spark – don’t limit yourself. Do it anyways!
Hire a life coach
Life coaches – like me – are experts at helping people find more passion, excitement and energy in their lives. Why fumble around in the dark when you can have someone guide your way?
Accept
It is what it is. And right now you are not in the zone. And that is alright! Just accepting that can make all the difference in the world. It’s like deciding to stop looking for a boyfriend and then suddenly there he is!
Check yourself for depression
I feel that it is important to address this topic too. Loss of interest, flatness in emotions and loss of energy can be symptoms of depression. It’s better to be safe than sorry – the sooner you get treatment the easier it will be. So if you think this might be you, don’t hesitate to get help.
(via The Freedom Project)
