Do you ever feel like you’re having a lackluster day? Or maybe a lot of days are feeling that way lately. Are you blaming the economy because you’re not motivated to do anything but procrastinate? Do you go through the motions of your day and do the required actions and wonder why your heart’s not into it? Do you have some employees who appear to function like this? Is it affecting the quality of your work, your engagement with customers, your interest in being in business? Here are some ways to renew your energy and commitment.

Focus on your child. Each one of us has different parts of our personalities. Our internalized parent tells us what to do, tells us what we’re capable of, and also nurtures us. Our internalized child feels passion, is creative, is often stubborn, exuberant, angry or playful. Our adult makes rationalized choices, separates fantasy from reality and tries to be objective. All are necessary in our world.

The point is our adult and parent are boring! If you go around all day using your adult and parent, no wonder the passion is gone. You need to tune into your child. How do you do that? Find something you’re passionate about. It could be the arts, singing, dancing, drawing, drama, performing a sport, playing a musical instrument, developing a hobby, climbing a mountain, hiking, working with children, volunteering. Have fun! Find anything that draws you out into something you like. I’ve had clients who started singing on the way to the bus, started taking dancing lessons or took a class in creative writing. When they got passionate about something, they got motivated about many things, even their businesses. It allowed them to get more committed and more engaged, and therefore, more focused, and their businesses took off.

Get moving! Movement is especially good because it releases brain chemicals and gets your whole body involved. There is more and more research pointing to the fact that our minds, memory and what we’ve always considered our brain functions are distributed through other parts of the body as well, in muscles, in the spine and other parts of our nervous system. Getting involved in movement, in sports, dancing, jogging, exercise sets our energy in motion. It helps us feel freer, more like that child who enjoyed movement just for the pure enjoyment of it, and couldn’t sit still.

Celebrate small wins and give yourself rewards.
Focus on a goal. Make it a S.M.A.R.T. goal. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistically high and time targeted so you know when to celebrate) When you achieve it, go out to dinner, see a movie, buy yourself something, or do something that makes you happy. Let other people know so they can celebrate with you. Have a virtual ‘victory dance’ with your friends who may be miles apart. Celebrate the small wins you have in your workplace. Make a sale, ring a bell. Focus on the rewards and have fun!