When stuck in the low-mojo state trudging seems to take the place of striding; lethargy replaces playfulness; unattractiveness replaces seduction! The effort required to get up and go is significant and often draining; reluctant acceptance instead of excitement; introspection instead of creativity.
Everyday protocols or habits that have been part of your brilliant set-up get dropped. In working through the three “Mojo-Igniters” in this Simple Note you can reassess and restart your patterns of behaviour that lead to ‘Best You’. – your wake-up routine; the journey to work; meeting patterns; peaceful uplifting spaces.
I’ve worked with a few clients recently who were experiencing a loss of their proverbial ‘mojo’; an absence of excitement, passion and appetite. The ensuing dullness was leading to a lacklustre approach to each day, requiring them to dig deep into their reserves of motivation to maintain progress, performance and impact.
I too experience this absence of mojo from time to time and notice the effect on me that was also playing out with my coaching clients. It matters less what led to the mojo drop, investigating that won’t necessarily jolt you forward (unless of course it’s a repeating occurrence and more radical preventative action is needed!).
The resultant attitude swing affects concentration and application to tasks. Creativity diminishes and critical introspection ensues. My confidence can drop without positive intervention or a change and without these comes hesitancy and doubt.
Are you currently hearing the inner investigator plead?
· Why am I feeling this?
· Why am I not happy?
· Why am I not as positive or focused?
Don’t wait until you have all the answers or even until you are hearing all the questions! Take a pattern-interrupting committal action immediately!
The pernicious ‘why’ questions rarely lead your thinking to a useful place, rather they alert your awareness to more negatives or just confirm (and embed) why you feel demotivated!
If you notice this in your inner thinking or even if your mojo is currently burning brightly the following steps will reignite your brilliance and boost your attitude and impact.
· Be Here Now – it is likely that your thinking has drifted to thoughts of the past – regrets or disappointments. Or to the future – doubts or fears. Actively getting back to now can liberate those thoughts. Start with ‘everything is okay’. From here, notice the resources you have available right now and how you can make the most of them. Embrace possibility; smile for no reason; list 3 things you are grateful for/pleased about/enjoy. Embrace the moment.
· “I’m at my best when…” (chapter 1 in “The ‘Keep It Simple’ Book”) –your low-mojo circumstance is likely to be full of stuff that doesn’t bring the best from you. What are the 6 to 10 things that are true when you are at your best? Finish the ‘at your best’ sentence with these and re-familiarise yourself with what makes you shine. Shift the stuff that doesn’t bring the best from you – clear the easy ones now to recreate the space – and reintroduce the positive habits that define you at your best.
· Upgrade ‘Why’ to ‘What’ – notice the questions you were hounding yourself with and shift them to the more open and exploratory ‘what’ version. What am I feeling? What makes me happy? What is positive or in focus? ‘What’ questions ignite broader thinking, are less judgemental and are more expansive and possibility oriented.
Practical life issues do need time and work but realigning yourself with the now – the what – at my best will reframe your attitude range.
These “Mojo-Igniters” will help you return to a place where you can see the choices in front of you more clearly and embrace opportunity rather than doubt. Create positive momentum and commit to reignition. You can choose your attitude for every situation.