By Ahsan
Have you ever been hit with the blues? Have you ever lost a bit of that pep in your step or just felt a bit aimless? Contrast that with how you feel when you are preparing for a big occasion, like a night out with friends or attending a wedding. Usually, the feeling is one of being engaged, focused and generally happy. When we are feeling off, it is usually because we are thinking about things in the past and ruminating over a “I wish I had…” thoughts or we are looking at the present and feeling bored.
It is in the future that we begin to see ourselves in motion and start feeling engaged, focussed and happier. In other words, when you are feeling blue and with nothing to do, pivot your thoughts to a bigger future.
What does this mean? A bigger future is all about challenging yourself to be, do or have something that represents growth and change from your current situation. It could mean pursuing higher education, it could mean becoming fitter and stronger, it could mean adding one hundred thousand dollars to your present investments by working on your earning abilities.
Why does this work as a way for getting out of a funk? It’s simple isn’t it? You become engaged in planning how you will build your bigger future, you get focussed on the doing and action steps and habits and all the while, compared to being in Bluesville, you change your address to happy town.
Action Steps:
Sit down with yourself and or a good friend and brainstorm something that you want for your future. Here we mean a “be”, “do”, or “have” type desire.
Repeat step one another two times so you have three things in front of you.
Now that you have the three things to contemplate, imagine yourself accomplishing your bigger future.
Note and internally capture that feeling.
Get working on the one you intuitively feel most excited about.
Keep the other two handy so you can begin on them when you know the time is right.
There you go. Don’t stay in first gear, get going by seeing a bigger future for yourself and multiply your happiness.