As a Health & Lifestyle coach this exercise is often a great way to start with the clients I work with.
Try this exercise yourself to see what is nourishing you every day and what is depleting your energy, you may be surprised. Though just by completing the exercise you are one step closer to making a step change.
Life is too short to be consumed by daily tasks and activities that just deplete you of energy.
So often we continue through life accepting what may be making us feel down, frustrated and even anxious. Although some daily tasks and activities can be depleting and often unavoidable, by being aware and having the power to adjust how they may impact you, can really change how you see, accept and approach things.
Equally, identifying what nourishes you every day and trying to do more of those things, can help to create a much healthier balance.
Try this exercise:
Write down everything you do in a day, you may have a list for the week and one for the weekend.
Then, next to every activity think for a minute if that activity was nourishing for your soul or depleting you of your time and energy.
When you have made your list, quietly reflect; what can you change or do more of?
What can you stop doing that depletes your time and energy, and how can you do more of the things that provide you with happiness and nourishment?
The next step is for all the activities that drain you from nourishment, your depleting activities, ask if you can change it? If not, what could you do that makes the activity come with some nourishment too?
For example, if every week you have to attend a meeting you would rather not be at, how could you change it slightly to make it less depleting? This could be to change your screen saver on your phone or laptop to something that makes you smile, take in your favourite coffee, take a 5 minute meditation for yourself beforehand, sit somewhere different or engage with someone you may not know well.
Often our past expereinces dictate how we anticipate the future. Though the future hasn’t happened, in many ways we can actually help create and carve a negative expectation subconsciously.
Having an open mind, holding onto your inner peace and calmness and remembering what is important to you, can assist in seeing things in a different light.
When you have completed the exercise allow yourself to be really mindful of what you do every day, is it nourishing or depleting? Can I change it? Can I adapt it?
Your list will be unique to you, for example nourishing for me is yoga, running, being outdoors, cooking, writing and being with likeminded people, my husband, friends and family, though running may be quite depleting for someone else. For me, depleting things are being unproductive, unstimulated and completing repetitive tasks that do not add value.
We will all have our own lists, the key is to do more of the things that bring nourishment and joy, and fewer depleting things. Plan your day carefully and ask yourself “Will this nourish or deplete me?” When you tally up at the end of every day, try to make sure that nourishing activities and actions exceed and outweigh anything else.
Remember, how you start your day will be how you live your day. And how you live your day will be how you live your life.
