http://www.flickr.com/photos/saumag/6255579856/sizes/l/ Image cropped
In the past (almost 12) months life has changed drastically. By leaving mainstream employment, I have opened myself up to
freedom, creativity and joy.
But along with these glorious goodies have come
self doubt
and at times
motivational stagnation.
During my “Year of Living Dangerously” (as I love to call it) I have found it most difficult to get through the simplest of tasks due to lack of motivation. When working for a boss, who is the one paying your salary, with a deadline looming, and a client about to walk in the door expecting to be “wowed” beyond belief, it was not too hard to just get into it and moving forward even through some of the most mundane of tasks.
But switch off those external forces and I became an unmanned boat at sea, drifting from wave to wave without direction or purpose.
Don’t get me wrong – this was what I needed initially to switch off, recuperate, re-callibrate and clear my space.
But fast forward and there came a point in time where I needed to take some action. The kids had to get to school, the washing had to be done – housework and homework. And these colourful ideas that were growing in my mind needed to be put into some form of action before they disappeared.
When you are sitting at a desk in an office, the environment is set up for you to stay on task – you are there to do a job right?
But put me in my own home with many things going on and I could just switch tasks every 5 – 10 mins and rarely achieve anything by the end of the day.
So I had to find some kind of motivation that would calm my busy mind, help me focus and keep me on task. I thought about how I used to sit at my desk in my old job and just get in the zone – knuckle down and get things done. And the thing that used to help – a pair of headphones with the music blocking out the distractions of other people and other things.
So I started to incorporate music into my everyday.
Music to meditate to (my meditation playlist is jam packed with Tahlee Rouillon’s magic meditones music from The Attitude Revolution – check her out here).
Music to do housework to – this one for me was where I needed the most motivation – such mundane tasks where my mind would fill with chatter about what I “should” be doing or how I was lacking as a domestic goddess. When I fill my ears with fast paced tunes not only does it silence the chatter, but things get done faster and with more energy. (check out this great song from my Housework playlist here)
Music to remind me to stop, be present and have fun with my children (here’s one we love to sing along with in car)
Music to exercise to (thanks to the great music and dance moves at the GROOVE Brisbane classes run by Tash Sciotto – I finish the session feeling like I’ve been out dancing with the girls and the added bonus is that I have been exercising – check out GROOVE Brisbane here)
And finally the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Thanks to an amazing experience of doing a GROOVE class on the beach last weekend, I now have the ultimate song to expel my self doubt. After finishing the session on the beach with the sea metres in front of me, sand beneath my feet, the wind blowing fiercely across my face, my arms out-stretched as I bent forward and balanced on one leg, the music and words of this song touched my soul in a way that made me feel invincible. And now when I hear this song,
I truly believe I can fly!
Image Credit – mnsc – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnsc/5820149001/sizes/l/
