5 Tiny Things You Can Do Today If Your Life Lacks Spark
Are things feeling a little dull lately?
Lisa Vlasenko | Canva We’re all human and have phases where things can feel a little flat. I’ve noticed it’s very easy to fall into these periods when we move through life unconsciously. We forget to take a step back for a moment to see things as they really are. But this is the very thing we need to do if it seems like we’re butting up against a wall. Awareness is the key.
Here are 5 tiny things you can do today if your life lacks spark:
1. Identify your main energy drain.
There’s always one thing that consistently drains our energy that we can pick out as currently more significant than the rest. Maybe it’s a vice you run to for its short-term hit that ultimately makes you feel hollow and tired in the longer term. It could be a friend you spend a lot of time with who is continually negative. You might spend a lot of time churning on worrying thoughts.
It can take courage to confront what exactly this is, and it may take some reflection or note-taking to see what this is. What is one (perhaps seemingly inescapable) burden that regularly shows up in your life?
2. Determine how to use this ‘burden’ as a source of transformation.
For whatever energy drain or burden you’ve identified, we will use it to take an empowered position moving forward now. Every challenge can be met with either a ‘victim’ or ‘ownership’ mentality. Your burden, believe it or not, holds the key to one of your most significant sources of transformation. There is always opportunity here, no matter how seemingly impenetrable it appears.
You now need to sit down and write out potential ways to turn this problem into a major benefit. Drinking alcohol, for example, may significantly interfere with your mental well-being. If it’s one of your biggest issues, it also represents a means to profoundly turn your life around.
Now’s your time to set your mind to making this happen. And only you can. Come up with a solution that works for you. You know it won’t be easy, but transformation never comes from comfort. Instead of saying, "Why does this have to happen to me?" as you’ve always done, now ask: "How can I use this problem to improve my life?" You will find the way, you just need to commit to change.
3. Find solutions to 2–3 more significant life challenges/burdens.
Now you can apply the same assertive process to your other secondary challenges. We get stuck in life because of what we allow to get in the way, far less than what we believe we’re incapable of doing. So identify these things and call them by name. Write down many problems if it helps and choose the ones that matter most to address.
Brainstorm, as in the previous exercise, ways to use these challenges to improve your life. What can you do to overcome them? You needn’t take action on them today, because you already have the first priority to deal with. One thing at a time. But even the process of identifying these problems and seeing how there is a solution for all of them will enliven you.
4. Identify something you’ve always dreamed of doing.
This is where things get even juicier. Write down some things you may have once dreamed of doing. Perhaps these things were pushed to the back of your psyche as life’s obligations and challenges jockeyed for your attention over the years. Maybe you can now return to your childhood wishes or yearning thoughts you’ve denied while in the shower.
Be a little selfish here. Get in touch with your inner child and your hidden and untapped wisdom. What would you love to do before you die? What would be a super cool experience or achievement? Get it all down. Have fun with the process of writing everything that comes to mind. Next, filter it down to one thing you could feasibly start today. What’s one tiny step you can make today, no matter how urgent other things seem for you now? Note it down. Commit to it and do that one thing today.
5. Resolve to be fearless in the face of uncertainty.
Finally, we need to address the fundamental source of our malaise. Why do we feel our life lacks excitement in the first place? Because if we don’t know what or why this is, we’ll continue to fall into the same traps that make us feel like we lack control. But here’s the thing about life: it will be uncertain, no matter what. And wishing you knew what you don’t know will only make you more miserable. It’s our belief that we need to know that stiffens us and makes us anxious. We continually try to escape because we make ourselves uncomfortable.
Genuine excitement for living will come from accepting the Universal fact that we will never know. There isn’t something ‘better’ out there. Our longing for anything outside the present will lull us into a false sense that we’re not happy right now. When we can do this, we’re transported back to the right here, right now. Here, we can reconnect with our true, vibrant, excited selves. This is what it means to truly live.
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.