You can thank Emma for this article.
She suggested she would like to have me focus on ‘How to become more VITAL‘.
And just so we understand what we are talking about when we use the word ‘vital’, other words we could use include:
Spunk, buzz, jazzed up, on a high, light of spirit, energized, unstoppable, vibrant, radiant, expansive, thriving, and plugged into life.
Feel free to add a few of your own. 😉
It is pretty much the opposite of anxious, fearful, worried, flat, fatigued, apathetic, disconnected, etc..
The less fun stuff.
I think the most basic way to figure out how to create the most vitality, for the majority of the time, is to do a good old fashioned “Audit”.
It is a great place to start.
We are essentially going to come up with what RAISES our Vitality and what LOWERS our Vitality.
That’s the mission for today.
Bringing AWARENESS to you in relationship to your Vitality choices.
Giving you the insight to make better choices.
And yes, you would have heard a bunch of these from me before.
But as they say: repetition is the mother of learning.
Let’s start with what lowers vitality…
Things that LOWER our Vitality
I am just going to make a list, and see if any of these apply to you. If they do, the next step for you is to figure out how to switch them out. I think we will also find a bunch of opposites on each list too. And finally, the list does not include everything. Just the ones I feel are most impactful.
Here goes:
- Probably the number 1 is our Mindset. Our beliefs about our self and our internal dialogue. I think this internal stuff has more of an impact than the physical stuff, which I will also share shortly. Our belief about our relationship to Vitality, and our WORTHINESS to experience Vitality are HUGE players! Do you believe you (individually) can be vital (most of the time) and do you believe you deserve to be vital most of the time?
- Do you have Impotent Goals? Are you unexcited about life, because it lacks meaning? Maybe you don’t have any goals or projects that inspire you. There is nothing to spring you out of bed, or put a spring in your step as you chomp-at-the-bit to get started. Or maybe you spend 8 hrs (+) a day ‘working’ on something you don’t like or for a organization you don’t align with or respect. This will SUCK the energy right out of you.
- Toxic, overly critical or unsupportive relationships. Bad relationships are total energy drainers. I know it. You know it. It is what we do with that knowing that counts.
- Being in a ‘Survival’ emotional state. When we are in survival mode, we leak energy like a sieve.
- Poor Diet. Essentially the diet is costing more than it is providing, in terms of energy and nutrients. You end up with a negative balance sheet, when it comes to vitality. The biggest energy drainers for me are ultra-processed foods of all varieties (which includes vegetable oils). They not only drain energy but build up toxicity in the body, which requires even more energy to remove.
- Poor Sleep. This is SO important to our vitality.
- Unhelpful Self Criticism. There is useful feedback, and then there is unhelpful feedback. And (lots of) wasted energy on repeating – ad nauseam – what you did wrong, and how silly you are, and worthless, and, and, etc.. The antidote is to stay CURIOUS when receiving any feedback.
- Am I allowed to mention Alcohol? A small amount may lower our inhibitions, and make us more perky, but too much and we are on the downward slope. Hang-overs are not an expression of vitality. 😉
Now I could go on a whole bunch more, but I also realise the things that are RAISING vitality are pretty much the opposite of the list above, so let’s just head straight there now.
Things that RAISE our Vitality
Again this list does not include everything, but it gives you a pretty good snapshot to see in what areas you can add the most vitality to your life.
Here goes:
- Again we will start with Mindset. When we get to the state of believing – right down to our bones – that we, as a unique individual (regardless of our personal history or physical make-up) are capable of, and worthy of, experiencing Vitality for the majority of the time in our lives, we are turning the dial in a clockwise direction.
- Being Kind to ourselves. Have you ever had the experience of expressing kindness or doing something kind for another person and witnessed their immediate glow or a newfound spring in their step? The same thing works when we are kind and nurturing to ourselves. It increases our energy.
- Being around ‘High-Vibe’ People. Now my caveat is ‘stable and grounded‘ high-vibe people. Someone in a drug induced ‘high-vibe’ is not what I have in mind. That is more erratic and very unlike the deep clean burn of a person high on life, without drug assistance. Obviously the aim is to spend more time with high-vibe, enthusiastic and supportive people, and less time with energy drainers or energy disruptors.
- Having meaningful short, medium and long-term Goals and Projects. These are not handed to us. They are self-generated. Meaning we have the power to influence what they are, and therefore determine whether they add to our enthusiasm for life or deplete it. We need to choose these. Deliberately and consciously. The (specific) things we choose to do with this gift of life, has an ENORMOUS influence on whether we are lit up, or barely making it through the day.
- Being in alignment with our Values, our Mission, our Passions, and our Heart. When we are out of alignment it depletes energy, but when we are in alignment, there is a universal force (call it what you will) that moves to us, through us and from us. We are not only more vital, but we experience more synchronicity, unexpected positive events, chance meetings and left-of-field opportunities.
- Then obviously there are all the Physical things: moving our bodies daily, eating real food, getting plenty of undisrupted sleep, hydrating our bodies with water, giving our bodies a break from the energy cost of digestion (e.g. not eating from sun up to lights out every day) and giving our minds a break throughout the day.
- Meditation or mindfulness practices (creating spaciousness from distraction) are definitely ways to enhance the vitality of our brains and minds, which has a positive knock-on effective to every cell, organ and system in our bodies.
- Spending time in Nature, and especially getting sunshine on your skin. There is so much I could say on the healing potential of time spent in mother nature’s tender care.
- And finally, making the decision each and every day that you are committed to increasing your Vitality. This brings the idea of increased vitality to the forefront of your mind, and increases the probability you will make choices that INCREASE your Vitality, as opposed to lowering it.
Each and every day, honour yourself, love yourself, be kind to yourself and become the person who chooses consciously to make living a vital life the way you roll, plus making you a great role model for others.
Become the type of person who is committed to vitality, and therefore expresses more of it, more of the time.
It doesn’t happen by chance.
It happens by choice.
And by application.
In Summary
Most of us know what takes the dial up or down when it comes to Vitality.
Though we may not realise just how much some things move the dial in a positive or negative direction.
Know that the internal things have a HUGE impact on our vitality.
Don’t just focus on the physical things. Know the mental and emotional stuff are some of the biggest energy drainers and disruptors to our Vitality.
My Parting word
Who doesn’t want more VITALITY?
We all do.
And the most obvious thing is, it is not something that ‘happens by chance’.
It is the result of our choices.
It is not a result of our genes either.
Epigenetics tells us that certain genes are turn on or off, based on our lifestyle choices.
So again it comes back to our choices.
I think the other important thing that disrupts us, is when we say things like: “I don’t think it matters that much“.
When in many cases – bad choices – matter a LOT.
And just to be clear; no-one is aiming for ‘perfect’ (myself included).
Just ‘better’.
And maybe eventually having a shot at being ‘GREAT’.
That works for me.
I hope it works for you too.
So…what do you need to ADD or SUBTRACT from your habits and behaviours to have the greatest ROI for your Vitality?
Now it is over to you.
Have a vitality-rich day, and a vitality-inspired-choosing kinda week.
Take care,
Carl
PS: Have you read or listened to this book yet? 18 Ways We Make Life WAY Harder Than It Needs To Be
