A Mid-Day Energy Shift in 4 Quick Steps

Have you ever found yourself feeling totally drained? Aggravated at what someone just said? Resentful as you replay unfair events that happened? Lethargic and tired and o-v-e-r it all?

You are not alone!

I created this four-step energy shift because I needed another option for when I found myself in a funk that I didn’t want to be in any longer.

PAVE the way for a better day

We always have the power to shift how we are experiencing a day. It is never too late to turn a challenging time around.

PAVE stands for the four steps:

Pause

The first step is as simple as noticing how you are feeling in the moment, and realizing you desire to shift it. This isn’t a call to suppress or avoid your feelings, instead it actually helps you identify them and honor them before choosing to move forward. Rather than having the feeling of aggravation, apathy, or anxiety running on autopilot, affecting everything you are doing — you can choose to Pause and take a deep breath. Saying inwardly, “right now I feel _____, and I am safe to feel that way.”

Try it: Pause. Deep breath. Right now I feel ____ and I am safe to feel that way. Even though I feel ____ right now, I know that feelings are always changing and this too shall pass.

Appreciate

What we put our attention on grows, so hanging out in the space of replaying the annoying thing that just happened has a very small chance of making us feel better anytime soon. Choosing to focus on things we are able to appreciate in the moment doesn’t mean frustrating things don’t happen, it just means we are choosing what we are giving our power to.

For example: Even though I did not get enough sleep last night, I appreciate that I took an extra five minutes for self-care today (longer bathroom break, listening to my favorite song in the car before the next event for the day, pausing to really enjoy my delicious snack).

Try it: What are three things you really appreciate right now? What do you appreciate about yourself? People around you? The weather? Having enough money for your next meal?

Visualize

Your mind is a powerful tool that you can use any way you choose. Visualizing “best case scenarios” helps you expand your capacity for receiving great things in your life.

For example: If it is the middle of the day that has taken a twist AND turn for the worst, and you have paused to breathe and honor your feelings and started to shift your energy by thinking of at least three things you appreciate in the moment; you can try to positively build on this shift by visualizing how you desire the rest of the day to go.

Envision how you desire to feel, what you want to do, how your interactions are, how it feels traveling back home after your day, what you are going to eat, how you are going to feel heading to bed. Make it the BEST case scenarios your imagination can think of.

And when the part of your brain tries to chime in (as it inevitably will, if it hasn’t already) with something like “hmmmm...what makes you think you can have all of that??! What makes you think you can have ANY of that! This day is already NOT going well. Why would it suddenly become the best day you have ever had in your life?” — think about this:

Let’s say you were with a friend trying on clothes at your favorite store. As one does, you try on the clothes and then come out and show each other. When you are with a Great Shopping Friend, they will give you very kind feedback, steering you away from what doesn't work for you and cheering you on to get the outfit that looks like it was made for you (while reminding you that you absolutely deserve it).

But let’s say you were with a different friend one day. You try something on, LOVE it, and tell them you are definitely buying it when you come out to show them. Instead of cheering you on, this “friend” says “wait — you can’t have that. You don’t own it already!” And you say, “I know, but we are at a store, I am trying it on. I really like it and I want it and I’m going to get it” and your friend says “But you don’t ALREADY have it so you cannot HAVE it in the future” and you say “we need to talk about how shopping works”....

Very silly, but honestly, that’s how ridiculous it is when we listen to the part of our brain that tries to sell us the story that we can’t have the awesome things we visualize just because we haven’t already had them. You can tell that voice in your head “thank you, but I am just TRYING ON this reality — that’s how visualization works!”

Try it: Take one minute to visualize the rest of your day going EXACTLY the way you want it to go. How does it feel in your body to be able to experience those things? Even if you can just sink into that feeling temporarily, does it feel better than when you started? If your brain tries to object, you can remind it you are just trying on possibilities. And as you go about your day, notice that even when things don’t go exactly as you visualized, how much more space there is to be happily surprised with the things that are working out even better than you would have otherwise expected.

Enjoy

Today is the only day that you get to live this day. Of course it is fun to enjoy a day like a weekend or vacation day, but the majority of our lives are lived in the mundane, day-to-day routine. Instead of putting all our joy on the weekend, or months from now in some other location, see if you can allow yourself to Enjoy Something Today.

Try it: What is there for me to enjoy in this moment? What is something I would enjoy doing today that is possible for me to choose? Can I let myself enjoy things or do I feel like I need to earn them first?

You are powerful, you are smart, you are capable, you are enough! You absolutely deserve to PAVE your way for your new best day ever so far! The next time you need a mid-day energy shift, you can try to Pause, Appreciate, Visualize, and Enjoy. It can only help to “try on” those new realities!