I’ve been banging on a bit recently about mojo, so I thought I'd share some of things I do consciously to maintain my mojo:
1. Have the conversation. The one you’re avoiding. You know the one. You’re feeling slightly sick at the moment just thinking about it. I reckon that out of everything, the unsaid stuff is the biggest drain on your mojo.
2. Selectively ask for feedback. Choose the people that you are going to listen to when it comes to what they say about you. Make sure they are qualified to give you feedback, and that they are in your corner. Avoid the rest.
3. Keep a legend file. Keep all the cool stuff people say about you. The majority of our self talk is negative, so it's good to have an antidote. (I wrote about this recently here).
4. Retreat quarterly. By myself. In the bush. No electricity, no internet, no phone. Ideally I don’t see another human being. It’s generally when my best ideas come to me.
5. Spend time in nature. I’m fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the world, with lots of trees, creeks, parks and the Yarra River nearby. Even 20 minutes with trees and water is enough to give me a boost.
6. Create positive delusions. I can get more done in a day that most mortals achieve in a month. The universe conspires to save me money. I’m the world’s best dad. Not true, just useful.
7 Shift environments. I go to café. Or sit on the table in the garden. Or make phone calls walking around our property. Or work in our local library. Or wherever will shift my energy.
8. Keep nothing in my head. I got the idea from David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, and refined my systems based on Dermot Crowley’s work. If it's not in my diary it's not in my world. I don’t remember anything, I trust my systems to capture everything.
9. Take care of myself. The basics – eat well, exercise regularly and sleep enough. The stuff that puts fuel in the tank. All easy to say … but most of us can do these basics better.
10. Meditate daily. This is the biggest one for me – a regular mindfulness practice that helps everything else.
In running a practice, there is nothing more important than my mojo, my energy, my shakti. And because I really believe that, these 10 things go from being nice to do to the highest priority.
