💡 Five tricks to "fight the funk"

The weekly newsletter that helps people be more successful at work, by enjoying it more.

Hi Reader! 👋

I hope you're ready for an amazing week. I'll be leading an executive workshop in Laguna Beach, CA in a few days, and I'm very pumped for that.

But being honest, this past week was frustrating for me. A good 93% of that frustration was completely self-inflicted. Nothing bad happened. I just had day after day of not being at my best, which led to more frustration and more not being at my best.

It did, however, inspire this week's theme...

Some days, it feels like the soulcrushers are winning.

And when the soulcrushers start to multiply like this, they create the brain-fog-inducing, energy-draining conditions widely known as "the funk."

(As in, "Being stuck in a funk." And not at all like, "We want the funk" — 'cause that's a different, better kind of funk.)

There are many ways to get caught up in the funk. It's like quicksand, as depicted in an 80s-era kids cartoon — once someone steps into it just... a little... bit.... they sink quick.

And getting out requires some clever tactics.
Here are five of the best:

Acceptance
Many studies have proven the benefits of accepting negative emotions. "What we resist, persists." It's weird that it works, but it sure does work.

How to do it: Write it down. It's as simple as that. "I accept that I don't feel great right now," or "I accept that I'm letting myself down," or whatever the truth is. Whether in a journal, an email-to-self, or on a sheet of paper that is then folded up and tucked into a pocket — writing it down makes it more real that simply saying it in our head. (We say lots of stuff we don't mean in our heads. Our brains are onto us.)

Exercise
Exercise triggers the release of endorphins, which are known to improve mood and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. It also gets our brains moving again.

How to do it: Just do it. True, yet oversimplified. Especially when we're in an office or other professional setting. If there's a gym, boom. Even 15 minutes is a great kickstarter, and won't cause anyone to be a giant pile of sweat upon getting back to their computer. No gym? Find some stairs. Most offices have them. Look busy by going up and down for a while. Maybe carry some papers with you, to look official. No stairs? Literally run an errand. Run to a place, and run back.

Intention
I've written about this in recent weeks. And the more I apply it, the more powerful the results I see. Setting intentions has been shown to engage the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with planning and decision-making, and can help boost focus and motivation.

How to do it: Take just one minute, and write out intentions for whatever is being tackled next. What do we want to accomplish? How do we want to approach it? How much energy and enjoyment will we bring?

Forgiveness
Self-forgiveness is linked to lower levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. And sometimes it's just what we need to get out of the funk. Because, as I alluded to earlier, the funk is often self-inflicted. We may think we're frustrated at others, but we're usually frustrated with ourselves. We should forgive both.

How to do it: Write a forgiveness email. No need to send it for real. (Our brains can't tell the difference.) Just write down what's being forgiven, share a few other nice things if the mood strikes you, and archive it.

Starting
Easy and effective and somehow the last thing we ever want to do. Start. Even small steps toward a goal activates reward centers in our brains, increasing motivation to continue. In other words, inertia kicks in.

How to do it: Start small. The funk makes us want to do anything but start, so we have to shrink it. Set a time for just five minutes and commit to working that long. Typically, it's much easier to keep going after that. (In fact, it's often hard to stop. Again, intertia.)

This week's creative thinking workout:

Sometimes the remix is better than the original.

I’m reading a book right now that I’m finding transformative personally — and yet, I don’t think the author has shared a single thing that I didn't know or hadn’t read elsewhere.

But it’s the unique packaging of these things, with their voice and perspective, being experienced by me in this exact moment — that’s what’s powerful.

True originality is exceptionally rare. Most of the time, we're experiencing great remixes.

So let's become idea DJs and start remixing:

Pick a piece of advice (or several pieces) that you believe in
Find a way to package it up differently
The best remixes have a sense of "us" in them. What can we bring to it that nobody else will?
If it might be shared internally or with a client, try infusing the company's DNA (language, mission, culture, etc) into the remix.

This approach can make things feel custom-made just for the audience, creating a much more powerful impact than simply saying it the way everyone else does.

Smiles,
-Tim-

Let's Lightbulb - Founder / CEO / Crusher of Soulcrushers

Let's Lightbulb is a strategic facilitation consultancy, specializing in outcome-based workshops, off-sites, sprints and trainings. We specialize in working with leadership teams, inspiring creative thinking, and keeping things soulcrusher-free.

If you know of anyone looking for a facilitator for any of the above, we'd appreciate you sharing our info.

Every week in this newsletter, I share how to reduce the stuff that makes our work not-fun, and increase the stuff that makes work fun.

It's 98.3% Pollyanna-thinking-free.

Thanks for reading, and please share with friends and colleagues that might find it valuable — because we need more fun people in the world.

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Crushing the Soulcrushers

💡 Five tricks to "fight the funk"

Some days, it feels like the soulcrushers are winning.

This week's creative thinking workout:

💡 Don't over-think. Don't under-think.

💡 Fixing a Glitchy Focus Switch

💡 How to fight "not feeling it"