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Your Energy Quota This week's exercise is inspired by Tom Rath's work in positive psychology. In his book, How Full Is Your Bucket, he offers a formula for keeping your personal energy quota full. Feeling an energy level imbalance? We've all had those days where something crappy happens, and, before you know it, that seemingly trivial thing engulfs your entire day. Introducing Your Energy Quota Exercise What It Is A 15 minute opportunity to find new ways to restore your energy. Why We Love It  At times it can feel like each day consists of a laundry list of must-do's that don't bring us joy. This exercise helps you center more of your energy around the little things that give you energy.  How It Works Take a moment to think about the everyday things you enjoy doing. Make a list of at least 10-15 of these happy items. These things can be as commonplace as taking your dog for a walk or using your favorite reusable bag. The point is to identify the ordinary moments in life that bring you joy.   Now, take a look at your week ahead and identify any potential low energy points (e.g., your long commute or that monthly meeting that always zaps you). Find a spot in your calendar right after that low energy point and schedule a moment of reflection by asking yourself: A. Is this low point an important indicator of a deeper emotion I need to explore?  B. Is this low point an indicator of the need to recharge my own energy? If A, explore what you are feeling. Recognize that this emotion might be telling you something and give yourself some space to consider what that might be. If B, consider making time to recharge your batteries. Take a look at your happy list in #1 and consider what you can do now to help replenish your energy quota. Is the goal to try to be happy all the time? Definitely not. According to HMS professor Susan David, happiness is an important emotion, but it shouldn't be used to mask other feelings like sadness, frustration or anger. While focusing on joyful activities can be a great way to balance your energy levels, the goal shouldn't be to fake an overall state of happiness or bottle up emotions that we are afraid of feeling.  Hungry for more? Here are some additional morsels: To learn more about how to better balance your physical, emotional, and mental energy at work, check this out from HBR. To learn more about how to treat your energy levels like a bank account, check this out. To learn more about Susan David's research on emotional courage, check out this TED talk.  To learn more about how a famous Google engineer finds happiness, check out Solve for Happy. Shout. It. Out. To Angel Hu for her exercise crafting skills!  Missed out on past treks? Click Here Follow Us Send Feedback Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Mindful Meals This week's exercise is inspired by Carlo Petrini's Slow Food Movement. By focusing on helping people "rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking," the Slow Food Movement made us rethink how our food was being sourced, produced and consumed. Have you ever done a little sheet caking? Food is one of the many important sources we turn to for mood boosts, celebrations, and cultural tradition. Yet, food isn't always something we turn to as a source of deeper personal connection and mindfulness.  Introducing Your Mindful Meal Exercise What It Is A 15 minute eating meditation.  Why We Love It  We all eat at some point each day. Why not use that as an opportunity to restore your mind and your emotions? How It Works When you sit down to have a meal tomorrow, commit to making it a mindful experience. That means no scarfing and no distractions (e.g., cell phones, chitchat, reading material). As you begin, bring your attention to your food and the full experience that surrounds it. Ask yourself: How does the plate look? What colors do I see? What is the texture like? Where did this food come from? How does my body feel right now? With each bite, be aware of the sensations and movements involved. How does it feel to pick up the utensil? What sensations occur when I move the bite to my mouth? What do I notice as I chew? When you've finished your meal, notice how you feel.  On a scale of 1-10 how hungry are you? Do you notice a difference in your level of hunger when you eat mindfully? Did you notice a difference in how you felt a few hours after your mindful meal? Can you really apply mindfulness to a meal? Yes. According to Harvard nutritionist, Dr. Cheung, by "being fully attentive to your food" you can begin to understand your engrained habits around meals and transform the way you eat. Here are some tidbits to learn more: To learn more about how eating cake can boost serotonin in the brain, check this out.  For more on how others practice mindful eating, check this out from NYT. To learn more about Dr. Cheung's research on mindful eating, check out Savor. To learn more about mindful eating from the Zen teacher who helped popularize it, check out Thich Nhat Hanh's book. Shout. It. Out. To Angel Hu for her expertise on this exercise! Missed out on past treks? Click Here Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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The Insider/Outsider POV This week’s exercise is inspired by Adrian Furnham’s work that describes the value of being an outsider. What do Albert Einstein, Dan Aykroyd, and Christina Hendricks all have in common?  They were considered to be outcasts as kids. While outsiders often struggle with identity and social acceptance, the perspective they gain can provide value to help themselves and others to succeed. Introducing Your Insider/Outsider Exercise What It Is An opportunity to embrace the outsider perspective. Why We Love It  There is a lot of talk about inclusion these days but not a lot of real conversations about how being different can be a good thing. This exercise takes a step back and reminds us that being an outsider certainly isn’t easy, but the perspective it can provide can be invaluable. How It Works Get together with a few friends or teammates and take a moment to share a time when each of you were considered to be outsiders -- on the outskirts of the ‘in-crowd.’ Recall how you felt, what you experienced, and why you had outsider status.   Share what you learned from being an outsider. Are you more understanding of differences of opinion? Are you able to see things from multiple points of view?   Now, reflect on parts of your life where you might be more of an insider than an outsider. Consider: How you can work differently to welcome perspectives outside of the norm? What can you do differently to make outsiders feel more welcome?  What makes outsiders so well equipped to succeed? According to this Psychology Today article, while outsiders have ‘to work harder to be accepted,” they exhibit three characteristics that position them well to succeed -- vigilance, understanding and flexibility. Interested in learning more? Here are some additional tidbits: To explore how you can create a more inclusive work environment, try these four tips. To explore the key characteristics of inclusive leaders, check this out. To learn more about other celebrity outcasts, read this from Buzzfeed. Amped about this Trek? Drop us a line at treks@lifetrekkers.me or follow us. Missed out on past treks? Click Here Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.