My friend Dawn asked me how I got my energy, and motivation to try new things, and take on new projects. That’s a simple, but complicated answer.
First and foremost: SLEEP. I always, always, unless I’m out of town at a conference, get at least 7 hours of sleep. I aim for 9 hours on average. This involves no food or drink (except for water) after a certain time (usually 8pm), and I try to get off my electronics about 30 minutes before I plan on climbing into bed. If I can get a few chapters into a book, that’s a bonus.
Second: nutrition. Yes, I like my beer and wine – but I try to limit it to one drink, and with that, on weekends only (for the most part!). Yes, occasionally I will have a drink mid-week, or more than one – but it’s certainly not the norm. Tied into this is cooking. I LOVE to cook. There’s something so relaxing about it. I tend to limit my carbs, and up the veggies. Red meat and pork is a rarity for me…so mostly if I’m eating meat, it’s ground turkey, chicken, or some sort of fish. Me and salmon are besties. I also avoid fried foods, and load up on my veggies. I’d be happy to post some of my recipes if anyone is interested.
Another aspect of my nutrition is my Isagenix shakes. Now, Isagenix has it’s detractors, but for me, it works. The convienience of having that shake in the morning (with a bit of matcha tea thrown in), and the Isalean protein bars for when I’m on the go – oh, amazing. Tasty too! I’m not going to go into super detail here, but reach out to me if you are curious.
Finally, it’s doing what I love as a form of stress relief. For me, that’s exercise in the form of martial arts and dancing. Between my dance lessons and karate classes, I am active 5 days a week, and usually end up going to my apartment pool for a swim on the sixth. The endorphins from the exericse calm me down, and help me sleep. More sleep equals more energy – and the cycle goes on.
As for motivation? It’s a bit of restlessness. I believe in life long learning, and trying anything that is not harmful at least once. So, that’s how I got into dance and karate, and the WordCamp speaking circuit.
