January 5, 2014
ISIQ-0346
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“Find your joy.”

Have you ever had the feeling – when faced with a task in your life – that it’s a complete drag, a total waste of time, or something you absolutely dread doing?

Yep, me too. Last night, in fact, as I sat down to create this IQ.

(Aside: I hope you don’t mind my being completely, bleedingly honest with you in such a public way. I do it because I believe there’s an insight worth sharing.)

My journey over the past few days since New Year’s Day has been very up and down, and last night was a bit of a down patch. I felt irritated with having to create something every single day and I was feeling really empty. I think it’s the detox talking, but I also think it’s a lesson in framing and perspective.

Detox? Yeah. My wife and I are doing a “raw food detox” for 7 days from 1 January. We’ve both found it quite tough, and I’ve cracked and resorted to chocolates and other “real” food several times. Apparently, symptoms of the detox include fogginess, irritability and depression. Hmm, like I need any help in that department?!

So the detox is one possible cause for this feeling of dread and boredom with the IQs, and a contributing factor to my up and down-ness.

But, as I mentioned, I believe it’s also about framing and perspective.

I said to my wife this morning, talking about the IQs, about how they feel like a chore and an obligation. True, they did, and in a very visceral way. In true Health & Wellness Coach fashion, Bel gave me a few choice observations about the detox, and about the way I was approaching the IQs. The best one was that I had to re-frame how I was thinking about things.

It occurred to me that my frame was about constantly digging into myself, drawing on (what seemed like) an empty tank, and pouring myself out when I felt I had nothing to give and didn’t see any value in what I was doing. In that moment, I realised the lesson:

I needed to reframe these IQs as a daily opportunity to keep finding insights into how I live, how I work, and how I create.

In short, I needed to find the joy. 

Even beyond that, I needed to acknowledge the privilege it is to serve you and share my insights in a way that makes a small difference in your life.

Now over to you. What’s bugging you in your life? What tasks do you constantly face that feel like a real drag? Is there a way you can re-frame them to find the joy and bring a new perspective to them?

Ironically, as I was thinking about these IQs, I thought: “My tank is empty. How can I possibly create something on an empty tank?” And here we are, a beautiful IQ and 450 words later. Huh. Something to think about, eh?

With love,
Israel. xo

 

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