ENGINE OVERHAUL

"Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you gonna get."

~ Forrest Gump

Source: Godiva Belgium Chocolate

This is so true isn't it?  You just never know what you'd get out of that box.  It's when you start picking one bad one after another, then you start to wonder if that's a sign that you need to rethink about things that are going around your life.  It's like you are constantly hit by roadblocks and your engine of life starts to stall.  This is the engine that represents your outlook of life and the force of energy that just won't kick-start!

I've gone through this engine stall countless of times and it's frustrating when you constantly need to think of how to re-start it.  This is especially so when it comes to work.   But time and time again I'd be telling myself "You need to re-start it!"  Again this is easier said than done (similar to the one mentioned in the 'Staying Positive' posting).

So I've decided to share my thoughts on how I'd face this dilemma and learn to overcome it (even if it has to happen multiple times...sigh)

The Root Cause

Just like how you would do with your car (if you have one or any other mechanical stuff that requires the use of energy/engine), I'd be looking out or rather analyse the root cause of the issue.  But first of all, I have to admit that this is not easy to do because let's face it....when you are stuck and frustrated...your brain just do not want to do the tedious job of analysing (at least for mine in most cases!)  The only thing that the brain will do at that point would be to just stream down this word "Why?!! repeatedly! 

It's only when I'm much calmer and have gotten over the frustrating phase, then only will I be able to think clearly with more objective questions in mind such as "What went wrong?; What's the reason for this?, etc"

The next question that would pop up would be "How frequent is this happening to me?"  or "How long have I been feeling like this?  Once I've gotten the answers to these questions, I more or less would have succeeded in getting a diagnosis.  The only caution that I'd remind myself is not to dwell or dig too much into the root cause as this may bring me down further.

Most of the time, the diagnosis will prevail after much brainstorming sessions with family members or friends AND after some moments of solitude with myself.  The thing about me is that I have to know the root cause first whether it's a personal or work-related matter.

The Ideal Look

Before I go into getting a prescription for my diagnosis, I'd also be spending some time thinking about how the ideal picture of my 'engine' would look like.  Usually I'd like mine to have a shine with vibrancy in it.  To me, those qualities reflect how I perceive life's outlook and energy to be since I was in my teens right up till now as a parent and working mom. 

Having that picture constantly in mind is crucial because that would be my ultimate goal to get my engine back in shape.  What I've learned recently and used often in my coaching sessions is visualisation.  The power of being able to visualise your goal is beyond description.  I think most of us are able to do this be it consciously or otherwise.  More often than not, the more you visualise and the more you believe in that vision, whatever goals or ideal picture you have would most often materialise.  But of course the chances of this likely to happen is when you add determination to that vision.

The Overhaul

The next step is the 'How' part.  I call this the 'Overhaul' as you would with a faulty engine. The overhaul really depends on the root of the issue, i.e. the diagnosis earlier. Whilst there may be some  differences in the approaches of the overhaul, I realised that there are common fixes which are applicable across all.  A couple of these to share today is...

• Connecting with all things positive - essentially this is like getting or replacing new parts of your engine.  For instance, if I want to kick-start my creative juices to write training materials, I would be reviving my efforts to source for new innovative ideas and information to boost up my content.

• Reciting the daily mantra - just like putting the engine oil to ensure that your engine runs on smoothly with a longer lifespan.  My mantra would come from my emo-scolls as well as in the form of my daily prayers.

Most often having the above fixes together with others that I've identified would ultimately bring me to a point where I'd feel that my engine of life and energy would be restored into the shine and vibrant engine that I've envisioned!  I should rename this post as 'My Overhaul Kit' actually...

Well that's it!  So what about you?  How would you re-start your engine?  How would you overhaul your engine to look like your ideal picture?  

Share your Overhaul Kit...