Switch on Your Success: Getting Activated

Come ALIVE. Get Activated by Practicing Appreciation

This is part 1 of the fall series, Come ALIVE and Stay ALIVE: 5 Simple Practices (Activate, Listen, Internalize, Visualize, & Execute) to help you start strong and stay focused for life. Subscribe now to receive these free principles delivered to your inbox every Monday morning.

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Photo by leah hetteberg on Unsplash

Have you ever read a book when, about a page or so into a chapter, you snap out of a daze and have no clue what you read? Or maybe you finished a race, workout, or drive home and realize you haven't any recollection of what you just did?

You're not alone. And the chances are that you, like many of us, set yourself up for failure in life's big and small moments because you never activated your mind and body to receive and complete the opportunities. Failure to activate the mind and body results in mindless behavior, and it sucks the experiential joy out of life.

The older I get, the more I realize and accept the beauty in every aspect of life, especially concerning competing and coaching. There's more effort, focus, and determination we can pour into the little opportunities of life presented to us daily. Still, we fail to see their magnitude because we mistake them as "routine" or unimportant.

In our first topic of the Come ALIVE series, we will explore the first step—Activation—necessary to come ALIVE in our quest for greatness and life. My initial call to action is towards athletes, but as I mentioned in the introductory post, I know these principles and practices are helpful to anyone with a thirst for a mission-driven life.

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Any talk of coming ALIVE must begin with a heart posture of appreciation and gratitude. If you're not thankful for the opportunities in front of you, you cannot correctly activate your mind, body, and soul to achieve and receive greatness. One of my favorite lines from hip-hop artist KB is this: "You wanna be great? Take the 'e' and put it after the 't' and add '-ful' to it (great-ful=grateful)."

Greatness begins with gratefulness. Activation requires appreciation. Think of a time you really wanted a gift or opportunity? Do you remember the anticipation and hope you built and finally received it? What did you initially do with that gift or opportunity? You cherished it. You appreciated it. You poured your attention and focus into that gift or opportunity and soaked it all in.

Every day can be like this for us if we activate our hearts and minds to appreciate the many gifts afforded to us. The gift to run, hit, kick, and compete is a feat all their own. Appreciate what your body can do. Appreciate that you can feel discomfort and exhaustion from pushing yourself beyond the limits you thought were imaginable. Appreciation is a simple (not easy) first step to coming ALIVE.

HOW-TO GET ACTIVATED

One of the things I hate about advice books and posts like this is that they sometimes leave us with great advice without a roadmap. It’s like telling someone about a paradise adventure without telling them where it is or how to get there. So throughout this series I want to provide you a few “how-to’s” to Come ALIVE.

1. Practice appreciation to Activate. List three things or people you appreciate. It can be as simple as a new item you just received or bought, or a race you recently won. It doesn’t matter how big or small the appreciation, only that you practice gratitude.

2. Be where your feet are. Activate your mind to where you are in the moment. Appreciate the moment. Even right now, when you're reading this sentence, you have notifications buzzing on your phone, emails awaiting you, and tasks you know you need to get to. But sit for a moment and take in this very moment and let thoughts of gratitude about where you are and who you are ruminate in your mind.¹

3. Be scared and courageous. The two are not mutually exclusive. Courageous people are scared. But, what makes them courageous is the embrace of their fear and their decision to forge ahead in spite of their fear. If you're getting ready for practice or a big event, let yourself think all the thoughts about the greatness you're about to attain. Let it be scary for a moment. Any new experience will be a little bit frightening. But don't let it overwhelm you. The sweaty palms, churning gut, and tingling feeling all over your body are signs you're physically activated. Be grateful for these feelings.

Conclusion

Now, stay activated. Keep your mind and body right where they are. While you warm up, stay with your thoughts about what you're about to do. As you prepare for that competition, exam, big meeting, or project, stay so absolutely focused by activating your positive "what if" thoughts that you might get accused of being "obsessed" with your mission. As you finish reading this post, hone in one “how-to” for today. Maybe there’s something you need to reread?

As you read next week's principle, Listen and stay activated. Maybe even set an alarm throughout this week to revisit this post.

BONUS: If you have a parent, teacher, coach, or mentor you appreciate but haven't let them know in a while (or ever), reach out to them and let them know! Even if they are no longer with you, maybe write them a note in your journal or notes app. This is a great bonus appreciation feature to spark Activation.

1. Sometimes, we don't allow ourselves to come ALIVE because we're trying to exist in the past or the future with negative "what if's." Negative "what if's" are among the many enemies of greatness. "What if I fall? What if I run out of breath? What if I don't run the time I wanted? What if I don't get that scholarship? What if everyone's judging me based on my past performance?" These thoughts will not help you get activated.

Positive "what if's," however ("What if I'm better than yesterday? What if I appreciate what my body is capable of doing? What if I push myself today harder than I ever have? What if I believe in myself and my training?") are a great way to get mentally activated.

Yesterday's mistakes and tomorrow's problems can do nothing for us now. But, when we come ALIVE by first getting activated mentally and emotionally, we set ourselves up to make the most of the moments in front of us.