I am writing this posting while on the plane coming back from a life-changing weekend in Moscow. We came for a Runtastic LIVE Workout Party in Gorky Park at Basemoscow, and I spent the entire weekend connecting with some amazing women, employees from our “extended family” at adidas Russia as well as the adidas Runners Moscow and really just enjoying the city.
One of the most standout parts of the weekend, aside from the LIVE Workout Party, was the time I had with a women’s running community in Moscow called @runningirls. I had the opportunity to meet them at the adidas Runbase Moscow to give a presentation to them about Runtastic and Q&A. I got a lot of really amazing questions – these girls are truly amazing – but one of them really stood out to me, so I knew I had to write a blog posting about it.
I am not sure if I am saying the question exactly as she asked it, but the question was: “You’re so motivating and you have so much energy to give. But how do you fill yourself back up?” I don’t know if I’ve ever answered the question before. I of course have said and advised others to “fill themselves up first”…but how?
Motivation cultivation is a daily thing: I am fully aware that I have to do this on a daily basis! I am not living in la-la land where I think that a motivation fairy is going to just tap me on my head and give me endless motivation. Every single day I have to cultivate motivation and energy even when I don’t feel like it. My favorite analogy comes from an amazing high-performance coach Brendon Burchard: “The energy plant doesn’t just have energy, it has to cultivate energy.”
Here’s how I stay motivated to motivate others #youcantpourfromanemptycup
1. I am not afraid to say no
I wrote a blog posting about why saying no is not a problem, but I want to touch on this point as well. If I want to be FULL for my job and for others to feel this FULL force, I can’t be everywhere. I am not afraid to say no to certain events or activities where I don’t think it’s meaningful for me to be there. Whether that means it doesn’t make sense from a business perspective or I just simply am too tired or don’t want to attend – I say no more often then I say yes.
2. I don’t allow toxic people in my life
The people that don’t believe in what I am doing or bring negative energy into my life — goodbye! I have had to eliminate contact with friends and even family members due to this reason. It’s hard, but it’s worth it 100%. These people are energy vampires and I only allow people to have my good energy when they earn it! You can’t have this for free, I am sorry. Respect is everything.
3. Surround myself with people who give me energy
I call with my parents and my best friends back home and we talk about normal stuff. I don’t need to talk about what I am doing or what’s up next for work all the time, I just want to talk about day-to-day stuff and hear about what’s going on in their lives. I love the normalcy they bring to my pretty crazy life.
4. Meditation & prayer
I start my day every morning with movement, prayer and meditation. I believe that my gifts that I share with the world are a gift from God and I am unable to do it without his power. For me this is a really important part of my morning ritual even if it’s just 5 minutes. Sometimes I even do this while on the toilet in the morning…not gonna lie!
5. Exercise with intention
You might be like, “of course, Lunden, we know this…duh!” But when I say exercise, I mean MY time to train. I like training with people a couple times a week, but I really have to train alone. I have to have my time where the intention is different, where the intention is to KICK ASS without interruption or conversation. I really like to be in my head when I am training and I believe a lot of the power I get comes from these times. I am better able to focus on the mind-muscle connection when training alone as well.
6. Sleep has to be a TOP priority
My sleep is incredibly important. I must sleep 8-10 hours per night when I am not busy working or traveling. And even when I am busy I try my absolute best to get in the hours. You won’t catch me out late during the week or even on weekends when I am home. I know, I sound like such a good time – right? LOL
7. I take my time to chill
To be honest, 99% of the time I am not working you will find me at home alone or with my boyfriend basically doing nothing except for reading, working out, going for a walk and eating as healthy as possible. I am a social person, but within reason. I would actually consider myself more of an introvert, so I have to take this time with myself alone to recharge.
No, it’s not really so easy to do this. My purpose in life (aka my job) is really demanding and a lot of sacrifice goes into it. I don’t take this lightly and I am not complaining. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t want to complain about how hard it is, that’s why I do these 7 things on a regular basis so I ENJOY the sacrifice and time spent connecting with others around the world.