Health & Wellness, Lifestyle, Travel
Published on April 29, 2017
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Angst

written by Colin Nanka
I had a frustrating day last week. Yes, Mr. Positivity has them too. 
 
I didn’t get a workout in to start out the day and went right into some tasks that were urgent yet not the most important. 
 
I pride myself on prioritizing every week and every day to great efficiency. I cut the fat out of my calendar and schedule time to do good work…no great work. 
 
I had a bunch of meetings back to back and my focus was to be present with each person or group.  By the end of the day, I’ll give myself a pat on the back for presence but I found myself 6 hours behind on email and not getting to my top priority that day. 
 
So I worked harder over the next hour…and got more frustrated. Been there? Knowing myself and being aware things were not getting better without a state change I decided I was going for a run or a massage. The run is usually my go to but smartly I chose the massage. 
 
Quick awareness was I needed to slow down. 
 
90 min later and after walking 15 min home in the crisp evening air I was thinking clearer.
 
So what did I do?
 
Get back at my top priority? God no. 
 
I picked two things I could do over the next hour that would continue the calm and put me towards sleep in a good state and focused on prioritizing an early morning wake up, tackling my two toughest tasks first. 
 
I started the next morning with meditation, didn’t open email or texts, phone on airplane mode and hammered through work for three hours. 
 
Before lunch came around that day I finished 90 percent of what I needed to get done that day. I made up for the day before and more than flipped the angst on its head. 
 
Here is where I get my inspiration for my best ideas or to turn around a tough day:
 
  • Going for a run, workout or yoga
  • Going to a good movie
  • Seeing a good play with my wife
  • After morning meditation
  • In the morning at 6am
  • After a 90 minute massage
  • After listening to good podcast 
  • After spending time mentoring or being mentored 
  • When I travel to a new place
  • When I learn something new 
  • On a cross country flight
 
I’m putting this as a reminder in my calendar weekly as a force function to review when I get out of sorts. Happens to the best of us. 
 
What’s on your list?
 

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