Mojo is energy and life force. We all have access to it, but sometimes it feels like its been drained. It can be a gradual thing – we seem a little less inspired, and a little more like we need that wine after work. Sometimes though, mojo seems to vanish. Poof! Where did it go?
When we’re wanting our mojo back, the first and sometimes only place we look to is outside our self. We might blame the work load or our stresses at home. Whilst external situations can definitely impact mojo, I’m interested in what power we each hold to reignite our own mojo. If you’re interested in that too, read on.
There are two key places to look in to recover the joy of life.
1. The first is your health. Nothing works if you’re not on top of your health, and by health I mean physical, mental and spiritual. It’s the first place to look for recovering mojo, but don’t get stuck here. Some people with huge health challenges are in love with life and powering on! That said, some low hanging mojo fruit can be plucked here.
Physical health: eat well, not too often. Move your body. For men and women over 40, check your hormones! Protect your sleep.
Mental health: explore what interests you. Read books for pleasure. Develop your understanding in a certain field. Most of us are nerds about something – find your quirk and explore it! Follow your curiosity, even if its not practical or applicable. Meditate.
Spiritual health: we’re not cogs in a wheel; we are beings in a broader universe. It’s part of being human to yearn to evolve, to love, to be moved and inspired. Look for what feeds your soul and immerse yourself there. Practice moments of mindfulness. Pause and find something to be grateful for right where you are. Allow yourself to be moved by music or art. Lie under the night sky.
You’re all likely aware of the need to attend to your health, but you might not have linked it to mojo. To move from insight to something concrete, write down ONE action in each of these categories (physical, mental, spiritual) you can take today. Commit to a friend – or even better get a buddy, and support each other on following through.
2. The second place to look for mojo is in the quality of the meaning and purpose you have in your life. Mojo can be re-found when we are engaged in something that’s meaningful to us and we’re taking action in.
This may or may not be your actual job. At certain times in our life, circumstances and career, we come up against the limitations of what we know and are achieving. Unless we reinvent our work, or our relationship to it, we wither! This is normal but it’s painful, and feels a lot like we’ve lost our mojo. It’s true even if your work is intrinsically ‘worthy’. For myself, every 4-5 years at The Hunger Project I got to a point where I was a bit blah. The work, while still incredible, felt flat. At these times I reinvented how I related to it. I stepped back and redesigned the next arc of my work life and how I could express this. Mojo relit!
However, sometimes lack of mojo is an expression of erosion at a soul level. This can happen even when health, work and personal life are great. So what’s up?
What I’m seeing in droves is the numbness people are feeling when they look out into the world. Injustices are in our faces more than ever. We are turning off our hearts and minds because it feels overwhelming. We are resigned. We feel we can’t make a difference. We don’t know how to respond – and whether we can. Yet this turning away is costing us our mojo. There is a price to be paid when we know we could do something and we do nothing. When we silence our rage, our voice, our passion – something in us erodes.
Whistle blower Edward Snowden speaks to this feeling : “Every person remembers some moment in their life where they witnessed some injustice, big or small, and looked away because the consequences of intervening seemed too intimidating. But there’s a limit to the amount inhumanity that each individual can tolerate. I crossed that line. And I’m no longer alone.”
Acknowledging how you are feeling, and then engaging in some way to make a difference, or be heard, is vital to restoring mojo.
If this is a bit overwhelming, don’t despair! We don’t have to take giant leaps to activate our health and our purpose. When we’ve lost our mojo, we might feel we need to do something big and drastic to get it back. But actually small steps, accumulated over time, can start the flywheel, which then builds its own momentum. Consistency rather than grand gestures is key.
What will you do today that helps start the process of restoring your mojo? What support do you need to keep this process alive for you?
Much love
Cathy
