Generativity vs Stagnation, Creatine for Cognitive Energy & Angels vs Demons

 

Purpose

According to Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development, at each stage of our life, our purpose is dominated by one primary question.

One of the biggest brackets, and the one where most of my clients find themselves, happens between 30 and 64, and during this period, the primary question is Generativity or Stagnation? When we get to this middle stage of life, we feel torn between taking it easy and pushing harder.

Perhaps we feel tired, like things haven’t gone our way in the past, and that we should resign to a life of mediocrity.

Or, we believe we are only just coming into our prime, full of motivation, and with the experience and credentials to really start to accelerate.

If you find yourself being tempted by the idea of Stagnation and fading into the background, recognise that there is still a lot more of the game to play and, regardless of what happened in the first half, there is still time to make a splash.

Check out this list of people who were successful after the age of 40, and maybe grab their biography if you want a little inspiration to nudge you over the the Generativity side of the question.

Energy

Tired from a lack of sleep? Try taking Creatine!

I know you probably think that creatine is one of those supplements used to make your muscles bigger, stronger and recover faster, but recent research has shown that creatine can help reduce fatigue-related cognitive deterioration.

Given the holiday period usually has us burning the candle at both ends, perhaps a little creatine supplementation over the next couple of weeks will help with the brain fog (at least the brain fog caused by sleep deprivation, maybe not the alcohol-related kind!)

Apparently, the central nervous system is pretty far down the list in terms of who gets access to the extra creatine in the system, so you either need to supplement for a while to see the benefit, or use a large dose (0.35g/kg).

But if you find yourself getting a little low on cognitive energy over the next couple of weeks, maybe check out the sports supplement store before the chemist!

Productivity

I shared this image in a post on LinkedIn yesterday (check it out here and if we aren’t already, please connect)

Any time we sit down to a creative project, whether that is writing, painting, creating a training, designing a business plan, or writing our goals and resolutions, we will have two opposing mindsets trying to talk to us.

Many of us fall victim to the dark thoughts. Over 80% of our daily thoughts tend to be negative, so it is easy to let this side win and stop us from taking action.

If we want to be more productive, we need to find a way to cultivate more positive thoughts.

Before you start try some of these ideas: Play some pump-up music. Do some press ups. Go for a walk. Make a proper espresso. Journal for 5 minutes. Meditate. Do some more press ups. Dance. Scream into a pillow. Look at your vision board. Call a friend and ask them to give you some encouragement. Write out your goals. Look at a picture of your family.

A fight is going on inside us, a fight between two wolves. Which one wins? The one we feed!

I hope these ideas have given you something to think about and reminded you of what is most important to focus on for the rest of the week.

Until next time…