1.) Pretend as if you’re some super awesome actor/ actress, playing your role… as you: Did you read that right— you’re wondering? Yes, yes you did. I said it, and I meant it. They say, in a lot of inspirational business books, that work, especially, needs to be viewed as a form of “center stage.” You get in there, you put on your “act” and then, when the clock strikes “thank god I’m off” time, you can be you again. Why, I wonder, use this excersise just at work. To me, this helps quite a bit. If you aren’t feeling courageous enough to do a task, or patient enough to endure the temperament of the day, just pretend you do. You’ll be amazed, at how well you not only can fool the world, but yourself.

2.) Force a smile: Got pulled over? Your car run out of gas, or you rip your pants in the office? What do you do? You smile.. that’s what you do. Oh and it’s painful, I will warn you, to enforce yourself to plant a smile on your face despite wanting to cry and run away, but it works… absolutely. They say, that when your face carries a smile, it’s almost impossible to not feel happy. That’s some very strong, serious stuff. Try it out. When life gives you lemons, or a headache… smile about it.

3.) Talk to yourself:  I know this sounds a bit strange, but the power of speaking to yourself is enormous. Sometimes, it’s extremely beneficial to calm yourself down merely by conversating with yourself. In Shad Helmstetter’s “What to Say When You Talk to Yourself” it makes an obvious point, that we already talk to ourselves, but rather than pump ourselves up, we all have a detrimental habit of speaking negatively, doing nothing more than bringing ourselves down. This has a huge effect on our subconscious. So next time you’re feeling down or as though you’re about to over react, step away for a while, and give yourself a little pep talk.

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1.)Draw/Color/Paint- I see you, over there, rolling your eyes. Well, duh Nicole, my kid does this on a daily basis- no, on an hourly basis. I think it’s safe to say that of the “obvious” ones I mentioned above, this is the most obvious, the most “duh.” I get it, so I’m going to go ahead and apologize for stooping into such an obvious- a word I’ve said roughly 100 times already- level. However, in my defense, how many of you mommies are sitting down and coloring WITH your babies? Ah huh, not so obvious now is it? (101 times, for the record). We all know that this stimulates creativity and imagination, not to mention expression which is just, if not more important ( I don’t think too many things are more important than creativity, so my saying that expression is, well this is a monumental moment.)

2.) Making up your own lyrics- “The wheels on the bus” is probably the best song for this. Yes you’ve got the wheels, the driver, and the kids all on the bus, BUT what else is on the bus? Hmmm…. I’ve got your minds wondering, do I? Great! Now go get their little minds turning as well. I’ve gone thirty minutes with this song. We’ve included everything from a crying baby on the bus to a lizard on the bus ( yea, try coming up with what a lizard does on the bus.) This is a great exercise because it stretches the imagination. Plus, it’s a great song to get stuck in your head— which it will.

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