How Do You Recharge by Bill and Kris Barney

When was the last time you had a time out? Do you take the time to really recharge yourself? What does recharging look like for you? What freedom would you feel if you were to recharge yourself and rejuvenate to the point of letting go of stress on a regular basis?

There is so much freedom in taking the proper care of yourself, but it does not happen if it is not treated as a priority and scheduled into your time management. If you do not put this as a priority, no one else will! We train people how to treat us by how we treat ourselves and yet how often do we allow other people, other projects, other priorities to take precedence over our schedule?

What do you think of when I say recharge? This can mean different things to different people. What I mean by this is how do you rejuvenate yourself to be grounded, be free of stress, have that time out or time away from it all, be refocused and find clarity, and to be refreshed and renewed.

This can be achieved on many levels and can be created easily. It must first start with a regular basis of self-care. I feel that you can achieve a schedule of daily self-care. The way we treat ourselves shows up on the outside in how we deal with everyday stress and decisions and how we treat others. Some self-care things that are easy to implement into a daily basis are:

While I know the importance of daily self-care to maintain balance and focus, the real thing I want to talk about is a bigger break in your routine. To recharge, it usually means getting away from your normal everyday routine and allowing yourself to really “shut out” things like your cell phone, computer or distractions.

For us, one of our favorites is Lake Powell. We do several trips to Lake Powell every year. It is easy for us,

because we leave our boat down there all season and it is pretty easy to jump in the truck and take off, since we are empty nesters and all.

We have trips with just our friends or with our kids and grandkids, but those are not necessarily “rejuvenation” trips. They are more work and entertaining than what I am talking about today. Yes, they can be stress relievers and are definitely great for fresh air, a walk on the sandy beach, floating in the water without a care in the world, hiking in nature or playing and reconnecting with the family and building relationships.

However, The kind of trip I am talking about is just Bill & I. It is a few days with no agenda. It is just time for us to reconnect and share that time together. There are no plans. No distractions. Not a set menu. We sleep until we are done and nap whenever we feel like it. We listen to audio books and spend time together. Yes, we will go for a hike if we feel like it and float in the water when we are too hot, but it is just complete connection and rejuvenation for us. This is a way that we take advantage of our time together.

We also have regular date nights and pillow talk and good relationship tactics in place to create the relationship that we want and have loved our 34+ years together, because we are very conscious about how we “rejuvenate and recharge” our relationship on a regular basis.

The thing I love most about Lake Powell, besides the beauty, the fun and the memories, is the peacefulness that you can feel. Look at this picture…absolute peace, right? It is not just our relationship that gets a good recharge boost, but personally we are able to take the time to reset and refocus on what is really important. We are able to individually reflect on what is happening in our own lives and refocus on what is important, what needs to happen next and how we can best take that on. It is when we take a step back and look at the bigger picture that we can really see things. It is when we calm our mind and take that quiet time that we “hear” what we need to hear and know what we need to know. That is when we find clarity and peace.

My question for you is this: What are you doing for yourself on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and bi-annual basis to recharge yourself? What does your self-care look like and how could you easily implement a better plan and focus? What does peace or freedom look like for you? How could you be a better person by implementing some of this into your life on a consistent basis?

I realize that is a lot of questions, but I also know how much better of a person both Bill and I are when we have these things in our lives and we focus on what that looks like for us. Think about it, you could have regular self-care every day if you were to not watch that one hour of tv or news or Netflix or whatever, right? This does not have to be hard or time consuming.

A ten minute meditation daily could change your entire life! Ten minutes of reading a motivational book or other kind of uplifting reading could give you a new outlook or your next fantastic idea. A fifteen minute walk while on your lunch break could reset your body and help you refocus on that project at work. It is so much easier that we think it is to implement this into our lives. The challenge is doing it!

Join me in becoming a person who knows how to “recharge” yourself and understands just how important it can be! I love being able to know what I need to do and what helps me to get there the fastest! I have learned to take time-outs regularly and they are something I really look forward to. I know I am more productive and have a better focus when I have taken the time to take a break. If you have not tried this on a consistent basis, you should try it!

Watch our episode today on: “How Do You Recharge?” Find what works for you. Is it going to the beach, walking on the sand listening to the waves crashing in, or a beautiful strenuous hike to the top of a mountain and finding that waterfall? Do you see yourself in Hawaii or Costa Rica or simply some fresh air in your own backyard? Who are you with? How are you rejuvenating and refocusing your life? How would this benefit you and your life? What is your Lake Powell?