Get Your Mojo Back

 

I recently had a conversation with a colleague who felt it necessary to point out that I needed to get my mojo back. During the short but powerful talk, more like a mini lecture, it was clear others recognized something was off with me. It was the second conversation in one week with two different people on this topic. I said to myself, okay, and I decided to study, write and get my mojo back. My hope is that you can use something that will help you find, improve or get yours back too. This article is my attempt to encourage myself and you and offer tools to help your light shine a little brighter.

Through the middle passage the word mojo came to America from Africa by way of the Caribbean islands and has a literal meaning related to voodoo or the works of medicine men who make people feel better. The word was brought by the Gullah people whose Geech dialect was derived in the Charleston area from the word, moco. My Latin friends will laugh, because of moco’s Spanish meaning, booger. Anyway, as those Africans whose descendants include Charlamagne the God and Michelle Obama, traveled through the Caribbean and to South Carolina, they worked to keep their culture alive and the word mojo was used to describe self-confidence, self-assuredness belief in yourself. Here are a few research based mojo strategies you can use.

1.       Get Grateful: My friend and mentor, Mike McCoy, would encourage you to get up, and get back in the game. As he would put it, “Don’t hunker in the bunker!” Generate some energy, get in the sun, find something to be grateful for and enjoy that. The faith community would remind you that life is a blessing, and every day is a gift. Remind yourself that your great days outnumber the bad ones, and this too will pass.

2.       Take and Emotional Shower: Everything that happens to you won’t feel good, expect it and have a plan. I tell the leaders I train that for a while you may need to take two or three emotional showers in a day. I’ve had to take two in one meeting. I had a football coach say once that about a quarterback who was in a rut, ‘you need a break just to get the funk off of you’. Close your eyes briefly, take a deep breath and let it roll off your back.

3.       Pick Up a Productive Habit: Exercise, read an inspiring book, commit to eating better, volunteer your time. Reach out to people who have a red hot mojo, or those who stoke yours. Start building your own hope and optimism. This activity, generates a chemical ‘feel good’ that is motivating and hopeful. The more you make productivity a habit, the more perspective you have for the occasional slight.

4.       Remind Yourself You Were Meant to Shine: You are here for a reason, get to work on that. If you have not found your purpose, do some soul searching and find it. You are not a mistake and the things that happen to you have purpose too, even if that purpose is to help someone else somewhere down the line. Embrace the experience, look for the blessing, and keep in mind that you were meant to shine.

5.       Help Someone Else: In one of my favorite books, ‘The Book of Joy’, Archbishop Desmond Tutu teaches that there is a therapeutic value in serving others. According to him you learn two things 1. You are not the only one who struggles, and 2. There is an emotional benefit you get from helping others. Further, the person your work improves will join the ranks of friends you can reach out to when you need a lift.

First things first, it’s your mojo, and your responsibility so understand that it was your attitude about something that got you there and it’s your attitude that you’ll need to get back. Stop wasting your time complaining about things that happen to you, you are not above bad things. Bad things happen, expect it, and prepare for it. Stop comparing yourself to others or bemoaning the fact that things aren’t happening as fast as you’d like. They will happen when they’re supposed to. A meal isn’t complete until all ingredients and spices are added, in the proper order. Your experiences are the spice of your life, you’ll be ready when you’re ready.  

Generate your own feel good. Distance runners experience what’s called a ‘runners high’, endorphins kick in when exhaustion tries to take over numbing the pain (and creating a euphoria) and motivating them to push through it. If you’ve ever dunked a basketball, scored a touchdown, got a hole in one, you know the feeling. When the word mojo was brought to America by way of the middle passage, it was also associated with the good feeling that comes with music or dancing. That probably explains why ‘Ice Cube’ therapy is so effective for me. One last thought is about the Lotus. The lotus is a flower that grows in deep mud, far away from the sun. Because the lotus keeps reaching for the sun, it eventually gets there. In fact, the dirty water it lives in washes it clean as it surfaces. Today, the lotus is a symbol of enlightenment, rebirth and self-regeneration. Your life works the same way. Get your mojo back and SOAR!

 

William A. Brown

July 7, 2019

 

https://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/1011136-12-ways-mojo-back/?slide=3

https://www.lifehack.org/481080/5-actions-to-get-your-mojo-back

https://liveboldandbloom.com/09/lifestyle/get-mojo-back

https://cathjayasuriya.blogspot.com/2010/08/lotus-flower-perfect-analogy-of-human.html