Name it, tame it.
‘There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing.’
After the Pantone Colour of the Year - in case you were wondering, for 2021 the PANTONE COLOR INSTITUTE™ has paired PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray with PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating, a ‘marriage of colour conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting’, but I am digressing… - make room for the dominant Emotion of 2021: ‘Languishing’ or feeling a sense of emptiness and stagnation.
Have you felt it?
I have. In fact, I have been feeling it for weeks but until today I was unable to really put my finger on it.
I am not really unwell or depressed (been there and that’s not that!), I practice what I preach and I am still very big on self-care (quality sleep, nutritious meals and - almost! - daily walks), I connect with people but there is this recurring ‘meh’ feeling, the days where I lack enthusiasm for anything, the foggy brain which stops me from being at my best or being fully motivated.
As I was working with my coach this afternoon - as a coach, I myself seek out support from a personal coach and a business coach - and going through some of the challenges I was facing, I got reminded of this NY Times article and everything fell into place.
According to the author Adam Grant, a psychologist: “Languishing is the neglected middle child of mental health. It’s the void between depression and flourishing — the absence of well-being. You don’t have symptoms of mental illness, but you’re not the picture of mental health either. You’re not functioning at full capacity. Languishing dulls your motivation, disrupts your ability to focus, and triples the odds that you’ll cut back on work. It appears to be more common than major depression — and in some ways it may be a bigger risk factor for mental illness."
Having identified the feeling and named it, I am now able to put a plan of action to address it (see the article for more tips).
What feelings and emotions have you been struggling to identify recently?
Could you benefit from opening up and discussing them with a coach?
Get in touch if you need support in this area.