Flourishing, Not Languishing —3 Steps You Can Take Today

Apr 13, 2022 | Resilience | 0 comments

If languishing wasn’t part of your vocabulary before, you might have encountered it during the pandemic. Adam Grant wrote about the blah feeling many of us were experiencing, but languishing (or its opposite flourishing) isn’t tied to the pandemic or other upheaval. 

Languishing is characterized by a sense of emptiness or being stuck. There’s a lack of joy and connection or focus. How do we get out of that feeling? Can we move from languishing to flourishing? 

Yes! We can. We can flourish even in hard times. 

What Does Flourishing Look Like

Flourishing doesn’t mean life is easy or free of challenges. It does mean you have what it takes to get through challenges and struggles. 

Beyond that it means you find positivity and meaning in your life. When you’re flourishing, you are engaged and energized. Your life is aligned with your values and you find beauty, gratitude, and connection. 

Everyone has different values, and different things light them up, so flourishing looks different for different people. But it comes back to a similar feeling. 

3 Steps to Move Toward Flourishing

Let’s be clear that moving from languishing to flourishing isn’t an overnight change, but getting clarity on when you feel most energized and aligned helps. And certain practices we repeat or ways of being we weave into our lives can help us flourish. 

Start here:

  1. Practice Gratitude. Gratitude can help you build positivity, one of the hallmarks of flourishing. That doesn’t mean pretending things are just fine when they aren’t. It means seeing the good in your life even in the dark or hard times. You can try this journaling prompt to help build a gratitude practice, or try 7 Days of Gratitude to experience new practices and engage with gratitude daily for a week. The more you practice gratitude, the easier it gets. In a few minutes a day, you can move toward flourishing. 
  2. Connect. Loneliness is a real problem. That’s why building connection is so important, and it is a key component of flourishing. We have lost a lot of connecting points over the past couple of years, and this is a great time to reconnect. Take some time to get really clear on how you want to connect, and then get creative about ways to connect. One way you can bring connection together with gratitude is through a simple thank you note. Connection is another way to move toward flourishing. 
  3. Get Clear on Values. Knowing what you value and being true to those values is really important. When you aren’t living in alignment or authentically, you’re not going to feel great. Your values help you define what you want your life to look like. Leaning into your values, helps you feel energized and engaged — all parts of flourishing. 

To dig a little deeper into your values and what makes you feel energized and engaged, get 3 Steps to Having a Meaningful Life You Love. A meaningful life you love … sounds a lot like flourishing!

3 Steps to Having a Meaningful Life You Love

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Hi, I’m Melanie!

I’m a Journaling and Joy Coach and I believe your story is the key to the life you want.

I guide my clients through intentional processes to find the answers waiting for you in your stories, bringing compassion, deep listening — and fun — to the process.

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