What is your level of Enthusiasm? 14 tips to be more enthusiastic
What is your level of enthusiasm? If you could measure your average level of enthusiasm on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being low enthusiasm and 10 being the hyper enthusiastic, where are you on the scale? I know we can’t be enthusiastic all the time, but if we think about the people we know, we can easily say who are the ones who generally have a high level of enthusiasm and who have it low. For me, the easiest way to perceive someone’s level of enthusiasm is through the energy that he/she transmits to us.
The word enthusiasm came to my mind after meeting my daughter’s new diving coach. In just the first session, I could sense her high level of enthusiasm. This made me think why do some people have their level of enthusiasm so high, and others don’t?
What is Enthusiasm?
If we look at the meaning of the word enthusiasm Macmillan Dictionary says:
The feeling of being very interested in something or excited by it
In this post, I want to talk about enthusiasm as part of our personality, not just about being enthusiastic in a specific area of our lives. I am talking about enthusiasm as part of our attitude toward life every single day.
When reflecting on my level of enthusiasm, I put myself on level 6. People who know me may disagree and that is okay. They are probably seeing things about me that I am not able to see. This is why it is so important to ask for feedback when we want to learn more about ourselves. So, why do I think my level of enthusiasm is 6? I thought about people I know that have a level 10 of enthusiasm and used them as a reference. These people are incredibly unique and always fills me with so much energy. What is so unique about enthusiastic people?
16 Characteristics of Enthusiastic People
Here are some characteristics I see on people that have a level 10 of enthusiasm.
- Have a high energy level and an extraordinary driving force. I usually refer to them as people from a different planet
- They enjoy everything: little things and big things
- Live in the present
- Smile and laugh a lot, usually very loud and their laugh is contagious
- Extremely positive
- Creative: They are generally working on new projects
- Passionate about everything they do
- Very thankful for little things and big things
- Very expressive: They use a lot of body language
- Like adventures
- Usually extroverts. They are chatty people.
- Proactive
- They celebrate all the little things and big things
- Givers. They always try to help others.
- Special love for nature
- Strong spiritual life
Now the question that comes to my mind is:
Are these unique people born with a chip of enthusiasm or did they learn to be enthusiastic?
All my research about this topic leads me to think that it can be a little bit of both. Some people are lucky to be born with a chip of enthusiasm, but other factors make people learn to be enthusiastic. For example the environment where they grew up, the experiences they have had in life, the interest they have to self-improve, and their spiritual lives. I sincerely believe, enthusiasm is something we can develop and improve if we decide to. For this reason, I want to put the word enthusiasm into action.
14 Tips To Be More Enthusiastic:
1. Wake up with the right foot:
YES! Wake up every morning with a smile and tell to ourselves “Today I am going to be happy!”
2. Learn from the pros and act enthusiastic:
You read it right! Let’s think about someone we know that is enthusiastic and copy the way he/she acts. This doesn’t mean to quit being ourselves, what it means is to observe what we like about that person and try to add some of that to our way to act toward life.
3. Always have something that brings excitement:
It can be an idea, plan, project, goal, activity or a person. Every day ask ourselves: What am I going to do today that bring excitement to my life? It could be something easy like watching an episode of your favorite Netflix series or something that needs more work like starting a new project. It is also important to always have a long term goal that gives us a sense of purpose.
4. Enjoy the process of doing what we love to do and don’t focus only on the result:
Let’s think about what it is what we love of the things we love to do. For example, let’s say we love cooking. If that is the case, let’s ask ourselves: Do we love the process of cooking or the final dish we are cooking? The perfect answer will be “we love cooking so that we can enjoy a delightful dish.” But what happens if something goes wrong and the final dish taste awful? Yes, I know, after all that work it sucks to not finish with the delightful dish we had in mind, but that should not change our enjoyment of the process of cooking.
A lot of times we make the mistake to put all our focus on the result of what we love to do instead of in the process of what we love to do. So let’s not worry too much if we suck at what we love to do. If we enjoy the process and keep doing it, sooner or later, we will become better at it. That is why we should not quit if we love what we do.
5. Talk more about the things that are exciting to us with family and friends:
Let’s transmit our enthusiasm to everyone around us.
6. Look for the fascinating side of things:
We usually get excited when we get fascinated about things we don’t know. So the key is to use the “I don’t know” approach and try to wonder and find the fascinating side on everything around us. Trust me, everything we do, see, touch, taste, smell or feel has something that can be fascinating. We just need to look for it.
7. Inject some positivism into our lives:
Let’s be aware of how positive or negative our thoughts are. I will recommend something my mom thought to me years ago. Every time we have a negative thought, let’s say to ourselves “cancel” and immediately think about something else.
8. Take some risks:
Say yes to adventure and do new things. Our level of enthusiasm significantly increases when we do new things that interest us. It even increases every time we remember and talk about it. Read my blog about “Say Yes to an Adventurous Life”
9. Express our love:
Show our love with smiles, hugs, kisses, actions and words. Tell our family and friends how much we love and appreciate them. Showing love to people, nature, life and ourselves is an essential part of being enthusiastic.
10. Be thankful:
Every morning, give thanks for a new day. Every night, give thanks for our health, all the people that love us and all the good things that happened to us that day. Let’s go to bed with good memories.
11. Always be willing to give someone a hand:
The feeling of helping someone is one of the best feelings we can have. Let’s do it as much as possible. Helping is always a win-win deal.
12. Be nice:
Let’s be nice with all the people around us. Saying good morning, good afternoon, good night, sorry and thank you is more than just good manners. Caring about people and their lives. Asking how they are doing, how they feel, or how we can help is also part of being enthusiastic.
13. Be around people with a high level of enthusiasm:
As I said before, enthusiasm is a special energy and it is contagious. So get together or frequently call those people we know that have a high level of enthusiasm so they can transmit to us some energy.
14. Work on our body, mind and soul:
We have to feed and exercise regularly our body, mind and soul. Enthusiastic people are always looking forward to improve every area of their lives and they put a lot of effort and passion into it.
Conclusion
We all know how different our behavior is when we are very interested and excited about something. We feel full of energy, we are always thinking and talking about it, we want to spend as much time as possible around it, we want to learn and be better at it, we dream, we plan, and we act. We feel alive!
Enthusiasm is an awesome feeling to have, and even better, it is an awesome feeling to transmit to others. We are energy, and we transmit that energy through our enthusiasm. Used as a metaphor, enthusiasm is heat and lack of enthusiasm is cold.
Generally, we have a high level of enthusiasm when we start something new. Then, after some time, the level starts decreasing because we get bored or tired of dealing with problems and frustrations. Does this sound familiar? We can see this happening in what we do, our relationships, our plans, and our lives.
What we need to understand is that each morning, when we open our eyes, we are starting something new. We are starting a new day, and it is up to us to be interested and excited about what we are going to do with it. It is up to us to be passionate and exited about our lives and our lives’ process. We need to see each day as a new project we are working on. So let’s do it! LET’S PUT THE WORD ENTHUSIASM INTO ACTION!
Here are two questions for you:
- What is your level of enthusiasm?
Who do you know has a level 10 of enthusiasm?
Here is a link of a TEDx Talk that can help you understand better the importance of enjoying the process of what we love to do and don’t focus only on the result. Please take the time to watch!
Easy to download, high resolution image to print at home or favorite local or online print shop in any of the following sizes: 5 x 7, 8 x 10, 11 x 14, 16 x 20 and 18 x 24. To download, click the green bottom bellow.
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