Satisfaction vs Excitement as a Generator/Manifesting Generator

“Just do what lights you up,” right?

This is advice that as Generators and Manifesting Generators we've heard thousands of times before. I've probably even said it!

And there’s nuance here. If we're only doing what lights us up, we're missing out, potentially, on a whole lot of satisfaction.

As a Manifesting Generator, satisfaction is my green light feeling. That's my signature feeling. When I feel satisfied, it's like a little flag on the trail telling you are still on the right path.

Just like frustration is my red light feeling. That's just an invitation to pause and consider where I might have lost the trail, and what I need to do to get back on track.

And what I've noticed is that satisfaction can show up even after something I'm not all that excited about doing in the moment. I don't have to be lit up by the doing to necessarily feel satisfied after. Not everything that is satisfying feels amazing in the moment.

Satisfaction is finishing my taxes.
Satisfaction is getting out of the pool at 6am (even when my 5am alarm felt like absolute ass and I did not want to get up!).
Satisfaction is a tidy kitchen with clear counters and all that crap cleared away.

I just spent the last half an hour tidying up the little surfaces in my house because we have a guest coming for dinner and oh, the clear space! It feels so satisfying to look at right now. Even though, in the moment I was feeling like, “Ugh, I have to spend half an hour cleaning this stuff up.” My sacral said yes though to doing the cleanup, right? I have the energy for it. And it felt so satisfying to have it done. So even if the doing isn't like, “oh my god, this is so exciting. I'm so lit up,” it can be worth it.

I’m learning that Satisfaction is more satiating than excitement. It has that staying power and it feels so grounded in my body. It's kind of like eating protein versus eating sugar. Like it stays with you, you don't get that like super high and then the crash afterwards. It's a deep, grounded satisfaction.

I shared what I'm learning about satisfaction in an Instagram post not too long ago and several of the comments on the post were really like “Yes, I love getting satisfaction from those low hanging fruits like cleaning up!” so I know I’m not the only one who has noticed this. Plus it can create momentum!

When we do things that satisfy us, that feel really good, that can get our energy going so we can tackle the next things or show up to the next things with more energy, or even in a better frame of mind.

I've also noticed that things that sit on our to-do list for a really long time like, taxes for example, we’re putting them off because we kind of dread the actual doing. Sure we can delegate some of this stuff but sometimes just knuckling down and doing the thing, it doesn't take as long as we think it's gonna take and then we feel really satisfied afterwards because it's kind of been hanging over us. So that's another kind of satisfaction hack.

Sometimes also the beginning of things, the beginning of change, especially can feel kind of chaotic and unstable. There might be some, “oh, I don't know what I'm doing here” thoughts and feelings. And, if it's in alignment with our decision-making strategy (your gut and emotional clarity, if you need to wait on your emotional wave) saying yes to something, even if in the beginning we're kind of like, “Oh, my goodness, this is gonna change everything, or I don't really know what to expect, or I'm not sure you know how this is going to turn out,” that's okay. And satisfaction is still possible there.

If we get lost in the “candy” of only doing what lights us up, or only doing what we find what we're super excited about, we can miss out on the deeper satisfaction that's possible for us.

So if your a Generator or MG, take a look at today. Take a look at this week. What are some things that you've responded to, that you don't necessarily feel super excited excited about in the moment, but you know, are going to feel satisfying after? How can you build more moments of satiating satisfaction into your day and into your week?