Coming from a tiny high school (an "SS" in school-size parlance) as my three sons do and competing against nearly all the giants (LL) in this section of the state, some of the underclassmen would have had no chance at competing in their normal events. So coach mixed it up. I witnessed kids doing the steeplechase (a 2,000-meter run that features the traditional steeplechase hurdles plus a water obstacle to jump into/run through) who'd never seen such an animal. My youngest, the sophomore, who couldn't possibly compete against state champs in his normal shotput or javelin events, got a chance to run in a 4x100 event as well as do the triple jump. First time ever. Was he a little anxious? Absolutely. But did he have fun? I saw a new energy--and he didn't perform half-bad. He got to try something different, be grouped in a team he hadn't worked with before, and added two potential new interests to his dance card. He talked about it all the way home.
Have you considered trying something new? (cold calls outside your well-managed job network) Or changing your perspective? (stretching to consider new-to-you, but related industries) Or even varying your tempo? (if you're a classic night owl, for one week only, make a commitment to rising an hour earlier and focusing on search-related tasks, correspondence, Internet research) You might just surprise yourself to find new energy in a different approach.