It can be very easy for me to get overwhelmed. I am an internal processor. I like to take my time and think and sit with information. Sometimes that’s helpful, sometimes that just leads to analysis paralysis. It feels like I don’t know how to make the “right” decision.
Anybody else have a tendency to do that? Oh good, I was worried I was alone in that.😉
I talked in a previous post about what I did when big life events threw me for a loop, but sometimes what derails us isn’t something we would necessarily categorize as big. How do we keep moving forward when it seems that life has us down?
Last week was like that for me. I started the week tired and worn out, ended up sick, had something really positive happen and yet by Thursday felt like hiding from the world.
I had a big presentation for my business and I was worried it wouldn’t go well, I would forget everything I wanted to say, people wouldn’t understand my vision. Well it was fine, better than fine actually, but it left me feeling depleted and my energy was lagging.
When I am tired I can get a bit of a f@&k it attitude. I can lose sight of the big picture and to practice a bit of patience. I did not schedule enough me time last week, and it definitely showed.
I scheduled my week based on what I thought I “should” be doing, not on what was energetically aligned for me. I am slowly starting to learn this lesson. Here is another plug for self care.Â
So in reviewing my past week, I found 3 practices I should’ve made part of my weekly plan (instead of adding them last minute).
- Be honest about the amount of socializing/networking I want to do. Networking is an important part of my business. Socializing is good for my personal growth. Both can exhaust me if not done with intention. Big groups are scary to me. There is too much going on and I never know who to talk to, where to go, or how to leave. Same with socializing. I will always prefer small and intimate to big. I can’t avoid all big socializing activities, but I can find balance by having coffee with a friend, game night with a few people, or my favorite Netflix show and snuggles on the couch with my pup.
- Make daily meditation a priority. For me meditation is my chance to go inward and be still. For you maybe it’s prayer or some devotional time, however it looks like for you, finding some quiet time to breathe and just be is important. We are constantly bombarded with noise all day everyday, we need to give our brains a break daily. Meditation is going back on my calendar so that I can’t skip it.
- Self Compassion. I found myself getting down on myself for what felt like slacking. In hindsight, what I should have been saying to myself is maybe a hard workout is not what you need when you feel sick. Toast for 2 meals in a row is okay when that is the only thing that even remotely sounds appealing to eat. It is okay to go to bed at 8:30 because we need our rest to feel better. I eventually got to that place, but I am working to make compassion my default response. Because just push through can often do us more harm than good.
What also helps is finding something to look forward to. A new movie you’re anxious to see, time outdoors (Spring, hurry up and get here!), or time with the special people in your life.
My dad got to come visit last weekend and we had so much fun getting outside with my niece Olivia, enjoying some good food together, and just talking and laughing. It was rejuvenating to get to connect with my family.
This is not about always having to pull yourself up by the boot straps and put on a brave face. You are allowed to crumble and fall apart and want to throw up your hands and quit, but I hope you have strategies in place to get yourself out of your funk or hopefully you have people to support you as you pick yourself up and get back to being the amazing person you are.
If you don’t have those people yet, I am just a DM or email away. Find your people, and love them hard, for they will be your light when it seems dark.
