It was over six years ago that I found myself in a new home with a brand new baby, an 18 month old toddler and a 70 lb Irish Setter who was anxious beyond belief about our recent move. Honestly? This was the beginning of my downfall to anxiety. It was awful.
I had a friend reach out and send me samples of essential oils which I had heard a lot about but never had the bandwidth to get into.
Self care is cliche.
It feels luxurious. Even this picture looks luxurious. The old me used to see self care as hair salons, pedicures, massages and rest and I’d resentfully think,, "Must be nice!!"
It's because self-care doesn't come easy. I assumed others had more time than me or (dare I say it) didn’t work as hard as me.
I saw it as a luxury that not everyone got to have.
Journaling isn’t easy, I know. I’ve been keeping some kind of journal since fourth grade and I still have blocks.
I share this a lot, but remember that journaling has been studied and it has shown to help reduce stress and anxiety, depression and helps cope with hard and traumatic times. *Eh hem, 2020*. It can also really help support your growth in identifying patterns, symptoms and triggers. So, if it doesn’t work, try, try again.
And when in doubt, use a prompt.
My big takeaway from my two week social media detox was this:
Hear me out.
When I think of affirmations I think of the episode of Sex and the City when Charlotte was practicing daily affirmations to find her soulmate but it wasn’t working.
I honestly think that was one of the first times, being 19 or 20 years old in college, that I was really introduced to the idea of personal development and “self-help.” And of course, it was presented to be tacky and shameful and didn’t work. …. But I’m still obsessed with SATC, anyone else??
Anyway, since seeing that episode, I remember how silly I felt with the idea of affirmations. Do they even work? I feel dumb.
Turns out they’re not so dumb.
When you’re in a space of overwhelm, you don’t have the bandwidth to do the critical thinking necessary to know where to start. How do you get off the hamster wheel of overwhelm? I sure didn’t. And honestly, if it was that easy, would any of us be on the overwhelm ride? No. It’s a tough one to get off. Here are five things you can implement to begin to slow the ride down.
Wait, what?
I know, I know. It might seem like an odd combo, kinda like oranges and red onions in a salad but somehow it makes sense.
As Entrepreneurs, we hustle. Let’s face it, it’s the only speed we know and it takes a superpower intention to be able to put the brakes on.
More work means more money. And more money means success. Right?
Mmmm… I honestly think that’s up for debate.
It seems counterproductive to research the one thing you want to avoid like the plague. But let me tell you, once I really understood what anxiety was, I felt so much more empowered and less attached to it which then created more ease in being able to manage it.
Here are the big pieces in an easy way to understand.
