Evaluate your self-care; Are you hopeful about the future? Are you filled with passion and ambition?
Are you finding yourself a bit blue now in the holiday season? If so, you’re not alone, holidays are typically full of to-do lists, good things & sometimes unmet expectations or loss. Not only can this be extremely stressful, it can stir up uncertainty. So how do we become proactive in shaping your future? Healthy self-care has a direct impact on being positive about life and the future.
If you want things to change? Do something differently-if you do what you’ve always done, things stay the same. If you want to improve your mood and impact your life, you must change your behavior.
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Consider these steps, you may even find yourself feeling better than you have in a long time!
* Move It. Research proves that increasing your activity level will lift your mood – sometimes as much as taking an antidepressant. Take frequent walks throughout the day or structure a half hour of stretching. Plan events to look forward to, join a small group, or start playing a team sport. This can be hard to do – especially if you’re used to being less active. But before you say, “That is not for me”, imagine that every step you take is a step that will lead begin changing circumstances.
* Huddle-Up. Many of us get in a rut because we feel lonely & isolated, even though we may not be. Reach out to friends and family, initiate. Strengthen your support system by making a few calls, writing an email, or set a coffee date or golf game with a friend, family or coworker. Increase contact with others, We are created for relationship.
* Fire Perfectionist Thoughts. No one is perfect. I repeat: no one is perfect! No matter how perfect someone’s life may seem, they are not perfect. This means that you don’t need to be perfect either! If you’re feeling down because you didn’t do something as well as someone else or you’re not looking as great as someone else, stop comparing yourself to others. That is a lose/lose approach, compare yourself only to your own potential. Your best effort is good enough and you cannot do more than your best effort. Perfectionist thinking is the opposite of self-care, be realistic with your goals even if you set them high.
* A thought is just a thought. You control your thoughts, they don’t control you. You attach or deny meaning to each thought. You may encounter a red light and think, “The light just turned red.” This, of course, is a very neutral thought, but you might find yourself spiraling into negative interpretations if you’re already feeling down. “Another red light? This always happens to me!.” When you find yourself dramatizing every thought, stop and reign yourself in. Limit your interpretations to facts, and search for evidence to support your beliefs.
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* Base your beliefs on evidence. When we’re not feeling great, we have a tendency to discount all of the positive things we see or hear about ourselves and believe only the negative things. Doing this only worsens your mood. If you find yourself responding emotionally to what
someone said, say so, and ask for more information: “I may not be
understanding you correctly, and I find myself taking what you said personally.
What I thought you just said is…. is that what you meant?”
TIP: * Self-Pity and Power cannot coexist, to shape your future you must turn your back on self-pity and take control of your life.*