One of the difficult things about being a motivational speaker is when I realize that I need to take my own advice.
There’s a lot of forehead smacking, eye rolling, groaning, and searching indeed.com for jobs in other fields…but then I “snap out of it” and take my own advice.
Two things that I tell my audiences are:
- Punch It Margaret® (which means to take action when you swirling around in fear and frustration to shift the pattern and start learning and building your self-efficacy)
- Don’t do it alone (due to a human’s fundamental need to belong, when we feel like we’re not alone, life is a whole lot less terrible!)
Lately, I’ve been having the single girl blues and after spending 2 to 3 days sitting around feeling sorry for myself, avoiding work by playing games on my phone, and generally doing nothing of any value for my health, mood, business or anything, I realized I needed to do something…anything to get out of the toilet bowl of despair I was swirling around in.
So, I gave myself permission to play hooky from work (I’m a really nice boss, and I wasn’t getting anything done anyway!) and I drove to Orlando to take advantage of my SeaWorld annual pass.
I PUNCHED IT and I had a phenomenal day! (in this case, “punching it” meant engaging in constructive self-care rather than continuing my avoidant/destructive/unhelpful pattern of withering and whining. Sometimes withering helps, but not for too long!)
I also didn’t do it alone. A friend texted me that morning that she was waiting to be selected for jury duty and wanted to be entertained, so I sent her photos all day! She was distracted from the boredom, and I ran around the park texting pictures so she could join me in the fun.
I ran around the park 4 times in fact…totaling 8 miles, so I got some exercise, which also helps on the gloomy days!
The next day I met a wonderful longtime friend for a brisk sunrise beach walk and breakfast. We talked nonstop. (Most humans talk at about 150 words/min. I think we were at about 350.) Then I proceeded to have a super productive day and crossed everything and more off my to-do list!
So, if you’re ever like me and find yourself wallowing in the discomfort of whatever’s going on in your life, be sure to think about what you can do to shift any unhealthy patterns and start moving in a productive direction, and reach out to someone to pull into the picture so you feel like you’re not alone. It’ll help…a lot!
Go get ‘em tiger.
