Almost everyone has experienced a time in their lives where motivation was a little, if not completely, depleted. Motivation is the strong desire to carry out an act with the goal of achieving some objective. It’s the driving force behind a lot of our decisions. Without motivation, people tend to approach certain tasks with dread and apprehension, making the process rather unenjoyable.
When we aren’t motivated to do something, it feels like we’re trying to push a concrete wall. The resistance seems so great that we may feel as though we don’t have the strength to persevere.
Where a Lack of Motivation Comes From
Women looking to boost motivation should first understand where these feelings usually originate from. In many cases, people who lack motivation discover that there are unhealthy sentiments and beliefs about one’s self lurking beneath the surface. And, these negative beliefs tend to find their origins in things like childhood trauma, bullying, domestic violence, and loss.
Perceived failures
Unsupportive parents
Depression and anxiety
Self-limiting beliefs
A lack of quality sleep
Tendency to procrastinate
A lack of self-accountability
Unrealistic expectations
A stressful environment
Low self-esteem
How to Get Motivated: 10 Tips for Women
In knowing the signs, we become more self-aware of our habits and thought processes. Once this self-realization has occurred, it’s time to heal. When we nurture and heal ourselves, we become a better version of ourselves. However, when we aren’t confident in who we are, we don’t feel as capable or motivated.
Here are 10 tips women can use to boost their motivation and stay motivated.
1. A Playlist of Motivating Songs
Music has the power to lift our spirits when other things fail to do the trick. Meaningful music has the ability to make us cry, smile, and get goosebumps. Having a to-go-to playlist of motivating songs helps us to get our minds in the right place.
Of course, everyone has a different taste in music. It’s good to recall music that makes us feel focused and inspired. Compile all these songs into a personal playlist. This playlist can be enjoyed in the shower or during a morning run to help set the mood for a productive day.
2. Make a Vision Board
Motivation can leave us when we don’t have a grasp on what we want. In a busy world, our minds can look just as hectic and cluttered. When we don’t have a good direction of where to go, things feel much more complicated. This lack of direction feels especially discouraging.
To alleviate this confusion and motivate one’s self, a woman should reflect on what she wants. In other words, what will bring her peace, fulfillment, and joy?
Once this is known, it helps to create a vision board with pictures representing the goals she has. Seeing this board every day will serve as a constant reminder and motivator on what’s to come if perseverance persists.
3. Identify and Remove the Root of Fear and Doubt
Self-doubt is a huge blockage. It’s also a cause of one’s lack of motivation. A person may unconsciously self-sabotage themselves from feelings of unworthiness and insecurity.
It’s vital to eradicate fear and doubt by identifying their origins. Much of what we believe comes from our experiences growing up. It’s interesting that we aren’t born believing we aren’t attractive or smart. These ideals are almost always imposed or projected on us. And, we have the tendency to believe them.
4. Seek an Adviser for Guidance
Having an advisory or guidance counselor helps a ton. Sometimes, we need to hear an outside voice of reason. Advisers have resources they provide us with to help us achieve our goals. It’s okay to ask for help. Having a support system helps us in our pursuit of self-improvement.
For example, a woman wants to write a book but isn’t motivated due to feeling overwhelmed. She can find encouragement and guidance by reaching out to marketers, writers, publishers, editors, etc. Asking for help takes a lot of pressure off of us, allowing us to see a clear path to achieving our goals.
5. Do Research
Self-knowledge boosts self-esteem. When we feel competent and capable, we feel prepared and motivated to take on the tasks before us. Women must invest in themselves, cultivate their skills, and develop their assets. Hence, it’s incredibly helpful to educate ourselves on the things we are interested in.
6. Review Your Progress
We should always take a moment and look at how far we’ve come. It’s known that people seldom take the time to review their success. Instead, there’s almost an immediate set of new goals and aspirations that follow after the completion of previous goals.
Reviewing our progress gives us a sense of accomplishment which boosts our confidence and self-efficacy.
7. Take a Cold Shower
Cold showers have a host of benefits for our mental, physical, and emotional health. While comfortable, hot showers oftentimes make us feel incredibly lethargic afterward, cold showers activate the sympathetic nervous system, allowing the body to release several stress hormones. We not only feel stress-free after a cold shower, but we also feel fresh, energized, and alert.
8. Speak Words of Encouragement
Negative self-talk is like having a crowd following us around telling us hurtful things to make us doubt ourselves. Many people relate to the influx of negative mental chatter. With this ongoing noise in the mind, it’s hard to think and perform at one’s highest potential.
To alleviate this kind of self-talk, one should fertilize their mind with positive words of encouragement.
9. Remove Negative Nancies
Just as we remove the negative voices that originate from ourselves, it’s equally important to remove the external voices of limitation, scarcity, and fear. It’s common for other people’s emotions to rub off on us. We may feel incredibly motivated one morning. However, as the day progresses, we might hear a slew of negative projections and complaints. Hour by hour, we witness the vibrant motivation and potential of the day begin to fade.
To get motivated, we have to remove negative people from our lives as these individuals have a direct influence on our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
10. Make Your Goals Known
To get motivated, making goals public can be of help. However, it’s important we don’t go telling everyone our dreams as they may not have the vision that we do. Sharing goals with a trusted, supportive friend is ideal. This establishes a sense of solidity and accountability.
Staying Motivated and Resilient in Trying Times
It’s one thing to try to be motivated during the good times, but difficult and challenging times can make it even more difficult. A lot of women have found themselves burned out and motivated since 2020 began. Here are some tips that can help during the not-so-easy times:
Complete Small Tasks
Getting motivated is like building muscles. Without proper conditioning, getting motivated can feel like trying to lift weights outside one’s fitness level. If a person struggles to lift 100 lbs, lifting 150 lbs won’t be a good option just yet.
Motivation is something to be fostered and increased over time. When we overshoot our goals, we end up failing and feeling disappointed as a result. To keep our motivation boosted, it’s important to set and achieve small tasks. We are more likely to achieve these smaller goals than a bunch of bigger goals. Thus, we experience consecutive success.
Listen to Motivational Speeches
Having a self-empowerment routine is important. We should all aim to have a daily routine that aims to establish motivation. Motivational speakers have a way of grabbing our hearts and minds. Finding a motivational speaker that resonates is definitely beneficial for staying inspired.
Look at the Bright Side
As cliche as it sounds, it’s always best to look at a cup as half full rather than half empty. Perspective is everything and it constitutes much of how we see the world. We can not control all the events of our lives. However, we can control how we respond to these events. Purposefully choose to look at the bright side.
Add More Humor to Your Days
Don’t take things so seriously. Being so serious can put a damper on things and make matters look much worse than it is. Just as we intend to lift our spirits by shifting our perspective, we should also shift our mood as well. And, what better way to do this than with some good ol’ humor?
Keep Your Environment Clean
Keeping a clean environment allows us to think clearly. When the environment is cluttered and disorganized, it’s harder for us to find things. Our environment is usually a direct representation of the environment within our minds and vice versa. When our environment is organized and clear, we think clearly.
Don’t Share Your Dreams and Plans with Everyone
The mind is very powerful. However, it is very sensitive at the same time, susceptible to negative influence. If a person is known to be dismissive and envious, then it is crucial that we not share our plans with them as they will not give us the support we seek. Instead, they may actually present as blockages.
Surround Yourself with Successful People
Having successful people around is a constant reminder of what we seek to become. People should aim to keep good company with individuals who can help give them guidance and resources. In doing this, there’s no peer pressure or negative influence from others.
Finding motivation can feel like a long, arduous process. However, once found, it’s like a spark of pure energy that inspires us to take action. Whether women aspire to accomplish their wildest dreams or succeed in completing their everyday tasks, these tips will help women to get motivated and stay motivated.
Strong and independent women are a true inspiration to anyone. They don’t just talk about their dreams. They try to make it happen to the best of their abilities. They know what they want and go for it no matter what everybody else says. If you’re ready to chase your dreams, you can do it too!
Finding the spark you need to start working on your ambitions is a great place to start. But once you know what the dream is you want to go after, it takes action. If you’re ready to chase your dreams but aren’t sure what to do, these 9 tips will help.
1) Know Yourself
Getting to know oneself is a vital element of success that many people seem to neglect. Knowing yourself means understanding your passion, talents, and even weaknesses. Many underestimate this knowledge even though it can help out a lot in decision-making. That’s why it should be the first thing to consider.
When you know yourself, you will realize what you’re good at and what you’re not. This can be a big influence when you are about to judge which route is best to take for a higher chance of victory.
Self-knowledge also frees you from the pressure of others’ opinions. When you know what works for you, the point of view of others won’t bother you anymore.
2) Set Your Goals Right
When pursuing our goals, one thing we usually do is visualize the outcome. This is an essential part of the whole procedure. But what most people do is imagine vague concepts. They say they want to get rich or be happier. You might not find these ideas harmful but they don’t actually help you determine the best steps to take.
Furthermore, vague ideas won’t help you tell if you need to make changes in your methods or when you have done enough. Knowing what your exact goals are is an important factor in accomplishing them.
So, what you can do is imagine yourself in the place you wish to be and ask the following questions. What does it look like? What exactly makes it different from where you are now? How will you know when you get there? How will you know when you’re off-track?
The ideal way of goal setting is by using SMART goals. There are numerous variants on what the acronym SMART stands for, but the definition below is its main essence.
Specific – Your objective must be straightforward and well-defined. Make it as simple as possible by specifying exactly what you want to happen.
Measurable – Entail specific numbers, dates, and so on in your goals so you can track your progress.
Attainable – Do not aim for things that are obviously impossible to achieve. On the other hand, resist the temptation to create very easy targets.
Relevant – Goals should be related to the path you intend to take in your life and career so you can have more focus.
Time-bound – There should always be a deadline so you can have a sense of urgency and not waste time.
3) Break Them Down
Looking at the bigger picture is great and all, but it may appear intimidating when you start to ask how exactly you’re going to make things happen. Just thinking about it can burn you out and make you lose your will to keep pushing forward. To avoid this negative state of mind, you should take baby steps.
Break big goals down into smaller ones. It can be a way to boost your confidence. You will start to realize that it’s more manageable if you take care of smaller tasks one by one. This also allows you to keep track of your development when you follow your dreams.
Additionally, this is the key to multitasking. You can meet multiple objectives at the same time. With smaller goals, you have enough energy to fulfill several others simultaneously. You can even do this while also working toward reaching other major goals in different areas of your life.
4) Put Your Goals in Writing
When you physically write down a goal, it becomes real and tangible. You will have no excuse for overlooking it. Experts believe that goal success is strongly linked to vividly describing your goals in writing. Our focus is narrowed, and our attention is drawn away from other priorities when we write our goals down.
Your smaller, broken-down goals can be written with set deadlines to give you a clearer image of what needs to be done and when. And when you write, positively frame your goal statement.
Taking time to do this step in a peaceful place will bring many benefits. Take out a journal and write down your action plan for the next month, quarter, year, or decade. This can prevent you from wandering aimlessly toward your dream.
5) Stick With The Plan
Now that you have your agenda laid out, you to need to address it properly. Stick with the plan no matter what. Set reminders to keep yourself on course, and schedule time to review your priorities on a regular basis. This will assist you in accomplishing something every day that will help you be a step closer to your goal.
Sticking with the plan doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t adjust it when the situation requires it. Unless you’ve reached your dream, goal setting will be an ongoing activity. While your long-term target may remain the same, the action plan you set may shift significantly.
When you notice that something isn’t working, you can always replace it with something that will. Just be sure that the changes you make are really necessary and relevant.
6) Don’t Limit Yourself
A successful woman in her own right, Sylvia Plath once said, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” Most times, what stops us from attaining our hopes and dreams is our own limiting beliefs. You may hold yourself back by thinking that you are not good enough. You doubt your potential and fear failure as a result.
But you should know something, you are more than enough. You are capable of conquering obstacles and accomplishing greatness. Whatever you want to do, everything you’ll need to keep pushing is inside of you.
Fortune favors the bold, so don’t be afraid. It’s true that there’s still a chance of failing. But failure isn’t anything to be terrified of since you can learn from it and move on. Nothing can stop a positive mindset.
7) Be Realistic
Another way of thinking that can save you from peril when you try to chase your dreams is being realistic. As you get into goal setting, you can get easily obsessed. You can get hooked and will go to any length just to achieve your goals. This carries a lot of risks and should be avoided from the very start.
But wait, doesn’t this oppose the previous tip on this list? No, it doesn’t. In fact, they complement each other. It suggests that you shouldn’t do too little or too much. You just have to be balanced. Overkill and insufficiency have the same negative effect when it comes to realizing a dream.
Drive is commendable, but keep in mind that you, like everyone else, require rest and recovery. Making a timetable and setting aside enough time each day or week to focus on your goal is one practical step you can take.
8) Accept Assistance
As the saying goes, two hands are better than one. Being strong and independent doesn’t mean doing everything on your own. Connect with others who you know will be there for you every step of the way. It is crucial to have people who have your back and help you stay motivated as you strive toward your dreams.
This can be done in many ways. For instance, you can get an accountability partner. It can be anyone you’re comfortable with. Explain your plan to them, including the timeline, so that they can assist you in sticking to it.
The kind of help appropriate will vary depending on your objectives. So, you have to be flexible. You can find someone with similar goals, join a group, or hire professional help.
9) Celebrate Every Win
It’s very satisfying when you celebrate your victories and reward yourself. Keeping track of the tiny accomplishments along the way helps you in finding the motivation to keep on moving forward. Feel your spirit being regenerated as you bask in the feelings of satisfaction and pride that your modest triumphs bring you.
This emphasizes once more the importance of thorough planning and prudent goal setting. It gives you a map of every milestone you can conquer in your entire journey.
Acknowledge that you are taking decisive steps toward your aspirations, that you are changing your habits for the betterment of yourself, and that you are taking charge of your life as a whole.
Anxiety and stress are among the most common mental health problems that affect millions of people worldwide. Being a woman makes it even more challenging because there are so many antagonizing issues that we have to deal with. But it’s actually possible to craft a healthy life by finding the best ways to reduce anxiety and stress. It all revolves around your lifestyle and the choices you make. Some of the most effective ways to reduce anxiety and stress include:
1. Change your Diet
You can reduce anxiety without medication by changing your diet. Understand that stress and anxiety are complementary. So, if you are going to effectively manage one, the benefits will spill over and help you deal with the other.
For many women, the only time we tend to worry about what we eat is when we’re thinking about our waistline. However, the benefits of a good diet are beyond the numbers on a scale. Eating healthy meals can be great for your mental health by helping to ease the symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Did you know that there are stress-causing foods? Well, they mainly include edible products that are rich in sugar, artificial sweeteners, excess caffeine, alcohol, and processed carbs. If you want to have good mental health, then you should cut down or eliminate these food varieties from your diet.
To reduce anxiety and stress, you must consider food varieties such as:
Organ meats: if you can’t completely eliminate meat from your diet, then consider organ choices. This includes kidneys, liver, and heart from animals such as chickens and cows. They are good sources of vitamins and minerals such as folate, riboflavin, and B vitamins. All these are essential for stress control.
Fatty fish: consider varieties such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and herring. They are rich in omega-3 fats and other nutrients that improve mood, promote a calming effect, and reduce levels of stress.
Blueberries: They are great for easing stress and anxiety due to their high amounts of flavonoid antioxidants. Blueberries have powerful neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects that help to protect you against depression, stress, or anxiety-related cellular damage.
Chamomile tea: while you can’t completely eliminate all drinks from your diet, you should only consider making healthier alternatives such as chamomile tea. It consists of a medicinal herb that helps to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Its stress-reducing benefits also make it effective in promoting good sleep patterns.
Yogurt: it contains beneficial bacteria that have positive effects on the brain. Yogurt has strong anti-inflammatory effects on the body and this makes it effective in treating chronic inflammation related to stress and anxiety.
Dark chocolate: do you need something sweet to snack on? Well, dark chocolate is a great anxiety and stress reliever. It has been established that dark cocoa has mood-enhancing benefits. So, taking it can help reduce cell death, improve blood flow in the brain, and reduce neuroinflammation.
Vegetables: consider the likes of beets, kale, broccoli, spinach, and artichokes that have strong antioxidant properties and can help eliminate free radicals from the body.
Potassium-rich fruits: they are usually great sources of nutrients that help to reverse the harsh side effects of stress. This mainly includes bananas and pumpkin seeds.
2. Practice Relaxation Techniques
Mental healing and wellness usually start from the inside. Stress and anxiety are conditions that we can feel but sometimes it can be impossible to tell where exactly we feel discomfort. It’s about hormones and your feelings getting triggered and overworked. However, the dangers of these issues can be physical.
Besides that, the female body is usually subjected to a lot of extreme hormonal triggers. Dealing with monthly menstrual cycles, changes in environment, a difficult pregnancy, etc., are some of the issues that can lead to hormonal changes with serious side effects coupled with the troubles of our daily lives, all these can result in the development of chronic stress and anxiety
However, there are good relaxation techniques that can help minimize the symptoms of stress and anxiety. They include:
Deep breathing: This is a powerful relaxation method that simply requires you to focus on your breath. Start by finding a secluded place and then take long, deep, and slow breaths. This is usually known as belly or abdominal breathing. While breathing, ensure that your focus is within you and not other distracting thoughts. Slowly inhale the deep breaths and exhale for 10-15 minutes daily.
Meditation: this is an important aspect of mindfulness. Find a comfortable space to sit in and just focus on your breathing and focus all your attention on the present moment. Refrain from the need to drift your thoughts back to the past or shift them to the future. Be present, here and now.
Yoga: it’s a quite versatile relaxation technique. It can be regarded as a meditation technique or a method of exercising. There are many types of yoga, but the ones suited for dealing with stress and anxiety involve those with deep breathing, slow movements, and stretching.
Socialize: this is also a form of relaxation technique that you might know can have good mental health benefits. Set time aside to spend with family members and friends. Find a confidante who will listen to you without passing judgment. This will provide a natural and effective way to lower your stress levels and promote a calming effect. Generally, connecting with other people usually triggers the body to release a hormone that usually stops your fight-or-flight response.
Guided imagery: take time and find a quiet place where you can simply conjure those soothing scenes, experiences, and places that you love. You will find that guided imagery can help your mind to relax and shape your focus. It’s worth noting that there are many free apps that you can use to create these calming scenes. Just make sure that the imagery you want to recreate doesn’t trigger a stressful emotional response.
Biofeedback: take time and learn how to manage your blood pressure, muscle tension, and heart rate when you are stressed or anxious. Generally, biofeedback will give you the information that you need when you are trying to relax. You need to work with a therapist who will place sensors on different parts of your body to determine things such as your muscles’ tone and brainwave patterns.
3. Enroll in a Self-Help Course
Enrolling in a self-help course is one of the best ways to reduce anxiety and stress. Becoming the best version of yourself requires that you pull all strings so that you can grow. As a woman, there is a lot that may be going on internally and externally. However, enrolling in a self-help course can be great for your mental wellness.
Refine Your Life Course Bundle is one of the best programs that can help you refine and redefine yourself. The wellness bundle gives you a step-by-step guide on how you can become more empowered, effectively achieve your personal goals, and reach your highest possible potential.
Refine Your Life Purpose and Wellness Course Bundle features a total of 4 books. They all consist of actionable information that is vital in helping you become an accountable person, go for your goal, and avoid the need for procrastination.
The Healthy Body + Mind Handbook: You can use this book to develop healthy eating habits. Besides that, it has unique content on how you can map out a customized fitness plan that you can stick to.
The Ultimate Mental Health Guide: Understand different types of mental health issues and how you can manage them with various resources.
The Wellness Binder: When trying to reduce anxiety and stress issues, it’s important to document your feelings. Well, this course comes with coloring pages, journal prompts, and daily happiness routines among others.
Regine Your Life Workbook: Learn what is preventing you from making progress, set your goals, and then go ahead and accomplish them. Relight the spark within you and keep track of your habitual changes. You can only learn about all these and more from this workbook.
This cost-effective bundle allows you to build your confidence and start living a fulfilling life. The best thing is that you can enroll now to get started.
This course works perfectly with other anxiety and stress-reducing techniques. So, you can blend it with exercising, a healthy diet, and different meditation techniques among others.
4. Exercise
A healthy mind requires healthy physical well-being. Exercise isn’t just about the way things look. Implementing a good exercise routine will also do wonders for your mental health.
This doesn’t have to look a certain way. Here are some activities you can do to get moving.
Dancing
Yoga
Jogging
Swimming
Bicycling
Tai chi
Boxing
Gardening
Weightlifting
All these are engaging activities that involve physical and mental components. Exercising usually helps the body to release hormones such as endocannabinoids and endorphins. This helps to reduce inflammatory conditions, block pain receptors, promote relaxation, and improve sleep patterns. Some people usually experience a “high” euphoric feeling after working out.
5. Examine Your Beliefs and Values
There are beliefs that we follow but in a real sense, they are degrading. Beliefs such as “a woman’s place is the kitchen or to be a homemaker” are outdated. Sometimes you might end up feeling stressed while trying to fit your life into these beliefs but knowing very well that you want more for yourself.
Examine your beliefs and determine if they trigger your mental health or suit your current lifestyle. Do these beliefs perfectly reflect you as an individual? If not, set your personal values and follow them. Remember that this is your life, and you need to be confident, find an anchor to believe in, and then follow through with your dreams.
Be assertive with your needs. Make it clear that a “No” means “NO”. Place strong boundaries that everyone should respect without expectations. This way, you will find that more of your energy is focused on building yourself rather than dealing with stress caused by other people who have clearly failed to respect you and meet your expectations. Remember that you shouldn’t tolerate disrespect as this will quickly mess with your self-esteem.
6. Set Your Goals
There is a lot of pressure that comes with being a woman. If you are not careful, then you might succumb to goals and expectations set by other people. You don’t want children in your 20s because you are pursuing your goals? Well, go ahead and do it.
Do you want to get a Ph.D. by the time you are 35? Well, it’s not too late. Simply sit down and set realistic goals as well as expectations.
Taking care of your mental health should be a choice that you make every day. The above strategies are ways to reduce anxiety and stress. Remember that you need to take care of your body for it to take care of you. Eat healthy meals, work out, engage in relaxation techniques, and even enroll in a self-help program. The Refine Your Life Course Bundle will help you learn more about yourself and within no time you will notice significant growth.
Everyone feels low sometimes. The lows people feel are often related to something bad happening at work or home or even just the general blahs. It’s the little things or even nothing at all that can bring about the blues every now and then. Sometimes those lows can seem continuous and even become a rut. When this happens frequently, things feel pointless and it’s hard to feel happy. If this becomes severe enough, it may be diagnosed as major depressive disorder.
But most people aren’t dealing with depression. Most people are dealing with the blue moods of everyday life. And if these lows are happening to you, you may want to create habits that fight the lows before they even occur. You can create a blues-beating schedule every day.
What Is a Blues-Beating Schedule?
A blues-beating schedule is a way of scheduling mood elevating habits into your daily life. Sometimes these are tiny things and sometimes they’re bigger, but they all work together to lift your mood. It’s important to realize that while a whole day is outlined below, you don’t need to do every activity in order to feel its effects. Even just adding one or two activities to your day can make a difference.
A Blues-Beating Schedule
(Note that times are approximate but used for illustration.)
7:00 a.m. – Wake up and don’t hit the snooze button.
One of the things that can bring about a low mood is not sleeping well and one of the things you can do to improve your sleep is to wake up at the same time every morning. This means not hitting the snooze button and waking up at the same time every morning, even on the weekends. While this sounds difficult, over time it becomes easy. Doing this will help regulate your circadian rhythm – your sleep-wake cycle and improve your sleep at night. This improved sleep will make waking up easier. Try to make sure you have eight hours of time you can devote to sleep every night.
7:10 a.m. – Take a moment to breathe or even meditate.
Many people find that relaxation or breathing exercises in the morning can set the tone for the day. A short meditation – even just five minutes – can do this too. If you choose breathing exercises, place your hands on your belly. Make sure you stand up straight, feet firmly planted on the floor and breathe slowly and as deeply as possible. If you’re doing it right, you should see your hands moving out and in as you inhale and exhale.
While you’re relaxing, breathing, or meditating, try setting a positive thought for the day. It can be something you’d like to accomplish or just something that is generally positive. This can help put you in the right mindset to take on the day.
7:30 a.m. – Eat a healthy breakfast
We all know that our body runs on fuel and yet we often neglect to give it the fuel it needs to run well. But don’t worry, you don’t need to even turn on the stove to make this happen. If you’re not sure what to eat, try overnight oats to make your morning run smoothly and feel full for hours.
A basic recipe for overnight oats is the following.
Combine in a container with a sealable lid:
1/3 cup milk (non-dairy works, too)
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup yogurt of your choice
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
Put the lid on the container and shake to combine. Leave in the fridge for at least three hours before eating.
That’s just the basic recipe, it’s even better when you jazz it up with berries (frozen work well here as they are less expensive and thaw overnight) or even flax or chia seeds for extra texture, flavor, and nutrients.
Note here that while a cup of coffee might be a great pick-me-up in the morning, having more than one or two cups can actually increase anxiety in a person.
Noon – Eat a healthy lunch.
Some people don’t take the time to eat a healthy lunch and that is a mistake. It’s hard for your body to maintain a good mood when it’s hungry all the time. Now is the perfect moment to take time away from your work eat slowly and mindfully and enjoy every bite. Make sure to include protein in your luck and avoid processed foods and sugar, if you can, to avoid that mid-afternoon energy slump. You can also choose to chat with your coworkers now if that’s something you like to do. Adding a social component to your workday can also help beat a low mood.
12:30 p.m. Go for a walk.
After you’ve eaten your lunch don’t just go back to your desk, try going for a walk outside instead. Connecting with nature and getting some fresh air can go a long way to beating the blues and so can getting a little exercise. While a 30-minute walk may not feel like much, it’s infinitely better for your physical and mental health than being still or sitting all day. In fact, if you walk for 30 minutes a day, you’re much more likely to lose five pounds over the course of a year rather than gain them (as the average American often does). Yes, vigorous exercise is great for your mood too, but if that’s out of reach right now for any reason, a walk can do in its stead.
5:30 p.m. – Get social.
If you’ve spent all day with coworkers, clients, kids, or solo, it’s time to make a social connection of your choosing. Phone a friend. Chat. Make plans for the weekend. Decide how you’re going to maintain or make new social connections. These connections can help defeat a low mood and deserve your attention on a daily basis.
6:30 p.m. – Eat a healthy dinner.
Now take the time to make and eat a healthy dinner. Make sure you’ve got lots of leafy greens on your plate. Also, this is the perfect time to make sure you’re eating your omega-3s. Omega-3s are fatty acids that are required by your brain and ensuring you eat enough of them can improve your mood. You can find omega-3 fatty acids in cold water, fatty fish like salmon, and as well as in nuts and seeds among other things.
Just like with lunch, try to mindfully eat. Don’t wolf down your food while zoning out in front of the TV – that will make it more likely that you’ll overeat. Rather, eat slowly and enjoy good conversation, if that’s available to you. Sometimes a good book can make great company at the table too.
10:00 p.m. Wind down.
Now it’s time to set the scene for a good night’s sleep. One way to increase the chances of a good night’s sleep is to develop a sleep routine. A sleep routine is simply activities that you repeatedly do at night before you go to bed. Developing a routine before bedtime trains your brain to sleep as part of the routine. It makes getting to sleep easier in the long run.
Your sleep routine should include getting away from all screens. The light coming from screens can activate the part of your brain that signals wakefulness and alertness. Reading a book with a task light is a perfect activity during this time.
Other things that could be part of a sleep routine might be taking your dog for a walk, practicing yoga, meditating, doing relaxation or deep breathing exercises, brushing and flossing your teeth, taking a shower, cleaning the kitchen, journaling, etc. Anything that is quiet and gentle is a good activity to choose. Some people also like to make note of three things for which they are grateful that day during this time. (You can do this in a journal specifically for that purpose if you choose.)
11:00 p.m. Go to sleep.
Just like you need to wake up at the same time every day, you need to go to bed at the same time every night as well to get quality sleep. This benefits your circadian rhythm and mood. Other tips to get a good night’s sleep include:
Make sure your bedroom is at a cool temperature.
Make sure your bedroom is pitch black (or use a sleep mask).
Avoid shift work, if possible.
Make sure your mattress, sheets, and pillow are all comfortable.
Also, don’t use your bedroom for anything other than sleeping and sex (never work). This trains your brain to associate that room with sleep. This will help you get to sleep more easily when you lie down in bed.
Any time – Get help when you need it.
While it doesn’t need to be mapped to a specific time, make sure to reach out for help for a low mood if you need it. A blues-busting schedule is great, but it won’t help everyone, and if you find your mood is getting worse instead of better, it’s time to seek out the help of a professional. A medical doctor such as your family doctor, or a psychologist are great people to seek help from. Remember, it’s easier to fix a small problem than it is to fix a large, ongoing one, so get help sooner rather than later. Also, remember that it shows courage – not weakness – to acknowledge the need for help. We all need a helping hand sometimes and that’s okay.
Natasha Tracy B.Sc. is an award-winning writer, speaker, and consultant who lives with bipolar disorder. She is a mental health thought leader and subject matter expert in bipolar disorder. Natasha has written 1000s of articles on mental health around the web and is the author of two award-winning blogs: Bipolar Burble and Breaking Bipolar.
Feeling Anxious? Here Are 10 Ways To Naturally Alleviate Your Anxiety To Start Feeling Yourself Again
Decisions.
Most people make decisions by adding more to their life.
‘I must do this…’
’I must do that..’
‘If I can just do xyz, my life will be better…’
But, take a step back for a second. If we dig into the word ‘decision’, we learn it’s a Latin word that means ‘to cut off’. And if you think about it, that makes sense.
Why? Well, a closely related word ‘incision’ means something similar:
“Incision: The action or process of cutting into something”
So with that in mind, in order to reduce and even eliminate our anxiety, the first step is to make a decision to remove (or ‘cut off’) the ‘triggers’ that may be causing it to creep up on us in the first place.
However, we’re all different. What causes my anxiety might be different from what causes yours.
So, as you learn more about yourself and what causes your anxiety, it’s important to note what things you should stop doing – both in terms of reducing your anxiety right now, and preventing it from happening in the first place.
It’s basically impossible to move forward with relieving your anxious thoughts without digging a little deeper and focusing on the root of the problem.
10 Things You Should Stop Doing If You Have Anxiety: As you learn more about yourself and what causes your anxiety, it’s important to note what things you should stop doing when you’re feeling anxious.
These certain things contribute to your anxiety and weigh you down.
It’s basically impossible to move forward with relieving your anxious thoughts without digging a little deeper and focusing on the root of the problem.
10 Things You Should Stop Doing If You Have Anxiety
It starts with realizing the bad habits you’ve become accustomed to and changing them. We all have our own ways of thinking and triggers that make us anxious.
Below are some of the most common things that people do that make their anxiety worse and how you can start putting an end to them today.
#1 Avoidance
If you get anything from this post, please try to remember this: avoiding things that make you anxious will only result in you feeling more anxious.
In short, stop avoiding what’s right in front of you. This is giving your anxious thoughts exactly what they want. It causes you to isolate yourself and ignore all signs that you’re struggling or need help.
Examples of avoidance are:
Drinking at a party to make social interactions more tolerable
Being on your phone in a public setting to avoid eye contact
Calling in sick to work on a day you have to give a speech
Avoiding things can cause you to isolate yourself. And isolation makes it difficult to build strong relationships with people. When you become isolated it is also a lot harder to reach out to people when you desperately need it.
#2 Trying to fight your anxiety
Your anxiety doesn’t have to be your best friend. But it also doesn’t have to be your ultimate nemesis either.
It’s possible to find a happy medium with anxiety. That means that you’re able to get through the day without a panic attack or breaking down.
Stop trying to fight away your anxious thoughts and feelings. They are there for a reason. Instead, you can work on figuring out what’s causing your anxiety in the first place.
This is honestly what causes most of my anxiety. I’m a people pleaser and care way too much what other people think.
When I used to get home from work each day, I would quickly think over in my head how the day and each conversation went. I overthink SO much!
But, something that has helped is practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness slows down your thoughts and allows you to be more in the present moment instead of worrying about things you can’t control.
You learn to accept your thoughts instead of trying to fight them all of the time. This helps reduce anxiety and calms you down.
There’s a cycle that starts when you become anxious. Anxiety is caused by feeling worried and stressed by certain things in your life.
Then, being anxious & stressed all the time leads to feeling fatigued and burnt out.
When you reach burnout mode, taking care of yourself goes out the window.
This is when we tend to reach for the comfort food and do whatever we can to get by. We ignore our needs in order to survive.
It’s time to put a stop to this! You’re the only one who can end the cycle.
That starts with deciding to put yourself first and making a daily commitment to do something that benefits you in some way. If you need help creating habits to take care of yourself, check out this 30-day self-care plan.
#5 Drinking too much caffeine
I love coffee almost as much as my dogs… but with that comes its own limits.
You can have caffeine. But work on limiting it to one or two cups a day (preferably first thing in the morning).
Caffeine screws up with your sleep schedule if you drink too much of it at night. And a lack of sleep leads to higher anxiety levels.
#6 Self-sabotaging yourself
Stop tearing yourself down! You’re not a failure because you have anxiety.
Try to let go of trying to be perfect and stop that inner critic in your head.
Anytime you hear a negative voice in your head saying you’re not good enough, counteract it. For every bad thought you have about yourself, make it a challenge to find something good about yourself.
Try to even out the playing field a little bit.
#7 Drinking alcohol
Drinking should be an occasional thing, like for birthdays or holidays.
This is especially true if you’re currently taking anti-depressants to help with your anxiety. Alcohol lowers your serotonin level. This means it’s basically reversing any positive side effects your medicine is giving you.
And I’m sure you’d rather wake up in the morning feeling refreshed instead of groggy and irritated.
#8 Falling into a deep negative thinking trap
Mental health professionals call this type of thinking “rumination”. Basically, you have repetitive negative thoughts going on in your mind.
These thoughts turn into problems that never get solved. Constant negative thinking causes you to start feeling like a victim in your life. You can end up feeling like you’re not worthy of anything.
This negative thinking trap is also where you develop high levels of anxiety. You start to worry about a specific outcome of a situation before it even happens.
Rumination is a difficult thing to overcome, so don’t expect it to happen overnight.
Talking to a therapist or a professional can help you walk through these thoughts and finally move forward.
#9 Black or white thinking
It’s either all or nothing, there’s no in-between. Well, when you have anxiety there has to be an in-between.
Black or white thinking leads to procrastination. It makes you feel like everything has to be perfect or else it’s not worth trying.
Try to work on finding the gray colors throughout your day. Try to lower your expectations. This doesn’t mean you have to settle for less, it just means you won’t get disappointed so easily.
If you have a test coming up that you need to get an A on, work on expecting a B. Or if you hate change in your life, accepting the fact that change will happen is a grey area.
Letting go of black-and-white thinking means you are learning to accept things the way that they are, without feeling disappointed in the process.
#10 Assuming
Assumptions hurt everyone involved. When you assume your boyfriend wants to take you out to dinner, but he assumes you’ll cook dinner at home, a fight is getting ready to boil.
The main way you can get rid of assuming is by communicating better. If you think a co-worker is upset with you, be upfront and ask them.
Or if you assume your boyfriend is taking you out to dinner, shoot him a quick text to double-check.
Lastly, if you do jump to conclusions, forgive yourself and everyone involved.
It’s so easy to get frustrated and blow up on somebody because you assumed something different in your head.
Take a few deep breaths and recognize what went wrong, then focus on moving forward. This will help reduce anxiety levels.
Moving Forward
When it comes to changing your negative thoughts, avoidance, or assuming things, these habits are difficult to change.
Typically, these habits were formed long ago, when you were a kid. Based on how others treated you, you started to believe certain things about yourself.
My point is, that it won’t be easy to change old habits, but you definitely can do it. I just want you to be patient with yourself and realize that improving your mental health is a lifestyle change.
It won’t instantly happen, but the more work you put into it, the less anxious you will feel and the happier you will become.
A basic recipe for overnight oats is the following.
Now it’s time to set the scene for a good night’s sleep. One way to increase the chances of a good night’s sleep is to develop a sleep routine. A sleep routine is simply activities that you repeatedly do at night before you go to bed. Developing a routine before bedtime trains your brain to sleep as part of the routine. It makes getting to sleep easier in the long run.
