Today, I want to share 5 steps that can help you push through a rough patch. The last few weeks for me have been a little weird. I’ve been kind of off, a bit lost, and not feeling great. I a bit of a slump, really. So I’ve been trying to find a path back to feeling great.
Accept, then push through
The interesting thing when you start to feel this way is that it kind of snowballs on you. You start thinking negative thoughts, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and negative self-talk. And, the more you think that way, the more you keep going into this deeper and deeper hole. I think it’s important to recognize that it’s okay to feel that way. Often, we try to hide when we feel this way, and we don’t express it, or we try to “be strong” and really not even acknowledge that we’re feeling down.
So the first step is to accept that it’s okay not to feel okay. It’s okay to sometimes be down in the dumps. It’s okay to having self-doubt imposter syndrome and those types of thoughts. The first step is acknowledging and accepting that those feelings are there. It is important that you are very compassionate with yourself and not beat yourself down because of it.
Recently I found this great account on Twitter and Instagram called @lizandmollie, and they create these really cool drawings. I’m going to show you some of them, and they have some lessons that may help you when you’re feeling down.
To Push Through, learn to shift your mindset
By nature, we have these instincts to protect ourselves. So our first instinct is always to go to the negative connotation because we want to protect ourselves. So what I love about this one is that it illustrates that shift in mentality that can really help you go to any situation with the right mindset.
You don’t need to know everything before starting something
We tend to think that to do something; we need to know everything before we get started. And that can be so limiting because the reality is you will not know everything you need to know before you start. What you need to do is, as this graph says, have a really good understanding of what you want to do. And if you believe in it and know that you really want to do it, do it and learn along the way.
There’s a virtuous cycle, you need to love yourself and be patient for it to work
This has been a huge lesson for me, especially when I get into these lows. Usually, it happens because I lose my patience, and I know I want to be somewhere, and I’m not getting there quick enough. And that reinforces the self-doubt and the negative talk and those type of things. This is such a great reminder of some of the steps you need to take. And the patience you need to have to get where you need to.
A great example of this for me was when I lost all that weight. I lost 70 pounds, and it wasn’t easy. It didn’t happen overnight. It happened over the course of 12 months, and it wasn’t easy at the beginning. I was mad at myself. I wasn’t nice to myself. What kept me going was all the small wins. It was getting up and going to the gym to do half-hour on the static bike. And I felt awesome that I did that. It was an accomplishment to me. Then do that consistently every single day. And that’s what got me, where I needed to be. It was that consistency. And having patience with that process helped me lose all that weight. But this can apply to anything you’re doing.
Push through self-limiting beliefs
You will succeed regardless of any of these things that show up in your life. And know that everyone that has found success has dealt with these things.
So you will be afraid that you’re going to fail, and yes, you probably will fail. And that’s fine. You’re worried about what other people think about you or where other people are compared to you. Or that you have failed in the past that, that you’re not as young as you used to be, or that you’ve never done something similar, or that you’re not old enough to do something.
All of those are self-limiting beliefs that you have to push through. Ultimately the difference between successful people and those who are not is that they push through one or all of these. So you can succeed. Even if you have these feelings, it’s just a matter of acknowledging they exist and pushing through them.
In Conclusion
Sometimes we’re going to go through some difficult periods where you might feel lost or feel a lot of self-doubts and not really knowing what to do or where to go. And it sucks. It sucks to feel that way, but know that what you need to do is push through those things. Here are five thoughts that will help you:
- Acknowledge that you’re feeling that way and not just pushing it aside or ignoring it.
- Make small changes to our mindset. Go from that mentality of self-preservation, of what if it doesn’t work, to what if it does, because that’s a positive mind frame.
- You don’t need to know everything to start doing something as long as you know and have a really good idea of what you want to do.
- Patience is key. The first step, the foundation, is self-love. So be nice yourself, then go and get the small wins. Get those small wins consistently. If you continue with that cycle, you will get where you want to get.
- Everyone successful has had to push through some self-limiting belief, whether they thought they were not ready, were too young, didn’t know enough, etc. And you can do it too.
Once again, I want to thank @lizandmollie. Go follow them on Instagram and Twitter.
All the best, always,
Jorge