5 Tips To Feel Like Yourself Again

Fact: We all get off our game. Sometimes life is awesome and feels as happy as a puppy chasing a tennis ball.

Other times, life is overwhelming and feels as scary as a tennis ball being chased by a puppy.

I get it. Transitions happen. And sometimes they suck.

Life changes. And slowly, but surely, we start to feel less like ourselves. We suddenly realize that things feel like they're beyond our control, too much to handle, or simply out of sorts.

Like many people, I am my harshest critic. Whether it’s judging my work, my decisions, or my inability to solve a rubik’s cube, I can find a way to add stress and overcomplicate any situation. And when that happens and I start to get off track...

Here’s the exact formula I use to feel like myself:

5 Tips To Feel Like Yourself Again:

1. Decide how you want to feel. This sounds obvious, but hear me out. If you don’t like how you feel right now, do you know how you'd like to feel? Come up with 3-5 adjectives that describe how you want to feel at your best. Ex. Energized, abundant, light, creative, joyous, etc. 
2. Think Back. Figure out the last time you felt that way (or close to it). What were you doing? Who were you with? What activities did you enjoy? What did your lifestyle look like (food, sleep, etc.)? Write it out. Seriously, don’t just think about it. Actually write it out.
3. Take Stock. Look at all the actions you’re currently taking (or not taking). How are they similar to or different than what you were doing when you were feeling great? Are you sleeping less? Drinking more? Spending time with the wrong people?
4. Take care. Amp up the self-care. Go back to the basics and create a checklist of the daily behaviors that make you feel your best. Examples include meditation, exercise, drinking more water, making time for hobbies, etc. Adding in the good stuff will help to crowd out the crap.
5. Simplify it. Filter out that which doesn’t serve you. If you’re anything like me, this is a big one. It can be hard to filter out the things that prevent us from feeling like ourselves when we’re caught up stressing over other people’s reactions, our ideas of what we “should” be doing, FOMO, etc. So here’s the key to keeping it simple: Create a filter question. Ask yourself, “Will ______ (doing this thing, seeing this person, inhaling this Cinnabon) get me closer to or further from feeling like myself again?” Then, act accordingly.

Above all, release judgment. Transitions happen to all of us. And while the unknown often creates overwhelm and a return to old behaviors, we always have the ability to reroute our course and steer ourselves in the direction that serves us best. So, in the spirit of following my own advice, I’m taking my dog to the park. Where I won’t be the dog or the ball, but simply a happy observer.