Life Chats: Changes, Self-Love & Pushing Forward

I woke up today feeling better than I have in a long time. It’s only been one week since I wrote about my constant ruts, the most recent being one of the worst. The month of August got the best of me emotionally, mentally and even spiritually. In many different ways, it broke me down. I made the decision that I needed change. So instead of making excuses and complaining, I did something about it.

My life has not changed drastically in such a short amount of time, but I am already seeing improvements in how I feel and the way that I’m thinking. There’s no guarantee that I won’t fall into another rut at some point. In fact, I’m pretty sure it will happen again in the future as it’s just a part of life and something that we all go through from time to time. However, the more I go through them, the stronger they make me. I’m constantly learning more about myself and I’m paying closer attention to my reactions in certain situations.

One of the most challenging things about getting yourself out of a rut is getting to the root of it all. It took me quite some time, but after a lot of soul searching, I finally figured it out. Somewhere along the way, I stopped taking care of myself. I got back into unhealthy habits and began feeding myself negative thoughts. Instead of practicing self-love, I began putting myself last. That’s not okay.

Self-love is so essential. I think that some people see it as being selfish, but that’s not what it’s about. You have to truly have that deep connection with yourself before you can connect with others. I lost that self-love after my dad died and it took me a really long time to get it back. Thankfully I did and I owe a lot of that to my solo travels. Somehow though, I lost touch with it again this summer. Not completely, but I realize now that my connection lost a bit of it’s strength. It got to a point last week when I said, “No more.” That was all I needed to shift my focus and set a new game plan for myself.

The first change that I made was getting back into a healthier lifestyle. I ALWAYS feel so much better about myself when I’m working out consistently and eating right. I don’t even know why I have stopped so many times. In full transparency, I’m not very happy with my body lately. I know I touched on that last week. I have felt super sluggish and just overall not the most confident. It’s not about the number on the scale or setting goals to lose a certain amount of inches. It’s about getting stronger, being healthier and getting to a place where I feel happier and more comfortable in my own skin again. I’m only on day 5, but I’ll get there! I just have to keep up the consistency.

The next step and probably the most important has been changing the way I start my days. I’ve been waking up with real intention and purpose and visualizing what I want in a positive way. It has been a game changer in such a short amount of time. I’ve been getting out of bed a little earlier each day too and making sure to get my workout in before I do anything else. I honestly believe that’s why I feel so much better today. I didn’t even have any Monday blues!

Way too often, we focus on the goals that we have not yet accomplished. We fixate on the things that we don’t have and lose sight of all our incredible blessings. This was another issue for me and another reason why I allowed myself to get into a bad emotional place. I had to sort of put myself in check and be reminded of the fact that everything happens in its own time. That’s cliché, but man, it’s true. I have to trust in the timing, have more patience and keep pushing forward towards my goals and dreams. The most important thing is to not stop and to continue, always. I wanted this post to be a follow-up from my little hiatus because so many of you left comments and messages about feeling the same exact ways. Some of you even told me that you didn’t think you could ever get out of your rut! Well, I’m here to tell you that you can and you will. If I can do it time and time again and come out stronger, then so can you.

Make a new game plan and hold yourself accountable. Wake up with a real purpose every single day. Visualize everything that you want to the point where you literally see yourself achieving the goal. Be active. Working out is such an incredible stress reliever and an amazing way to kick off the day. Give yourself a change of scenery. Don’t forget to take care of yourself and have some “ME” time when needed. You totally deserve that. Social media breaks help so much too. Most importantly, count your blessings and be genuinely appreciative for all that you have. Trust in your struggles, trust in the timing, and believe that you can live the life you want.

I know that I still have a lot of work to do, but I’m ready! I know that not every day will be a good day, but I still have the power to change things and turn them around. My hope is that this could possibly help one of you to give you a fresh perspective and extra push. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you chat with me in the comments below! Sending all of you love and wishing you an incredible start to the new week!

P.S. Have you checked out my Podcast Interview yet? If not, I hope you do! It was definitely a life chat.