I grew up in the Jane Fonda era (God bless her). I would put on my pink leotard and pink leg warmers and jaunt down the street every morning before school starting in elementary school. I loved running & I loved her aerobics videos that busted on the scene like Blockbusters in the 80's. This followed me to high school where I ran track and was pretty decent @ it (I mean, we're not talking nationals here or anything), but in college my focus was on working and going to school full time. After that I entered the corporate world, and after COVID hit and the market went bananas, my mental health really began to struggle. I had been diagnosed with epilepsy prior and with everything else piling on, it all became too much. I was then formally diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and the amount of pills I was taking was just incomprehensible. Always trying a new trial; in constant anticipation for the magic pill to cure all of my ails, and the inevitable disappointment that followed. Something had to change. \
This is when I had to take a step back. Where did it all go wrong? I felt like I had zero control over my life and my very outlook on life depended on whether or not Big Pharma's blue or red pill would work?
No. I had to scrap it all.
This meant a change in everything fundamental- my job, my lifestyle, my life, and *myself*. I started reading voraciously (as we do), to find a solution. This was difficult in the throes of a depression where I didn't believe in anything- not in life, not in trying nor the point of anything or myself. And I just realized-- no one is going to hand us the impetus or motivation to get better, and it went beyond a magic pill. It went to the core of believing in who I was again and what I stood for. In his book, James Clear writes that identity is intrinsically tied to 2 things: our core belief system, and the things we do repetitively over and over again that solidifies that belief system and how we see ourselves-- i.e. our IDENTITY.
This is HUGE. Everything we do is based off of our beliefs of our identity. This is why *habits* are a part of this site. In order to believe in myself I had to do things that created the empirical backing to support that I should- and could- do it. I needed to build healthy *habits*. So even though I didn't think I had an iota of motivation to scape from the sides of my bottomless pit- I just DID. I woke up every morning counting back from 5 (Mel Robbin's 5-Second Rule) and then forced myself to get out of bed. I started seriously scrutinizing everything that went into my eye-hole, my ear-hole & my mouth-hole. I cut the pills out completely and started anew with a set of vitamins I knew I needed, and nootropics in the mornings. Stretch, do something physical for 5 minutes, and jump into whatever it was that I KNEW I needed (but certainly didn't want) to do that day. I read books on psychology and fitness and that's when I discovered how movement can greatly affect our mental aptitude and capacity to form healthier neuro pathways.
Suffice it to say movement is a game-changer. Think about it like this: your car always seems to get stuck on first gear. Even though if at first it was a glitch- after a while it happens like 90% of the time. Not only has the old battleax gotten used to it- but you start coming to accept it as an inevitability! It becomes both of your "defaults." Same thing with our brains. We get stuck in the same old trenches, physiologically and metaphorically speaking, thus we need to hardwire our brains for positivity instead. And the way to start is by reinforcing good habits through repetition, like physical activity, getting out of bed early to show up for ourselves and our goals, putting good stuff into our bodies, and positively motivating ourselves to create the new neuro-pathways we need to hardwire our brains for positivity and success!
Motivation is a self-cranking mechanism. When you have no motivation you draw from fear for motivation; fear of losing your job, losing your boyfriend, fear of losing your home or your lifestyle. And it could be paralyzing or make you do impulsive things. Nothing good comes from that, and anyone who ever told you that fear is a good incentivizer is full of s***. Operating from a place of fear is tipping the first domino in a line that greatly INCENTIVIZES you to alter the course of your life for the WORSE by making all sorts of the wrong moves from the jump because your coming from the wrong place.
That is exactly why what you put in your eye & ear-holes is so important. That includes the things you read, the things you doom-scroll on SM about, the environment your in, and, ESPECIALLY, the people you surround yourself with. It is strictly up to you to put the right carrot before the horse though, no one else can do that for you. That means having a specific vision for your life. And, creating a vision board is not a bad idea!- Yeah, I said it! Me! Years ago I would have scoffed at the idea as being what they call "woo-woo," but when your default is negative- you have to create the VISION of what you're working towards, if not, then, yeah, why try at all? Once you have that vision, instill the HABIT of progress through constant and consistent action to reinforce that vision, or identity, that you want. It's a cycle. Each block reinforces the next.
So- yeah! That's the good news. The good news is, you can TOTALLY do this. Your destiny is NEVER set in stone & it doesn't have to be made up of wheat grass, a puritan lifestyle or killing yourself on a treadmill, either. No. You just have to get the elements right. And the formula is here:
Good Eating. Good habits. Awesome Life.
Simply put, that's what got me out of the mucky-muck and that's what I hope will help you get out of your default and help you to create those healthy habits that lead you to your best self, and your best life. Oh and because what you put in your eye-holes is so important (;-P), I have also included links to my virtual vision boards of beautiful and motivational things on Pinterest so you can get a feel for what type of femme I am, and, also, hopefully inspire you and get you dreamin'. The spark starts there, then one little thing, then another and another until you stack up that fortitude of confidence you need to build the life that you deserve. I'll be your biggest cheerleader. I promise. My contact info is to the left. :)
Oh- and, lastly, I should note: pink isn't really my color, but it goes so well with the rest of the theme of the site that I thought: Why not? ;-p
