Go easy on yourself

As someone who likes to stay highly motivated and push myself to my limits, I have learned that while I am pursing my goals and dreams, I must go easy on myself. This doesn't mean slow down, or stop pushing myself, but it means along the way; not to take myself so seriously, to laugh at my mistakes, and not to be so damn hard on myself. A lot of us tend to be so hard on ourselves that we allow ourselves to get into a slump about it. I am guilty of this myself, especially when I miss home or the people I love, I get down, and I am less productive. I always come out of my slumps more motivated than ever, and they have become less frequent and don't last as long, but I would be lying if I said they never happened anymore. I also know each time it happens, it is a major moment of growth in my life.

Some techniques I use to avoid these slumps are as follows;

To make goals to achieve in short amounts of time, this forces me to get back on my game and work to achieve these mini goals. Making lists always helps too, a priority list is always something I am working on. Once I see my priorities in front of me, that alone is enough motivation to kick me out of my slump. On the other hand, I have learned to accept this about myself, so when I feel a slump coming I can take action to avoid letting it stop me from being productive.

Making time for nature, exercise, food prep, cleaning my home; these are things that make me feel good and when I make time for them, I avoid the slump. Making phone calls to people I love and care about is also helpful- when I am connecting with a loved one I tend to feel motivated and will usually try to clean while on the phone, or food prep- just put some head phones in and chat while I work. Then once the phone conversation is over- my task has usually been completed and now I am motivated to finish the rest of the tasks on my list. Half the battle is just getting started.

Music is a big motivator, once a song comes on that makes me want to dance, my mood will instantly be lifted. A lot of times I will "dance it out." I will just dance as hard as I can- not thinking of what moves I am doing, or what I look like, is a huge stress relief. I usually get to the point of laughing at myself when I dance and my self love comes flooding back. I like to make myself laugh, I think I am funny! If I don't think I'm funny, no one else is going to. LAUGH AT YOURSELVES PEOPLE. Don't take everything so seriously- I am giving myself this advice too.

Reading a good book. THIS ALWAYS HELPS. I've said it a million times before and I'll say it a million more times. My dad sent me a quote once it read;

"we read books to escape to somewhere else when we can't go anywhere else." This is so true, allow yourself to escape your reality sometimes- this doesn't make you weak, this makes you smart.

Praying-manifesting-setting intentions. When all else fails and I just can't seem to exit my slump- I pray. I ask for help. I manifest feeling better. I ask for a sign to pull me out of this egotistical emotion. And it never fails. I never fail.

Trust yourself. You know how to make yourself happy. You have every single tool you need to succeed in life- you were born with it all. Trust yourself, love yourself, be patient with yourself. And maybe someday we can all perfect the art of never slipping into those slumps. I believe this can happen for me and I believe this can happen for you. We are capable of inner peace.