I was born in June and my zodiac sign is Cancer- or the crab. It’s said that when a crab feels overwhelmed she will crawl back into her shell, nest, and isolate herself from the world to find comfort. While I don’t understand our birth signs, I do know this description is spot on for me.
It seems no matter how hard I try to pace myself and live in the moment, it’s a daily battle to keep my girl front and center and in charge. I long for the days when we would drive to work or school listening to the radio, singing at the top of our lungs rather than talking on our cell phones and checking messages at every stop light. I miss having neighbors who liked to chat, pull their lawn chairs up and simply talk. I miss the sounds of children playing games outside in the front yard…now replaced by scheduled sporting events, video games and endless homework. While I love the convenience of modern life, at times I feel it’s stolen the good life.
One of the greatest challenges you will face on your journey to get your girl back, is slowing down. It almost seems counter intuitive. How do you slow down in a world that is moving faster and faster every day? Just yesterday I was reading through PR opportunities and one of them was on sleep. They were looking for an expert who could talk about life without sleep and why it’s such a waste of time and if it were possible, to engineer ourselves to not need sleep! Can you believe that? I want to cry just thinking about it (yes, you can rant here on the comment section of my blog too). While some do consider it a waste of time, it terrifies me to think what would happen to my spirit and sanity if I didn’t sleep? It’s the only time my brain gets a break.
So how do you slow down? Where do you find the time to work ON your life versus constantly living IN it? Here are three strategies- give one or more a try and I promise you will get a little bit closer to finding your girl and entering a new state of living: New Habits to Start Working on Today!
- Put it Away: I dare you to just try to put your cell phone away or out of reach for blocked periods of time throughout the day. First of all, charge your phone AWAY from your bed, perhaps in the bathroom when you go to sleep. Put it on do not disturb and resist all temptation to check messages, text or social updates after a set hour. For me its 8 pm. Give yourself the gift of unplugging. Most of us aren’t doctors and no one is going to die if we don’t immediately respond. If that’s the case for you then set up rules that work for your situation. This one step will immediately improve your sleep, anxiety, and stress levels. It won’t be easy so be prepared. However, once you learn this new habit, of exercising cell phone self-control, you will feel empowered to develop other new habits to fuel happiness in your life. Other no-phone times to consider are dinnertime and morning (keep reading).
- Keep it Away: Oh, I know this is so hard but consider how good it would feel to leave your cell phone in its place until after breakfast? Imagine waking up, getting ready listening to music or the news, making breakfast, talking to your family, and starting your day peacefully rather than in an instant panic over what you have to do (flooded in box, numerous texts, etc.).
- Stop Multi-tasking: Okay, this goes against everything we do as women but I promise, it will change your life. If you have noticed, men do one thing at a time and do it well. Women? We can literally do up to five things at once. While we may do it well, the fact is we do everything on autopilot and at the end of the day don’t even recall what we did. In short, we are missing our very lives! Just try to do one thing at a time and allow yourself to slow down, breathe, and pace yourself in a moderate manner. I know, crazy right? There is something incredibly freeing about allowing yourself to do one thing at a time.
Okay, so I’ve mastered the power of my mind, I know how to change my mental state quickly and can recognize when I’m in a funk. Even with this experience, I still struggle to maintain control over my emotions and thought process- the very things that create stress and anxiety for most of us! For some reason, the brain finds it so much easier to think negatively, worry, fret and ponder everything that can possibly go wrong. Because I’ve trained my brain I enter these states less often than most people. You can say that I’m aware of what’s going on up there and trust me, it helps tremendously. So- as you begin to implement these habits I’ve shared with you, you too will be further training your brain to do what you want it to do versus what it wants to do.
You can slow down, savor the moment and be more present in your life. To make it happen you must decide it’s something you want to do and then step by step begin to take action on those things that steal your joy and in turn your girl. So stop right now and consider the small steps you can take to make big gains in your life. I would love to hear from you as well so please, share what you do to reduce stress and anxiety here on my blog or on our Facebook page at the Get Your Girl Back movement.
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Written by Traci Bild, Founder of the Get Your Girl Back movement