set up for success?

do you set yourself up for success or failure?

i used to spend a lot of time setting myself up for failure... and i didn't even realize it. i had a pretty decent commute to work everyday and even though i knew it caused me stress, i still ate whatever i wanted and stayed up late trying to avoid the inevitable workday morning. this left me with an upset stomach almost every morning and quite the case of the crankies. i knew time before work was stressful and yet i'd sleep in, i wouldn't prep anything the night before and i'd drag myself around until i became totally rushed and absolutely miserable. then, even though i knew working out and yoga kept me sane, i'd succumb to my anxiety and call it a day by spending my time eating junk food (comfort food) and lounging lazily on the couch. never eliminating my anxious energy or feelings. i never talked about what was going on and i never did anything to change it. i spent a lot of time saying "oh well, it is what it is."

definitely setting myself up for failure.

i knew i was miserable anxious and i did NOTHING to change it. i thought it might go away if i just accepted it and i stopped fighting. i stopped trying to find happiness. i stopped living. and ironically, all of the quitting actually caused me even more stress.

so take stock. look around yourself. are there things you can change that are currently making you unhappy? does journaling make you feel better but you just shrug it off due to being 'too tired' or 'not in the mood?' is there a yoga class that you know you could make, but you just choose not to add it to your day so you get more time on the couch? do you make excuses a lot about things you know would make you feel better, but you just don't do them? do you know what makes you happy or do you just focus energy and awareness on what makes you anxious and stressed?

here's your great big STOP SIGN.

pause. take a time out.

start making the effort. you are worth it. you deserve it. don't let your stress and anxiety get the best of you. try putting this into effect: do one thing, EVERYDAY, just for you. take a bath, write, get your yoga on, go to the gym, out for a run, walk the dog, read a book, watch your favorite movie with popcorn, sip tea, go out to dinner with a friend, make dinner for someone special, go to a movie after work.... just do it. stop making excuses.

set yourself up for success! know what makes you feel good, feel happy, feel relaxed... and DO IT. don't let anxiety make you put your life on hold.

and while this may seem like a waste of time or frivilous... know that these things are some of the most important and powerful things you can do to heal from anxiety.

Art of Procrastination

I know a lot of people that fall victim to procrastination, myself being the biggest one of all! I'm going to confess - I hate when I realize that I've left something for the very last minute and am forced to drop everything else I want to do to tend to something I'd rather forget about!

Having gone through the stress and anxiety of procrastination one too many times, I've decided to make a commitment to myself. No more procrastination. It'll definitely be a challenge... keeping up with this commitment is an act of non-procrastination in and of itself. I realize that a lot of people (again, myself included) seem to procrastinate the most with personal things. I'm more prone to keep a promise or commitment to someone else before I'll keep one to myself. I'll work my bum off trying to motivate someone else into doing something positive before I motivate myself. I'll promise myself that I'll make it to the gym, but then spend so much time taking care of errands and to-do's that by the time I wanted to go to the gym, I'm beat and I bail out. I encourage people to pamper themselves and treat themselves every now and then, but neglect to treat myself.

This week has been an eye opener for me with my tendencies to put things off until "later." When I came home to a stack of bills, a pile of laundry and a flooded inbox after my trip I realized that I inadvertently left everything on my to-do list until after I got back. I spent a lot of time before the trip running errands, shopping and pretty much getting everything in order for the trip. Anything unrelated to the trip fell into my "I'll do it later" category. As you can see, I tend to fall short on the ability to balance multiple things as well. I was consumed with going away, rather then balancing what was going on at home with what needed to be prepped for florida. I didn't even realize how much I left for myself to do until I actually sat down and got everything done this morning! I had yoga and gym classes planned for this week, a visit to the park with the dog and some fun stuff I wanted to get done... and most fell to the wayside because i over packed myself without realizing it.... all thanks to my superior procrastination skills.

So this is my promise to myself- no more procrastinating. No more putting things off until tomorrow. And this holds true for fun things too! Leaving everything until the last minute or putting off so many tasks that you're inundated with work by the end of the week causes immense stress and anxiety... and avoidable stress and anxiety!

If a project or task seems huge and you just don't want to deal with it, break it down into parts. Then try to accomplish at least one of those parts each day until the task is complete. If you have a few things to get done and some are dreaded things for you, spread them out... don't leave all of the dreaded tasks for the end. Do some fun stuff, then some stuff that has to get done, then the stuff you really don't want to do but have to do and then repeat that cycle until you're finished with everything!

Make a commitment to yourself to not procrastinate. Write out everything you need/want to get done and go do it! And schedule "you" time in there too! I have officially blocked out two full hours of "me" time for the gym tomorrow. Honor your promises to yourself as you would to a friend. We have enough stress in our lives... why let procrastination add to it!?