3 Steps When You Aren't Feeling "It"
Do you ever have moments where you just aren’t feeling “it”? I don’t know what “it” is for you, but for me “it” is any number of arduous tasks that routinely face me on a daily basis. Budgets. Contracts. Basically, anything involving an excel spreadsheet. The hardest part of not feeling “it” is when the gray from Winter bleeds into the gray that becomes the early Spring. In those moments, the ones that feel like you haven’t seen the sun in years, my motivation to do anything productive is as ugly as old snow mixed with sludge from the street.
I know we’ve all been there, some of you are probably there right now. The question becomes:
What do you do when you just aren’t feeling “it”?
The easy answer is to run somewhere warm and sunny. Run somewhere that has fewer responsibilities and fewer things you don’t like to do. That would be ideal, but it isn’t always real. At some point in our life, all of us are going to have to figure out a way to power through the moments of life that kinda suck.
In a recent conversation with Mike Mathile (former professional baseball player turned Christian entrepreneur), we tackled the idea of what it means to do something when you really don’t want to, or rather – when you aren’t sure you can. He said that sometimes things are just hard, and the most important thing is to keep showing up.
To listen to that conversation click here.
Mike’s words have been banging around my head since we talked because I think it is probably the key to surviving the moments when you just aren’t feeling “it”. In cooperation with Mike’s advice, I thought I might give you a three-step guide to surviving life when you just aren’t feeling “it”.
Step one: Show up anyway. I know this isn’t a revolutionary thought for most of us, and before you close your browser never to read another word I write please let me remind you of something: The only way you can lose is if you quit. Not showing up is a certain way you will fail and never succeed again. Show up even when you don’t feel like it, and maybe even fake a smile.
Step two: Remind yourself you’ve done hard things before. Like Mike said in our conversation, “It’s just hard.” We’ve all done hard things, and you’ll have to do more hard things. We aren’t promised a life of sunshine and lollipops. Reality is very different than that, and you’ve done it before – you can do it again. One of my favorite tricks in this department is to memorize Scripture for reassurance, Hebrews 13:5-6 is one of my favorites.
Step three: Take care of your physical needs. Look, I don’t know about you, but when my body is out of whack I feel out of whack. Naps, gym time, and diet all go into how I am feeling. I am willing to admit that I am an overly emotional person, but if I want to power through something that I know is going to be hard I am going to need to find some time to take care of my physical self.
Finally, and this might be the most important thing you get out of this blog: If your mood is a prolonged season of depression – get help. Talk to someone, talk to anyone. Do anything you can to unload the stress you are carrying. There are no awards for carrying the weight of your world all by yourself. I see someone at least once a month, and it is always a good decision.
Seasons of not feeling “it” will come and go, but they don’t have to define you. The season is just that - a season. When you keep showing up and do the hard work it will pay off in the long run.
I would love to hear from you! What do you do when you just aren’t feeling “it”?
