For those of you following us and our content, you've probably noticed a break in some of our blog posts. Where did we go? What were we doing? How is everything?
Well, we believe in being humble, open, and transparent here so we're opening up about a few things. The blogs are all on me, JT, and I've had some things come up over the past few months. With numerous deaths, suicides, family needs, and just a slew of "regular" demands of my time, my dam finally gave way. I was overstressed, and in a place that had me searching for a reset.
In looking at my situation, I bet a lot of you can relate. The pandemic has been rough on a lot of people and we always want to be taking care of ourselves through hardships. Mental health is at a critical point, and from what I've been hearing from my friends, colleagues, and partners is that it isn't easy to deal with. Diagnoses of anxiety and depression are absolutely skyrocketing according to MHA and right now companies are spotlighting this within their organizations.
So, for us being a provider and consultant for these things I wanted to practice what we preach. I took time, looked into our locus of control, and put together a plan to continue to pour into my wellbeing. Such things included:
Social time: I noticed I was letting this slip quite a bit. Instead of reaching out I was mainly focused on trying to be a present father and husband. Doesn't seem bad, right? True, being good at those is a worthwhile investment, however, I was doing that at a cost for friendships. I missed events, talking with friends, game nights, and a few more over the past few months and realized I needed to shuffle around priorities, give myself some grace (and ask for it with my friends), and declare my intentions with the people I wanted to spend time with. They understood, and I'm already seeing a noticeable difference in my life.
Working Out: I was doing my best during the pandemic with walks, working out at home with basic weights, and isometrics. However, once my daughter arrived that came crashing down to a full stop after months of it slowing down up until late last year. After basically 4 months of not doing anything, I needed a change. We got some new workout equipment and I can happily say that I'm working out 5 times a week. Always remember: Just because you "failed" at working out for a day, week, month, etc that DOES NOT MAKE YOU A FAILURE. It only makes you human and it doesn't mean you can't get back at it today or even tomorrow!
Mindfulness: Many of you know I'm a certified mindfulness coach. I was beginning to do devotions in the morning which is great (and sorely needed for me) however, I was noticing most of the content I was digesting wasn't being thought about methodically and basically going in one ear and out the other. I needed to re-establish my thinking so that by "getting my mind right I could get my grind right" at work. If you've either just tried mindfulness, never heard about it, or are trying to practice it - DO IT. This is, in my opinion, one of the staples of health that not many people are doing, yet, can have more impact on your health than any other free source on the planet. Trust us, it's amazing.
These are the main staples I've come to realize that have made an incredible impact on me so I wanted to share them with you now. Who knows, maybe you've had a rough couple of months and needed a reset. Take today, tomorrow, or however long you think to push that button and invest into yourself. You're wonderfully made into an amazing person - you deserve to have an amazing life. Now go get it!