Knowing when to chill
The flip side of motivating yourself is knowing when to cut yourself some slack and just chill out
Motivational videos can be great to get you started when you have a mountain to tackle and it seems huge and perhaps insurmountable.
But as with everything in life the mountain climb is a challenge.
And challenges need to be faced, fought and overcome.
However, in order to do this you not only need the will to battle on and keep going in the form of motivation and sheer grit, you also need self compassion.
The problem is when the problems are great and the battle is endless we sometimes forget that the ledge along the way is a seat as well as a step.
The flip side to fighting every challenge is rest.
It is unfortunate that in Rocky videos you often see him running up steps and punching in montages and not sleeping.
Because even, and perhaps especially, world class boxers needs some shut eye occasionally.
I know there are mad people who say they will sleep when they are dead, but there is nothing like shut eye for a fresh and sane perspective.
The motivational videos are great for the morning, but not great when you need to put those aching limbs to bed.
This may not be rocket science, but people often forget to relax on occasion in the face of lifes challenges.
Meditation I find can be a great tool in achieving this, but if your meditation is best done in the pub or in the bath all power to that approach too.
That step that you occasionally use to sit or sleep on will eventually mean you battle the mountain a little saner and a little calmer than that wired ‘no sleep till I’m dead’ friend of yours.
If you like this, you may also like: https://medium.com/@poignant-words/beating-depression-30a21111c31f
