Sometimes, chasing the clouds away seems next to impossible.

Sometimes, no matter how much you try, it seems impossible to pull yourself out of a funk. Sometimes, chasing the clouds away seems like a lost cause as they roll their way in, crowding out your sunshine and flattening your motivation and productivity. It’s not depression at this stage (though those of us with experience in such matters know it can lead to that if left unchecked), but it definitely sucks. Big time.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ve no doubt noticed that I’ve gotten a bit… um… erratic in my posting frequency since my father’s death in May. I find my motivation since then has been all over the place… I’ll get a burst of energy and inspiration and get a bunch of stuff done, but at other times, the writer’s block rears up its ugly head and I just haven’t had the motivation to try and do anything about it. I just couldn’t be bothered to come up with new article ideas. And I even stopped going to Toastmasters, which I had previously really enjoyed going to.

Stuck in idle while the storm is brewing

It’s been a bit annoying, really. To go from having all these ideas and the drive to make it all happen to feeling stuck in idle mode. I’ve talked before about working your way out of a slump, but none of my usual techniques seemed to be working this time. Worse than that, I started doubting myself! Wondering what the point was of running yet another blog, wondering why I was trying to start yet another business when all the previous ones never really ended being all that successful anyway. Yadda, yadda….

And in true Law of Attraction fashion, the more I let myself get sucked into all that, the worse it got. All the red alert sirens started going off in my head (and I sincerely hope that when you start spiralling like that in your own life, those red alerts sound for you, too!) and I realized I had to put a stop to it. No more sitting around being sad and feeling sorry for myself. No more thinking about all the “what if I can’t make it happen” thoughts. I already know that nothing good ever comes from giving into such thinking. But I just could not muster the energy to work my way out of it.

Chasing the clouds away with Einstein

And then I remembered something: Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I’ve heard that quote before, and never really thought much about it, but for some reason, it really “clicked” and resonated with me this time. It made me realize that if I want to make real changes in my life and actually accomplish the things I dream about, I have to do something different. I can’t keep doing things the way I have and expecting different results. If I want to see real changes, I need to change, and I need to change what I’m doing.

So I did something I’ve never done before: I signed up for coaching. And the shift so far has been amazing. I’ve regained a lot of my lost motivation. I’m moving again, and things are starting to happen again. More importantly, I’ve gotten involved with a group of like-minded people (my coaching group) who are also trying to make things happen for themselves, and it’s great to see everyone sharing and helping each other out in our member forum. I’ve created a long-term plan track all the projects and programs I want to work on, and the inertial boost from that exercise has given me the motivation to start moving forward once again.

I even went back to Toastmasters and am now officially half-way to my first level designation with that organization (and I might add, I got stellar evaluations on my speech last week :-)) and I’ve put together a plan and schedule to get the remaining requirements completed by Christmas.

Cloudbusting

Things are happening again. Slowly, to be sure, but at least I’m moving again. It’s a process, of course. And I’m sure there’ll be bumps in the road; there always are. But I’ve shifted my approach now, and am taking a new direction — hopefully one that’ll be a lot smoother sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep finding new ways to re-inspire myself and my mojo back. And I’ll be sharing all that here with you. So here’s to chasing the clouds away, and here’s to new directions, new approaches, new paths, new inspiration, and new ways of thinking and doing!

photo credit: Reflection Clouds by mattskogen via pixabay.com cc