When you’re going through a challenging time, you’re often time feeling overwhelmed, overstressed, depressed, and even panicked all the time. In fact, you might be thinking that the entire world is collapsing. Everybody’s been there, you’re not alone my friend, it’s natural. Even if it’s hard to see it right now, you’re going to be alright. And if there’s one thing that you need to remind yourself during these tough times, is that you have the ability to change your emotional state, to change your situation for the better.
When you’re in the midst of an emotional vortex, the key is to find your balance, to find your center.
When you are finding more balance, you are able to see things more objectively and you are able to calm your mind. You are able to silence your thoughts, and as you are not your thoughts, you are gaining more clarity about what you should and should not do, and where you need to go from here.
So the question is how can you actively find your balance? How can you actively improve your situation? The following tips can definitely make the difference and help you to find your balance during these tough times.
1. Focus. Don’t let yourself slip
When you are not at your best, you need to re-assess what you want and what you don’t want. This assessment and inner observation is essential in times of adversity. Do you know what you want? What makes you feel good? And what does not make you feel good?
Take a look at your habits and your daily routine, is what you’re doing and thinking throughout the entire day is good for you?
How can you have less from the bad, and more from the good?
Now that you have a better understanding of what you should and should not do, focus on the good. In your current state, it’s super easy to let yourself slip and dwell on your misfortune. You need to actively focus on where you want to go and how you want to feel, even if at the moment you don’t know yet how are you going to get there.
Every moment you are focusing more on what you do want, is a balanced moment. I.e. a moment where you’re mind is clear and you are choosing what you want to do – instead of being dragged unwillingly to the exact situation that you’re trying to get out of.
2. Schedule time for enjoying the little things
What do you like to do?
Playing with your pet?
Eating something nice?
Flowers?
Sunsets?
Every time you’re dedicating your attention to something that you like to do you are clearing your mind and winning another little moment of balance and freedom. These small victories accumulate, and the power of momentum will turn these small moments into massive outcomes.
And it’s really doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult in any level, you don’t have to be the toughest man alive to play with your dog or enjoy a beautiful sunset, right? You don’t have to do anything special to change the way you are feeling, you just need to decide that this is something that from now on you’re going to do. And as you know what gets scheduled gets done, so you actively need to decide when exactly you’re are going to enjoy these little things that make you feel good!
How about now?
SCHEDULE now 5 minutes every hour for something that you like!
5 minutes of a positive mental state is a great way to shift your energy, your whole day, and eventually even your entire life. These 5 minutes are your balance anchor, your new center of plain simple joy, of choosing something that you like rather being dragged to something that you don’t want.
3. Listen to the music you love
What kind of music makes you feel relaxed?
Powerful?
Creative?
Attractive?
Fun?
Every time when you’re feeling lost you can completely gain back your balance through listening to a tune that you love. I’m sure that this is not something that is new to you, but sometimes it’s so simple that we tend to forget it.
You can take a pause any time during your day from your current reality and situation, and calmly dive into the emotions that your favorite music triggers within you.
The speed that it takes for music to affect and it’s accessibility are truly remarkable. The music that you like can bring you back to your center within a few seconds (even by the first couple notes), and all you have to do is to hit play on your phone or in your head, that’s it.
SCHEDULE 5 times a day when you’re just listening to music, energize yourself. Observe the difference inside you before and after listening to your music, let yourself forget about your current situation and connect to the positive emotions that your music arises inside you.
4. Move: Change your physical state
Are you exercising?
I’m sure that you are aware that your emotional state and balance are inseparable from your physical state, and that exercising affects your brain in numerous positive ways. When you are taking an honest look at your current situation and life, pay attention to the quality of your movement. If you’re sitting in front of the computer at your office all day long, just to get back to your couch at home where you’ll be watching Netflix or scrolling your phone for the next several hours, then it’s no surprise that you might not be treating your body the way it should be treated, right? Maybe that’s even one of the top reasons why you are feeling depressed and drained of energy.
Understand that when you’re changing your physical state, your emotions change as well. And in times of adversity, when your perspective is unbalanced, changing the way you move and adding more exercise is definitely a game changer.
What kind of movement can you insert several times a day to your daily schedule? It doesn’t have to be something too demanding or challenging, it can be stretching for 10 minutes in the morning when you are waking up and at night time before you’re going to bed. It could be jumping for a few seconds, just for changing the way you are feeling in a given moment, changing your emotional state
5. How would you help your kid in this situation?
If your child was going through the same thing, or facing another difficult situation, how would you help him/her?
What would you say?
If your child was going through this, what would be your advice?
How would you cheer him/her up?
Ask yourself, and listen to what comes up.
Now, can you give yourself the same gift of compassion and generosity?
Can you say to yourself the same beautiful, sensitive, compassionate words?
This simple NLP trick, is very effective for finding your balance, because it helps you to find more resources in yourself. When you are imagining it you are looking for the best thing to say, regardless to the way that you are feeling currently, as negative as it may be. You are trying to do your best for your (real or imaginary) child.
The only difference is that instead of giving this kindness and compassion to your (real or imaginary) kid, you are giving it to yourself. And during tough times, it’s exactly what you need.