If you’re ready to ditch your hospital-induced anxiety and design your own life the way you want it…
But are so overwhelmed with your to-do’s and responsibilities, you have no idea where to start…
Then keep reading.
Because in this article, I’m going to reveal to you the Anxiety Game Plan that gave me back my soul’s sanity, my freedom, and my time…
So even the most anxious and overwhelmed, busy Nurse can get their soul back.
After hitting rock-bottom, and almost checking myself in the ER for a mental health eval…
I realized I was working way too hard in all the wrong ways.
I ignored my body for so long that it finally erupted…
But because I never knew how much baggage I had suppressed…
I came crumbling down and was desperate for help.
Sitting at home in bed awake for 4 days straight…
I wish I had figured this out 7 years ago.
But I’d been blinded by having to make money, wanting to help others and taking myself for granted.
It’s so much easier to just go to work, live in Groundhog Day and critique someone else…
It’s simpler to do a deep dive into the grind stone than it is to CHANGEyour life, right??
When I finally was admitted into the ICU and FORCED to stop working 36–60h a week…
I gained a whole new perspective on the life I’d built for myself
The good, the bad, the ugly and the uglier!
I wanted to have better: health, relationships, marriage, business, fun-times, hobbies and passions…
I took an inventory of what I currently was, who I wanted to become and what it would take to get there…
SCCCCKKKEEEEEERRRREEEEEEEEETCHHHHH!!!!!
If you too are a hard-working, anxious, over-worked and overwhelmed Nurse juggling a hell of a lot of balls in your life…
My inventory list was so friggin’ long that I felt like I was going to be stuck forever.
I’ve got my role as a wife which requires:
Date nights…which actually I am slacking on.
And time to talk and connect with my hubby that doesn’t involve wiping a kiddos butt or chatting while in the shower.
I give myself requirements because I want him to know I love him. I know life seems to blur together but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t show you love someone…
Especially, if he has had a bad fire, a ped code, or just 10 lift assists…(he’s a fireman)
It means doing the things that make him happy because it makes me happy to see him crack a smile.
Like making him laugh when I am being annoying… I choose what goofy face to make each time he does an action when he drives. He is like uber- aware driver. My goal is a get a grin. That’s like a holy moly moment.
Dylan, our two year shouts, “HOORAY!!! You did it!”
And always having fun because our jobs are so serious.
So I’m a wife… and I’m also momma.
That means interacting reading, playing, having fun, bathing, changing diapers, feeding, changing more diapers, changing clothes for the 10th time, playing, snuggling, loving, laughing, listening, and playing.
As well as trips to the Zoo, Grant’s Farm, Train Museum, Magic House, Libraries, parks and Choo Choo hunts around the neighborhood.
And I am a dog mom…
Our dogs eat raw… because it’s better for them. They both have hip dysphagia. So meal prep every week for the whole week.
Walks. Dog parks and of course playing ball, vacuuming up the 20lbs of fur, snuggling and making sure they get their vitamins.
I know they are spoiled but they deserve the best life. They love us so much and we love them. They changed my life to be a better human.
I’m guessing right now, you’ve got a similar list of your own responsibilities spinning through your mind…
And I haven’t even discussed being a fire wife or a Nurse!
And I wouldn’t be surprised if your list was just as long (if not longer) than mine!
It’s not enough to just have this list of responsibilities in the back of our mind though.
Unless we’re actually going to take the steps to do it.
It will only weigh us down… obviously most of us are Type A controllers…
So, how can we be intentional about getting these things out of our head, and putting them into action?
Creating a Game Plan…
For me, it started with writing down everything I wanted in life…
This was the first part of my “Game Plan”… downloading my life onto my trusty BIG-ASS post-it and put it in our kitchen to see .
The next step was to make a list of how to get it…
Then I started DOING the work to get there…
Actionable & understandable steps– the action isn’t running around like an idiot checking off your tasks at work but it is understanding what you are doing and doing it right!
‘Doing’ means taking the right steps in the right order to get your soul back, and understand yourself.
It means a clearer understanding of who you are and HOW your body works…
Because you’ve created a purpose for yourself.
I planned out what my dream shift would look like…
I made it a non-negotiable to include time for myself AKA breaks & lunch…
I scheduled myself in a better way…to reduce my hatred of the hospital.
And I got up earlier than I normally would for work so I wasn’t rushed and I could center myself, get balanced and clear my energy and have gratitude that I have an amazing skill set to help others.
How would you design your dream work week?
What kind of schedule would you have, & what would you make a non-negotiable, like lunches outside, or a mediation room for staff…?
The best part of this step is that…
As you design your week…
You begin to create new algorithms in your brain and the journey of reducing or even eliminating your anxiety has already begun without it being a chore…
For me, I obviously needed to…
Understand why I was so anxious…
Learn how to decipher what it meant when my body was going haywire…
Get more in-tune with how I can apply tactics at work…
Find a way to manage my anxiety without medication.
Discover a way to use all of the above for not only work but home…
See what I mean?
The list can be endless.
Being a better Nurse starts with building a better YOU.
And by prioritizing your life, so you can understand what’s going on and enjoy it at the same time.
The final step I needed was to take a leap of faith and just try something new, different and unconventional…
Just start accomplishing my list of tasks:
Figure out how to manage my anxiety- ask for help to the right people- create a plan of action- do the action- and feel the results…
I was able to seek expert knowledge, create, use & implement and get results- over & over again…
Invest in developing a strong, usable & actionable program to take others back to the basic and get their soul back.
Slowly but surely I was able to get to the point where I created a predictable outcome for each client.
It took a little while, but I was able to free myself up to dive even deeper and unload the rest into even more concise and actionable steps…
Over the past 26 months, I’ve been able to weed out the jargon and get layered focused results…in just 6 weeks…
Thanks to my Game Plan…and my own anxiety.
I have my life back- so much extra time was created because I wasn’t in a world of overwhelm and anxiety…
I have time to give back to myself, husband, kids, fur kids and family…
If you want to experience the same kind of freedom in your life…
Freedom to do what you want, when you want without second guessing or doubting yourself or head into a tail spin of anxiety.
Then a Game Plan like this will be your second-most-valuable weapon for achieving that.
Your first most-valuable weapon though…
Well, that will always be accountability.
Having people in your work-life and home-life cheer you on and support to rapid growth and change…
With a Game Plan, plus accountability, you’ll be back to the roots of why you started down the path of being a Nurse.
You’re probably wondering…
Ashleigh, that sounds all well and good, but where do I even begin to nail down my Game Plan?
Well, stay tuned…
In the meantime, I’d love to invite you to my Spiritual Nurse FB group, women that are relate-able: nurses with anxiety & overwhelm but go-getters & doers that want to incorporate science & spirituality, together…