GETTING OUT OF A RUT
I have to admit, I haven’t been myself lately. I could blame it on seasonal depression, or the fact that the holidays can be tough on a wallet, but if I’m being completely honest, I know what the real reason is. I haven’t been practicing what I preach.
I’ve been very grumpy at work, and moody at home. I’ve been stressed about finances and I haven’t been spending time with friends and family.
When I find myself in ruts like this, everything spirals. I cope with unhealthy food instead of exercising. I’ve had cravings for alcohol that were scaring me.
My fiancee acknowledged my irritability, and we had a great talk the one night. I value how good we are at communicating our feelings and emotions to one another.
I woke up the next day with a mission; to get myself out of a rut. Here’s how I did it.
First thing I did was take inventory on the biggest issues causing me stress and making me a grump. Social battery was low. Diet hasn’t been good. Financial realities won’t let me stay positive. Struggling with imposter syndrome.
I took some time to get a great workout in. I listened to a podcast on dealing with imposter syndrome, and then researched foods that will help me build lean muscles.
I felt amazing again. Instead of choking down salty and sugary snacks I injected endorphins via exercise and ate nutritious food. I reached out to friends and family I hadn’t talked to in a while which led to having dinner with two of my cousins.
When I went to work again this week, I made it my mission to come in with a positive attitude. I had a good healthy brain-feeding breakfast, and I walked in smiling and joking around. The day went by in a flash and I stayed in a great mood the whole time.
Instead of reminding myself of the imposter syndrome I listened to podcasts about one of my favourite tv shows How I Met Your Mother, and listened to Whitney Cummings on Joe Rogan. I ended up pulling some overtime but I did so without complaining or whining. When I got home, I enjoyed my evening with my family.
It’s hard to be perfect. There are a lot of hills on the journey to happiness and achievement. It would be easy for me to bullshit my readers and write some mumbo jumbo about self-helpery but that wouldn’t be honest.
Being genuine is my superpower, I just don’t have the joshing gene in me. I am great however, at turning a negative into a positive. I’ve been in a rut, but I have the knowledge and practices to get myself out because of this blog.
It’s okay to fall short sometimes, as long as you don’t get stuck there. You are strong enough to pull yourself out.
I know I will be writing about the imposter syndrome soon! That’s my new opponent in the ring, but I got a secret right hook in my back pocket baby!
WHAT IM LISTENING TO
I booked my first gig since my son was born and I’ll be playing at the Wildhorse Saloon on January 23 and 24!
It has reignited my fire for playing music. In fact, while I was at dinner with my cousins, I had a bit of an epiphany about what I love about playing live music. I love the imperfections and the performance aspect. I don’t care about click tracks, and in ears and perfection. You get that on a recording. I don’t want that at a live show.
I recall watching a documentary on Eric Church recording his album “The Outsiders” and how while tracking vocals, Church was hiding his mouth from his harmony vocalists so they couldn’t see how he was going to sing each line. He wanted the recorded version to sound like the live show. Real. Raw. Art.
It’s been brought to my attention that I am a music snob and I want to print t-shirts and wear that moniker proudly. I love what I love because of what it means to me.
I have written over 100 songs, and I love them all. The song I’ve written are songs I love to listen to. I could never be paid to write songs. I could never be a mouthpiece and think tank for a label. It’s not honest. I haven’t written a song in well over a year because I haven’t felt that inspiration.
So I’ve been going back in my catalogue finding songs I’ve written over the years and falling in love with them over again. I completely forgot about this song, so for shameless promotion here’s a video of me singing an original I wrote called “I Can’t Make You Love Me”
Music is a powerful thing. I had such a passion for the art, but not for the business. I will discuss further in a special article later.
WHAT I’M READING
It’s funny how the universe works (and manifesting).
I’ve been putting an emphasis on eliminating my bad habits and adopting new good habits, so I finally decided to read the bible on habits; Atomic Habits by James Clear.
I want to get into better shape. To be more direct and intentional, it is my goal to have six-pack abs by the time I’m 40. Unfortunately, I know abs are made in the kitchen more than the gym, and I spend a lot of time in the pantry. I need to build better habits.
It would just so happen to be divine intervention that James Clear himself would be the guest on the Mel Robbins podcast this past week.
I love the psychology on the difference between the habit and the result of the habit. I’m about 60 per cent of the way through it, and I can’t wait to finish it. It’s one of those self-help books I can see myself revisiting again and again overtime.
SUM UP
I think it’s very crucial and important that you don’t get too hard on yourself during your self-development journey. If you ate the donut when you’re trying to lose weight, give yourself some grace. It was a hard day, not a hard journey. Just dust yourself off and skip the pastry line the next day.
We’re not trying to become overnight successes, we’re trying to be one per cent better each day. Like James Clear said on the Mel Robbins Podcast, that’s how you become 37.78 times better at everything!
I promise to be transparent about my journey so far and my journey ahead, because I know how important that is for those finding an inspiration within me. I used to look up to some figures before finding out they were stretching the truth of who they are, and it is completely derailing. I vow to never be that way.
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