Schedule Your Pity Party

With all of the self-help books and positivity movements going on in our culture, it's easy to believe that we must be happy all the time. I mean that is the ultimate goal right? To have no dark days at all? Wrong. While we can certainly aim for a consistent level of happiness and joy, the truth is the sometimes we have dark days, dark weeks, or more. So what can we do about this unfortunate truth?

Schedule your pity party. I know that sounds a little left field, but go with me. If you notice that you are in a funk, really just feeling less productive and not motivated to do more or "better" right now, maybe you need time to express that. Trying to suppress our true emotions can cause big issues down the road because we can't hide from sadness and lethargy forever. So, instead make friends with the truth.

When you start to go into a slump, it's beneficial to figure out what the source is. Acknowledge where you are emotionally and commit to letting yourself ride the wave, for a set period of time. I'm not saying that you should let the waves of dark emotions take you out to sea. Rather that you should pay attention and see the waves coming and decide to ride the waves on your own terms.

You can say, 'yes I'm feeling like I don't care about hustling or being any more productive than I have to. I will give myself this whole week to feel that and just rest.' Then whatever that looks like, as long as you cause no harm to yourself or others, say yes to it. Maybe it means you don't cook all week and you binge an old TV show. Maybe it means you say no to all social obligations and live in your pj's. But allow yourself to have that set time to give in to the wave, because doing so can actually shorten the amount of time that you feel that way.