It's Time to Switch Things Up!

Do you ever just feel like you are stuck on a hamster wheel?  Get up, go to work, come home, go to bed - do it all over again.  I was really struggling with this feeling myself and I was really frustrated.

I felt unmotivated, tired, annoyed and I kept thinking "there must be more to life than this!"

This is where my brain goes crazy with ideas.  What do I need to do to feel happier?  Open a bakery, run a marathon, get another dog or more chickens???  Side note: I did indeed get more chickens AFTER I said I would not get more chickens this year.  I don’t think that was the answer to my problems.

And FYI none of those things are things I even want to do right now.  But I was SEARCHING for something new - something novel - something that would snap me out of my hamster wheel cycle.  Something that would make me feel alive again.  Have you ever felt that way??  I hope it's not just me LOL!

Assuming that it is not just me, I will tell you what I did to switch things up.  It was actually a few things but they go hand in hand with each other.  I had been on a fasting lifestyle but I felt like I was struggling to fit in all the things I love to do which was contributing to this hamster wheel feeling.  I enjoyed waking up and working out but then I couldn’t fast because I would need to refuel my body after my workouts.  I had been playing around with this balance for a while and just feeling like I wasn’t doing the fasting well and I wasn’t doing the workouts well.

Whenever I am having feelings, especially ones that I am struggling to figure out what they mean for me, I journal.  So, I journaled and thought about it and decided to go all in on the fasting lifestyle but that also meant I needed to cut back on my running for now.  Simply because the timing just was not working out.  Running takes a lot of time and I want to focus on my body’s overall health with 30-40 minute workouts and fasting.  What journaling did for me is PROVIDE CLARITY.  Sometimes when you are overwhelmed, confused, frustrated - it’s because you are doing too many things and you aren’t clear on what one is the most important.  One of my favorite quotes is “If everything is important, nothing is important.” (This quote has been said different ways by many people but most credit is given to Patrick Lencioni).

Where to start with journaling?  Just get out a notebook and a pen or pencil and start writing everything in your head.  I think physically writing is far more effective than typing.  Whatever you are thinking, just write.  Whatever you are feeling, just write.  Don’t censor yourself, don’t judge yourself.  If you are struggling, here are some questions to ask yourself in your journal:

• What is your current hamster wheel looking like?
• Why do you think you are feeling so blah about it?
• What are some things you are doing now that you could cut out?
• What is a goal you've been thinking about but haven't fully committed to?
• What brings you joy?
• How can you incorporate more joy into your daily life? 
• What is most important to you in this season of life?

Once you have the clarity, it becomes easier to figure out how to move forward.  In my particular case, I knew I had to cut out running.  To be honest, this had been a feeling in my gut for several months now and I had been ignoring it.  The journaling session just pushed me over the edge to know that I had to stop ignoring my intuition even though it pained me.  Even though I love running and it makes no sense to me whatsoever to stop doing something I love.

A note on intuition: a huge part of getting off our hamster wheel is listening to our gut.  This is why journaling is so effective because it actually allows us to put words to the feelings that we have.  Women have very strong intuitive senses AND we often ignore them.  Do you have a knowing in your heart that the job you are doing is not the one for you?  Do you have a knowing in your heart that putting that thing you want on your credit card is going to cause more harm?  Do you have a knowing in your heart that someone you hang around with is no longer a good influence in your life?  Journaling will allow you to process these things in a way that we just can't straighten out in our heads.  Your intuition will not lead you astray.  

Here's the thing.  You may not be able to solve your problem in one journaling session like I did.  My journaling session came after a wave of emotions and after months of ignoring intuition.  And here’s another thing.  It wasn’t until the day AFTER my journaling session that I realized what I needed and wanted to do.  Sometimes you just need time to marinate. 

And then the emotions hit.  A lot of times we ignore our intuition because the thing we know we need to do is hard.  For me, not running was a hard decision to make.  I love to run!  I have friends that run and my brothers run and it had become a way to bond with friends and family.  My parents would come to watch me in races. My dog enjoys running with me too.  I legitimately cried over this decision. And you will likely experience those emotions as well.  And especially if the decision you are making is a big one, you may experience many emotions as you move through the change in your life.  In my case, it wasn’t that big of a deal - I’m not dead and I can go for a run whenever I feel like it.  It’s not like I am saying no forever.  And I think in most people’s cases, getting off the hamster wheel is a SMALL tweak.

I went for a walk with my dog one weekend and there were other people coming toward us on the sidewalk with their dogs.  So I got off the sidewalk and crossed the street. I continued walking up the other side of the road and I was looking at the houses and one of them caught my eye.  I was thinking “this is such a cute house!”  How did I never notice it before?  I walk by ALL THE TIME, just on the other side of the road.  Just the smallest change of walking on the other side of the road opened up a whole new world.  

There are no rules here:  this is about self reflection.  It’s about doing what feels right.  It might be shopping at a new grocery store.  Shopping on a different day of the week.  It might be making a meal plan for the entire month or making a meal plan for just 3 days at a time instead of a week.  It might be planting a garden or not planting a garden.  I don’t know what it is going to be for you, but I do know if you feel like you are on a hamster wheel - something has to give and your body and intuition already know what it is.  You just need to listen to it.

Even though I had some emotions about not running I also instantly felt so much JOY.  I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.  You will feel this too when you make the right decision.  It might be hard AF, but it will also be freeing! We spend so much of our lives doing for everyone else, following everyone else’s schedule.  It might just be time to listen to you and do for you!

Here is what my switch up looks like for me now.  I fast according to my cycle so I plan workouts around my fasting.  Sometimes I just go for a walk.  Sometimes I am working out in the morning and sometimes I am working out in the afternoon (something I haven’t done in YEARS).  Sometimes I just sleep in!  I stopped putting so many constraints around my time and my schedule.  I stopped telling myself that there was only one way to do something.  

One last consideration - you may need to do this frequently.  I like to think of life in seasons.  There are certain seasons in life where one thing works and another thing doesn’t.  You can reassess your life frequently based on your current situation and revisit this journaling activity as often as you need to.  Life doesn’t have to be the same all the time.  It can be if that is what works for you and it feels good, or you can switch it up!

I got off the hamster wheel.  And you can too.