How to stay positive when you’re fed up
Many of us are used to the rat race, where the pressure doesn’t cease. Keep up or get left behind. This can be stressful and lead to mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, burnout and much more. It’s inevitable this will all take its toll which makes it harder to stay positive when you’re feeling fed up.
It’s important to look after yourself regardless of what others will say or think. Figuring out how is key though as it can be difficult when you’re trying to deal with a demanding job, demanding personal life, or both.
However, there are a few things you can do to help yourself if you’re feeling fed up right now. Every now and then, life gets harder and it becomes more difficult to see the wood for the trees. So if you can apply some of these tips as part of your daily lifestyle, you can help yourself be less fed up and find it easier to bounce back.
Common triggers to feeling fed up
Life can get very boring, very quickly especially if you don’t have a strong foundation to lead from. Having a great morning routine will help this. Being in a state of gratitude daily will also help. But I know how tricky this can be when you’re just drained and can’t take it anymore.
Usually, it’s when life feels mundane. Like all you do is go to work, eat and sleep then blow it all on a weekend of boozing. This isn’t your fault, this is the way society has been designed. So if you want things to change, you have to be willing to change the way you do things.
Below are some areas of your life that you can look to improve which will help you stay positive when you’re feeling fed up.
- Morning Routine. It’s so important that you don’t just get out of bed and roll on to the laptop. Even more so if you are leaving the house to commute. You must create space in the morning for your self-care. Start small by allowing yourself 30 minutes of you time. Just enjoy your morning coffee, write a journal or listen to a podcast. You don’t need to do anything extravagant, just enough to give yourself some space before you give to everyone else in your day.
- Move more. This might sound like a no-brainer but (especially if you live in the UK or other cold country) you rarely go out during the day unless you have to. Make this a priority even when the weather isn’t playing ball. Staying positive when you’re feeling fed up is helped by creating small changes that help you build your resilience. So whilst it may not seem obvious now, once you add this into your daily lifestyle, even after a week, you’ll see a big difference.
- Evening Routine. You need to end your day with the same intention you start the day with. Choose to rest. This doesn’t mean that you binge-watch. This means you watch a little but after you do something more wholesome. That could be reading, tending to your plants, cooking something new from scratch. Choose whatever makes sense to you and gives you some passion. When you do this, you relax better and have more sound sleep which will help you regulate your hormones to help you manage difficult situations better.
3 Ways to stay positive when you’re fed up
1. Purpose
You need to have purpose in your life. Put simply, just knowing why you’re here and how you’re going to do it. You don’t need to change the world, you need to know that there is a reason you work. That there is a reason you spend your downtime the way you do. If you do a quick review of those two things right now, you’ll probably see that improvements could be made. Just knowing why you are doing the job you do will be enough to give you some purpose to lead from each day. This fills up the positivity cup and makes it easier to be less fed up.
2. Habits
We can get so used to living a certain way and fall into denial that it actually works for us. However, be honest with yourself. Do your current habits contribute to positivity? Do they make you feel good? We all have habits that could be improved. Once you have purpose, your habits will need to change so that both are aligned. This provides you with the right action towards what makes you happy.
3. Hobbies
If you just rolled your eyes, then THIS is what you need in your life. As adults we’re too quick to dismiss hobbies because our association with hobbies isn’t glamourous. However, hobbies can be anything you want and I can’t stress enough how powerful they will be in making you happy. We often seek people and things to make us happy but this is a lie. Happiness lies within. Contentment and peace lie within. When you’re living a life with purpose, you know why you do what you do, you know why you’re doing everything, that’s when you find happiness.
Stop being a product of the social construct you live in and take charge of the life you think you’re supposed to be living.
Spoiler: It exists.
You have to break through complacency, fear and self-doubt in order to get there.
So be brave, be honest with yourself and you too can stay positive when you’re feeling fed up.
I’m Puja McClymont. I specialise in coaching senior leaders who are seeking direction to help them expand the possibilities of their potential, creating further growth and meaningful impact.
Through my distinctive approach which combines ancient wisdom with modern psychology, clients gain clarity and enhanced performance underpinned by a deep sense of purpose that enables every facet of their lives to thrive.
