By: Megan Sicheri
The go, go, go lifestyle is one that many of us relate to. We wake up, drink our coffee or matcha tea and are on the run until we get home and fall into bed. We strive to do more each day. I’m not good at relaxing; I’ll be the first one to tell you this. I find it hard to watch a movie without getting up forty five times to clean my house, cook a Thanksgiving dinner, and annoyingly rep out some push-ups. Somewhere along the way I’ve taken on a feeling of guilt when I’m NOT doing something that feels productive. This is something that I’ve been focusing on for the last few years, but specifically in the last few months. I’m publicly committing, in this moment, to do less. Way less.
What I’ve learned from being a Go Girl is that I live in a constant cycle of work -> burnout. That’s it, there’s not much in between. I’ve lost friends, relationships, and awesome opportunities because my natural tendency is to choose work over play. I actually can’t even remember a time when I’ve had only one job, I’m not sure I ever have. Why would anyone continue to live this way? It’s because we find it easier to fall into old routines than identifying negative patterns and changing them. It becomes a part of our identity and without a sense of identity; it can be easy to feel lost.
The good news is that you can change your identity anytime you want. You can start over, break a bad habit, and reclaim something you’ve lost. It may not be easy, but it’s an option if you want it badly enough. You don’t even have to move to a new country and change your name – unless you want to. All you have to do is tell yourself that you are no longer [fill in the blank], believe what you’ve just proclaimed, and say ‘Bye Felicia’ to your old ways. Right now I’m saying adios to doing all of the things and reclaiming my sleep and my breath.
Find a few times throughout the year when you can power down. Unplug, detach, run some updates, reset your power board, and purge your viruses. All of this is necessary to keep your machine running smoothly.
Coming back with a fresh brain and rested set of eyes can be oh so good for clarity and prioritizing life. Your body and brain will thank you and your sanity may stick around just a little bit longer if you take them to the beach or even the backyard hammock.
This week, take some time to unplug. Literally, unplug your phone, laptop, TV and let your mind fill that time with something different. If you can’t unplug now, make a plan to do so as soon as possible.
This blog post is late and I didn’t even write one last week. But guess what? I needed to unplug and reboot. My virus scanner was out of date and my memory was full. And now that you’re holding me accountable, that’s exactly what I did.