The other week I had hit the wall. I was exhausted, frustrated and broke down. Lockdown had finally got to me and I was done.
I was thinking of how things were before we got into this situation, being able to work with clients on a daily basis, being able to get to the gym and workout and the general freedom that comes 'normal life'. I was amazed that it had not hit me earlier, as I am a social person and speaking to people on Zoom is not the same.
You may think that as a coach that helps people lose weight, gain confidence, deal with life's problems etc that I should have it all together all of the time. As you can tell that is not always the case.
But I think that is what makes me a good coach, knowing that I am not okay all of the time so that I can relate to other people who will be in a similar situation.
I decided I needed to go for a good walk and walked in to the city centre, knowing it would pretty much be quiet. Along the way I had reminders that although things are not great, how much I had grown in the last 3 years in terms of what I had achieved, how much I had learnt and that I had overcome adversity before and that this was blip and could easily bounce back.
That afternoon after the walk I had taken stock of my thoughts and went about organising myself to get myself back to the usual self. I started with doing the one thing I had not been doing for a while and taking note of all of the things that I was grateful for that I have in my life right now - everything from how my girlfriend is an amazing support for me right down to the fact that I have made good decisions on my investments.
I would urge anyone who is reading this and feeling low, to start with this, because experience has told me that you cannot be angry, sad or frustrated at the same time that you are feeling grateful for what you do have and not worry about what you do not have.
The next thing I can suggest is that you learn something new, either something that relates to you current work or something that is going to inspire you and allow you to become fully involved in it. Now is a good time to do that and there may never be a better time to have the time to learn.
Finally, I would take some time for some self-care. As a coach one of my teachings is that you cannot help others fully if you have not taken care of yourself. And yes, it sometimes is hard to switch off but it is necessary to do so. Self care will be different for people, for some it may well be treating themselves to something, for others it would be to read a book.
With clients I will sit down with them and schedule in self care and make sure that they do it. Making it a habit, and a good one, is hard for people because they do not always get the instant benefit or gratification, but is important to ensure that you do self care to ensure that you can cope with all that life throws at you and not let things get on top of you.
Regardless of the above, just know that it is okay not to be okay at times, life will not always be at a place that you want it to be but you do have options that can change your perspective of where you are and to make the future positive so there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
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