3 tips to make the most of your time in a funk

A couple of days ago I was visited, again, by The Funk.  

You likely know what I’m talking about: life is going along fine, often pretty well, and BAM! The Funk hits.  It’s that feeling of lethargy, apathy, and hopelessness that usually hits suddenly, and thankfully, leaves rather quickly too.  

For me, it usually doesn’t last more than a couple of days, and it’s often even less.  As someone who has experienced depression in the past, the symptoms seem similar to me at first, but depression is more insidious.  It sneaks up on you, it stays longer, and it requires treatment. 

But The Funk? There is no sneakiness here.  He comes in hard, slams the door open, stomps through with muddy boots, and flops down so heavily on the couch that dust from five years ago billows up.  And there he stays until he’s good and ready to leave. 

Here’s how this visit...

Stress effects on the body - I didn’t know it could sneak up on me like that!

Stressed out? I thought I had it all under control. I help people manage their stress, so my own couldn’t be an issue! 

But it was.  More about all of that in a bit, as well as a surprising way to protect yourself.

Stress is a common topic. Most of us are either stressed out, trying to destress, or know someone who is struggling with their stress.  But what is stress really, what are some of the common stress effects on the body, and what can we do about it?

What is stress?

According to Merriam-Webster, stress is “a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation”. Stressful situations are a normal part of life, but our reactions to them can be modified. 

Stress effects on the body

Stress can be either acute or chronic. 

Acute stress is generally helpful. It’s a response to a threat,...

4 simple steps to decluttering your home

Here’s the bad news. You can’t organize clutter. 

Clutter. Whether you have a lot or a little, it can be tough to get rid of it. Or maybe for you, it’s not hard to get started, but then you find yourself surrounded by piles in various stages of cleanout that seem even more overwhelming than when they were shoved away somewhere. 

So what is the natural inclination? Shove it all back where it came from, or even worse, leave it out in piles and feel the guilt and shame of not being able to “get it together”.  

Beating yourself up isn’t going to help. But neither is being in denial.

The example below may be extreme compared to your situation. I hope it is. Either way, the principles are the same. 

My mom was a hoarder.  She was a genuinely amazingly giving, loving, caring person.  She would give anything to and do anything for anyone.  Except for herself. ...

Two simple techniques for focusing on what matters most to you

Since we are well into the spring season (and it’s finally starting to feel like spring) this is a perfect time to revisit the Life Balance Tool, also known as the Wheel of Life. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s simple yet very useful when you know that you're wanting to make some positive changes in your life but you’re not sure exactly where to start. This allows you to look at each area individually instead of lumping everything together. Of course, you can still choose to work on the area that feels most right to you, but sometimes just being able to see things in black and white can make the decision easier. You can get your copy of the tool at www.jennylytle.com/balance

Once you use the tool and decide which area you want to focus on first, it can still feel overwhelming if you try to make massive changes all at once, although if I’m honest, that is my natural inclination....

As you likely know, you can't get what you want without some effort. 

Lately, I've been thinking about the importance of action. I feel like so much attention is given to goal setting, dreaming bigger, consistency, and planning but the reality is without action none of it ends up giving us the results that we're looking for. I can have an amazing plan and even review it often but without action, I'm not going to get what I really want.  This applies to consistency as well. I was on a Faith Activated call the other day and a question that was asked was, “Do you have trouble with consistency?” of course a lot of people said yes. The coach  challenged that, saying basically, “You don't have a problem with consistency, you have a problem with consistently taking the action that's going to get you what you want.”

It really got me thinking about all of this. In many ways, I have thought of consistency as being the “magic” ingredient, but...

The BECOMING Method™ series week 7 of 8. This week we’re going to move on to the N in the BECOMING Method Needs - what is missing from your life - body, mind, and spirit

Looking at the activities that make up your day-to-day life can lead to finding ways to increase the things you love and decrease the things you loathe.

By this time, you:

- know where you’re starting from

- have determined your areas of improvement/opportunity

- know what energizes and drains you

- what makes you feel amazing

- know what makes you unique

- what matters most to you

- what you still want to see, do, and experience

If you’re just joining me, you can check out the previous weeks here:

Podcast version - the BECOMING Method series starts with episode 8

Blog version - click the link for the BECOMING Method series

Let’s get started with this week’s topic - Needs - what is missing from your life - body, mind, and spirit...

One of the ways that you can explore what...

What makes you feel alive and excited? What sucks the life out of you?

The BECOMING Method series, post 2 of 8.

By this time, you:

- know where you’re starting from

- have determined your areas of improvement/opportunity

If you are just tuning in and didn’t join us last week, please go back and do so, or just grab the Life Balance Tool at www.jennylytle.com/balance. This will give you a way to take a look at your life in each of the major areas and determine where you’d like to make some positive changes.

This week we’re going to move on to the E in the BECOMING Method - Excitement!

What lights you up? Gives you energy?

What do you enjoy doing so much that you lose track of time? Take a few minutes to start coming up with some ideas. 

The thing is, as adults we often get so busy taking care of responsibilities that we can forget to do those things that recharge us.  And then we wonder why we feel so tired and stressed...

The BECOMING Method series week one - Baseline

Over the next 8 weeks, I’m going to walk you through my BECOMING Method™ 

• a systematic approach based on the nursing process (assess, diagnose, plan, implement, evaluate), my coaching education, my personal journey, and my work with clients
• designed to deliver the transformation you desire, as quickly and simply as possible
• we work together to determine:
• where you are
• where you want to go
• how you're going to get there 

For this first week, we're going to start off with Baseline. 

Where are you now? And what's most important to you?

We can't change what we don't acknowledge.

So let's take a look at how things are now: the good, the bad, and the ugly. No guilt or shame. Just an honest assessment.

It's easy to want to jump in and start thinking about all of the things that we want to be different, but lasting change and true transformation take some intentionality.

One of my mentors refers to...

Ready to start the new year off with a bang, but New Year's resolutions don't feel like the right idea? These 2 steps will help you even if goal-setting isn't your thing. 

The reality is, goals are amazing and important.  But sometimes it can also feel overwhelming to try to put together a plan to achieve things that you have a hard time really even imagining are possible for yourself. Start with a review of 2021 so that you can celebrate, learn, and adjust, and then envision what you want your life to look like.

If you have been working through the “Best Year Ever” 5-day challenge, you've likely already at least started on these two exercises. And if you didn’t join in, no worries - you can still get the info delivered over a 5 day period - starting as soon as you register.  

Even if you didn’t work through the whole goal-setting plan, here’s what I hope you’ll take the time to do:

1. Fill out the Four Helpful...

But knowing yourself makes it even better.

I recently celebrated three months of consistent daily activity. 

The parameters I set for myself (using my Fitbit for tracking)

• at least 10,000 steps 
• at least 20 to “active“ minutes according to Fitbit
• 30 minutes of intentional movement - walking, running, dancing, indoor workouts - can be divided into more than one session if needed

I had been doing this sporadically but decided to get more consistent starting May 1.

I know that fr me, and likely for you, things that I do daily impact me more than the things I do every now and then. 

It has been hot a lot of the time, and I am not a big fan of heat. Some days it has rained nonstop and I’ve had to get more creative. 

Ideally, I like to walk and I like to do it in nature. At least once or twice a week I try to go to a nearby park with walking trails because it is more shaded, and because I love to hear and smell and see the sounds in nature and take...