Lacking motivation? Feeling exhausted? 😴

I usually love Autumn. I love the back to school vibe, the new stationery feeling, the fresh start in the books mentality. I love the holidays but I love the routine of life, too.

But this Autumn it has felt a bit different. A bit more slumpy (thats a technical word), my new term vibes just didn’t seem to last. And talking to a lot of you, you’ve been feeling it too, at least as much as I have.

Now, we are well and truly into October, and for many of us, the slump has set in.

Many of us are feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, with so much to do, but can’t really be bothered, questioning just what is the point?

Firstly, I want to start by saying that it’s hardly surprising.

We are working long hours, many of us in a hybrid model, which exacerbates the feeling of home being about work, with no boundary.

We’ve quite recently come through a time that nobody in this generation had ever experienced before, a global pandemic, which, however we personally fared, generated uncertainty, change, cost and loss. I don’t think we can just sweep the impact of that under the carpet, although it feels like that’s exactly what we are doing.

Parts of the world are at war.

There’s a cost of living crisis.

We’re looking after little ones. Teenage ones. Elderly ones.

That’s without throwing in the life curveballs that every single one of us face on a semi regular basis.

So, be kind to yourself in that the fact our get up and go might be somewhat lacking is perhaps a normal response to the season.

Secondly, I don’t think we have to totally resign ourselves to this being the way it has to be.

I think one of the biggest traps we fall into is thinking that we can’t change everything, so we settle on changing nothing. We can help ourselves, and we can life ourselves out of the slump.

Here’s a few ideas.

1. Remember your why 💭 - I spend my life talking about purpose. When things feel monotonous, or challenging, or I feel like I have so much to do and to handle, I come back to why this matters, what my purpose is, and how this is part of that. You might like to do a values exercise to help you with this season.

2. Set some intentions 📚 - we always do this in January, but why not now? In my alliance membership group, we do this every month, and I can’t tell you the difference it’s made to my thinking and behaviour.

3. Do something everyday that lifts you 🥰 - I often don’t bother if I feel like I’ve only got ten minutes - but ten minutes is still ten minutes and it can make a difference

4. Get outdoors 🌳 - I’m not here to be your health guru but in wintertime it’s more important than ever that we step outside. Get fresh air, see the daylight. If you’re a commuter like my husband in the autumn it’s highly possible he doesn’t see the daylight at all. Get outside. Ten minutes is worth it.

5. Do a hard thing everyday 💪  Sounds counter-intuitive but I’ve found this such helpful advice. I was listening to a podcast with Ryan Holliday and he talked about how good it is for us to do something that’s hard everyday. That doesn’t need to be a marathon. It’s simply something that we don’t want to do, really. Like getting out of bed on the first alarm. A cold shower. The gym. A work-related job that you might put off. You might find these things easy. So pick your own hard thing. It honestly really helps!

6. Do something for someone else 🤝 Sounds an odd one when I know so many of you will already be doing this (and overdoing it), but, a daily or regular act that serves others without any agenda can be so good for our own wellbeing. The happiest people don’t just prioritise their own needs, it’s been proven time and time again.

7. Let some stuff go 🧘‍♀️ Look at your diary. What don’t you need to be doing this month? Will the world end if you don’t do that thing?

Hope this list gives you some inspiration. Pick one or two things, make that tweak and begin to feel the benefit of it. I’ve spent some time reacquainting myself with my values and priorities, and the why behind the busyness, and thats helped me hugely. Plus my daily walk with my dog, Pax.

Life isn’t easy, and whoever said it was was fibbing. But it can feel purposeful, and meaningful, too, if we let it.

Love

Hannah x