I. Hate. Electronics.

There. I said it.

I know the world is a dumpster fire right now, so I won’t go on too long about how technologically awful things have been lately.

​​​​Just a recap: My computer crashed on a major project I was working on before I saved it.

Had to start all over.

It continued to crash all. day. long.

Then I was doing a FB live that went utterly wrong and I wasted an hour on a video that never really made it to where it was supposed to go.

It was just one of those times when nothing seems to work right: The ‘smart TV’ goes down, Alexa keeps spinning and spinning or doesn’t understand your question, the wifi goes down for no reason….you know those times, right?

Those are definitely first world problems.

But all the things that are happening now in the world, where I live and in my own house really got to me lately. My cat (who is 19 and deteriorating all over the place) got on my chest around 6 am one morning and I was lying there utterly overwhelmed by everything.

All the failures of the week/month/year. I listed them in my head until it was this ugly loop that I couldn’t seem to stop. And I went down the dark hole of ‘I suck’. I’m a failure. I’ll never get this right. It was stupid to start this business. I did nothing right this week…over and over and over. 

I got up and decided to go for a walk/run, even though I was tired, my body felt like it had acquired lead weights overnight and all I wanted to do was go back to bed.

But I got up. And I did this guided workout where the coach– it was Jaime from the app Aaptiv and the workout was called Energized Endurance – I highly recommend– talked about energy and dark clouds hanging over your head and how energy is contagious…good and bad.

I was mad at this coach. I was like…shut it. I’m feeling bitchy and I deserve to feel bitchy because I suck and the world sucks and everything sucks.

As I kept going, wanting to quit the entire time, something changed in my mind and I remembered how a little movement can totally change your perspective. Getting out of that dark environment and out into the world, doing something mindless like moving my body, listening to this coach talk about energy, I realized she was right. Energy IS contagious and mine that week was just dark and negative.

As I was running I listened to her and her simple steps for changing your energy from negative to positive. It sounded cheesy but they really worked. By the time I got home, I actually felt better.

Step #1: A moment of gratitude. This always sounds simplistic, but it helps to pull you up out of that hole a little. I found something to be grateful about: My family is still breathing. Milo, the old cat, is okay right now.

Step #2: Pick the negative thing you’re holding onto. As I was going through the endless loop of suck, I realized what I was holding onto was Overwhelm. Not just the I-suck stuff but work stuff. Chores. Family. Milo. Huckleberry. Laundry…just all the things that get stuck in your mind and you feel like you’re doing all the work in your head but nothing’s actually getting done. And you’re exhausted.

Step #3: Learn to let go. I’ve heard this so many times that it’s kind of become a little cliche, but it really is true. If I wanted to change my energy, to feel less sucky, I had to let go of the overwhelm. Of the suck. And it isn’t something that just happens. It’s something that, once you realize what you’ve been holding onto and that you need to let go of it, it just kind of happens. You can’t really force it.

Step #4: Remember when you did something hard and succeeded. I thought about it and I thought – Just getting out of bed that day was a success. Going for a run when I felt crappy was a success. Thinking through all of my thoughts and trying to turn them around was a success. There are so many things we achieve all the time. Appreciate them. You start to realize you don’t really suck.

As I got through this really tough workout and went through these steps in my mind, I felt calmer. I had more clarity and I started to think about what I actually wanted to accomplish that day. Not the 1,000 things on my to do list, but one thing I wanted to get done.

My mind calmed. My energy changed. And I realized – I can do this. I can do life and it doesn’t have to suck.

And bad energy is something we’ve all been around, maybe we’ve given it out and it brings everyone around you down too. Similarly, good energy brings everyone up. Think about that…think about your energy right now. Is it in the negative zone? Try these 4 steps and see if you can get yourself out of that dark hole. I did. You can too.

Leave a comment and tell me about how you manage your energy these days.