Lately, I have been feeling really discouraged. I see everyone else’s highlight reel and I just feel like I’m failing at everything. It makes me want to quit and hide in bed. What do I do to kick these feeling? While I am still working on it, this is a list of 11 ways of how to deal with feeling discouraged that have helped me get through some of it.

11 Ways of How To Deal

1. Take a break

Everyone needs a break. The more time you invest in something the less clearly you will be able to see it. You are too close. Step back. Take a breather. Get a new perspective.

Maybe you have spread yourself too thin. This is me. With being spread too thin, it can make you feel like you aren’t getting anywhere with anything. So, evaluate everything you are working on and let go of things that aren’t a true priority.

Ask yourself:

• Why did I start this?
• Is it important to my long-term goals?
• Am I doing it well?
• Do I enjoy it?

Just make sure that you don’t overwhelm yourself with too much. You can do it, just not everything!

2. After taking a break, start an easy piece or job.

Whatever you are trying to do, just start something small and easy to get back into it. Write a quick post, if you are blogging. Make it short and simple. If it is an art piece, set a timer and do a quick 10 minutes sketch or even only 5 minutes.

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you set a timer.

Another example would be making a quick batch of muffins. You can get the packets from Wal-Mart that you just add milk to. Super easy and quick to prepare and pop in the oven.

The key to this one is just doing something that you can see the results of quickly.

3. Practice something new

Running into burn out over a specific thing? Throw a twist in. If it is art related where you do mostly watercolor, try a new medium.  If it is work-related, are there new projects that you can take on to mix things up a bit?

Is there something new you have been wanting to learn but haven’t taken the plunge yet? Look into it. There are a lot of free or close to free places you can learn new things through.

Here are a couple resources to check out:

• the local library
• your community college
• youtube or google search it

4. Redo an old piece

One thing that is really inspiring is to see how far you have come. Can you look back at an older piece you created or an older anything and see progress? I love Instagram for this reason! Looking back at my older posts then comparing them to newer ones gives me drive.

Wow! Look how far I’ve come. Nothing like pushing you forward when you look back. It’s like climbing a mountain and you are almost to the top but feel like you can’t make it the rest of the way. You look back and realize that you have almost scaled the entire thing. Keep going! You can do it! 

5.Pray and refocus on God

One thing I find when I am feeling discouraged is that I haven’t been spending time with God like I should or used to. This completely changes my perspective on life and goals. It reminds me how temporary everything else. All the happiness and sadness, they are fleeting like the wind.

Hope in God is the only thing that makes anything in this life worth achieving. So, I open my bible. I pray.

Psalms 42:5 “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

If you have read Ecclesiastes and relate to it, you and I have a lot in common. I recently read the book again and just was reminded of what the point of this life is – enjoy your lot and follow God. Hard to do when you feel discouraged, but keep in mind that God gives us contentment.

Share with God your burden. He will more than gladly take it from you and give his which is easy and light.

6. Find someone to encourage you

When you just can’t get out of your own head and want to give up, you’ve tried motivating yourself, what is left? Friends and fellowship. Find your best friend; text them, call them, show up at their house. Hence, they are your best friend for a reason and they want to be there for you.

Let them know how you have been feeling. They can laugh with you and cry with you. As a result, they will help get you through till you are on to the next thing. Then when they go through something similar, you can be there for them.

7. Set a small goal and accomplish it.

This is a huge thing for me because I thrive on achievement. You can set small goals in any area of your life and just do them. Also, It can be something for the house like clean the kitchen. Put it down on a list, do it, then check it off. Visualizing the achievement will help you feel more accomplished.

Other small goals you could set for yourself are:

• cleaning a certain room in the house,
• posting to social media something you have been planning to post,
• getting to work at a certain time,
• creating a new art piece
• washing the laundry
• putting away clothes
• cleaning clutter up
• taking the trash out
• cooking a meal
• getting the oil changed
• working out for a certain amount of time that day,
• meditating or having quiet time.

There are a ton of different things that are quick, easy to do. It will make you feel so much better feeling productive!

8. Get Out

People feel more depressed in the winter. You know why? Because the sun doesn’t shine as much in the winter and you are lacking vitamin d. What can you do to combat this? Get out with friends. Spend some time laughing and soaking up the spring weather on a good day.

Go to the mall and window shop. Go to the zoo. Have a tea party at a local tea room. This is one of my favorite things to do. I do it probably only once a year, but I still love it!

Take your kids to the library or a local play area. Meet your best friend for coffee and chit chat about all that is going on in your life. Just commit to getting out and doing something! As a result, you will feel better and more engaged with the world around you. Being coped up at your house or between work and your house you can feel trapped. It helps to remind yourself you aren’t alone!

9. Make a mood board

Colors can impact your mood. Quotes can impact your mood. So, pull images that inspire you and make you feel happy. Something to push you toward your goals and dreams.

I have a whole Pinterest board called mi motos that I pin inspirational and motivating quotes onto. I have definitely gone there when I am feeling discouraged or depressed and read through them. Consequently, It really helps me feel encouraged.

Do NOT make a mood board of sad and depressing images and quotes. Every time you look at it, it will just increase your current mood. Because your goal is to alter your mood. Take control and direct it toward how you want to feel.

10. Make a dream board

This one kind of goes along with the last one. The main difference though is that this board is directly related to things you want to achieve or accomplish. Say you want to own a boutique someday, you could pin or post images of what you want the boutique to look like.

Furthermore, Other things to add to it would be the type of styles you want to have in your boutique. Colors that you want as a focal point. Other stuff like that. This applies to any goal you have. In addition, you could have a list of your goals broken down.

11. Just remember you aren’t everyone else. You are you and that’s good enough!

It is noteworthy to mention that one of the worst things about social media is, of course you have heard, you are comparing your behind the scenes to everyone’s highlight reel. It can make you feel like you aren’t good enough, or you aren’t doing enough. This is absolutely false.

No one has a perfect life. Everyone has good days bad days, days they accomplish more and days they accomplish less. Therefore, the one thing that sets the successful and happy apart from the unhappy are that they don’t give up.

Choose to be happy and chase your dreams. You will not regret it!

Just a reminder to myself

I am writing this post as a reminder to myself, mainly. I’ve been dealing with feeling unmotivated and depressed on and off for several months. In conclusion, I will achieve stuff and feel great then go through a phase where I am not achieving and I feel more unmotivated.

I just keep redirecting myself and refocusing. Hence, I go through a lot of these steps I recommended and don’t give up! I’m encouraging you to do the same with me. If you have more tips, please feel free to leave a comment or connect with me on social media.

Finally, do you want to start a blog and have an outlet for how you are feeling? Here are three things that helped me when I started this blog.

Thanks for reading along with my musings! I look forward to hearing from you!