Do you need ideas or a boost to turn your day, week, month or maybe life around when feeling a little down or depressed. Before we start you need to know that EVERYONE gets depressed so you are not alone. No one is happy all the time and each day is a new day to start over. We all need some pick-me-ups and below are a few amazing ways to get you back on your feet and a smile back on your face!
The most successful people could tell you that they have felt depressed and that failure made them who they are today. Walt Disney was fired from a job because he apparently lacked creativity. Albert Einstein didn’t speak fluently until age 9. Over his career Tom Brady has seen 3,500 players get picked higher in the draft then he was. Oprah lost her child as a 14-year-old mother and was also told she was unfit for television. Bill Gates had multiple failed businesses. Michael Jordan got cut from his high school team and reminded that coach in his Hall of Fame speech. What do they have in common besides being successful? It’s that they all faced extreme adversity and sadness but used that to fuel them to work harder becoming historic faces of achievement.
Here are a few other great articles like click here for 24 ways to help depression or 5 amazing ways to be successful here and even 6 great ways to motivate yourself to workout.
Note that any long-lasting funks affecting your life might be more serious and please consult a doctor.
Help Others and Promote Positivity
This Karma, Law Of Attraction or just being a good human might not only change your day around but it could change your life. Living positively, altruistically and manifesting your goals is what the world is attracted to. Yes, there will always be bumps in the road but I truly believe in this and it is a GAME CHANGER if you believe in and practice this ideology.
Think about what you as a human are attracted to, it is normally happy smiling people that attract others and that is even what advertisers use to sell products. 95% of commercials are people, babies or dogs smiling and happy “attracting” you to that product. Your happiness is contagious and spreading that or putting someone else’s happiness over yours consistently is when your world will change for the better. Start with your spouse, a friend or even better try to help someone less fortunate. Helping the less fortunate could also simultaneously show you how potentially trivial your own issues are.
Charity work will not only put you in a realm of positivity but there are also amazing side effects that will arise. While volunteering and charity work should always be selfless there are unintentional benefits that come along such as networking, maybe a new job opportunity and overall you instill trust in your name as a brand. Think of yourself as a brand and try to make your brand the most trusted and attractive brand you can be. This may be cutting back on partying to do more good and in the end it will be the best decisions you’ve ever made.
Volunteering with less fortunate also slaps you in the face with how much you should appreciate your life. There are people out there with absolutely nothing; people who have a family history of drugs for years where kids have the smallest of chances to break the cycle; people from abusive histories; and people without a meal to eat or a jacket to stay warm. Yet, here we are stressing about or cell service, wishing we could have a nicer car like Karen from Instagram, upset about a long line at Starbucks or any of the other trivial stresses we have that really don’t matter.
“If you want to be happy, make someone else happy. If you want to find the right person in your life, be the right person. If you want to see change in the world, become the change you want to see.” – Deepak Chopra
If you don’t have time to do charity work then do something positive for your relationship. It’s crazy we spend 40-60 hours a week working on our jobs, maybe 5-20 hours working on our bodies but when do you truly “work” on your relationship. Imagine if you were management at work and just went through the motions at work never doing anything new or put in a great effort for your employees. Better yet, imagine how much you dislike a boss who doesn’t motivate you, doesn’t try to help you or give you guidance, make you better or inspire you… then why would your significant other be happy if you’re doing the same thing to them at home… and you might hate your job!
You could also send a loving text to family member or good friend, which is very easy to do. Maybe you haven’t talked to them in a while and you get on the phone. It’s amazing how good opening up to someone or telling them you love or miss them can feel and spark a conversation or bring out some truly great emotions.
Whatever you do, do something. Bring a smile to the world and the world will smile back.
Create a goal and do everything to accomplish it.
Some people’s reason for being in a funk is feeling stagnant. It’s the feeling where today sucks, tomorrow is going to be the same as the next day and a month from now and nothing is going to change. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO MAKE THAT CHANGE!
Not much feels better than working towards a goal and achieving it. It doesn’t have to be starting a business or something crazy. Maybe take a day off to get out of town for a 3-day weekend; sign-up for a gym or a marathon so you have something to train for; save $50 each week and read dog books to buy a puppy in a month; begin coach training to coach your kids or help the community; work on an exit plan to quit your job or an unhealthy relationship; or actually use your vacation days and buy a $500 flight to Bali.
Whatever you do, go do something… the only thing stopping you right now is you. Take hold of your life and put just one goal or more down on paper to have something to accomplish and look forward to. You can even take this one step further and make a bucket list to start crossing things off the list or even create a vision board. You aren’t going to find love or a million dollars tomorrow but you started the motion of the world moving in your favor.
“It’s really sad that so much of our society says ‘thank God it’s Friday.’ Thank God 5 out of 7 days of my life are over. Now I am going to spend 2 out of those 7 days drunk so that I don’t have to think about the upcoming 5/7ths of my week.” – Jim Carey
Maybe your job is dead-end and you hate it every day. It could be time to quit your job or press reset. I wish I could tell you that making money is not important… it is… but at some point you need to realize that money is not everything and there will always be someone with more. I’m not saying to quit tomorrow but start planning an exit strategy or applying elsewhere.
“It’s kind of crazy to spend your life painting, if you’re painting something you don’t want to look at.” – Warren Buffett
Ask yourself what is more important, hating your day to day life while just working for the weekend or making less and loving what you do. In the end, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results… thus, it is time to make some new big goals to change things up!
Stop worrying about everyone else and concentrating on things you can’t control
You know what’s a sure thing? It’s that there’s always going to be someone with more money, nicer things, “cuter” kids or a better life on social media.
Wishing you had someone else’s life will drive you insane and won’t help you be happier. You need to be content with your life, what you are doing and your personal growth. Stop watching other people on TV or social media live their dreams and go live yours. It may take a bit of effort but put down the remote or your phone and start living.
If you are just living your life for a promotion or material things that others have then you will never be happy. Happiness is also relative, one person is happy living in a rustic old cabin in the woods and another is happy in downtown NYC. The crazy rich person has just as many daily stresses and breakdowns as you do if not more. Look at the Kardashians, their life is divorces, crying, emotion and drama daily but they have “everything.”
It’s also time to cut out toxic people. Cutting out negative people or getting out of a toxic relationship can flip your happiness switch instantly. Similar to how surrounding yourself with positive or successful people can help, the opposite is true where negative or toxic people can bring you down. It can be as simple as unfollowing someone on Facebook, distancing yourself from someone who brings everyone down, or stop hanging out with the person doing drugs or blacking out every weekend.
“Always surround yourself with people who help you make you a better version of you. Kindly avoid those who don’t” – Don Roff
Just like being around negative people isn’t ideal, thinking negatively and stressing about things out of your hands will keep the negative cloud around you. There are a million things that could go wrong every day in your life and you can’t live each second thinking the worst. I do believe in being prepared if something bad were to go wrong but don’t let it ruin every day. You could get hit by a car tomorrow, are you going to stress about that non-stop?
The second you stop stressing about things you can’t control whatsoever is when you’ll drop 1/15th of the weight off your shoulders. Treat your mind like a battery where added unnecessary stress or arguments will just drain your percentage down and not let you use it for things you enjoy that day.
Unplug
Turn off the phone, stop checking social media, get outdoors and get away from electronics for a day or an entire weekend.
Getting off the grid, stop watching TV and/or deleting social media for a week can be the best week of your life. Similar to my earlier ideas, stop procrastinating or wishing you had someone else’s life and go live your own. Maybe you are checking up on an ex’s life too much, comparing your life to others or just spending way too much damn time procrastinating on social media.
People spend 7-10+ hours a week on social media and this is time that could be used towards working towards your goals vs. watching other people flaunt achieving theirs. Stop living around the TV or being so passionate about your sports team… I LOVE sports and sure it’s cool but wouldn’t you rather put that passion and effort into your own life and goals vs. obsessing about strangers living theirs?
Get outdoors as it is an amazing revitalization space that will help you re-charge and focus. Go for a run or hike so you can unplug completely from reading your phone. Running or hiking is my favorite therapy as well as best time for brainstorming when I will just daydream and let my mind get creative. If you’re not outdoorsy then writing or drawing can be extremely cathartic. Whatever your therapeutic enjoyment is, do it and get away from all the distractions to just recharge, think and re-evaluate your life and goals.
Another great help is meditation or having a recharge nap. There are some amazing theories on meditation and quick naps to help recharge you. Take 10-20 minutes to turn away from phone, close your eyes and just tune the world out, or think/plan your day or week.
Reward yourself
If you’re in that bad of a funk spending $200 on experiences or something to help your day to get out of it is worth it.
Spend money on things that help your soul and daily life. Buy a gym outfit to help you get motivated, hiking shoes or yoga clothes to get back into the swing of things; get a new computer to help your career; buy a flight somewhere; get a new car that works; go buy an amazing meal or just do something to remind you of the hard work you have put in and spoil yourself.
Ideally if you do spend money try to buy experiences not things, unless it truly is rewarding yourself for hard work vs. purchasing another watch or a nice pair of heels. It’s cliche but it is so true as people max out their spending or go into debt on “things.” People ask how I travel so much and it’s because I could have afforded a Range Rover at $800 a month vs. the $350 I was spending on my vehicle… but then I realized that over 3 months that is a 5-day all inclusive trip to Mexico for two! People spend $100-300 all the time on meals or thousands on bottle service at a club… it just comes down to priorities.
One of my favorite ways to get out of a funk is exercising! I feel it acts as a de-stressor and allows me to have “me” time; just me some music and the treadmill. its a win win situation in my opinion. Great read, loved seeing what ways you get yourself out of a funk.
Thanks for sharing!