A business, life and career coach: we could think of nobody better to talk about the inspirational journey of self-improvement than Mikaela Jackson. And if you haven’t already added the She Almighty podcast to your playlist, now’s the time! Mikaela is a resoundingly honest voice on how to be the best version of yourself in an effort to deliver a positive impact for others, and we had the honour of catching up with her to find out how best to go from survival mode to thrive mode, in five simple steps.
Our busy everyday lives can result in us feeling like we are in survival mode. Trying to keep up, keep on top of things, keep all the plates spinning. Being more productive and getting through our ongoing to-do lists. Trying to balance and maintain our work, family, social lives, and somewhere amidst all of that, our wellbeing!
Survival mode feels like an ongoing battle and can leave us feeling tired, uninspired, overwhelmed and often a far cry from the best version of ourselves. But it needn’t be that way. You have the power to make that change.
Here are five simple steps to shift you from survival mode to thrive mode.
1. Create mindful moments
No matter who we are, we all have the same amount of time in a day, meaning we should all be able to create a moment of calm, joy or splendour for ourselves.
Make space for you
There will always be a million and one things we could be doing to keep ourselves busy but ask yourself, does it all have to happen right now? The answer is probably no, and it certainly is if you want to be in thrive mode. So, identify your windows of opportunity and build in those little rituals and mindful moments of pure pleasure just for you.
2. Build positive habits
Being constantly “busy” means we can fall into negative habits or neglect to make time for positive ones. But if we think of ourselves as a sum of our habits, then we can begin to realise just how important they are. For example, building regular exercise into your routine is not only beneficial for your body but also your mind and soul. It can have a huge impact on how you are feeling about life and your ability to cope with everything that is thrown at you.
The same goes for your eating and drinking habits; if you have too much sugar, caffeine and find yourself reaching for the wine daily to feel “more relaxed” and “less stressed”, chances are you won’t be operating at your best. Your mood will almost certainly be negatively affected, and maintaining a healthy body and mindset will be that much harder.
And of course, sleep; we all know that sleep deprivation can take a massive toll. So start to notice the habits that aren’t serving you well and make an effort to remove or replace them with ones that make you feel happy, healthy, positive and ready to take on the world.
3. Make time to disconnect
Living in this interconnected digital age can make it seem like there is little opportunity for us to truly disconnect. There’s a plethora of communication options and the “obligation” to contact and get back to people instantaneously. And social media platforms through which to gain insight into other people’s fantastic lives and achievements can also bring with it plenty of opportunity for guilt, paranoia and comparison.
Start to pay attention to your relationships with people, your devices and the platforms through which you engage. Notice how much time you are spending, how much energy they are taking and how they are making you feel.
What or who could you or would you rather be saying no to? Surrounding yourself with positive people can also make a huge difference. So could identifying times in the day where you could limit your device use, implementing healthy boundaries and creating moments to truly switch off and let your mind wind down, rest and recuperate. Because to be in thrive mode, you will need to learn to look after you, utilise your mental bandwidth wisely and allow time to reconnect with you.
4. Learn to put your needs first
Putting the needs of others before our own can be admirable, but if that comes at the detriment of our own needs, this may also result in us not being the best that we could be for others.
Recognising what the best version of you looks like, how you would like to be spending your time both personally and professionally, and then taking action to support those things is extremely important. When you know what is truly important to you, you can enjoy taking the steps, reaching the milestones and the journey of making those things a reality. And when you take full ownership and responsibility for your happiness, success and fulfilment – when you are doing what you love – that is when you’ll go from survival mode to thrive mode.
SheAlmighty Podcast
5. Practise self-love
Self-love means looking after number one in every sense – your health, wellbeing and happiness – but also the things you say and believe to be true about yourself. So many of us say unkind things to ourselves like “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not clever”, “not attractive”, “I should be doing better”. We self-deprecate, self-punish, self-sabotage, compare, strive for sometimes unrealistic ideals of perfectionism and generally doubt our awesomeness.
The things is, what we think, what we say and then what we do can manifest as the truth as self-fulfilling prophecies. And while this most certainly isn’t good for you – your self-confidence, self-esteem, self-acceptance and self-respect – it also isn’t healthy for those in your sphere of influence, particularly impressionable children.
Being the best version of you starts by being kind to you, adopting a positive mindset and empowering narratives for yourself. When you do this, and when you take all of the mentioned steps, you will genuinely thrive as the best, happiest and most fulfilled version of you.
A huge thank you to Mikaela Jackson for her time. Why not connect with the She Almighty community and learn more about her coaching programmes and events? Or if you want more inspiration a little closer to home, check out our home workouts to help get your wellness routine off to a flying start.
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The content on Me&Me Time is for informational, entertainment and guidance purposes only and is in no way a substitute for professional medical advice. Please see our terms and conditions for more advice on how best to use our site.
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