When you're feeling drained

What does it mean to feel "drained"?

To drain something is to empty it, like water out of a bathtub. When we say we feel drained, we mean we're running low (or empty), usually on energy, but also at times on hope, on motivation, on ganas.

(Something really interesting to note about the action of draining: it's an emptying that happens by way of pouring out - meaning, you most often find yourself feeling drained when you've just been pouring out: your heart, your effort, your energy, onto other people and things.)

If you, like me, have been in need of a restoration lately, or you've felt the need for a little R&R (rest and relaxation), this is for you.

Do you just need to try harder?

Are you trying too hard?

We use this phrase in English, s/he is trying too hard, as a criticism. It's meant to imply that whatever it is you're trying to accomplish will only come if you relax and let it come more naturally. Don't force it.

And yet so many times when we're not getting the results that we want, we tell ourselves to just try harder.

Instead of telling yourself to just try harder, ask yourself:

How could I give myself more support? ¿Cómo puedo darme más apoyo?

Coaching, Your Best Bilingual Life, SpanishSaturday, MotivationNikki BannisterFebruary 12, 2021Life, Permission, Support, Effort, Self-talkComment

You have permission to lower the bar

Have you heard the saying, "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right"?

This time of year, many of us are abounding with new goals, dreams, and projects for the new year. We look forward to all the changes this year might bring, all that we might accomplish, and the growth that will occur.

And the overwhelm can almost be immediate.

Because the truth is, we aren't great multi-taskers. We - and I mean you, I mean me, I mean ALL of us humans - are much better at being single-taskers. It's just how our brains work!

So what do we do?

We often start trying to do it ALL, at the beginning. Then, we get frustrated as we realize we're not making the kind of progress we'd like to. We're pulled in too many directions, stretched too thin.

We start to drop things. We put them off. We decide we'll get to it later, when we have the time we want to truly dedicate to it.

This sounds pretty good. Pretty reasonable. After all, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right, isn't it?

Maybe.

There's a pernicious limiting belief hiding in this mindset: the idea that it's all-or-nothing.

My Best Bilingual Life