We’re living in a world where now more than ever the possibility of living your dream and achieving goals never imaginable are right at your fingertips. I spent most of my entire life living with structure and a set schedule for each day that echoed into the next day. From my 9-5 at JPMorgan or even my day to day at law school, I’ve learned to be very strict with my regimen. I was truly a creature of routine with what I had control over. Everything from my day to day activities to the money coming in was steady and it all made sense.
But why was I so unfulfilled? I didn’t have any anxiety or any real stresses at the time—life was easy and straight forward but somehow still craved a challenge.
Fast forward to July 2019—a solid 4 years into blogging—and I’m doing something I didn’t even know I could conquer or take on at the time. I’m such an introvert by nature and truth be told, I can sometimes experience social anxiety. I’ve taken so many steps in my career to help overcome both of those things. I’ve left my comfort zone (aka home and family) and moved to both LA and now NY. I’ve DM’d so many people and sent emails asking to meet for dinner or coffee or drinks and tackling my fear as best as I could. Being in the blogging world, networking is SO important (as it is in most jobs) and it’s really been the hardest thing for me to accept and take on. Just like any fear, it’s important to simply FACE it head on and you know what, it truly works! Over the last few years, I’ve been more comfortable going out and have truly connected with some wonderful people.
With that accomplishment somehow came anxiety. It took me a while to truly understand what I was going through. I was experiencing so many ups and downs and was stress eating like crazy. My heart rate would be higher than normal and some nights I would have trouble falling asleep and others I couldn’t get myself to get out of bed. I really started to feel like I was losing control of my own self and needed to make changes to help with my anxiety.
I had to figure out where my anxiety was coming from and it was honestly because of my own high expectations. I’m so used to a structured, rigid lifestyle and I guess switching gears (career wise) has affected me. Owning your own business in an industry so unique is so stressful and well, unpredictable. You all already know unpredictable isn’t my thing. There’s a lot of surprises in this industry, a lot of good months and bad and I guess I’m not used to that lifestyle. Hence, the anxiety here.
It was hard to accept that that’s something I’m going through but I knew I needed to find ways to help relieve my stress and anxiety. Everyone is different, everyone is complex in their own way so you really have to search within yourself to see what will work for you. I just wanted to share what has helped me the last few months:
- Quiet time. Ajeet and I recently started taking 30 minutes in the morning to just sit with our thoughts in quiet.
- Prayer. Without fail, Ajeet and I pray together every night and really communicate with God.
- Working out. I’m so happy we got back into our workout routine. The first half of the year I really let myself go with the stress of moving and our career.
- Shift your focus from you to someone else. Sounds funny to say, but sometimes the key to reducing anxiety and relieving stress is by helping someone else in need. I’ve always been one to gravitate towards people that need help and it makes for a great distraction + you’re doing good by helping others.
- Write things down. When you’re feeling negative, write down all the things that are bothering you and then write down all the things you’re grateful for. You’ll notice a shift in mindset when simply putting your thoughts down on paper.
- Make time for friends and family. We’re all busy, I know. But it’s so important to be with your support system.
- Grab a book or listen to a podcast. I’m actually going to ask for some recs from y’all on IG.. let me know your thoughts on there!
I just wanted to share my heart with y’all when it comes to stress and anxiety. It’s not something to ignore and it’s OKAY to feel something other than happy. You just have to know yourself and know what works for you. I hope this post helps and be sure to say hi on IG tonight!
Chat soon, xo.
