What to do when life is hard

If you are feeling like life is hard, and you aren’t sure what to do. In this post let’s talk about how to shift perspective on what “hard” means, and then how to start taking action in your own life.

Have you ever heard this quote?

"Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard.

Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard. Choose your hard.

Being in debt is hard. Being financially discipline is hard. Choose your hard.

Communication is hard. Not communicating is hard. Choose your hard.

Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard.

Pick wisely." ~Unknown

What does this mean?

Instead of expecting life to all of a sudden easy and waiting for “someday”, we can accept that is not how it works.

When something feels hard- like starting a new workout or meal planning/prepping on Sunday or cutting out sugar or alcohol- we know that it’s okay for it to feel hard.

Easy choice, hard life. Hard choice, easy life.

This is an oversimplification, but the point is, if you want your life to be easier, what harder choices do you need to make now in the short term?

If you are ready to make some changes, the first step is having a brutally honest assessment of yourself and ask-

• what do I want to be different in my life
• what role do I have in it?
• what are action steps I can start taking right now?

In a society of “easy buttons” this can seem counterintuitive. But easy buttons are getting us nowhere but unhealthy- physically, mentally and spiritually.

So how to start?

Start with a circumstance you want to change and go through the questions above, let’s go through some examples…

• I am sick of feeling exhausted every day
  • Examine what is contributing to this that is under your control.
  • Some things to consider:
    • What does your bedtime routine look like?
    • Is it supportive of getting quality sleep?
    • Are you giving yourself enough actual time to sleep?
  • Intentional Action steps:
    • Have a wind down routine that does not involve electronics.
    • No scrolling your phone in bed.
    • Go to bed 15 minutes earlier.
• I want to eat healthier
  • Examine:  What are you currently eating?
  • Intentional Action steps: Start with:
    • Filling your plate 1/2 with vegetables.
    • Reducing or eliminating processed foods.
    • Increase your water intake.
• I want to read a book.
  • Examine: What is keeping me from reading?
  • Intentional action:
    • Start with reading for 10 minutes every day.
    • Set a rule of no social media until you have read for 10 minutes, or a chapter.
• I want to feel less stress.
  • Examine: Where in your life are you feeling stressed? Write down the top 3 situations that are the most stressful.
  • Intentional action:
    • Start by looking at what you can simplify.
    • Start a gratitude practice. Write down 1-3 specific things that you are grateful for that happened in the last 24 hours.

The point is, finding intentional action you can take. There will always be barriers, sometimes big and sometimes small. But we always have the choice on how we act.

If this is something that speaks to you, I would love to hear one small step that you are going to take or what hard thing you are dealing with.

This is something that I help clients with as a wellness coach. If you would like to have a complimentary consultation and we can dive into what areas, you are struggling with – Sign up here