Becoming a new you:
Embrace who you are - support groups really helped me with this. I now have a group of friends with tourettes who get me. We sit in a bar and can be who we are rather than who we think we should be.
I could tell you about where this feeling of needing to conform comes from, but I want to press forward. I have looked back to improve my understanding of who I am and to put past hurts away to prevent them from holding me back.
Be careful not to set unattainable goals - (e.g) why did I make that mistake? From now on I'll not talk to anyone for example then no one can upset me won't help as it is not attainable but just sets us up to fail and keeps us in the cycle of anxiety.
I want to break that cycle of anxiety but some days I just can't it is good to have all of this good advice in my head but useless if you are not in the right place to use it. This has been the case for me many times.
One pitfall to becoming a new you is expecting all of this to get rid of the anxiety, sadly this won't work. If you are anything like me this is an easy pitfall to fall into which leaves you despondent and in the mood to give up.
When we are stressed or in other difficult situations we will all automatically go back to our programme. You've got to be in this for the long hall as it will bring benefits. I am by no means free of anxiety or depression but I remind myself of how far I have come since my first steps.
The key is little victories - take little steps first like making yourself go to a party or phoning someone you don't like very much. Now this may not seem like much of a challenge but it will give you the courage to gradually go onto tackle other issues by reflecting on what you have achieved and reminds you how amazing you are. Make sure you don't forget your positive achievements.
Keep a book of things you have achieved and positive things others have said about you. You can then return to this book whenever you need to move out of judging yourself too harshly.
Take time out for you. Do things you like.
Remember it is ok not to feel ok. Don't beat yourself up but be kind to yourself. Recognise when you are not in the right place to to absorb the positive things in your book. It is at these points when it is best to leave this until you are in the right place to work through things. It is a bit of a cliche but you need to be kind to yourself. Do things you like doing and that make you happy if that is laying still, then so be it.
Something else to try when you are upset or not in the right frame of mind is to write down how you feel or talk into a dictaphone about how you feel. Then read what you wrote or listen back to your recording the next day to see how you feel about it. Normally I have found myself to feel much better and able to move on.
I hope these tools I have mentioned will be of help to you too. Between us we can help each other.
There is so much more I could write but it is over to you please comment and let me know if you want anything else included in this blog or how I can help you. I would love to read your comments.
Oh yes I almost forgot, I didn't get the job I interviewed for last week but it is ok, as I will not let it keep me down. I am getting up, brushing myself off and seeing what else I can do to help me succeed and land my ideal job which fits in with my life better.
Take Care, you've got this.
Embrace who you are - support groups really helped me with this. I now have a group of friends with tourettes who get me. We sit in a bar and can be who we are rather than who we think we should be.
I could tell you about where this feeling of needing to conform comes from, but I want to press forward. I have looked back to improve my understanding of who I am and to put past hurts away to prevent them from holding me back.
Be careful not to set unattainable goals - (e.g) why did I make that mistake? From now on I'll not talk to anyone for example then no one can upset me won't help as it is not attainable but just sets us up to fail and keeps us in the cycle of anxiety.
I want to break that cycle of anxiety but some days I just can't it is good to have all of this good advice in my head but useless if you are not in the right place to use it. This has been the case for me many times.
One pitfall to becoming a new you is expecting all of this to get rid of the anxiety, sadly this won't work. If you are anything like me this is an easy pitfall to fall into which leaves you despondent and in the mood to give up.
When we are stressed or in other difficult situations we will all automatically go back to our programme. You've got to be in this for the long hall as it will bring benefits. I am by no means free of anxiety or depression but I remind myself of how far I have come since my first steps.
The key is little victories - take little steps first like making yourself go to a party or phoning someone you don't like very much. Now this may not seem like much of a challenge but it will give you the courage to gradually go onto tackle other issues by reflecting on what you have achieved and reminds you how amazing you are. Make sure you don't forget your positive achievements.
Keep a book of things you have achieved and positive things others have said about you. You can then return to this book whenever you need to move out of judging yourself too harshly.
Take time out for you. Do things you like.
Remember it is ok not to feel ok. Don't beat yourself up but be kind to yourself. Recognise when you are not in the right place to to absorb the positive things in your book. It is at these points when it is best to leave this until you are in the right place to work through things. It is a bit of a cliche but you need to be kind to yourself. Do things you like doing and that make you happy if that is laying still, then so be it.
Something else to try when you are upset or not in the right frame of mind is to write down how you feel or talk into a dictaphone about how you feel. Then read what you wrote or listen back to your recording the next day to see how you feel about it. Normally I have found myself to feel much better and able to move on.
I hope these tools I have mentioned will be of help to you too. Between us we can help each other.
There is so much more I could write but it is over to you please comment and let me know if you want anything else included in this blog or how I can help you. I would love to read your comments.
Oh yes I almost forgot, I didn't get the job I interviewed for last week but it is ok, as I will not let it keep me down. I am getting up, brushing myself off and seeing what else I can do to help me succeed and land my ideal job which fits in with my life better.
Take Care, you've got this.
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