5 signs your brain is holding you hostage

Are you making the best of your work, your health, or even your relationship because you don’t have the power to change it? “I have no choice”, you tell yourself. “I’m not ready. I don’t have time. Things will get better eventually”.

We all go through tough times in life, especially over this past year and a half. And knowing how to focus on the upside is important. But after a certain point, whether that’s 6 months or 6 years, your upside attitude may be holding you back from living the life you aspire to.

Check out these 5 signs that your brain is holding you, hostage.  Do you find yourself regularly:

1. Envying people around you?
2. Low in energy for no obvious reason?
3. Too busy with everyday details to work on your goals?
4. Emotionally withdrawn or “checked out”?
5. Wishing you had made better choices?

If you answered yes to these questions, you’re not alone. Ironically, the stress that accompanies feelings of overwhelm, regret, and resentment makes it hard to see your alternatives. In short, your survival brain interprets your feeling of stress as a danger. To keep you safe, it keeps firing the fight, flight, freeze response, deepening those feelings of stuckness.

The fact is, it’s much easier to stay in any situation, no matter how compromised than to risk moving into uncharted waters. Yet not being true to yourself is the #1 regret expressed by people as they looked back as they reach old age.

The reality is, change is always happening, whether we like it or not. And when change pushes you forward without a compass, you may not like where you end up. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way. The good news is, you have everything you need to set your future in motion, starting now.

If your brain is holding you, hostage, move toward freedom with this 3-step escape plan;

Get grounded. When you feel stuck, the feeling of overwhelm keeps fueling your heightened stress response. It’s hard to focus on that place. You can use deep breathing techniques to reduce the distress signal to the part of your nervous system that triggers the fight, flight, and freeze response. Your stress can keep you stressed, so reducing it is the way to clarity and focus.

Let go of expectations. It’s the key to life, right? But it’s so hard to do. We like predictability, it makes planning so much easier. Unfortunately, the future is as hard to count on as the weather, especially during these uncertain times. So we need to be flexible and stay present instead of staying stuck in worries about what may happen, or how it went last time.

Find your tribe. Our everyday environment impacts our ability to succeed. Your support system plays an integral role in whether you reach your goals and sustain your success long-term. Change creates waves, and there will be people in your wake that aren’t happy with this disruption. If you’re serious about your goals, you’ll need to let them have their opinions/fears/disappointments, but not enough to derail your efforts.

You have the right to prioritize your growth and fulfillment. When those around you don’t understand or encourage your new direction, it’s important to have a support system or a coach to help you stay motivated and accountable.

Difficult life circumstances make us feel trapped as if we have no options. Yet no matter how stuck you feel, you can decide to pick up your compass and choose a new direction. Your escape plan begins by taking the first step toward changing your mind by downregulating your stress level. From there the opportunities are boundless!

Ready to move from inspiration to action? Join me for a 3-day. Breathe into Breakthrough FREE workshop to learn how to use simple everyday practices to reduce your stress and change your life, today!