It ain't always glamorous...

(I always feel really Texan when I use ain't but that's besides the point…) I've been thinking a lot lately about the steps that are the most dependable in terms of helping us shift our mindset, actually do what we say we're going to do and begin to feel differently about parts of our lives.

This became very relevant for me over the past month or so, when I was experiencing what most people would refer to as a rut. Now, I've done this work enough to know that we all naturally move through ebbs and flows and when you're in a "down" period that you always seem to come back up but that never seems to make the feelings when you're in it feel any easier.

Even as a confidence coach whose life is steeped in resources and tools for shifting our mindset and handling hard emotions, I was still in a funk.

And while I solidly feel like I've exited that funk, the process of step-by-step digging my way out of it came with an important reminder, which I'm here to give you today: you can't ignore the basics.

Especially when you're an overachiever, there's this tendency to focus on the next thing - the next tool, next mindset practice, next promotion, next income bracket, next coach you want to hire or level of achievement you want to hit. And the endless chase gives us something to focus on but often we're doing it hoping that this thing or that practice will be the one that helps. 

And getting myself out of this rut hit me over the head with the reality that usually, when you're reaching for another new thing, what you really need most is to go back to the basics. The borderline mundane.

The basics are the foundation of resilience, of self-awareness, of self-discipline that may not be targeting a specific topic like your dating life, your income or your burnout but rather, they're making sure that your mind and body can interpret, react and adjust effectively.

But in this moment, I'd ask you to consider - how might you be making it harder for yourself to show up how you want to? What of your day-to-day habits might be skewing your view of yourself (aka affecting your interpretation), putting you on edge (aka affecting your reactions) or guttering your ability to bounce back (aka affecting your ability to adjust).

Can you tweak any/all of those things? You don't need a coach, course or self-help book to address the basics. And sound foundations are everything.