As I wrap up and close — for now — my series on The Politics of Languishing, I am feeling called to offer some life coaching pep talks to you if you find yourself being One Who Is Languishing.
If you have been following along, I have talked in recent months about how women have been languishing for years. You can read more what languishing means and the premise of it all right here.
During this series — which has been presented in both blog post and podcast formats — I have talked about several causes of our languishing as human beings right now and for the past years.
I’ve talked about how we are caught up in powerful systems like patriarchy, racism and capitalism. And I’ve talked about how those systems have so many women feeling trapped and stuck on the hamster wheel of life.
Those systems include …
- Overworking and Overdoing
- Perfectionism
- Good Girl Syndrome
- Being Superwoman Strong
- Settling or accepting
And, as I want to take a much-deserved and needed REST from performance striving such as recording my podcast while my girls are on summer break, I am bringing this series to a close, for now. I will be addressing these topics and MANY more in the coming days, weeks and months. But I’m putting this series to rest for now.
But first …
I want to give you some of my own life coaching wisdom — Shawn-isms — to help you get started on working to deconstruct and unlearn some of these oppressive power systems that have you — and most of us — languishing. The journey is long but if you begin today the closer you will be to making it to the other side.
—> You are invited to also receive MORE wisdom right now by signing up for my email list to receive my weekly-ish Brave Yes Newsletter AND as a way to help you get started on your own Brave Yes Journey, you will automatically get my 7 Days of Everyday Brave Yeses email course.
Listen to the more unfiltered, passionate version of this over on the Brave Yes Show podcast now or read below.
5 Life Coaching Pep Talks to Help You Step Out of Languishing Mode and Start Thriving
BREAKING DOWN OVERWORKING AND OVERDOING
The only way to stop overworking and overdoing is to know when you are. And the only way to really know is to check in with yourself. Only you can know what is too much and what isn’t. So start a daily — or multiple times a day — check-in with yourself. Find a way to talk to your body as if it’s your best friend. Your body knows when it’s in stress. Your body knows when it needs to slow down, rest, stop but you have to know what to do and when.
BREAKING DOWN PERFECTIONISM
Notice when you aren’t making progress in the parts of your life where you want to make change or experience momentum and ask yourself what perfectionism has to do with it. Is your binary mindset — all or nothing thinking — creating a situation where you can’t move forward out of fear of getting it wrong? Focus on the practice. The Journey. Not the outcome. And, see how your high expectations and extreme pressure to change people may be hurting other people as well.
BREAKING DOWN GOOD GIRL SYNDROME
Oh, yes. This is my favorite. Step into your power by reclaiming your needs, your purpose, your voice, your boundaries, your dreams, your desires and your deep, rooted joy. You do not have to follow the collective and wear the mask to fit in and conform. You can stand on your own. AND it will be lonely. Get support.
BREAKING DOWN SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH
Allow yourself to be totally honest about what you are capable of handling and when enough is enough on being strong. It’s OK to purposefully unpack your strongwoman backpack and lay it all down for a bit. This is all about giving yourself permission.
BREAKING DOWN SETTLING FOR LESS OR NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Fight for yourself. Fight really fricking hard. You are a human being who is 100 percent worth of belonging in this world and worthy enough to feel joy in your one beloved, beautiful lifetime that you have been gifted. Claim your right to your joy or reclaim it and find your freedom. Either way, fight for yourself.
