I talk a lot about taking action.
Why?
Because taking action is what helps you move forward… with everything in life.
If you have goals and don’t take action, you see no results.
If you see a hot guy across the room and don’t take action, you’ll never know what could have been.
If you want to take that dream vacation and don’t take action, you’ll never take it.
If you want ANYTHING in life, taking action is what needs to happen in order for you to get there.
About 6 months ago this one thing was forced upon me that I did NOT want to take action on.
I was scared shitless to do this ONE thing that I was told I need to do.
I thought if I did it, I would lose my edge.
I told myself a thousand reasons why I shouldn’t do it.
I didn’t know how to do to it and the fear of what was on the other side of this thing was holding me back.
Truth be told… I didn’t take action on it.
Until one day, I had no choice.
The Universe forced me into it.
The action I needed to take was this...
I needed to SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!
If you know me, you know that I am an energizer bunny.
I move fast.
I get it done.
I juggle many things.
I’m busy busy busy!
I’ve always got a shit-ton on my plate.
People would comment to me… I don’t know how you do it all.
Well people, doing it all doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.
I learned it the hard way.
After a bunch of blood, urine, poop, and saliva tests, I threw on a CGM.
(See previous post if you don't know what a CGM is.)
After 2 weeks, my dietician told me - you need to chill.
Your body thinks you’re being chased by a tiger 24 hours a day and it’s causing your blood sugar to go nuts… at all hours of the day. Even while you’re sleeping.
If you don’t know much about blood sugar, know this… this was NOT GOOD NEWS!
She told me to slow down.
I cried.
I don’t know how to slow down.
While thinking about it and being horrified to do it as I mentioned above, the Universe so delicately kicked me in the ass. Big Time!
While on our last vaca of summer, I woke up on the last morning with full on Vertigo.
If you’ve never had it, it sucks.
You feel like you’re walking on a ship, in rough seas, with legs that weigh 2 tons.
When you try to close your eyes and escape the rocking ship, your world spins a million miles an hour.
When you try to lie down, OY! Even worse.
That being said, when you have Vertigo, you can’t be busy or move quickly.
So I had no choice except to slow the F-down.
As my Vertigo subsided around day 10, I was back at the gym and probably pushing a little too hard to make up for lost time. Yes, that’s the way my busy, hard-core brain works.
The following day I took my girls on a fun mommy-daughter day at the beach.
While they checked out the town (probably looking for boys), I decided to grab all of the beach chairs and all of the bags (insert I AM STRONG mantra here) and haul them across the sand, up a long flight of stairs, across the boardwalk and back down the other side.
I AM SUPERWOMAN! A FIT, STRONG, FIERCE MOM (I've even got a t-shirt that says this)!
Dumb ass I am, I woke up the next morning feeling tight. Very tight.
I headed to the gym, as I would on a normal day, did the warm-up to loosen things up and headed out the door for a short 2-minute run. In the first 1 minute of my run, I felt a pain in my lower back so bad that it took my breath away.
I slowly walked in agony back to the gym, got on the floor, and tried to stretch it out.
Didn’t work.
I got on the bike to try to move, even worse.
I left the gym.
Tail between my legs and head hanging low thinking, how long is this shit going to last.
I called the hubs.
He called the Chinese medicine man that recently worked on his back with needles and cups.
He came to visit.
I got some relief but not much.
What happened next…
I was FORCED again to slow down.
During the first two weeks, I did more acupuncture.
I went for long walks.
I tried to get on an elliptical machine - no bueno.
Then I tried a stretchy yoga class.
Spent most of it in childs pose breathing through the tightness.
More acupuncture. More cupping.
More walking.
I did cold showers.
Red light therapy.
Hot tubs.
Infrared saunas.
Cryo.
Yoga.
Breathing.
Meditation.
Journaling.
More Sleeping.
More Relaxing.
More Yoga.
Less Cardio.
Less Barbells.
Less Running.
Less Busy Busy.
And how did I feel?
I FELT GREAT!
Shockingly.
It felt good to slow down.
It felt good to sit with my thoughts… after getting used to them - this was not easy.
It felt good to be calmer. Something I had been trying to achieve for years.
Going slower gave me clarity.
It helped me to see that I was busy, but not necessarily productive.
I was doing a lot, but not a lot of good things for myself.
I was pushing myself, but at 50, I was pushing in the wrong ways.
Slowing down helped me see what I WANTED to be doing rather than what I was doing.
It allowed me time to reflect. Not just on life but on my business.
I slowed that down too.
It helped me see that I don’t have to push myself to the brink in order to see positive change and positive results.
I slowed down to recharge.
And so far, 2023 has been off to an incredible start.
My best year yet to be honest.
I'm doing more because I'm doing less.
I have been able to take control of my life.
I am able to get rid of the things that aren't serving me and really didn’t matter.
When we slow down we are able to more deeply connect with ourselves.
We can listen to what our body and brain needs instead of forcing them to do what we push them to do.
We can find time to focus on making life better and move forward with better vision and implement a better plan.
Don’t let the universe kick you in the ass.
Take some time and consider whether or not you’re busy good or busy bad.
Are you going too fast?
Do you need to slow down?
Are you doing shit that doesn’t matter?
If you stopped doing that shit, what would you focus on instead?
Need help figuring this out? I'm always just a phone call away.
Hope this was helpful.
Leave a comment or share with someone that needs to read this!
As always, thank you for being here.
I appreciate you!
xoxo,
Hayley