 Are you feeling a bit out of sorts? Did you go from on top of the world to feeling lost and wondering, why am I still like this? Well, you're not alone. And this isn't abnormal. It happens to the best of us. So here are some handholds and guideposts to help you get back to being you. Number one, step outside of the person you have been. Naturally, when we say get back on track, we don't mean go backwards and don't change. That's not helpful. In fact, being the person you were is what led you to being stuck where you are now. So trying something a little different may be just the thing you need. Weird and scary as it sounds, you've probably already done it before. Think of your younger self and all you learn from your mistakes. Like the time you learn that vanilla extract really does not taste like it smells. You learn to adapt and change your point of view. Like smell and taste don't always match. A question you can ask yourself is while looking at yourself from the outside, what do I want out of this? What do I want out of me? This may require you to come out of your comfort zone, but it will be worth it. Unleash the latent potential hiding inside you and push the boundaries of what you can achieve. 2. Be kind to yourself Humility is a good thing, but don't go overboard. Having your inner monologue become a constant rose-fest isn't helpful to you. All that self-blame and shame is acting as a blockade. Dealing with a mistake would stop at the inner scolding of you suck and doesn't allow for those next steps of recognition and trusting yourself to learn from it and do better. Self-compassion contributes to a wide range of positive outcomes for our well-being, like interconnectedness with others, optimism and wisdom to name a few. Why? It's because you can only access and learn these things when you believe you are worthy of them. 3. Let go of regrets The past is really the past. It sounds cliche, but that doesn't make it untrue. Unless you have your own TARDIS, you can't change the past, but you have the choice of how to respond. You could keep up with the ruminations of what if, which will only keep you awake at night and make your present full of anxiety and bitterness, or you could acknowledge it, understand its cause, and your role in it. Adjust, learn, and adapt. That incident is now a learning tool, rather than a punishment. Instead of letting the past ruin your now or your future, make it a part of your life's mural. 4. Trust that you are in the right place at the right time Theodore Roosevelt had the right idea when he said, Comparison is the thief of joy With the rise of social media, it is nearly difficult to avoid social comparison. Their Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook posts distract us every time we look at a screen. You wonder why you're not doing what they're doing or why your life is better. Hang on, you're trying to get your life back on track, not someone else's. Trying to hitch onto someone else's track means working with incomplete tools and aren't yours. It's okay to try new things, but the final masterpiece would be yours, since it's yours, trust that you're at the right place at the right moment for you. 5. Realize no one owns you Similar to the previous point, you have to live your own life. Yes, it's great to be aware of social norms and support friends, but if you find yourself taking the extra mile to avoid being negatively judged by others, like a puppet where your own needs are negligible and other people are dictating your every move, this is beyond social courtesy. You've relinquished your life to someone else. As well-meaning as others might be, only you have the entirety of your story. Only you can do what's right for you. 6. Never underestimate your strength to move forward Have you ever doubted your strength to take another step forward? It's all just too much. When this happens, you can always look back at your life where similar issues have arisen. Despite the hardship, you survived then, so you can do so now. Eventually, the difficulty will pass and you will look back at this time and feel grateful and stronger for getting through it. 7. Give up overthinking and worrying Overthinking is when healthy understanding and knowledge overwhelms everything, even the broader picture and logic. To get back on track, it's important to make decisions and work towards a goal, but they're also the two things you stop doing when you overthink. Overthinking creates a vicious cycle of worry that steals your peace. It's basically the hamster wheel of I hate my life. So stop the ride! You wanna get off? Doing so means doing things you enjoy and trying new things. You can ask yourself, what is my worrying doing to help the situation? It may not be easy, but nothing good ever was. Baby steps, my friend. Try setting aside a small amount of time, say, 30 minutes, every other day to explore new distractions or experiment with existing ones. At the very least, that's 30 solid minutes of not worrying, which is great. Getting back into you is a process, just like any other major project, you'll feel like you're making progress sometimes and regressing other times. Remember self-compassion and celebrate the progress you achieve. You may well find that the you that emerges is someone even better than before, and you have all your life experiences to thank for it. Do you resonate with any of these points? Feel free to comment and discuss. Thanks for watching and see you soon.