It’s no surprise to anyone who has followed this show for any amount of time that I’ve struggled to keep consistently producing content. If I’m being honest, it’s been difficult for me to find the right words to say more often than not - mostly because I wasn’t believing them for myself. It’s hard to encourage or motivate others when you can barely do those things for yourself.
The last couple of years have been weird. There has been so much good that has come into my life and yet, I have never been more uncertain or discontent about all of it. I have found myself completely overwhelmed with tasks, felt as though I'm doing all I can just to keep my head above water, and all the while convinced myself that I'm not doing anything well. I have been fighting urges to quit my job and start my own business, move out of state or completely across the country, and battling frequently against self-confidence and self-doubt. I long for a clean slate and a fresh start. My head has never felt foggier, and I have been seeking desperately for any markers for a path forward. The truth is, I have had too many plates spinning and they’ve begun to start crashing one by one. Unfortunately, self-care was one of the first ones to break.
I recently reached a point of burnout that caused me to take the majority of my remaining vacation time. During this time, I did a bit of reflection and wasn't making much progress until I spent a day hiking in southern Indiana. It was at that point that I was recharged and suddenly things just clicked. I had become so entrenched in checking boxes that I had neglected to check in on myself. I have talked at length about how much the outdoors heal me over the years, but I spent the last 18-24 months not practicing what I was preaching, and it finally caught up to me.
There were some personal circumstances that forced me to spend a lot of my extra time working instead of recreating, but even so, I left no room for a way to recharge. As a result of not refueling my own tank, the engine to the podcast ran out of gas. I allowed my vision to become clouded, and it was difficult to get back on track or even muster up motivation to record anything new at all.
I feel a very strong pull to help people. To positively influence the folks around me and encourage those who need it. For a long time now, I've felt like I was doing that with my show. There have been wonderful words shared with me about how my messages have helped listeners since I've been recording and that is something that I am very honored to hear. It also is a huge motivator to keep at this thing and not to let it fade away, but in order to do that effectively, some things need to change. I have decided to pivot and try a little less distracting approach to how I connect with the followers of the show.
First and foremost, I need to be outside more often for my own mental health. If I'm in a good place, then it's much easier to share that positivity.
Second, I need to finish the book I've been piddling with for a few years now. This is a personal goal that I want to accomplish, but it also is the foundation of why I started all this to begin with. It's time to complete that work. I have set an aggressive goal to finish the manuscript and will then work towards publishing.
Third, I'm revaluating how I use, and IF I will continue to use, social media to promote the show. Honestly, it's more of a distraction than anything else and I'm about 95% sure that most people on there don't read the captions I take the time to write anyway. I want to make sure that the words I craft together hit the target audience and often I feel like those get overlooked if the post is buried in a feed somewhere. I also waste too much time scrolling and it keeps me from being productive. I will begin to utilize this blog to log my perspective as it is a more suitable tool and perhaps that way I can avoid the barrage of unsolicited yoga pants, thongs, and crop tops that work their way into the feed of any male Instagram user. Win/Win.
I have missed feeling good. The joy that I experienced from a few hours exploring the outdoors vastly outweighs the stress and envy that comes from staying in and exploring it through 4x4 photos and reels. It's easy to breed discontentment when you spend a lot of time focused on what you don't have. There is a dark cycle that pulls in those of us who are bored or unhappy, so we "check out" and begin scrolling, which in turn produces more unhappiness when we see so many others out where we want to be. I'm speaking from experience here - this is a powerful force that will tank your ability to find joy in anything. I wish I would have taken all of the time that I've wasted window-shopping in other people's pretend lives and applied it to appreciating the 5 most important people in my life, maybe accomplishing some of my own goals, or at the very least, spent more time exploring my local outdoor areas. When I get regular time in nature, I'm a nicer person. I'm more patient. I have more gratitude. I'm more pleasant to be around. I realize how blessed I truly am. We have to break this cycle. We have to make time for ourselves to rest and refocus doing...insert applicable activity here.
Vibes breed vibes - I need to make sure I'm spreading good ones. So do you. If you find yourself reading this and relating, don't wait - go outside, take a walk, and breathe in deeply. Your body and your mind will thank you!
-Mitty