The light fades. Your energy drops. You stop doing the things that normally help. At first, you still want to do those things, but can’t seem to make them happen. Then you stop wanting to, altogether. In between, you berate yourself for letting it come to this.
Winter used to flatten me.
Which, lemme tell ya, was pretty damn confusing as someone who used to make a living on a snowboard, helping people maneuver through the mountains.
The short days are one thing, but the gray skies are my Achilles heel. Waking up sluggish, with that already-behind feeling before the day’s even started. If you, like me, focused on just getting through it, you’d probably miss the size of the toll it takes. Which I didn’t quite grasp until I started paying closer attention.
The Unobstructed Podcast: Episode 15
In this episode, Rachael and I talk through what it’s like to design the kind of momentum that generates more momentum. This is especially handy when in the middle of a mental health slump, I might add.
We dive into how I built a custom tracker, what it actually does, and the unexpected results that came from using it every day. And the thing that surprised me most? I actually became three times happier.
How’s that for a happy little accident?
Bob Ross jokes aside, this goes back many years for me. It started with building a simple spreadsheet. It wasn’t fancy or complicated (ok, that’s not entirely true. But it doesn’t need to be… I just had fun building it that way). Truly I just wanted a way to gamify my way out of depression.
What I discovered was that I almost always reported feeling great on the days I’d expect to feel terrible—huh?
We also talk about:
Why consistency is kinder than intensity
Why visibility matters when your energy is low
How I built a system that helped me feel like myself again
What “cognitive idling” is and why it drains your motivation
I can’t be the only data nerd who’s done this… who else?
Give a listen and let me know if this is you.
You can also get it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
onward.
-dmac
P.S. if you know someone who’s into stories on personal growth and building mental wealth, consider sharing this with them!
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