Conquering The Darkness

Depression.  It sucks.  It blows.  It hurts.  But it is NOT something you can’t conquer.  This post has some tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way.

1. You. It starts with you. In any bad time in life, whether it be your physical shape, your mental shape, or even your fashion choices, if you don’t like it, fixing it STARTS.  WITH.  YOU.  YOU have to be the one to break free from the darkness.  No amount of friends, family, doctor’s, or drugs can bring you out of depression unless you make the conscious decision that you want to beat this.  Because you can do it, but ONLY if YOU WANT TO.  you have GOT to take the first step.  I listen to “The Ziglar Show” Podcast, and a quote from Zig Ziglar in the introduction is perfect for this. “You’re what you are and where you are because of what’s going into your mind.  You can change what you are and where you are by changing what is in your mind.  You cannot change who you are by remaining what you are.  If you can’t take a huuuuuuge step to begin with, take as big a step as you can.  BUT TAKE IT NOW.” Take it now.  Make the choice to beat the darkness
   

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2. Start Small.  Think about what made you happy before you fell into your depression.  For me, it was working out.  I LOVED to lift weights.  I’d spend hours in the weight room with my buddies talking, luaghing, and pumpin’ dat iron.  When I fell into my depression, I quit working out.  Now that I have taken the step towards defeating depression, I am slowly getting back into the gym.  I didn’t dive in and do 2 hour workouts 5 days a week, but I did take a small step by getting in three one hour workouts.  Once you ease into something you know you once loved, you’ll do it more and more.  Then, you can find another thing you love (for me: Singing) and begin to do that again.  You can defeat the darkness by disrupting the rhythm it is holding you in.

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   Help Others  Helping others is something a lot of people overlook as a way of dealing with depression.  Most people think that you need to focus only on yourself to fix this, and from my experience, that is an awful way to handle it.  Because when I’m depressed, I think I am worthless.  It doesn’t matter what other people tell me.  Words are just words.  But when I went out of my way to help someone, and could see the thanks and appreciation in their eyes, it made me feel good about myself and remember that I am not worthless, even if I am depressed.

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4. Get in Shape  Now, that we’ve found our worth through others, it’s time to build our own self-worth.  The easiest way to do that, is to Get. In. Shape.  Not only does working out release endorphins, but it also increases every aspect of your life.  It makes you look good.  It makes you feel good.  It makes you perform better.  Look good feel good play good.  Now heres the catch:  You also have to start eating right.  No more processed foods that you know are bad for you.  No more tubs of ice cream and four pound cheeseburgers.  Go out and find a healthy dieting book (I  would recommend Bulletproof Diet by Dave Asprey.   He’s an incredibly intelligent man who has spent a lot of time and money perfecting this diet. (And no, I’m not getting paid for recommending that, Dave Asprey has no idea.  You’re welcome for the free advertising bruh)
   

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5.  LOG EVERYTHING  Everything.  I mean it.
   • Workouts: On your first day, Log your weight.  For the next two weeks, Log your exercise sets and reps.  Log your cardio type and time.  After two weeks, Log your new weight.  Repeat.
   • Diet: *BUY A DIET BOOK AND FOLLOW IT* Log your meal.  Log your calories. Log your Meal time.   Every. Single. Time.  Log your total calories.  (If you count calories, you’ll know how to adjust them to achieve your weight goals on your biweekly weigh-ins)
   • Sleep: Log what time you go to bed.  Log what time you get out of bed.  Log how many times you wake up between the time you went to bed and got out of bed.  Log your dreams. Log Log Log.
   • Log how you feel every morning.  Are you tired? sad? nervous? excited? happy? write a short 3-5 senteces about how you feel in the morning.
   • Log how you feel before bed.  How was your day? What did you do? What can you do tomorrow to make it better?
     

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6. Mirror Motivation  This is a personal favorite of mine.  There is probably a real word for it, but for now we’re going to go with this.  It’s a very simple concept.  Every morning, as you’re getting ready for work or school, take a minute to look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself something like “You are amazing” or “you will succeed.”  Mine was “You will be the greatest.”  Find an empowering phrase that means something to you, and look yourself in the eye (in the mirror, obviously) and repeat that phrase 5 times powerfully, like you believe it more than anything in the world, even if you don’t.

These are my six steps towards defeating the Darkness, and I encourage you to try them all for at least six weeks.  By six weeks, your entire life should be changed.  If not, hit me up in the contact box and I’ll hook you up with some of the deeper things I did.