Hi, friends, and welcome back to another episode of Change Wired Podcast, the podcast for people who love evolving. One habit, one insight, one bold action at a time. Yesterday, my voice might sound a little bit weird I got sick, and because I got sick, I decided to share with you an emotional regulation technique which will allow you to do your absolute best for yourself, to take care of yourself when you need it the most, but when you feel like it the least. It will also help you to get better at taking care of your fitness, of your nutrition, of your sleep, of your boundaries, of your self-regulation and self-care habits, especially when you feel like it the least, when you're sick or just overwhelmed or dealing with a lot of stuff and not exactly bursting with energy. So how do you lead yourself? We are talking today about self-leadership, self-mastery how do you lead yourself towards taking better care of yourself so your future self can enjoy more fruits of your labor, versus having to deal with all this stuff that now is on your future self's plate because you didn't feel like doing your best, like investing in yourself when you don't feel like it. So when I get sick and I never these days get sick really, really badly Like. Thanks God, I'm taking care of myself, I'm putting in a lot of work into my health in general, but when I feel under the weather not my usual self and my energy is low and I don't want to do much and I don't want to cook healthy, eat healthy, I don't want to move and exercise, I don't want to follow my usual routines, but I know that doing that will help me to recover faster and then feel my 100% and enjoy life again. And knowing that, still, how do you lead yourself to that better future faster versus perhaps eating out or ordering out, eating some ice cream or cookies or whatever feels like something comforting but actually not really serving your goal of getting better, or staying up watching something, when more sleep will work so much better for your immune system. And we know that when we sleep, when we rest, when we dedicate time to truly full recovery, we get better faster. So how do you invest in yourself when you don't feel like it and it's that again you want to do all the worst behaviors? And how do you still perhaps show up for workouts and exercise, not full-blown workout, but just moving your body, which helps to activate your immune system, which helps to activate your lymphatic system, that system that takes the trash out of your system, which needs to be taken out when you have some viruses or some bacteria inside of you doing its nasty work. How do you keep yourself moving? Taking care of yourself. So this is a script for a conversation that I would usually have with myself in a second or third person, which researchers on emotional regulation show is the most effective way to lead yourself to better action, taking or better care of yourself, instead of just talking, I guess, in the first person eye. So talking to yourself to the third, like Angela or you second person, is much more effective at actually you leading yourself, to taking that advice, to taking this action.
Speaker 1So, without further ado, where do I start? First, I start with investigation, with questioning, with figuring out what it is exactly I'm feeling and why I get sick. Angela, you get sick, you feel low on energy. So the first guys again is investigation Acknowledge what you're feeling and why you're feeling it. Talk to it, give it a name, label it, as researchers would say. So, angela, you got sick, you don't feel that well, you don't feel that energized, your emotional state also not that great. You're not going to be feeling for a few days like doing the most work and you're not going to feel the most inspired, and it's totally normal, acknowledging first give it a name describing what's happening inside of you. It helps you normalize, it helps to make peace and not being stressed or frustrated all that much. Yeah, you're not going to feel your best, angela, and that's okay. That's what happens in life.
Speaker 1Then the second thing is learning from it about yourself, about your state, about your health. So what's happening? Maybe, if you need to go to a doctor, do that. If you feel like you need additional support, medications, like what exactly you're feeling like? Learning about your state, how is your energy, angela? Like on a scale from one to 10, one being absolute trash, being absolutely excited about everything in life, like where are you? Is it bad? Is it not bad? So mine is probably usually, I would say. Is it not bad? So mine is probably usually, I would say, eight to 10. Right now, it's more like six or seven, so it's not that actually big of a deal.
And the reason why you want to learn from that and investigate it, research it, so to speak, more is so you could take better actions and then Choose, challenge and choose and challenge. And choose is all about acknowledging your first reactions wanting to not do much, staying up late, eating some food that doesn't optimally support your health, or maybe doing something else. That part of you knows it's not the best. So I would ask myself Angela, you want to stay up and you want to watch these friends series, but is that really going to make you feel better? Or getting additional hours of sleep is something that your body, like your future self, would appreciate better? What is it Really? Are we going to stay in and eat that crappy food, making ourselves feel even worse, making yourself feel even worse? Is it really what you want? Or you want to feel better sooner, getting back to life, doing the things that you absolutely love with people? You love learning, doing the work, exploring the world, getting all the workouts in, enjoying the sun? Do you want to get better faster? Or you want to be in this sick state for more? And we know from research that more rest, healthier foods, eating your veggies, cooking healthier for yourself, will help you take in your vitamins, will help you to recover faster. And then I would say to myself yeah, you're right, Getting back, getting to sleep, getting more sleep, will help me better, get back to my 100% self and that's where I want to be. And then you take action.
Speaker 1So what I did is I went to bed the night before. Last was 7.30 and I allowed myself to sleep as much as I needed, and obviously, if you go to bed at 7.30, it's not like you're going to wake up at noon. So I still woke up at 4.30, but I got this great rest and felt better and I didn't feel like it was getting worse. I'm still under the weather, but it's getting somewhere, it's getting better, and I didn't feel like it was getting worse. I'm still under the weather, but it's getting somewhere, it's getting better. And when I wake up the next morning, I'm like, yes, I invested into the future, which is better, which is more aligned with where I want to be, with who I see myself being, and just allowed my future self to enjoy the day a lot more with all this additional extra sleep that I got, versus if I were to stay and watch some serious like friends and then wake up later and feeling not that rested and feeling like the day went even worse, with me feeling sick.
Right, you can see how you can create, with actions, a future which feels better or a future that feels worse. So let's get back to the process that I walked you through, which you can again use for improving your fitness habits, your eating habits, your health habits, your sleep habits, anything that you want to do to take better care of yourself but somehow end up not doing that. You can use this script, this conversation with yourself, which is again researched back, to actually do what you need. You must do what you want to do. So the script let me walk you through again.
Speaker 1First, investigate and learn from it. What am I feeling? Why am I feeling it? What's exactly happening To what degree? What energy level I'm in, am I super sick or not so much? And what actions, based on my best information, should I take to take care of myself? So investigate, learn, angela. So how are you feeling on a scale of one to 10? And again speaking to yourself in a second and third so, angela, or you speaking to yourself in that manner versus I, helps you to listen to your advice better, helps you to de-emotionalize the experience and instead engage your logical mind more instead. And that's what we want to do usually when we want to take more reasonable choices, which are not always the easiest, but the ones we know are right for the future self and our future that we want to create.
Speaker 1So investigate, learn and then the second step is challenge and choose. Yes, angela, you want to stay up and watch Netflix and eat crepey food, but is it really the best? That is for your health? Is it really what you want and that's going to make you feel better the next day? Is it really contributing to future you want? And is it really that satisfying? Or just some weakness because you want to feel emotionally better, because obviously you feel like crap while sick, right? Is it just because you want to elevate your emotions and not feel that crappy? Or maybe going to bed earlier, getting more rest, getting some vitamins and soups and lemon and some hot ginger tea maybe that will work better. Maybe that won't make you emotionally feel better, like I don't know ice cream food or watching a lot of Netflix food, but the next day you'll wake up feeling better. So challenge and choose. Yes, you're right, I want to feel better sooner. That's why I'm going to bed. That's why, angela, we're going to go to bed earlier, sleep in, eat the vitamins, eat all the veggies, drink all the hot tea and then act on that. Then turn on the light, get your tea in, eat your veggies, drink your vitamins and wake up next day feeling proud of yourself and actually feeling mentally, emotionally, physically better. So, again to recap, and, by the way, guys, if you find information in this podcast useful, please, please, please do share this podcast episode with your friend, with your relative, maybe someone who is sick and needs a little bit of that support to walk themselves through this weak state to a better future faster. Or somebody who is struggling with their habits fitness, eating habits right. So the script again please do share this podcast episode. Promise and then the script, investigate and learn from it.
Speaker 1Step number one what is happening? What exactly is happening? What's the best course of action? Number two challenge and choose. Yeah, angela, I know you want to do this, this and this, but is it really going to make you feel better? Is it really worth it? Or we can do something that actually going to create the future that you want? Feeling you, 100% feeling better, right. So challenge and choose.
Speaker 1And the third one take action.
Speaker 1Feeling better, right. So challenge and choose. And the third one take action. One small action, take right away, towards investing into that better future. Action taking is the most powerful signal to your brain that this is what I value, this is what I want, this is who I am. So, first, investigate and learn. Second, challenge and choose. And the third one take action, however small, but take it right now. If you are struggling with something, so do the script right now and then take one small action. Maybe it's scheduling our session, the link to which is in the show notes, to get on track with building your better future. Maybe it's calling your friend, your mentor, someone who moves you towards better you. So take one action. Maybe it's eating a piece of vegetable or eating a can of tuna for those protein needs that we all have. What is it? Take that action? Maybe it's going for a five-minute walk, which is also an amazing tool to make yourself feel better emotionally, mentally, physically, no matter where you are, no matter what you're going through. So what is it? Take that action. Thank you, guys for tuning in, thank you for listening, thank you for tolerating my bit of a sicker self. Have an amazing day ahead, share this podcast episode with people who are committed to personal evolution and till next time, let's keep growing.