Running on Fumes? What To Do When You're Running on Empty and How To Refuel

Feeling drained, unfocused, and running on fumes? You’re not alone. Exhaustion can take a serious toll on your mental and physical health, making even the simplest tasks feel impossible. But what happens when you can’t just stop?

On this episode of The Motovation, hosts Laurie Joy Kingwell and Krissy Vann break down what exhaustion really does to your body and mind—and how to manage it when a full recharge isn’t an option. You’ll learn:
✔️ The hidden ways exhaustion impacts focus, mood, and performance
✔️ How to recognize when you're running on empty before you hit a wall
✔️ Small but effective ways to refuel without stopping completely
✔️ Why hormonal imbalances and physical stress can make burnout worse
✔️ How reconnecting with your deeper “why” helps protect your energy

If you’ve ever felt like you’re barely keeping it together, this episode is for you. Let’s talk about how to stay in motion without breaking down.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:05

Krissy, this is motivation. I'm Lori Joy Kingwell

Krissy Vann: 0:09

and I'm Krissy Vann. We're two dreamers on two wheels, inspired by our community

Unknown: 0:14

and celebrating the voices we're just lucky enough to discover along the ride. So if not already, like, subscribe, follow along. Do what you gotta do to not miss an episode

Krissy Vann: 0:27

today. We're talking about the hell that is exhaustion. When you're running on fumes with no pit stop in sight, you might think you can just muscle through it, but ignoring the signs is like riding your motorcycle hard without checking your gages, you'll push and push right up until you hit a wall, mentally, physically or both. Exhaustion completely messes with you. Your focus fades, your temper could flare, and suddenly even the smallest tasks feel like a brutal, uphill grind. So what can you do when proper rest isn't an option? Sometimes you've got to pull over briefly. Those micro breaks can help cool the engine, or maybe it's about fueling smarter. We'll get into all of that today and talk about what the rough ride of exhaustion can really do to you. This is the motivation.

Unknown: 1:16

This episode, I think, is really going to be more geared to like we see you, we feel you and like you're not alone in it, because I think this time of the Year, exceptionally so everybody in their own right is feeling more tired than usual, right? You go out the weather, the lack of sunshine, all those different components that already take a bit of a hit to your system to kind of want to kind of power down. And there's a certain level too, where we do have those different seasons, and this is a season where it is more powering down to some extent. But then we also have that hustle culture where more more more Do, do, do. Everyone's feeling stressed, politically, financially, like, yeah, all those things. And then you've got those areas added for quite a few people, and we're in those boats at this very moment in our own way. Krissy and I, and you might have a newborn baby, and that's happening, and whether you like it or not, you're getting up all through the night and then at the demand all through the day. And then maybe you have a newborn and other kids, and maybe you are a parent and you work full time, and then you come home and you're doing all of that, or you're an entrepreneur and you're looking for funding for your business, and this is Crunch time. Or you've got something physical happening, and that physical ailment or illness is taking its toll on you, but then life is still happening. Or you're in the boat where you've committed to something and a goal that you've set, and you have deadlines and timelines that aren't necessarily movable, or they're only movable to a certain extent, but it's happening, and there's no way necessarily to pump the brakes or carve out as much space and time for rest as as you ideally need, because it it is happening, and what we really kind of want to talk about today is yes, some like tips and some reminders, some like real, loving, gentle reminders. But I know that I wanted to really talk about what a mind fuck it is. I'm really fucking tired right like in this moment, like last night, I called Krissy or left a message, and was like, Hey, can we pivot on the topic we're going to talk about? I'm so exhausted in my body and in my brain, that I'm in this space where, like, my brain's playing even tricks on me, my mind's playing tricks on me. And when I say tricks on me, it's like I start to have almost like paranoid thoughts. I start to think up things and ruminate suddenly a lot easier and and I'm kind of going like, whoa, whoa, whoa, where? Whoa, we were making up stories from the most smallest piece of information. But when you're in a state of exhaustion, your brain is going, Okay, I'm gonna take whatever resources I can and keep you as safe as I can. I'm gonna look for danger anywhere I can possibly find it. But it feels so very real, and then you feel like this, my my personal experience, like the jittery experience, because your nervous system feels quite shocked and all of a sudden, like, I feel very hyper but exhausted all at the same time. And that's super weird when you're in conversation with people, especially in a professional setting, you know, like I had a me. Yesterday with a neuropsychologist for work related that I had to relay things from a family that I work with. And I was so exhausted I could barely make layman sense going in. And I just was like, and I'm going to talk to a neuropsychologist. So I was just really honest, this is where I'm at. And they were like, That's awesome. I know what I'm working with. This is great. Rather than trying to sound a certain way and pull it together, I was just like, look, this is what I'm bringing to the table in this very moment. And here is why. But I think when we get more honest and we're more we have more honest conversations of where we're at, where it's surprising how much that pressure and how much that survival mechanism kind of does, the volume does turn down. And I think that's why it's important that we kind of talk out loud today about our own experience. So you might find yourself in it or relating to it, or if you're finding it down the line and you're like, ah, that's what's going on for me, even just the physical things of wanting to binge eat, I'm ravenously like, you think I was a raccoon in those cupboards right now. And I know what's happening, but it's so the feeling and the pull factors are so intense, it's very, very challenging to manage. But I'm on a timeline to doing something that means a lot to myself, and it just so happens the intensity of the workload just increased in a big, huge way, and it will for the next two months. So I know that the end is near, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm running on very low fuel at high velocities, and that doesn't necessarily match up for a good outcome, but that's where we're at sometimes in our lives, and it's really, really hard. And I think it's not an excuse. You know that kind of hustle culture is, like, I don't want your excuses, but like, we have to talk about, like, what it really the impact and how that experience is, so we can offer ourselves some real grace as to what we're experiencing, because that also creates a bit more of a crack to see what, what are the micro steps I can take, and where is The slight care and rest I can carve out, but that's harder to do when we're hard on ourselves or feeling like we should be doing better, because when we look around, it seems like everyone else is doing better.

Krissy Vann: 7:32

Yeah, you can, if you're looking for the evidence, you will find it, and it'll be right in front of your face when you sent that voice note yesterday, I had a couple of thoughts of my reflections with exhaustion, and it's interesting, because Lori and I definitely am not as running on empty as she is, but it's because my body has forced me to take the rest. And to her point about giving grace, I've had such a struggle with that, which I'll get to that saga in a moment, because I also feel like it's a good PSA for other women. Yeah, birth control, yeah, not enough people talk about but if I reverse to, you know, a few weeks forward of last year, so by the time I was in April or May, I can think about the time I was really running on fucking fumes and had nothing left to give. And to your point, the demands of life don't stop, and you also have that tremendous pressure of there's no catch base in here. I don't have a huge red button that I can stop the conveyor belt of life. And if you followed the podcast, it was on the heel of my marriage, basically coming to a very abrupt blind siding end and a lot of complicated factors around that. I mean, let's face it, anybody going through a divorce, there's complications. But I was dealing with some heavy shit from the mental health side with my partner, and it was the first time in my life I really struggled exceptionally with sleep. Obviously, my body was in such a stressful state. And I actually distinctly remember, and I'm glad you mentioned it off the top the the mums out there, because I remember messaging our friend Haley, who's got two little babes and toddlers in action at the same time. And I was like, I don't know how you did it, and I also wish I was so much more supportive when you were in the depths of exhaustion, because I love how you described how your brain starts to essentially almost feed on itself, on those negative circuitry patterns that we have when you're In that state. Because I had my tools that I'm equipped with, but my access to them also felt like there was an added barrier I had to go through. You're just so fucking exhausted and tired, the thought of even dragging yourself out of it seems like an impossibility a lot of the time, and if you're running on empty for that long, I. I mean, the opposite from yourself. I wasn't ravenous in the cupboards. I wasn't eating, which, again, was stress at the time, but I was I lost an insane amount of weight for my body, like my Happy Land that my body likes to live in, whether it's muscular me or fluffier me, is, like in those 130s range, and I had dropped at times like well over 10 pounds, and on my frame, that's significant, right? And so your body being at that sense of depletion, and then you start losing the added tools that are so important for our foundations can be such a tough combination to crawl out of. And I think to Lori's point, it's good to say you don't feel alone, because in that time period, I remember life was going by, and in my sector, it's very content that's front facing and public. And so you're seeing people churn, churn, churn every day. And I'm like, I feel like I'm walking through mud, but I have to do this shit. So what do I do? How do I prioritize myself? Then you fast forward Lori and I kind of walking in tandem into the new year. It's 2025 I have new goals. I'm going to conquer the world. And there's I had so many breaks that I had to take last year mentally that I was like, this is where I make up for all that lost time, which I shouldn't even view that way. It was necessary fucking time to fuel myself in my healing journey. But then my body went on fucking remix, and this is where I'm like birth control. PSA, so I got an IUD at the end of August, and everyone talks about their different insertion experiences. I was one of the women where it was now that I look at it, it was a pretty traumatic insertion. It was 40 minutes I hadn't touched in any Yeah, yeah. We had to keep attempting over and over again because my cervix, like, wouldn't, whoa it. And so then they get, like, the other speculum that's, like, even bigger, and they're cranking you more, and it was causing contractions every time, too. So your uterus is spasming the entire time. Me and this doctor, I was like, yoga breathing, because she's like, we can send you home and give you a medication that will, like, relax the cervix, basically, right? It's much more common for women that haven't had a baby, so everything is just kind of like foreign to your system as it's happening anywho, eventually we get it in. I honestly thought the doctor was going to cry. She called me the next day personally, and was like, are you okay? I thought about you all night. And I was like, Yeah, surprisingly, after she

Unknown: 12:37

was like, well, practice, I thought about you? All night? Are you alive? Girl, stressful.

Krissy Vann: 12:42

It was so I've

Unknown: 12:43

never actually heard someone go through that long of an experience getting an IUD. Yeah.

Krissy Vann: 12:50

Well,

Unknown: 12:51

here we are fine.

Krissy Vann: 12:55

So fast forward and like, every month, I was just kind of like, oh, I guess they say it takes a while for your body to regulate. But I equated it. I was like, my body doesn't really feel like mine at this point. It's just been on remix, but they say you get spotting, you get this, etc. So I was like, maybe this is all part of it. In the beginning of December, had like, a brutal period to start the year. This is December 31 and get through that. And it was very prolonged, and I was like, I'm pretty sure that all blood volume in my body has left the building. And then I had a couple days January 13, I was back on the train again, and it is February 4, and I've been bleeding ever since. So as this has been going on, I've also felt like I've been crazy bloated for my like I just know my fucking body. And I was like, something is not right. So I finally had an ultrasound, and it turns out my IUD is I all I know right now is lopsided, but it's in there, and they can see it because I went down the rabbit hole, not out of fear. I was just deeply curious, because it can perforate the uterine wall and travel in your body. And there were stories and studies. I was reading the research papers of women where they do the ultrasound, can't find it, do an x ray, can't find it. So they say to the woman, oh, like it must have expelled and even my doctor said that to me originally, and I was like, how do you not notice that your IUD expelled, right? You would, yeah, a piece of pokey plastic. You might not feel

Unknown: 14:33

it, yeah, yeah. See, like, what's that my Pete, right?

Krissy Vann: 14:37

But apparently, like, if you have a heavier period, etc, that that can happen and you not notice. And I was kind of looking at her being like, I'm pretty sure I'd know, but they found people that then went for a different procedure later down the line, their IUD in the back of their shoulder, like it like travels in the bottom. My story point Women's Health is like, so. Under studied.

Unknown: 15:01

I was gonna make a joke last night and be like, I was gonna tell you to check your back molar for it as a joke. And then you're like, could be in your shoulder? Could be enough? Like, maybe it could be in your molar.

Krissy Vann: 15:16

Now I'm like, little PSA, these things happen. And as soon as I went in the rabbit hole, I was like, oh, hormones are clearly out of whack. It's not normal to be bleeding for almost a month straight. I with like, a couple days in between, I've been fucking exhausted, and it just hits me, and I'm such an energetic person generally. And I was like, I'm just so fucking tired. The one day I went to bed

at 8: 15:40

30pm I didn't wake up until 8am and I made it to 1030 and I was like, I have to take a nap. But then my brain was beating myself up, being like, this is ridiculous. Why the fuck are you taking a nap? Like you have to give yourself grace in those moments. But it's also I get so frustrated, especially if it's my body slowing me down, and then, to your point of irrational thought, I almost got more pissed off at myself, because in the grand scheme of things, I have this healthy little avatar that's walking around the world. And this is really a minor self induced inconvenience, like I've chosen to put this foreign entity in my body. My body has had some unhappiness with it. There are people that go through all sorts of different things. I'm like, just be grateful that you get to have the rest. I don't have little children that are running around that I have to take care of at the same time, I can cocoon my ass and have this fucking nap, but instead, the entire time I'm trying to fall asleep, I'm like, You shouldn't be doing this. You should be doing this, this, that the other and also a full Cirque du Soleil acrobatic show, song and dance, jazz hands,

Unknown: 16:55

yeah. And when we put ourselves through those acro mental acrobatics, we end up actually doing that in those small, micro moments where we actually have, like you said, opportunity just to be and it might look like you're doing it in the car, when you're driving quietly by yourself, or you lay your head down on that pillow for the night, and you're going over all the things you didn't do right that day, or should have done, or What you're going to need to do, whatever it is that you're doing. If you're in grief, right? You're like, I should be over this right now. I shouldn't feel this way any longer, like, that's another component that I think is really important that I didn't mention at the start. I'm actually in the in my studies right now, in the course of grief, obviously, as well. If you've been a listener, you know that I've had extensive experience with grief over the last five years, and so I was even studying it prior. So it's great in the sense where this isn't new information completely to me, but there is so many helpful things even just like we don't even understand disenfranchised grief that would look like something in regards to even divorces and right, like, it's like, now, aren't you going to get over it? And and then it gets we work against ourselves and allowing a natural process to take place where our system and our soul and our brain and all of that is trying to communicate to us and help us out and in even those moments when we don't necessarily have a choice as to how much time we give it, when we have those little micro moments, We're spiraling in the thought patterns of why we're wrong in the way that our body and our brain and everything's trying to communicate to us. It sounds so insane, but it's so very real. And again, that's part of big part of culture, right? And it's a big part too, where everyone's else is like, well, I don't have time. I'm already drowning in my world, I don't have time for your world. And yes, to a certain extent, like we've talked about in the episode that we did in September with mine, where I had to be like, closed for business, where I was like, I gotta put my oxygen mask on beforehand. Yes, but when we live also in really individualized cultures, where me myself and I not my problem. That's where we're really missing this real opportunity to like you said, even not that this is your mindset, because it's so far from it Krissy, but an example, even in a way that we don't realize, is like you said, I just wish I had a little bit more empathy for Haley's situation like you were you always considered it. It was never lost upon you. You always showed deep love. But I think when you were in the physical experience of exhaustion, it like anything. When we're in those experiences, it helps us form a deeper level of empathy. Yeah, and so that's really true this, this is really too about what this episode is as well, is just kind of, oftentimes it means so much just to hear you're not alone in this, and for somebody to say, I can see what you're putting in, you know, I recognize that you might not be able to fully stop right now or or you have to make it through on the other side, you know. Where can I help you pause? Where can I, you know, can it just sometimes being there to hear someone out loud say, like I'm so fucking tired, like someone times just getting to say it. And, you know, it's not nothing. And I the other part I want to speak to is this is where I think it's really important, the where we come back to that, why is if you're going to be putting this kind of energy into something or wherever it is that you're at, does this really mean something to you? Are you put beating this much energy in because you want the status of something, or you want to have what they have, because they have it and that they look like they're happy. So if I just have that, then I'll be happy, and I'm putting all this energy into, you know, climbing this mountain. And then I realized I'm not, I don't even like this mountain, this mountains, not even my mountain. And I just like you might be a swimmer, you might be a hiker, you might be a trail walk like, I think you more than anything, is asking yourself, is the energy that is being required of you right now, being put into things that really mean something to you. Because I tell you on the days, which is almost every day right now currently, that I'm waking up and I'm like, Okay, you're gonna do today, you're gonna do today, and you're, you're going to, you know, like you will get on the other side of it, you will, you just keep moving. You just keep moving and and we'll get a little, or very soon here to some of the things, of like, why the micro moments and what that can actually look like are so important. But I really want to highlight the why, because that is what is my I'm not pushing myself. I have a pull factor. I'm being pulled to something that means so much to me in what I see and always have seen for myself, and what I just know is part of the process that is going to be asked of me and that I am capable so long as I believe myself to be and but that's also working within reality as well, but that much of it is mind over matter at times, and so long as there's a certain level of like temporariness of it, those certain level You're asking of yourself to then take a little recovery, recoup, and then there'll be a time where I'll ask just as much of myself again. But my main point is the why? Because I think a lot of us are pushing ourselves to goals that may not be ours, but have been told that they equate happiness or that they should be ours. And we've never really slowed down enough to ask ourselves, of like, it's not that that's kind of to where it's like, what are you hustling for?

Krissy Vann: 23:42

Yeah, it's interesting, because I feel like it's a common theme of what we even started motivation around that you and I both recognized that there is another way, and that's something to get so deeply curious about, because so much of what we do, especially in the early stages of our life, and for some people, continue to repeat the patterns throughout their lives, is exactly that striving toward things that they feel immense pressure to achieve without ever pausing to think. Why is that the goal? Well, because everything around me told me that that's what I should do for happiness, like happiness is this destination, without the understanding that happiness is never the goal. You can have moments of pure contentment, pure joy, but happiness is a fleeting experience that you get to go through, and it will ebb and flow in and out of your life. You don't get to just reach the proverbial mountain of happiness and then you're there. But even just coming off the heels of a new year, and to the point of the vision boards and the resolutions and the things we. See for ourselves. I think people almost audit coming out of a year and then reflect and think, Well, this didn't make me happy, and this and this, and if I just had this. And it's not to say that goals and such are wrong, but I'm just kind of like, I feel like people just have this pressure and that the more I produce, and the more the Create, and the more I do, do, do, then I will get there. Or the more I have, then I will get there. And when we have these moments, like in your case, your exhaustion is really a byproduct of an energy output that you know has a strong why attached to it, but it is asking you to constantly hit gas pedals. So there really are not a lot of moments to you're not parking your bike, proverbially, at any time through this process, because it's full time, and the courses are moving at speed, and you have to go along with them, or else you're going to miss the rest of the ride, essentially, and you don't get to go to the destination at the end. And it's like for myself, entering this year when you talk about the why my like, most simple thing, when you drill it down to the importance of creating those micro steps to honor where I'm at is like your body stressed and it's speaking to you that should matter. Your Temple is really upset right now, and if you decide to tell it to shut the up and keep going, like you have things to do, and I don't get to hit the brakes, but I'm like, your body is stressed and it's speaking to you, and it's hitting the brakes for you because things are out of whack, and it's telling you that. But how many times do we ignore that? And so even when I heard Lori's message and heading into this episode and thinking about it, and I love that you mentioned the why, because sometimes it really is that simple, because this is my temple, and this is where I live, and it's my responsibility to listen to the cues. And yes, I am. There's no way I'm going to be like, well, guess what? 2025 my hormones are out of whack, and so now I'm going to not get my work done again, but I'm sure shit gonna work to not allow my brain train to get out of control, so that I'm adding extra stress mentally by berating myself for being fucking tired, like when you said, sometimes you just want someone to hear I'm fucking tired. I texted Lori, the text I had sent earlier that day to my boyfriend, where it just said, I'm so fucking tired because I just wanted someone to hear, like, and then it's funny, later in the day, true to form, I was like, sorry for being so complaining. And he actually was like, please don't apologize for that, like, I feel honored that you do share with me, like I'm not used to like I feel like an inconvenience, you know, and that's the thing, like, we have to stay so in tune with our minds and bodies, because it knows what The we need, just like Lori, to your point of your why, innately, your intuition is calling you forward, knowing that this investment in energy is so fucking worth it, and so that's an incredible driver. But if you weren't listening to that and truly put the connection and knew that, I think that you would be probably in another experience of burnout right now, maybe you at all, but it would be very easy to quit, because used

Unknown: 28:31

to be the fabric of me. I was like, That used to be the fabric of me, without a doubt, that was because my biggest color.

Krissy Vann: 28:39

But I was like, there is no quit in you. Like, no. And on top of that, people have to understand you are making all these actionable steps. And then there's real life that's happening around you at the same time. Like, I think that's our point, whether you're a parent, not parent, this that we we don't really get to control that outer sphere around us, so we have to figure out how to navigate and move within what we've created in our lives at that time. But I'm like, yeah, it's just funny how much it really just comes down to that intuitive part of fucking listen,

Unknown: 29:13

yeah, there's two things that you said that I really want to touch on. The first one is off of the part where you were like, there's no proverbial like, I've hit happiness. And actually these two kind of correlate the two points I want to make. But I think the thing we're really looking for is fulfillment. Because when you feel fulfilled by what you're doing in this life, or where, where you're headed, to some extent, if you have some purpose, if you've if you're feeling filled with some some meaning or purpose, even the hard times, feel part of the fulfillment. Like yesterday, I was so exhausted, and my nervous system like, I was just like, like, jittering, and I couldn't even think straight, and all the things like. Described, had a really intense weekend. I got a ton done, but I had an intense weekend of homework and volunteer work where you're talking to people online about their really heavy stuff, and this is on the cusp of a really intense work week and school week too. So I was just like, oh my god, I'm headed into this week, and this week's intense, and I am, like, on fumes, and I was just like, get to the forest, get to the forest. Get to the forest. And as I was in the forest, and it's snowing, and it's this winterland, and barely anyone's around, and the snow is making it so very quiet, and I was standing there, and I was just letting the snow fall on my face, and I just started, like, laughing by myself in the forest. And I was laughing at the like absurdity of the human condition and all we put ourselves through. But I was also laughing at, like, my god, I can't believe I'm still standing. And like, also so proud I was still standing. And also, like none of it matters, but all of it matters, and that you're just like these trees who've been here for how long, and they're just doing their tree thing and sobering, they're so sober, and then they're feeding me in the like it was just this like out of body hilarity, gorgeous, beautiful moment that I was having because of the exhaustion, and because one on a mushroom trip in the forest, yeah. But I was very so glad that you attained it in pure sobriety, because it was like everything on a Monday I connected, and we're part of it, and the snow on my face, and, oh yeah, and, and it was that, what a good feeling. And that's because even when I'm in a state of exhaustion or if I'm in a state of euphoria, or if I'm in a state of contentment, or I'm in a state of melancholy, or whatever it is, every day, I'm putting something into practice in some component or another as to what feeds me in this life, what what pulls me on all those things. And so I found a well being. I was always the person that very much chased the happiness, chased the dopamine hit. And that shifted in my 30s, and I'm really shifting now into the 40s, into really living well. And that looks some days like I am paranoid, but it's part of me learning how to navigate this, these intense, exhaustive states in where I am at moving towards or continuing, because there's no end. There's no end to this. It doesn't end like I will do this work in some form or another, till the day I'm no longer alive on the planet, and so it's not even that, like when I get this, then I'll be fine, because it's not even about that. It's going How can I be as human as I can in this moment where I'm at with what I'm working with, give myself the best pieces I can to keep being a well person, but also within the context of where I'm at in this given moment and what I'm working with. And some days that looks well, often days it looks so different than the others, but I'm no longer chasing for this happiness. And when I do have a very, very joyful, happy day, which actually comes often, like, I mean, like, a whole day, start to finish, I've woken up and I've ended the day, and I'm like, start to finish. And I have quite a few of those. I have quite a few of those. But, um, I I'm just like, Wow, fantastic. What a gift, but I'm definitely not banking on the fact I'm gonna get necessarily another one tomorrow. I could do my best to create opportunity, but like, that's not, that's not the human experience is to just we that's we do, right? That's where the like, you should be doing more. You shouldn't be feeling this way. You shouldn't, you shouldn't, you shouldn't. You should be, you know that over there and versus, like, Hey, this is where I'm at. How can I best offer myself? Whatever that looks like, Grace, a hand up, quiet, spot, grit, tenacity, like, what is the thing that I need in this given moment? And the second point I just make that also, like, goes along with that is like giving yourself permission to be a human I give myself permission to fuck up. I give my self permission to disappoint people. I give myself permission to say the wrong thing. I give myself permission to look stupid in a crowd. I give myself permission to be the most unskilled in the group at the table in the room, I give myself permission to not care about that. I give myself permission to care so much about this. I give myself like I

Krissy Vann: 34:53

give myself permission to be wonderfully fucking weird. I give

Unknown: 34:57

myself permission to be fully as weird. Tired as the human that you individually are and am, and I think that's the part where, when we are tired, we stop giving ourselves permission to anything, and then that's so much more exhausting.

Krissy Vann: 35:19

Yes, I feel like you let in way too beautifully with the number one. I feel like that. That's how I'm tired. I'm like, what is it called? When you like, I have so many post its over here, mantras,

Unknown: 35:33

mantras, like morning mantras,

Krissy Vann: 35:36

affirmations. That's the fucking word. This is the thing. I'm fucking tired.

Unknown: 35:41

Yeah, you retrieved that file. Though, look at you. You retrieved that file. I got it either imagined the little dude in my brain that was just like, like, It's in here somewhere we have going through the file with their little fingers. This is the thing you like, malfunction a little bit amongst. Anyways, we still have singing talents. You're like, Thank God always. Let's do a tired one. Let's do a tired one. Yawn like that. Sounded like a whale under the seas. Actually, it's almost whale watching season March. It's true.

Krissy Vann: 36:31

So good.

Unknown: 36:33

All right. Back on track.

Krissy Vann: 36:35

Back on track. Here we are. We talked a lot about micro steps in this episode, and you feel like one of the most actionable things that people can do right now, if you're feeling very exhausted, is going to be your digital detox. Not even I know that we talked about it so much. Yeah, yes. Like now more than fucking ever. It is by far the easiest thing for you to take off your plate, because it is not necessary for you to be consuming it, and it is absolutely not necessary to be consuming it. As I feel the rates have amped up over the last couple of weeks, and rightfully so. I mean, in our I guess it will be upcoming, off road, I kind of make an ignorant comment being like, my brain was mentally so incapacitated last year, I've really offlined My consumption so largely that I've gotten to the point of ignorance. And as I said in that I don't wear that like a badge of honor, I can understand why it would be upsetting for people to even hear that, because they're kind of like we're all fighting for something, and what the fuck are you doing over there? And I get you, I see you, I hear you, but the barrage of information and information that is constantly stressing you out, because it is stressful information that we're digesting. And I do have a theory, especially now going out, because I've had those experiences again, where people's interactions are perhaps a little less friendly, people are a little bit more short, and I think vibrationally, we're lowering ourselves, which is also going to add to that exhaustive feeling this time of year. So I'm like out of all the micro steps, because I know it's easy to hear what Lori and I say being like, take that moment for yourself, or have that quiet drive. And if you're like, I don't have the luxury, maybe you have an eye roll moment. Like, nice for you to say when I hit the pillow, but my partner snores like a log. Like, I don't know what your story is, but I can tell you for damn sure, if you're a listener, it is going to be the mass minority that does not indulge in any element of social media, which means it's the majority of you that do. And you can absolutely turn the dial down on your consumption. And now, more than ever, that is so fucking important that is quite literally, a step I think 100% of you can take.

Unknown: 39:05

Yeah, I couldn't agree more with that. One is going to be for people that are like, you know, I can carve out a little time. The second one is for the people that are like, not going to help me. I can't carve out time. So let's talk to the first is that I got no time to carve out those thoughts that come along when you're in an exhaustive state, because we have a negativity bias to begin with, and so when we're at a more exhausted state, we're going to heavily swing to that side of things, when you can catch yourself going into judgmental thoughts about yourself or others or whatever when you feel that like or paranoia or whatever it is, a little exercise is like, even right now, if you kind of picture those thoughts, do it with me of like something you're you know you're in your head and someone that's annoyed or whatever, picture them almost like bubbles coming up. And then pop, and then the next thought comes up, just like, oh, it's floating pop. And just allowing your brain to not fight the thought, to not disagree with the thought, to not jump to a more, you know, generous necessary thought, or even reframe the thought, sometimes that feels too big in that moment. And so just allowing there to be a dis attachment to the thought by just pop, and you'll get another one almost instantly, but then your brain will actually become more like, Oh, I'm just popping these thoughts, just like pop versus, you know, try it, it. It loosens the grip of those negative thoughts, if nothing else, for those, tell

Krissy Vann: 40:41

you what happened when I joined

Unknown: 40:45

so stupid brains are so funny. I know my dude from the filing cabinet was like, Oh, no. File them. He's like, no, no, I need to file those away. Like, I'm not joking, that I closed my eyes when you did it, and I was like, it was like, my dude brains are so weird. That's that is, that's also like, tell something about right, that our brain thinks that, like, these are important thoughts. I can't possibly true. Oh, that was a good metaphor. Actually. He's like, later, you don't pop, you don't pop. Oh, that's funny. Sorry, your second one. I have to share that because I just had a therapy and wonderful. It was great, but it does, it shows you how that's a part of our brain that wants to cling. Is that your little metaphor? Dude was trying to like, No, we can't like, I bet other people are like, what if I need that? What if I got to tell Sally something late? No, you don't pop. That's why this is even more so, why it's a good exercise, right? Because, yeah, we want to cling. For those of you that have a little bit more time, this is, this is what I do in the limited time that I have, but be I do have car rides that I am by myself. I do have when I do come home, I can carve out, you know, a half hour of quiet time is just go lay fucking quiet. It's super uncomfortable last night. I put the little twinkle lights on, brought Marley up in bed with me, and I just laid quiet, and then I just put a little bit of instrumental music on, and just like laid and it was maybe 15 minutes, and I felt the volume go down on my nervous system, and that exhaustive feeling tremendously so and when I was in traffic, I just had the silence of the road. And I'm not a person that necessarily enjoys that. I usually have always a soundtrack to my life going at all times. But when I'm very exhausted, I understand enough about the nervousness that it just like your body and brain are like, can we just shut the fuck up? Can everybody just shut the fuck up? I think that's why, even the city too, you get people are a little bit more agitated and ornery, because they are just, quite literally, like you think New Yorkers, they're going the sound and the this and the that and the noise and the and it's, it's their nervous systems. They're just on fire and versus

Krissy Vann: 43:24

Richie, all the noise noise, all the No rambuts And boom bars and

Unknown: 43:29

dinkels. That's exactly noise noise. So if you're Yeah, so those are just two little, um, tried and tested, and these are just like, Oh, it's just a little thought or an opinion. These are like, different. This goes around, like, theory of the brain and the body and how to work with yourself rather than against yourself. So, yeah.

Krissy Vann: 44:00

So before we get to our quote, you know that we've switched to a bi weekly format, and we're really excited because we've gotten into the groove despite the exhaustion of getting interviews done again, and our next episode will feature Christina Lambert. She joined us from North Georgia, and Holy fuck. It's by far the longest episode we've ever recorded, and it wasn't enough time to even cover the lessons and the intensity of the story. Really quick Cole's notes. But Christina is a cult survivor. Her tale of escape, essentially from that highly restrictive and controlling lifestyle that is something that she grew up within and then just escalated in the heart of her teen years, is such a wild ride. It involves fate with. A motorcycle that takes a dark turn, but also is the same turn that elevated and basically propelled her life into this whole incredibly inspiring path. But it is a must listen, a not to miss, and without a doubt, Lori and I already said it's going to have to be a two parter down the line, because we know there were so many other lessons we could learn from Christina, but we're really excited to bring that to you. And also, if you are listening and you have an incredible story to share, or you know someone that you feel would be really beneficial for us to learn from in this community, please reach out to us. We do check out our DMS on Instagram. Despite the lack of consistency that we've had over time, we are there. We're slowly getting our lives together in 2025 I mean, you guys have been on the ride. We're a bit janky. You're in a passion

Unknown: 45:53

project with us, people. Yeah, you're part of a passion. Buckle up. But motorcycles don't have seat belts, so that's why it's a little bit of a wild ride.

Krissy Vann: 46:06

Well, that leads us into quote time, and there's so many names that say that they said this, I'm gonna go with Anne Lamott Lamont, almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.

Unknown: 46:23

Oh, that's a great one.

Krissy Vann: 46:26

Just a few. There's no way if you do a life audit, it could be your shower, you know, you know, take a few.

Unknown: 46:35

Take a beat. Take a beat. Okay? Mine is, if you get tired, learn to rest, but not quit, unless you should quit, then quit.

Krissy Vann: 46:54

Quitting. Actually thinking that we like when I know

Unknown: 46:57

when to quit. What are the signs to know to quit. I need you heard it here, yeah, because that's no one's ever spoken to this so not how we will. That's beauty, folks. There's only one of you. You anything you set your mind to you and your affirmations. Jesus Christ, you're on it today. I'm filing COVID. I I'm fucking here. He's like, I'm in. I've tapped in early this morning. He's like, it took me a minute to have my coffee, but I am fucking off. That was like an off road tangent on the back of the episode, and I love us for it. That's what you get when we're tired. That's what you get, and you don't get upset. It's a fun one, not yet, unless you feel like you and then you're human. I

Krissy Vann: 48:00

can't wait till I'm

Unknown: 48:03

having two different experiences. I did not understand the assignment, but I was really on board, and I'm like, Okay, you guys have a good day. Krissy, still going? Oh, well, well, that, my friends, is your motivation, right? Help you. Peace be fucking with you. You've just listen to the motivation podcast with your host, Krissy Vann and me. Laura Joy Kingwell, thanks

Krissy Vann: 48:46

for joining us along the ride. We've got new episodes dropping every Monday, and we're all about communities. So follow us on Instagram at motivation podcast, and visit our website at the motivation.com and in the

Unknown: 48:57

meantime, tanks full and full throttle. And.