Being at rock bottom is a terrifying place. But as strange as this may sound, it can also be a beautiful place.
It’s beautiful because it can be the genesis of your transformation. It can be where your exceptional wisdom, character, and compassion are created. Should you become wealthy — which is very possible for a person who rises from the ashes (a phoenix) — without these experiences, you could be just another rich jerk! (I had to hold myself back from including some names here. Especially one in particular.)
To turn things around and transform your life, start working on the things you have direct control over. And begin immediately! These include your habits, diet, exercise, thoughts, and actions.
Habits
If you have a bad habit that is holding you back or completely blocking your success, like drinking, drugging, smoking, or overeating, you need to quit it right now! No more lame excuses.
You know what you’re facing. Withdrawal and reconditioning! So what? In most cases, it will be like having the flu for a few days. After that, you’ll need to struggle with retraining yourself for a few weeks. But if you think about it, the process is the same for any challenging commitment. It’s always scary, uncomfortable, and awkward in the beginning. It’s like starting a new job, moving to a new city, or starting college. But after a few weeks and months, you feel right at home.
Warning: If you have been consuming massive quantities of hard alcohol or drugs daily for an extended period time, you should consider contacting your doctor or a detox facility to be safe as withdrawal symptoms can be life threatening.
You need to do whatever it takes to stop the destruction this addiction is causing to your body and mind so that you can begin rebuilding.
Once you defeat the bad habit(s), you will have made a giant leap forward with this single change. You’ll also get a massive dose of self-confidence.
Diet
A poor diet can negatively impact your energy, mood, and health. If you’re lethargic, depressed, and overweight, how can you expect to achieve any significant success? You can’t.
Think about the most successful people in the world. Most of them are trim, fit, and only eat healthy foods. Many of them are vegetarians or vegans!
How do you become motivated to adopt a healthy diet? It’s easy. Study how a poor diet versus a healthy diet affects your body and mind. And I don’t mean one or two articles. I mean, begin educating yourself through articles, books, and documentaries. Once you have this knowledge, I assure you, you’ll be motivated to eat healthily.
Those who avoid and ignore this information are the overweight people who will tell you that you should “enjoy life.” They mean you should eat and drink whatever you like without considering the negative consequences. You need to avoid and ignore their advice and outlook.
What will being trim and fit and eating food that makes you look and feel great do for your self-esteem and drive?
Exercise
Exercise can be your lifeline and savior right now. Going out for a brisk walk or run will immediately lift your mood. And the feel-good chemicals (endorphins) released in your brain after vigorous exercise can last hours!
Because this chemical reaction is natural and pure, it is the best “natural” high. There is no price to pay afterward. All unnatural highs come with a price — a hangover!
This same payoff comes when you perform resistance exercises using free weights or machines. You can also sculpt your body at the same time.
Can you imagine how much better you will be able to work on the other parts of your life if you look and feel fantastic?
Thoughts
No matter what situation you’re in now, there is one thing you can take complete control of this instant. Your thoughts!
If you continually think (obsess) about all the failures you’ve had in the past and all the horrible things that are ahead as you slide further and further down, that’s precisely where you’ll end up. The same is true if you take control of your thoughts and continuously think about all the successes you’ve had and all the great things you expect in the future as you climb up!
Thoughts are potent in many ways. They can instantly change your body chemistry, for good or for bad. They also give instructions to your immensely powerful subconscious mind.
Your subconscious feeds your intuition, creativity, and problem-solving mechanisms. It is your internal GPS to your chosen destination, as communicated by your thoughts, whether good or bad, as determined by you!
Finally, you attract what you think about the most, good or bad. Think back in your life about what became a reality, good and bad. Were you not frequently thinking about that very outcome?
If you think about all the most successful people throughout history, what is the one thing they have in common? They are eternal optimists. They continually keep their thoughts on what they want!
Don’t worry about understanding how all this works, just do it.
Action
Doing all of the above requires action. And moving up, forward, and beyond requires action.
At this point, you may not have much, if any, motivation or self-confidence. So, you may have to rely on the old, proven formula for gaining some positive momentum.
The formula is simple. You force yourself to take action regardless of how lethargic, depressed, or terrified you are. Afterward, you’ll get a shot of energy, inspiration, and courage equal to the task completed. The more often you do this, and the greater the challenge, the more good stuff you will get.
With each forced action, your momentum begins to build. Eventually, your momentum will build to the point when forced (pushed) action is replaced by inspired (pulled) action. Once you reach this point, you’ll have all the fuel you need to achieve your goal victoriously!
***
Will it be easy? No. Will it be a lot of hard work? Yes. Will it be scary, uncomfortable, and confusing for a while? Yes. Will you look and feel increasingly better at the end of each day, week, and month? Absolutely!
This site has many articles and resources that can help you with the topics covered in this article.
Rock bottom can be either a launching point or a lounging point. The choice is up to you.
This old classic song might lift you.