1st Step to Getting Back on Track

[Jes]

A few weeks ago, I had somewhat of a personal crisis that really steered me away from my personal development journey. I was extremely depressed, and had lost just about all of my self-esteem. Fortunately, I've gotten a hold of myself and realized that I'm a great person capable of great things. I'm starting to feel a lot better, so I want to jump back into the world of PD. But my mind has been so unfocused, I just don't know where to begin.

Can anyone give me a suggestion as to what I should do to get back into the swing of things? What was your first step to getting your life together?

[Niki]

Welcome you back on your PD track. You will do amazing things !

Make sure you eat good, sleep good but not too much.

Do you know how to make MindMaps? If you do, make a mind map where you want to go. One of the best lines of advice I have ever gotten is 'Begin with the end in mind'. Thats not THE end offcourse but you got the point. If you know where to go, you will know where to begin, or at least where to search for a beginning

[bradb]

Hey Jes,

Sorry to hear that you had a setback, but glad to hear you're back and ready to rumble.

First, remember that you can't really "lose" self-esteem. It's an innate human quality that we're all born with, like arms and legs. If you don't believe me, just watch the way a two or three year old interacts with the world: they live totally in the moment and lack any concern whatsoever for what people think. They are the definition of high self-esteem.

What does mess us up though is our ego. Over time we form certain notions of "who we are" and we start clinging to an identity. Any time something messes with our definition of ourselves--a bad breakup, an argument with a friend, rejection, etc.--our ego takes a blow and has to find some way of dulling the pain or fighting back. But either way, it wants us to suffer, and gives us all kinds of reasons to feel upset, even though they're almost all an illusion. A great book on letting go of the ego is The Power of Now.

Second, if I could offer one piece of advice to get back on track it would be: Do what scares you. Afraid of talking to strangers? Try getting out of the house right now and saying hi to someone you don't know--just one! Find one thing that would push you outside your comfort zone and do it now.

Living dangerously makes us feel alive. Fear is like a doorway marked "Do Not Disturb", but the door is not locked, and walking through it is the shortest path to adventure.

[Shamou]

Hello Jes... glad to see you back...

I will admit that I am very much biased but one thing that turns me on very fast is listening to the free video by Tony Robbins that you can see if you click on the "Anthony" hyperlink in my signature...

The guy has so much energy that it is contagious...

The very best of luck to you and keep us posted...
.

[realignedliving]

I would do a combination of everything that everybody else has suggested, particularly mind mapping. Figure out what you want to achieve, make a plan of accomplishment, get motivated, and do it! The sooner you start working towards personal goals, the quicker you'll feel better about yourself and get back on track.

[stayfly]

my advice is this;

pick the main "challenge" (also known as "problem") in your life right now.

then make a plan to totally overcome that "challenge"

start following your plan and keep taking in intelligent action until your desired outcome is achieved

[Ilya]

Hi, Jes,

The best advice I've had for the cases of PD meltdown is to forgive yourself.
Acknowledge that the breakdown has happened. See around and notice that the live still goes on and restart whatever you were doing when the breakdown happened. Of course, check that the thing is still relevant.
If you have no idea what to do, as usual, start with goal setting and your body. First will give you the direction, the second will give you the energy to go on.

Good luck!

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Hi, Jes. I would suggest small, measurable steps to begin with. Focus on some immediate things you can do to improve your situation which you can gain results from right away. Some examples would be improved sleeping and nutrition, limiting mind-altering substances (did you ever go to a meeting? how's that going?) and picking a few small goals each day that you can accomplish to get back a sense of your own efficacy and power (for me it was stuff as mundane as 'get the kitchen clean' or 'put away all the laundry' or 'spend 15 minutes playing with the dog').

Try to be more mindful - or present - in your daily routine. I know it's hard, but make an effort not to spend so much of your day living in the past or the future. In the Power of Now, Tolle says something like 'we can always cope with the present moment, what we cannot cope with is a mind projection (like the future)' ...that's majorly paraphrased. This has helped me more than almost anything I've come across...to remember that in this very moment I am perfectly at peace and okay...the pain comes from dredging up the past or worrying about the future.

Here's an article by a member of these forums (chris614) about his transformation. I found it relevant and helpful on my journey. Perhaps it will help you too.

Good luck, Jes. Peace and love to you.

[zeloc]

How about a personal productivity scaffold?