7 quick steps out of procrastination and freeze

JUST BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY…

Don’t let your past experiences be an obstacle to your future growth…

The theory of allostasis proposes that we maintain regulation by predicting energy requirements and preparing to meet them before they arise. By contrast, the theory of homeostasis proposes that we achieve regulation through automatic feedback mechanisms that constantly attempt to return our physiological systems to a steady-state.

While homeostasis would suggest that our energetic reserves are easily exhausted by too many disruptions to our equilibrium, allostasis gives us a basis for understanding our adaptive capacity and ability to respond to changing conditions.

However, our tendency to form predictions can also cause us to get stuck. If we've experienced overwhelming events in our life, we're likely to overestimate the amount of energy required to meet a challenge and underestimate the amount of energy available to us.

We may also be holding on to a backlog of unexpressed survival energy which can cause havoc in our system and perpetuate a dysregulated cycle of fight-flight-freeze.

Managing this backlog and allowing it to dictate our predictions can lead to a state of collapse that says simply, "I can't."

When we find ourselves here, the quickest way out is to generate new information:

• For a moment, suspend your prediction of what is likely or inevitable

• Define the smallest possible step towards your goal

• Enlist support, feedback, and accountability from any source available

• Just begin. Doesn't matter what the results are - this is success

• What was easier than you expected? What was harder than you expected? What sucked just as much as you thought it would? What was surprisingly enjoyable or at least not terrible?

• Notice how you feel - in your feet, your hands, your arms, your legs, your belly, your chest.

• Bank it. Good job!

Ultimately, we're not defined by our experiences - good or bad. Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're a spark of life who needs and is worthy of perfect love.