4 signs you are in survival mode

Are you living your life on autopilot? Exhausted, disconnected and wondering where that woman (you!) who you had such high hopes for disappeared to? Here are four signs you’re surviving, not thriving.

We’ve all had those tough days. The days you are on autopilot. Doing what you need to, just to get through the day. And that’s okay. Days like that happen.

But what if one of those days turns into a week? Then becomes a month. A couple of months. A year. While you haven’t given up on life, you may well have checked out. You’re surviving, not living.

The good news is life doesn’t have to be like that! One of my favourite sayings is ‘No Mud. No Lotus’. Sometimes you need to wallow in that mud to bloom.

The first step to living a lit up life again is to recognise you are on autopilot. Here are four signs you’re in survival mode. Is this you?

Exhaustion
Many women are juggling the demands of a job, relationship, home, children and a busy work environment. That feeling of bone tiredness that comes from being stretched so thin across all your responsibilities and having so many balls in the air. The phone ringing, the kids calling your name looking for something, a client moving a deadline forward. When women run on adrenalin for so long, their bodies eventually start to shut down and exhaustion steps in to slow you down. If we don’t listen to our bodies, our bodies send us signs that this level of activity is unsustainable. Cue exhaustion!

Disconnection
Remember when you were a child and you had that feeling that you could do anything? You would look at the moon at night and it seemed perfectly reasonable to 7-year-old you that you could be an astronaut and kick some lunar butt. Yet as life rolled on and responsibilities started to pile up, your dreams and goals ended up at the bottom of a priority list. You have lost who you would have loved to have been and settled for what life or other people expected you to be. You have become disconnected from yourself and your true potential.

Confusion
A life without clear direction or a strong sense of self leads to confusion. It’s hard to make decisions, you feel scattered and lost. You second guess yourself. You have long ago lost the ability to rely on your gut instinct and own your decisions or life choices. This gives other people the capacity to decide on the type of life you live. Your destiny has become someone else’s idea of what you should be because you are so confused about who you really are.
 
Fear of being found out
So many women keep living their ‘perfect lives’ unwilling to share they are feeling so overwhelmed and checked out, fearful of people finding out that life isn’t so tickety boo. So many times I have seen women take the brave step to share they are confused, disconnected and exhausted, and watched them be genuinely surprised that every other woman in the room is nodding along with them. We have all been there. When you replace ‘imposter syndrome’ with the drive to live an authentic life, everything changes.
 
So, what do you do if this is you? If you are feeling exhausted, disconnected, confused and overwhelmed, enquire about our Success Without Stress Meditation program and make a positive change to your well-being. Take the first step to living a life of purpose and positivity.

Author: Deidre Dattoli

Deidre is highly experienced in the fields of executive coaching and leadership development, team dynamics and performance, offering a range of personal and group leadership training programs, customized training solutions, consultancy and coaching services.

Deidre is one of Griffith Consulting's key program facilitators.

For more information about Deidre, please contact us, today.