7 Tips To Slow Down (How High-Achieving Women can Claim their Authentic Self).
Slowing down can help you embrace your authentic self and cultivate more connection, confidence, and joy in your life.
Slowing down is hard. When you are used to juggling multiple projects, multiple responsibilities, relationships, and slowing down seems daunting. For many of my clients and our culture at large, slowing down gives us time and opportunity to look at ourselves and examine the part that the busyness kind of covers over. Slowing down can be scary and uncomfortable. You may think, “things will fall apart if I stop doing what I’m doing, I can’t slow down, no one’s going to do what I do, I will let people down if I slow down, etc. The list of reasons not to slow down continues. Keeping busy and being productive is something the culture promotes for all of us from a very young age. Slowing down can signal a sense of danger for our nervous system. Many people I have worked with who have trauma history are described when there’s no chaos or things to manage it feels safe, and then anxiety creeps in. How have you learned what productive means?
What meaning do you give to being productive?
What is being abundant look like in your life?
Check out Erica Storck’s PodCast on Self-Care for High Achieving Women Here:
Sometimes you find yourself having tools and skills that are badass! There is no doubt you know how to get stuff done and be excellent at it. Women are conditioned in our culture to follow a patriarchal way of being. Get stuff done, things are linear, and you have to be stoic. The culture values masculine traits such as being productive, linear, and logical, all excellent traits. At the same time, the way in the back of your mind since this part is knocking at the door saying, hey, but what about me? What about this passion? What about this feeling? What is knocking at your door at your heart’s door?
“Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
7 Tips to Slow Down
Check-In with what you’re feeling: You matter and are important. It seems cliche and overstated. But checking in with how you’re feeling gives you a direct road map to more happiness and aligning your behaviors with the values that matter most to you.
Say No: Learning how to say no can significantly impact your life. Many of my clients say, “Holy S@#$%, I didn’t know that I had this much energy, or this thing/person drained me”. Learning to say no can help you feel more energy and do the things you love.
Carve out alone time: Taking some time alone in nature, whether it be going on a power walk, exercising, or taking that art class you’ve been wanting. Whatever you like, take some time and do it by yourself. When you are by yourself, you can think more clearly and focus on your needs.
Assess what’s important: Make a list of the things that mean a lot to you. From that list pick the top three. Yes, I know that it’s hard, but I invite you to give it a try. Sculpting your time and energy around your heart’s values helps you make better decisions that allow you to feel free and have more energy.
Get in the zone: Find something whether that be an activity, art, hobby, or exercise that helps you zone and lose track of time. Zoning and doing something you love helps you naturally slow down and connect with yourself.
Break your routine: Yikes, this can be a hard one. But try to do things a little differently and add some fun things to your day and see how you feel.
Get clear on your needs: You may hyper-focus on your boss's needs or what the current project or the team needs at work. And your needs are just as important. As a high-achieving woman, you may struggle with getting in touch with their needs, because much of your life was spent focusing on others or the next thing you had to do.
Slowing down allows you to examine The parts that are longing and desiring to come out and be integrated with all of the badasses you are! It is usually the wild part that we think a family, culture; the community will reject. But, these parts are magnificent because they’re part of you!
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