15 THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU’RE STRUGGLING IN LIFE
We all go through struggles in life that will test every ounce of strength in us. Moments when life gives us one struggle after another, barely even giving us the chance to catch our breath and think.
I’m definitely no stranger to these moments. When I hit the lowest point of my life, it felt like every day I was slapped with a whole new struggle. I was exhausted. I felt so hopeless that I started to believe that I will never be able to overcome the struggles of life.
When you’re struggling in life, it’s so easy to let yourself drown in all the pain, the problems, and the constant stress and anxiety that it brings. You may start to believe that you will never be able to pull yourself out of this dark hole.
I’m here to tell you that you can. You are more than strong enough to overcome your struggles.
In this post, I have gathered some of the important things that have helped me when I was struggling with life and I’m hoping that these will help you too. Here you will read some powerful tips that will show you how to stop struggling.
1. Breathe
When you’re struggling, problems, stress, and anxiety can easily pile up causing you to feel so overwhelmed and paralyzed. In moments like this, it’s so important to slow down, press pause, and just allow yourself to breathe.
2. Create A List and Make A Plan
When you’re struggling in life, facing so many problems at once can easily paralyze you. It can easily make you believe that overcoming your struggles and improving your life is just too impossible.
One thing that really helped me fight the feeling of overwhelm and helped alleviate my stress was to create a list of the things that I needed to do, what my goals were and what actions I needed to take to achieve those goals.
First, you must figure out where you want to be in your life. Determine your priorities, and the goals you want to achieve. Then make a list of all the things that you need to do to achieve your goals and align your actions with your priorities.
3. Remember That You Are Good Enough
When you’re struggling, it’s so easy to let yourself believe that you are not good enough to turn your life around. It’s easy to start believing that you are not worthy of happiness and love.
It’s important to remind yourself that your mistakes don’t diminish your value. You are enough just as you are now. We all make mistakes. We all fail and make bad decisions. Your struggles don’t define you.
You are capable and good enough to overcome these struggles and use them to grow into a wiser and stronger person.
4. Avoid Complaining (All The Time)
When you are going through so many struggles, it’s easy to let yourself focus on all the bad things. I mean, when everything around you is just falling apart, sometimes it’s impossible not to complain about all of it.
Don’t get me wrong. Complaining can be a good thing. It can be therapeutic and it can help you vent out and release stress.
But the problem starts when you allow yourself to complain about every little thing. I was guilty of this too. I complained about every little problem, every little mishap, and every little inconvenience.
Doing this did not make things easier. It just added more fuel to my struggles in life. It just made me feel so much worse.
Complaining too much is not only causing you more stress but it is also reframing your mind to only focus on all the bad and negative things.
5. Take Responsibility
When struggling in life, it’s so easy to pass on the blame. To blame other people for all the bad things that are happening to our lives. It’s so easy to blame them for all the pain and the struggles that we are facing.
This is what I did too. For the longest time, I’ve blamed others for all the problems and pain that I’ve experienced.
I thought that this was helping but it turns out, it wasn’t. In fact, doing this was only keeping me from taking responsibility for my choices and decisions. Therefore, it only kept me stuck and unable to take the action needed to change my life and overcome my struggles.
Remember you have the choice to stay stuck or start taking responsibility to help you move forward, heal and improve your life for the better.
6. Stop Bottling Up Your Feelings
When you’re trying to overcome your struggles, you may think that one of the most helpful things that you can do is to set all your feelings aside and just bottle up all your emotions.
I get you. As a matter of fact, I was you and if I’m being honest, sometimes I still catch myself doing this. For years, I believed that running away from your feelings is the fastest way to move forward.
I’m here to tell you that it’s not. Bottling up all your emotions and running away from your feelings won’t help you at all. You may think that it is helping but eventually all those feelings will catch up to you and it will make it even harder for you to go through it.
There is nothing wrong with feeling your emotions. Vulnerability is never a sign of weakness. In fact, I see a great deal of strength in being vulnerable.
Remind yourself that the only way for you to truly heal and move forward is to acknowledge what you’re feeling and sit with them.
7. Let Go Of Toxic Habits
Overcoming your struggles is already difficult, constantly holding on to your toxic habits will just make it even harder.
The first step to help you stop struggling in life is to learn to let go of the toxic habits that are only keeping you stuck in a self-destructive loop and unhappy.
Determine what those habits are and take the steps needed to help you let go of those toxic habits.
Remember you don’t have to take huge leaps. Take small easy steps if you have to. Just be consistent with your actions and don’t give up.
8. Remind Yourself That Your Now Is Not Your Forever
There’s no denying that struggles in life can easily lead you to believe that no matter what you do, things will never get better, and your life will never change.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. Remind yourself that tough times never last. The struggles that you are experiencing now are not permanent. Trust that things will get better for you.
There is hope and there is truly light at the end of the tunnel. Take it from someone who has been stuck in a very dark and deep hole for years.
9. Be Gentle With Yourself
Stop being so hard on yourself. Constantly criticizing and putting yourself down is not going to help you overcome life’s struggles. In fact, it’s only going to make it worse.
Learn to be kind to yourself. Stop being your worst critic and learn to cheer yourself on. Recognize and celebrate all your wins, big or small. Be proud of yourself for fighting and for doing the things needed to change and improve your life.
10. Keep Going (Even When Things Don’t Work Out The First Time)
When you’re going through tough times and struggling in life, it’s so easy to just raise your hands and give up when things don’t work out.
11. Remember That You Are Strong And Brave
Life is hard. There will be life struggles that are going to test every ounce of strength in you. You may think that you will never be able to overcome this or get through this.
You may start to believe that you are just not strong enough to turn your life around and change it for the better.
12. Live One Day At Time
When you are faced with so many struggles, it’s so easy to let your minds spiral into constant “what ifs”. It’s so easy to live every day worrying about tomorrow.
I was guilty of this too. There were days when I was so overwhelmed because of constantly worrying about the future. I was paralyzed. I couldn’t focus and I was so overwhelmed to even get up and do something.
It’s important to remember to take it one day at a time. Learn to live in the present moment. Just breathe and take each day as it comes.
Remember that dwelling on the past or worrying about the future is not going to help you overcome your struggles today.
13. Let Go Of Instant Gratification
In Today’s day and age, most of us are guilty of constantly wanting instant gratification. We want things easy and fast. But when you are struggling in life, expecting things to change right away will only cause you more disappointment.
Expecting things to work out instantly will only lead to frustration. You have to remind yourself that it may take some time for things to get better.
You have to be patient and just keep taking the steps needed to improve your situation every day.
14. Learn To Change Your Mindset
When you’re struggling, it’s easy to focus all your attention entirely on the negative. I mean, when you are already going through difficult times, holding on to negative thoughts is a whole lot easier than finding any good in your situation.
15. Remind Yourself That You Are Loved And That You Are Not Alone
When you’re struggling in life, it’s so easy to feel hopeless, alone, and isolated from the rest of the world. I get what you’re feeling.
We all go through struggles in life that will test every ounce of strength in us. Moments when life gives us one struggle after another, barely even giving us the chance to catch our breath and think.
I’m definitely no stranger to these moments. When I hit the lowest point of my life, it felt like every day I was slapped with a whole new struggle. I was exhausted. I felt so hopeless that I started to believe that I will never be able to overcome the struggles of life.
When you’re struggling in life, it’s so easy to let yourself drown in all the pain, the problems, and the constant stress and anxiety that it brings. You may start to believe that you will never be able to pull yourself out of this dark hole.
I’m here to tell you that you can. You are more than strong enough to overcome your struggles.