If My Plate Could Talk: “Maintaining Motivation When Life Feels Heavy”

Cadresphere hello again. It is always wonderful to be with you. I feel like this is one of those moments that I was like, I can't wait to be with my people. I can't wait to just come sit. Today is a blanket day. Every day is a blanket day, but today is a blanket day and really just dig in and have some great conversation. It's good to see all of you as you're joining. This is your first time. Welcome to if youf Plate Could Talk. I'm Dr. Charisse Johnson, a licensed clinical mental health therapist, mindfulness practitioner and author.

And I come specifically in this plate space on Sundays for us to really look at. What are we carrying? How is it impacting the way we're nourishing ourselves or not nourishing ourselves? And what kind of changes do we need to make so that we can be our absolute best? How hello Philly. You will see many as they come in. Let me know where they are in the world. Hello Statesboro, Georgia. And even rate your week and take a moment to consider. How was your week midweek compared to now? Especially hello from Atlanta.

Hello from Louisiana. Especially if you were with me on Wednesday. So it's just our simple little self regulation piece. Hello from Erie Penns, where it's snowing again. You can keep the snow. Hello New York. I am not in my normal spot, but I am here and exactly where I need to be. So we've been talking specifically on Sundays about emotional intelligence and how to incorporate some of those principles into our week. Hello San Antonio, Texas. Wow. We just have representation from everywhere and I absolutely love it.

One of the key pillars that we want to focus on today is motivation. But before we get into the nuts and bolts, I want you to complete this statement. My plate feels blank. What word would you use? How are you feeling about everything that's on your plate right now? Want you to think of all of your responsibilities. I want you to think of all of your goals. I want you to think of your social expectations, your personal expectations. If you took a look at everything hello, Kane 1906. Then what would you say My plate feels?

What? All right, if you're comfortable, I want you to share that word in the chat. Overflowing. Overflowing seems to be quite a word. Lopsided. Love the imagery there. What else are you noticing? And while I'm waiting for a few others to chime in, this is a great time. I need a platter. That's a whole word. This is also a great time for you to do what we do every week, which is take time, put it on a piece of paper, whether you do it as a circle or not, and really start writing down. Organized. That's phenomenal.

Jumbled. Really start writing down what's on your plate. This is such a key skill. I know I say it every week. I don't know how many of you actually do it or not, but it is one of the best things that you can do. Because it's one thing to say I feel lopsided or it feels jumbled or I need a platter, but it's another thing to not really know what's there and really give ourselves an opportunity to consider how can I balance this plate out? So really take some time and put everything that you know is on your plate.

So for myself, I would say that my plate feels. It feels heavy and it's interesting. I don't even know if that's because there's so much on it or what's on it is heavier than normal, right? So sometimes we may not have a lot of things on our plate, but it still feels heavy. All that being said, let's talk about what do you do and how can you stay motivated when you feel like there's a lot on your plate? You might not feel like you have enough time to get everything done. You may feel stretched and strained.

You may feel like there are things on your plate that you don't know how to solve. That's a whole. That's a whole other topic that I need to get into. What do you do with the things on your plate that feel uncomfortable? But regardless of whatever you're feeling, let's talk about how you can stay motivated today and the week ahead. So if we look at motivation through the lens of emotional intelligence, it has three components. It means that you're self motivated. It means that you're resilient and optimistic and you're driven by some level of inner ambition.

And let's be real, it's hard to be those things when you feel like you're being pulled a million different directions. So one of the key principles that I want you to leave here with is when it comes to your motivation and what's on your plate, if there's no space on your plate, you're going to find it difficult to be motivated specifically with the things in your life. Now, Jackie, great thought and very true. There are things on our plate we can't take off. So what we can do is determine, well, how do I prioritize things that I can't Take off?

Are all of them emergent and necessary? Do I have optimism towards them? Because sometimes even our view of what's on our plate and how much overwhelm and fuel we're placing on that responsibility can be heavy. So, yeah, there are going to be moments where it's like, this is the plate. There's nothing that can come off. But here's what we can always choose. We can always choose how we talk to ourselves. We can always choose the level of confidence that we practice while we're trying to manage the plate.

That needs to be a platter. Or it might be organized, but it's extremely full. So when you have something that is impossible, impossible to take off of your plate, then what you can choose is how you respond to it, how much energy you give it. And then there might be other things that you can take off your plate that you want to move to the side. For now, okay? But those moments happen, and we just have to make sure that we do the best we can. And that's where we also want to prioritize our health.

I often have you look at what's on your plate tangibly, and then what's on your plate in terms of how you're feeding yourself and feeding and nourishing yourself means what are you consuming? Are you consuming content and media that will help you feel, I can handle what's on my plate? Are you consuming food that's going to make you feel great? Are you eating enough? Are you eating too little? Are you eating more than your body needs? Are you getting adequate rest? Are you drinking enough? Those things can be overlooked in terms of how valuable and important they are.

Because sometimes when we're just trying to survive, we. We will take anything in that helps us numb. And numbing doesn't increase your motivation. It actually steals it. So getting back to that core pillar you want to work on, self motivation, resilience and optimism and being driven by inner ambition. Even though it may feel heavy and it may feel hard, don't give up. I want you to take the biggest thing that feels like it's taking up space on your plate. There's probably that one or two things.

And I want you to remind yourself, I can get through whatever it is, even if you don't have all the answers, even if it seems impossible. Now, there might be some of you that are thinking, well, how do you know, Dr. Cherise, that I can get through these things? Because we could probably have a conversation and if we started talking and I asked you about other things that you've been through in the past. You would name other moments in your life where you thought it was impossible, you weren't going to make it, you didn't have an answer and you couldn't handle it.

And guess what? You got to the other side. So a really great way of supporting yourself when things feel heavy is to go back and remember other moments in your life where you felt similar and it worked out and you got through it. As a reminder and yeah, keep coming back here to get perspective. You can manage what's on your plate until it's able to get lighter and you can stay motivated in your own life. Success Tip of the Week Three things that I want you to consider doing tonight as you prepare for the week or whatever point you want to Number one, review your daily routines and your goals.

If you don't have a daily routine, your plate's gonna feel pretty chaotic. Our daily routines and rhythm is what helps us feel grounded. So if you notice you're off rhythm, you're sleeping more than normal, not sleeping at all because you're worried and you're ruminated and thinking, that's one of the first places that I want you to center if you recognize that you're having a hard time creating a goal. The goal doesn't always have to be about getting mission. I was going to say mission impossible, but that works.

It doesn't have to be some big lofty goal. Maybe your goal for the day is to work on staying optimistic, is that you're going to work on thinking neutral or positive about all the things in your life that feel like you don't have an answer for. That's enough of a goal. And that might be what you work on every day. Maybe your goal is going to be you're going to work on not sleeping to escape from what's overwhelming you. Or you're going to work on getting answers, finding resources, making a plan.

And although those things can feel really hard when you're overwhelmed, doing nothing will feel way worse. So review your daily routines and goals. 2. Identify and combat any distractions. Sometimes our plate is heavy because we're not managing the time that we have well. We are allowing ourselves to be distracted by things. And sometimes those distractions come at us from a million different ways. Yes, like not scrolling to escape feels good in the moment, but then we've spent an hour or two distracting ourselves and realizing, hey, that would have been a time that you could have been using to rest and personal growth to connect with other people that bring you joy because that's a way that we can support ourselves.

So I really want you to also pay attention to how am I distracting myself from what's on my plate. And as a result of that, then when I have to face my plate, my plate feels even more overwhelming because I've been in a skate. And then the third thing is align your task with your values. What do you want for yourself this week? If you can answer that question, I want you to put the response in the chat. What do you want for yourself this week? Now, how big you make that answer is up to you. I will even think, what do I want for myself this week?

I would say based on where things are for me, I would like a week where I feel ahead of what's coming versus right on the mark, you know, so that requires me to really pay attention to my time, to make sure that I'm resting. Many of you know I have complex adhd. That's a whole additional dynamic. But my goal and what I value and what I want to experience is doing enough thoughtwork, doing enough legwork that I stay ahead of what I know is coming this week. Because when I do that, I'm not as overwhelmed, I am lighter, I am not anxious.

So those are the things for me, and I want you to identify those for you. Last thing that I will say, if you don't remember anything at all, feed your inspiration. Whatever motivates you to continue, whatever motivates you to move forward and do your absolute best in life, feed that inspiration. What you consume matters. Be extremely intentional about it. I love it. Consistent choices that are congruent with the vision that you have for yourself. Ken, that's phenomenal. And easier not, you know, easier said than done, right?

But consistency, oh, it's a beautiful tool. It's a beautiful fuel. And speaking of feeding your inspiration, that's exactly what consistency does. It moves in alignment with our values. Okay, I'm laughing at all of your comments. All right. Take care of yourselves this week. Do the very best that you can and pay attention to how you're feeding yourself in terms of what you're seeing, what you're eating, what you're drinking, what you're consuming, and make sure that you are operating from a place of greatness, from a place of positivity, and stay motivated.

I know you can have a good one.