How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed By Life
Read below to see if you are coping with any of these comfort-seeking habits that lead to long-term dissatisfaction . . .
By Dr. Ali Novitsky, M.D.
Triple Board Certified in Neonatology, Pediatrics & Obesity Medicine
We’ve all felt it at some point — that feeling of “why try.” In this article, they call it, “languishing,” which is described as a feeling of “meh,” or ambivalence about making decisions brought on by social isolation and a general feeling of discontent.
Cue the comfy pants, the Netflix binge-watching, and the guilty pleasure foods in an attempt to simply FEEL BETTER. We’ve all done it (guilty!) but how do we break the cycle?
If you feel you’ve let your healthy habits slip, or just aren’t feeling like yourself lately, don’t beat yourself up! The general dis-ease and sense of “what’s going to happen next?” is causing all of us to feel out of control and helpless. Understandably, the unsettling feeling and fear of what’s around the corner causes us to turn to what is comforting and familiar.
In this blog, I share some useful life hacks for mental well-being and tips for healthy habits from my life coaching programs for women. Focusing on wellness as physicians is so important as we juggle the increased stress we’ve all been under.
Below are a few physician wellness tips to ease you through the feelings of ambivalence and overwhelm during this turbulent time.
Give Yourself a Break for Taking Breaks to Prevent Physician Burnout
We can’t just GO, GO, GO all the time without expecting anxiety, stress, and total physician burnout. So how do we balance all of our priorities when we have too much on our plate and it just keeps coming?
First, listen to your body, what is it trying to tell you? Do you need a break? Do you need to get more energy and make more time for exercise? Or do you need to go to sleep earlier because you’re irritable, cranky, and unable to focus? All of this makes a difference in our physical and mental well-being and we shouldn’t feel bad for taking a night, or even a whole weekend off when our body is telling us to SLOW DOWN.
As a physician turned life coach, I know that the behaviors you are feeling guilty, or even shameful about, are just coping mechanisms for the constant change and instability we are all enduring.
Reaching for your favorite comfort food more than usual?
Working non-stop and feel you don’t have time to get exercise in?
Exhausted from your busy schedule and don’t have the energy to work out?
If you’re feeling sluggish or more tired than usual, just understand you’re still adjusting to this new normal. This is expected given the increased pressure of homeschooling our kids, managing a global health crisis from the frontlines, and the constant worry about our vulnerable family members.
You are doing so much and I know how frustrating it can be when you feel you don’t have the time or energy to work out. In my life coaching programs, I’ve taken this into account and have streamlined a system for maximum efficiency and convenience. Feel better quickly without ever leaving home, with a fitness and nutrition program that comes to you.
As a life coach for women, I help physicians find more peace and satisfaction in their lives by showing you how to master your mindset and strengthen your body to withstand the demands you face.
Now more than ever, it’s vital that we focus on the importance of self-care for doctors.
Why Evidence-Based Fitness Training Gets You Out of the “Blahs”
As women physicians, we know that exercise increases our energy and metabolism, but it also increases our serotonin levels which boosts happy hormones and lowers stress. By exercising regularly, and prioritizing our self-care as busy women physicians, we boost our mental health and physical endurance so we can enjoy our careers for the long haul.
This article explains that serotonin levels not only affect our mood and energy, but they affect our ability to digest and process foods too. Low serotonin levels negatively impact our sex life, our ability to stay focused and concentrate, our emotional stability, and our mood. Meditating, going outdoors in the sun, and regular exercise, all contribute to healthy serotonin levels, which keep you feeling happy and healthy.
If you feel constantly anxious or stressed, weekly strength-training workouts combined with mindset coaching help reduce the overwhelm. This is what we do in G.O.A.L.S Society, my life coaching program for women physicians.
We help you get back into action with our evidence-based workout routines that are designed to boost your metabolism and get rid of that blasé feeling.
I know it’s hard to stay motivated alone, which is exactly why I created this peer-based life coaching program. Get support and inspiration from other women physicians going through the same thing. We help you get off the couch and get back into a healthy, evidence-based workout routine to beat that blase feeling.
We Need to Surround Ourselves with Support, Not Isolate & Withdraw
This importance of connection and social support can’t be understated. In this article we see that after attending one women’s networking conference, “78% percent of them reported feeling ‘more optimistic about the future after attending.”
This is the power of my monthly group coaching program, where you join other health-conscious women physicians for weekly life and fitness coaching that you can do online from anywhere. We help you reframe your mindset for positivity and success so you look and feel better than you have in year.
Cure Physician Burnout with G.O.A.L.S Society,
a monthly group life and fitness coaching program for women physicians.
Get emotional support and accountability from your peers and nurturing guidance from a physician turned life coach who cares. Transform your body composition and rid your mind of those worrisome quarantine troubles — one weekly workout at a time!
If you are struggling with motivation, sluggishness, or just don’t know where to start to feel better again, try my peer-based group life coaching program and see results in as little as a few sessions!
“But I don’t have time to work out,” you say?
What if I told you that you only had to work out once a week to see results in your energy, body and mental well-being? In my group life coaching program, G.O.A.L.S Society, most of my clients see powerful transformations in less than 2 months working out only once a week!
We meet every Sunday for an hour to work out and reset for the week ahead plus you get live mindset coaching calls per week. This schedule is doable even for busy women physicians who don’t have a lot of free time, but still effective enough to see lasting change.
You will be shocked at the transformation you see in your body and your confidence!
This isn’t just a fitness plan or workout, it’s cognitive behavioral therapy-based mindset work, a comprehensive nutrition plan, and a life coaching program that heals what ails you from the inside out.