You feel like you’re weak, not good enough. You think something is wrong with you. You just aren’t yourself anymore and it’s bothering you. You just don’t know who to talk to about it. You aren’t sure you even want others to know you’re thinking and feeling this way. So you suffer in silence.
 
Unfortunately, when we suffer in silence like this, it affects our lives in numerous ways. We start falling deeper into this emotional pit which also takes a physical toll on us. There may even come a time or two that the idea of suicide walks through our minds.
 
The downsides of suffering in silence not only affect us emotionally and physically, but affect those we love as we can’t hide our pain from them. We may take out our frustrations on them or tell them we’re fine when we are really not. We may withdraw from them or start engaging in risky behavior like excess alcohol use or other adrenalin pumping activities.
 
It is often a slippery slope that we try to ignore for awhile. There may have been small signs that if we look back, we can notice, but had excuses for in the moment. Now it’s come to this – panic attacks, intrusive thoughts, superimposing loved ones onto calls you’ve been on, racing heart, not being able to turn your brain off, not liking silence, trouble sleeping, and more.
 
Unfortunately, you’re so deep into the anxiety, stress, feelings of being a failure and embarrassment, that you don’t know how to get out of the hole. Hopelessness may have started to set in by now as well.
 
The reality is you are normal. You are sane. You are just like many other first responders who realized the cumulative impact of your job. You see such suffering every day. It is completely normal to struggle to make sense of the pain day after day, week after week, year after year. What humans can do to each other is unspeakable. What some accident scenes look like can be indescribable. Yet your brain tries to make sense of it – over and over because it cannot make it make sense.
 
It’s true that you’re feeling lost, scared, and unsure whether you will be ok. However, there is something that can help you regain a feeling of security and confidence in yourself. When you experience the process of EMDR, it is entirely possible to feel like your old self again and continue the career you were called to.
 
Keep reading for everything you need to know about EMDR so you can decide if it is right for you
 
WHAT IS EMDR?
 
EMDR is defined as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. By moving your eyes back and forth quickly (similarly to rapid eye movement during sleep), you will resolve intense feelings, unhelpful behaviors and generalized negative beliefs about yourself and the world, stemming from experiences you’ve had throughout your life or career.
 
It may sound kind of hokey, but there have been numerous studies showing the technique is real and does what it claims. It is supported as an evidenced based treatment model (meaning it has been extensively studied) by the VA and SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).
 
It helps with anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse, and secondary trauma (learning about someone else’s trauma). It resolves the nagging thoughts that we aren’t good enough, or aren’t safe enough, or the world is dangerous, or I’m not strong enough, or one of a million other negative self beliefs that go alone with depression, anxiety and PTSD.
 
HOW DOES EMDR WORK?
 
EMDR technically starts from our initial appointment. This is because EMDR is more than just the actual eye movement or reprocessing. EMDR begins with history taking (telling me about yourself). Then my clients and I review safety, including self regulation and coping. This is a vital part of the process and one I will not skip over or go through too quickly.
 
The actual reprocessing is what people associate EMDR with. This is when we do the back and forth eye motions. Many clients will do the eye movements, but many actually prefer the “tappers” which will rapidly vibrate alternately in each hand. This is just as effective as using eye movements. You will not be hypnotized. I want you to be aware of your surroundings and in the room with me at all times.
 
During reprocessing, we review and pull into the treatment emotions, thoughts, and body sensations as the body holds memories as well. Phantom limb pain is a good example of the body holding memories. We want to get rid of all the negative sensations – emotional, physical, and in the thoughts/mind – in order to fully reprocess the event(s).
 
There are three phases to active reprocessing. We start with the past experience(s) – what brought you to me, then the present triggers (what is bothering you still today), then the future (what if the distressing situation(s) happen again).
 
One thing my clients love about EMDR is they don’t have to share anything out loud they don’t want to. Traditional trauma therapies have you share the story with the therapist. With EMDR, you may never share anything with me. Yet, the technique will resolve your symptoms.
The Ultimate Guide to EMDR that Helps First Responders Obtain a Feeling of Security in Life
An important thing to keep in mind is you will not “forget” the memories. You will still have them. However, they will not be causing distress anymore. They will not continuously resurface.
 
When used over time, my clients naturally fall back into their old selves. Often they just start feeling better and can’t pinpoint anything different or why they are feeling better. It is a good feeling for them when they realize they haven’t had a panic attack in some time, or they slept through the night without nightmares.
 
WHO IS EMDR FOR?
 
EMDR works well with both adults and children. It helps people struggling with anxiety, depression, PTSD, secondary trauma, and substance use. People who respond well to EMDR often report nightmares, racing thoughts, inability to relax, irritability, stress, difficulty separating home and work, relationship problems, increased risky behaviors, and even behavioral changes in their children as they start responding to the client’s stress prior to engaging in EMDR.
 
It works well for all of these symptoms because the brain is wired for survival. When first responders see threats to life day after day, the alarm system of the brain becomes overactive and the stress response stays active causing the above symptoms. EMDR reprocesses these experiences so you remember them without carrying the baggage caused by an overactive alarm system in the brain.
 
My clients often see a decrease in physical symptoms such as gastrointestinal problems (stomach problems), headaches, and decreased blood pressure as well as an increase in overall life satisfaction. They feel confident, safe, and in control.
 
WHO ISN’T A GOOD FIT FOR EMDR?
 
First, EMDR doesn’t work for organic illnesses such as bipolar, ADD, and schizophrenia. Additionally, you want to make sure you have a competent therapist who is well trained in EMDR if you have large gaps of lost time in your memory, which could be caused by “dissociation.” If you get flashbacks (being transported back to the experience in your mind with all associated feelings, sensations, visuals, etc) this is a form of dissociation.
 
This is because with EMDR, I want you to stay present in the room. It is not hypnosis. You are fully aware of everything at all times. The therapist will need to help you stay present if you have episodes of dissociation.
 
With organic illnesses, it is not just a matter of reprocessing experiences. The brain is wired differently with illnesses such as bipolar, ADD, and schizophrenia, therefore EMDR is not effective with these illnesses.
 
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM EMDR?
 
When you do EMDR with me, you and I will first do a thorough evaluation to know what we are targeting and what symptoms have developed. I will do a great deal of education with you about the physiology of trauma and why you are normal.
 
We will then move into safety and stabilization. If we move too quickly into reprocessing, we can actually make your symptoms worse and there is the potential you will stop therapy prematurely or spiral further down. As much as my clients want to get right into the reprocessing, this is a phase we cannot skip. In fact, some clients find that after getting through this phase, they don’t even need the reprocessing as self regulation is enough for them to be able to manage the symptoms.
 
Then we move into the reprocessing phase. We will first discuss the options of eye movements and tappers then start with something not too distressing so you can experience the process. When we reprocess what we are targeting, we have three options of where to star. We can start with what the worst symptom you are dealing with is, or the first time you thought or felt the identified symptom, or the most recent time the symptom bothered you. We will review the benefits of all three starting places and you will decide which you want to start with.
 
We do not have to do EMDR active reprocessing each session. During reprocessing, I do not want you to analyze or judge what is happening, so there will be very little “discussion” from me until the end of the day’s session. I leave time at the end of the session to discuss anything you want. However, sometimes my clients like to take a break from reprocessing to discuss and analyze what they did in the previous reprocessing session.
 
Finally, we move into post growth. Now what? Now that you’re feeling stable, safe and confident, we will discuss what’s next. Sometimes this is the end of therapy, and sometimes we’ll move into another bothersome area of life. You are completely in control of your therapy experience.
 
WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT STEPS?
 
Going forward, you can learn more about EMDR on the EMDRIA website or VA’s website. There is a ton of recent research and many websites to answer your questions.
 
The best thing to do if you are interested in EMDR is to schedule a session with me. We will discuss what EMDR is and whether it will work well for you. At any point, you can decide to do EMDR or to stop EMDR. You are in the driver’s seat and I will help guide you through safely and as quickly as possible.
 
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AFTER LEARNING ABOUT EMDR
 
Although you struggle with nightmares, difficulty separating work and home, racing thoughts, or irritability, you have the potential to enjoy your career as much as you did when you started.
 
Now that you know a lot about EMDR, and likely as much as you will without experiencing it yourself, there is the possibility for you to see for yourself the results you can get without having to share every gruesome detail of the calls you went on. You absolutely can get your life back and feel strong and confident in yourself and your career again.
 
You have the opportunity to spend just a few short hours of your life to get yourself feeling better about without the need to take medication, share details you don’t want to, or do meditation on a daily basis (if you don’t want to).
 
Achieving freedom from a chaotic mind can be exhilarating and is worth every penny and every minute of your time. You absolutely can get the results you’re hoping for and the life you long to get back.
 
Meg Young, LCSW, PLLC specializes in helping first responders, just like you, obtain this freedom and control. Visit my website to learn more about me at https://megyounglcsw.com or call me today to schedule an initial appointment to see what life can be like for you. I can be reached at 941-462-4807.

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For those of us in any critical care giver role – police, firefighter, EMT, 911 dispatcher, therapist, counselor, doctor, nurse, probation/parole officer, corrections officer – PTSD is real. Unfortunately many people still see it as a weakness. We are supposed to be the strong ones; the ones the community comes to when they are in crisis and need to lean on someone’s strength. If we develop PTSD, there’s something wrong with us. At least this is still an all to common belief. Suicide among our first responders is higher than deaths from those in the military overseas this year, and it continues to rise, not fall.
 
Unfortunately, when we try to show a strong front to the world, we often fail to see the symptoms ourselves. We block it out or pretend it isn’t real. We make excuses for the symptoms we feel. We refuse to believe there is anything going on and refuse to get help.
 
The downsides to this are many, all the way to suicide. But there are many downsides prior to getting to a feeling of suicidality. We have self defeating feelings and thoughts about ourselves, we have behavior changes such as drinking, gambling, or other impulsive or reckless behaviors. We may have appetite and sleep changes. We may start withdrawing from others.
 
Not only does ignoring the symptoms affect us emotionally and behaviorally, we start to see changes in others around us. Our children’s behavior changes, our spouse’s behavior changes. Our friends and family may confront us a few times about how we are feeling or acting, but then they start to act different around us.
 
“Jessica” is a licensed therapist who works with children. She has been in the field for 14 years at this point and recently had a youth, 11 years old, come to her with her mom. The youth had been brutally attacked and was struggling to get back to normalcy. Jessica had her own 12 year old daughter. After meeting with this client several times, Jessica started becoming more protective of her own daughter and started feeling more anxious, even paranoid, about the outside world.
 
Her anxieties affected her sleep, her activity choices, what she allowed her daughter to get involved in, and so much more. She strongly believed she was being a good mother and protecting her daughter. There is no doubt Jessica was being a good mother, but were her actions and feelings necessary to the extreme she felt them and acted on them?
 
Without you having all of the details of Jessica’s struggles, it is impossible for you to answer that question. But I wonder if you can relate to Jessica and her change in attitude and behavior due to experiences she had at work.
 
We often make excuses for our behaviors. Excuses aren’t necessarily good or bad. They are just reasons. Take the judgement out of the equation and you may be able to relate. Jessica’s experiences at work made her feel justified in her over-protectiveness with her daughter. Again, right or wrong is not the debate here.
 
However, when our experiences at work change our feelings and behaviors at home and in our own lives, it can lead to a great deal of extra stress. Not only are we worried about our clients and work, but now we are also worried about our own lives and loved ones.
 
Eventually you wind up in a place of helplessness and overwhelm. Things seem to spiral out of control faster and faster and you feel less and less in control of yourself and your world. You may even wonder how it came to this – poor health habits, more anxiety, less happiness in life.
 
You are not alone. Many of our first responders, therapists, doctors and nurses have been where you are, currently are where you are, and/or will be where you are. The reality is, PTSD from our job is real and is normal. Secondary trauma is just as traumatic as first hand trauma in many (not all) ways. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) which therapists use to help guide diagnoses has even changed the criteria of PTSD to include secondary trauma: “Indirect exposure to aversive details of the trauma, usually in the course of professional duties.”
 
I know that you are struggling with admitting to yourself that your behavior and attitude has changed to the point where it’s affected your life and I know you strongly believe that you are justified in how you feel and act. I do not necessarily believe you are NOT justified in those feelings and actions. But when those feelings and actions have caused you to wind up in a place of helplessness and overwhelm, it is time to take a look at online therapy. Online counseling, also called telehealth or telemental health, is a legal, ethical, and effective way to get your life back on track in a quick way from the comfort of your own home. When you fully understand online or video counseling, it is entirely possible to overcome your biases about coming to therapy and reobtain the life you want and deserve.
 
Keep reading for everything you need to know about online/video counseling so you can start feeling more in control of your mind and your life today.
 
WHAT EXACTLY IS TELEHEALTH OR ONLINE COUNSELING?
 
Telehealth is defined a bit differently in each state, making policies around telehealth, especially across state lines, more difficult. In general, telehealth is broadly defined as the use of technology to provide healthcare services. These technologies include texting, phone calls, emails, or video counseling.
 
For the purpose of this blog, I am going to explain the benefits of video counseling. Video counseling is where the therapist is at their computer in one location while the client is at their computer at a different location. Both parties sign onto a HIPAA compliant web platform which includes video and audio capabilities (it is important to ask your therapist whether they are using a HIPAA compliant web platform for the security of your session) to conduct the session. This means the therapist is meeting with the client in real time. The therapist can see the client on their screen and the client can see the therapist on their screen and both parties talk as normal as the computer’s microphone will pick up the voice and transmit it to the other party.
 
Video counseling is a legal and ethical method of seeing a counselor. In fact, many insurance companies are starting to reimburse therapists for use of video counseling. With my clients, I noticed that often they feel more comfortable in their own homes and thus feel more free to work on and be honest about what is going on for them. This allows for more work to be done in less time, which is a win-win.
 
Research shows that there is a growing desire for the use of telehealth and the benefits of it are tremendous. There are studies citing clients improving faster thus costing the state less money, less overhead costs, and the ability to reach more clients. Several factors can get in the way of getting to a therapists office – childcare/eldercare concerns, weather concerns, transportation concerns, living in a rural area and thus not having access to a therapist, some mental health conditions such as severe anxiety or agoraphobia, and more. When these barriers to treatment are eliminated, the client is able to get the care they need and thus return to a healthy level of functioning including returning to work as appropriate.
 
HOW DOES ONLINE COUNSELING WORK?
 
When my client and I use video counseling, we start by signing an additional informed consent. Telehealth has risks that coming to a therapist’s office does not (for example a spouse coming home from work and walking into your session). The client and I then discuss the platform I use, how to get onto it, how it works, and even do a practice run to ensure the client understands the platform. Each session starts with a set regimen including review of safety and concerns or questions regarding technology from last session before getting into each session. We periodically review how the online sessions are working for the client and if there is anything that they would like to see different with our sessions.
 
There are several HIPAA compliant web platforms therapists can choose from. You want to make sure your therapist uses a HIPAA compliant platform to minimize the risk of data breeches. Not all video platforms are HIPAA compliant and telephones generally are not HIPAA compliant either.
 
With the platform I use, there is nothing for you to download if you use your computer. There is an app to download if you use your phone for sessions. I will send you a link to your session which will be your link for our sessions. Nobody else will have the same link.
 
When I use video counseling with my clients regularly, I tend to see a shift in their behaviors and attitudes relatively quickly. As stated above, I believe this is due to them feeling more comfortable in their homes thus they are able to open up and be more honest thus facilitating change quicker. My clients start to feel calm, safe and secure and start to enjoy the online sessions. Many of them report they like our online sessions better than in person sessions.
 
WHO IS ONLINE COUNSELING FOR?
 
Online counseling works well for people who are ready, willing, and able to do the work needed to get better. It works well with people struggling from PTSD, which is my specialty, as well as those struggling with depression, anxiety, substance use, parenting, stage of life changes, and more. It is good for people who are looking for confidentiality such as police officers who do not want to be seen going in and out of a therapist’s office.
 
The reason it works so well is because the client is able to immediately put into practice what they did in session. They do not have to wait the 30 minute drive home where some of what they did in session is now in the back of their mind. The client, who is ready, willing, and able to make changes tends to put those skills to use immediately after they get off the computer. Because they do the skills immediately, results are seen faster.
 
My blog last week about maintaining motivation mentions motivation follows action. When my clients get off the computer and immediately take action, instead of having to drive home first, the cycle of action/motivation begins right away decreasing the time needed to spend in therapy.
 
These type of motivated clients often see results like improved sleep, improved ability to handle stressors at home and at work, improved relationships with their loved ones, decreased racing thoughts, improved ability to stay on task, increased happiness and an increased sense of control.
 
WHO ISN’T A GOOD FIT FOR ONLINE COUNSELING?
 
Online counseling doesn’t work well for people who are actively or frequently suicidal, people who are currently in an abusive relationship, people who do not have a reliable internet connection, people who have psychosis, children, people who do not have privacy in their homes (can’t get into a quiet location where they will not be interrupted), and possibly others as well. If you are considering telehealth with a therapist, the therapist will discuss with you your needs and circumstances and together will make a determination of online counseling is appropriate for you.
 
Not everyone is right for online counseling. That does not mean there is something wrong with you or your circumstances. There is a lot of additional risk that needs to be taken into account for both the therapist and you. Picture this: You are talking about something very serious and upsetting and because you have poor internet connectivity, your connection drops. You don’t realize immediately that the connection dropped on your end and you start to wonder what happened. Did the therapist hang up on you? Did you say something wrong? Even when you realize that the connection dropped on your end, you still have residual feelings because you were talking about something upsetting and were interrupted causing more bad feelings and questions. If this happens semi-regularly, it can become very frustrating to both you and the therapist.
 
When a prospective client and I talk and decide that online counseling is not appropriate, I will talk with the client about seeing me in person, or referring out, depending on the client’s needs and location. Just because someone isn’t a good fit today doesn’t mean they won’t be a good fit for online counseling in the future. This is an important point to keep in mind.
 
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM ONLINE COUNSELING?
 
When you participate in video counseling, you can expect the same professionalism as you would from a therapist you see in the office. There are several things I do at the start of each session to ensure we have a positive and professional session that will help you meet your goals. This starts with a reminder to make sure you are in a quiet location with where you will not be interrupted and turning off your phone as if you were in my office. I do the same on my end to ensure both confidentiality and making sure I am giving you 100% of my attention just like you are in my office.
 
Also, you will expect to see results. Telemental health is often a better way to do therapy for my clients because they know they are in a confidential location and won’t be seen coming in and out of a therapist’s office, thus reducing their anxiety about coming to therapy to begin with. As they are more comfortable in the sessions, they are also able to do more and better work in less time.
 
In addition, you can expect pros and cons just like in an office. One thing that we talk about each session is technology doesn’t always work. What if the sound stops working? What if the internet drops? We discuss these issues at the beginning of each session to ensure we have a plan of action in case something does go awry with technology.
 
WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT STEPS?
 
Going forward, you can learn more about online counseling in a variety of places. One place with a wealth of information is www.telehealth.org. This is a website that provides a lot of resources including links to state specific information. You can find online clients on the website as well who have been through their intensive online counseling courses to learn the safety and best practices for an online therapy business. You can also find information about online therapy at my website: https://megyounglcsw.com.
 
The best thing to do if you are interested in online counseling, however, is to schedule a session with me. We will discuss everything we need to even before going online. The best way to learn is to experience something first hand.
 
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT ABOUT ONLINE COUNSELING AFTER LEARNING ABOUT IT
 
Although you struggle with skepticism and worry at this time, you have the potential to really get your life back to where you want it with minimal time. Now that you know everything there is to know about video based counseling, there is a possibility for you to also find the therapy experience enjoyable. You have the opportunity to make changes in your life right from your own home and obtain the freedom and control you so desire to get back in your life.
 
Achieving freedom and control can be a positive experience. You absolutely can get a lot of work done in minimal time through use of telehealth. Meg Young, LCSW can help because I work with you to achieve your goals online, providing you with a successful online counseling experience.
 
Call me today 942-462-4807 today to schedule an appointment.

Sticking with a new behavior or life style change is incredibly hard. Many people each day give up on their goals because change is so difficult. Many people think “It’s not worth it” “I can’t do it” “Never mind” “It’s too hard” or one of a million other negative self statements.
 
Unfortunately, when we live life believing that change is impossible, it affects our lives in numerous ways. We start to second guess ourselves, start to believe we’re not good enough, and start to feel badly about ourselves. This negative self image might even trickle out to our friends and family who are trying to be supportive of us during the process.
 
Not only does living life believing that change is impossible affect our moods and thoughts, we start to fall into the trap of listening to the hesitations in our brain. We tend to stop doing the behavior change and “prove” to ourselves that it doesn’t work and we might as well have not even started it in the first place.
 
Many people will set New Year’s Resolutions. How many times have you set a New Year’s resolution? How many times have you stuck with it through the entire year? Many people will set a goal for themselves that they will lose weight, or go to the gym, or eat healthy. It sounds great. You even set a plan up so you will continue this goal. You talk to friends and family to get the accountability to continue.
 
At the time it felt great. You felt strong and empowered. You thought you could take on the world. You are going to be a new person and it will start with you getting up early and taking a walk first thing in the morning. Then packing a healthy lunch.
 
All of this, just to have the alarm go off early and you moan, hit snooze, and roll over. What happened?! Or maybe you got up and went for the walk. You even did it for a week. But today you’re tired and decided not to get out of bed. This was the beginning of your not following through. Or maybe you did great until winter when you realized you didn’t want to go out when it is dark and cold. “I’ll start again in the spring.” Did you?
 
As you start losing motivation to get up and tackle your goals, your brain kicks in and tells you all the reasons you should go back to old behaviors. You feel this throughout your body. You feel the motivation slipping away, but don’t even care right now. You’d rather go back to old behaviors.
 
Eventually you wind up right back where you started. You didn’t meet your goal and you feel frustrated, annoyed, and hopeless that you will ever be able to meet this goal. After all, how many times have you tried and failed?
 
The truth is, you are completely normal. The truth is sticking with our plans and goals is very hard. The truth is, it is not impossible. The truth is you can find what you need to meet your goals. It’s ok to get frustrated and fed up at times along this journey.
 
I know that you are feeling hopeless and frustrated that you’ll be able to meet your goal(s) as you’ve tried so many times before with no success. However, if we can put four tips into play, we can hack the motivation issue and make the changes we want in our lives. When we learn these four tips, it is entirely possible to never fail a goal again.
 
Keep reading for Four tips to Maintain Motivation
 
FEELING LIKE YOU ARE ON A HAMSTER WHEEL WITH MEETING YOUR GOALS? TIRED OF NOT BEING ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS? FEELING FRUSTRATED AND HOPELESS ABOUT SETTING A GOAL?
 
The biggest downside to not overcoming your problem with motivation is the downward spiral it takes you on. You start to feel worse about yourself and negative thoughts and emotions about setting goals start to take over. At the very least, you find yourself repeating the same cycle with your goals each time you try.
 
Living this way is tiresome. We want to be able to meet our goals and when we continuously struggle with that goal, it becomes tedious and dull to try again. All of our past “failures” come back to us.
 
IMAGINE MEETING YOUR GOALS. IMAGINE MAINTAINING THE MOTIVATION TO CONTINUE TO PUSH FORWARD DESPITE OBSTACLES AND FEELING GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF
 
Have you ever met a goal? Do you remember that feeling of accomplishment? Do you remember your beaming face? The friends and family who were proud of you? Or maybe you didn’t have the supportive family and friends, and you just proved to yourself that you can do it; despite what others think or believe.
 
Although you struggle with maintaining motivation at this time, you have the potential to meet all of your goals in life. You have everything it takes to continue to push forward despite obstacles. When we choose to add four tips to our day, there is a possibility you will never lose motivation again.
 
You have the opportunity to make this change and see results in your own life. You have the ability to be who you want to be and how you want to be.
 
4 TIPS TO MAINTAIN MOTIVATION
 
Whereas it is true you may be feeling skeptical about this and hopeless that this will work for you, the truth is, it is possible for every one of us to always meet our goals. The key to achieving this is to be consistent with whatever it is that you do. Yes, that was the problem you were having with motivation – how to stay consistent.
 
However, staying consistent is not as hard as you may think. You just need to make a couple tweaks to what you are already doing and I know as much as you want to make these changes, these tweaks will not be too hard to do.
 
Take a look at these 4 tips to see how you can maintain motivation on your goals today
 
1. The first thing to tweak is your mindset about motivation. We tend to think that we will take action because we’re motivated to do so. And in some respects this is true. We get up to go to work (take action) because we’re motivated by the paycheck (motivation) or the consequence (consequences are very motivating)!
 
The reality is, this mindset is backwards. Action does not follow motivation…MOTIVATION FOLLOWS ACTION. Think about going to the gym. You don’t feel like it, yet you go anyway. You get there, do your routine, and by the end you’re walking out feeling pretty good and say “I’m coming back tomorrow.” Motivation to go to the gym happened because you went to the gym to begin with.
 
Nike has the best motto in the world “Just do it.” That is our first tweak. When you don’t feel like it, “just do it.” Stop hesitating, stop thinking about it, stop what you are doing and just do the first action. The rest will fall into place.
 
Now that you’re doing the action, it is helpful to stay mindful with that action. If you’re at the gym saying to yourself that you are exhausted and wish you never came to begin with, it’s not going to feel very good at the end. Just get lost in the activity you are doing in the moment.
 
2. The second tweak is to know yourself. When are you at your best? When are you most alert? When do you have the most energy to get stuff done? Some people are more morning people, some early afternoon, and some later evening is when they peak. Do you do better with small tasks or larger projects? Do you perform best when moving around or sitting still?
 
Knowing yourself also means knowing why you want to meet this goal. What big change will it bring for you? How will your life change if this goal is met?
 
Knowing yourself is something that may take time for you to really get a handle on. It by itself might be it’s own goal for awhile. But I promise you when you learn when and how you function best as well as your big result from this change, your motivation to continue to work towards it will be stronger.
 
3. Third is to schedule the change into your day. Don’t just say “I’ll do it today.” Schedule it. Put it as an appointment in your schedule. There is a lot of evidence showing how many more times something that is actually scheduled into our day gets done versus something that is just getting done at some point today.
 
Scheduling it into your day will also help you stay more accountable to it. There is always something better to do. This is a lesson I learned, and I still struggle to do what is in my schedule versus the something better at times. When it is scheduled, it is always there in the back of your mind, making you feel guilty that you’re not doing it until you do it. Well, it may not make you feel guilty, but it will still be there in your mind reminding you that you are not sticking to your goals.
 
4. The final tweak is to review your goal daily. What worked? What didn’t? How will you adjust what didn’t work tomorrow to make it more likely that you will do it tomorrow?
 
Reviewing your goal daily also helps to keep you accountable to your goal. When you take an honest look at your day and notice that you didn’t get done what you want to get done, but you did things that were more fun instead, there’s an accountability factor there.
 
When you schedule a session with Meg Young, LCSW, we work together to make each of these tweaks happen for you. We take a deep dive into you to find out what is holding you back and how to incorporate these tweaks to make your life go where you want it to go.
 
Maintaining motivation is not just for exercise and eating well. Maintaining motivation is for anything that you are doing. When you are working on getting out of fight/flight due to PTSD, the brain is on overdrive. I work with my clients to maintain the motivation to continue self-regulation and other techniques to turn off the fight/flight response so they decrease the symptoms of PTSD and gain back their lives, careers and families to where they want those parts of their lives to be.
 
Achieving your goals through maintaining motivation can be a positive experience. It does not have to be daunting and difficult. You absolutely can find the motivation and the mindset to make your life exactly how you want it to be. No matter what you have been through or are currently going through, you have what it takes to maintain the motivation to meet your goals.
 
Working with Meg Young, LCSW will help you achieve your goals faster than you thought possible. I specialize in first responders, medical professionals and court professionals, but I help many other adults with PTSD, depression, and anxiety meet their life goals.
 
I hope you choose strength and call me today to schedule an appointment at 941-462-4807. It does not matter how many times you have “failed” before. It only takes one time to succeed. This is your first success in a long line of successes yet to come in your life. You are not alone in this battle against motivation. Let’s work together to get it right this time so you have the frame work to do it on your own each and every time you have a goal in the future. Let’s do this together! Remember that motivation follows action. Take action and call me now. 941-462-4807.