My brain can sabotage myself regularly. There is so much going on at any given moment, I have a hard time focusing on what I need to do next.

It can be very overwhelming for someone who is multi-passionate and wants to do it all. I know one day in the future I will be able to say “I’ve done it all! Successful business, social life, family/relationship, and I have a full life!” However, if I’m being honest with myself, I know it won’t be all at the same time.

But where do I start? What do I focus on right now? What if I make the wrong choice? What if it’s a complete failure?

Now, you might be thinking this advice came from Frozen 2 and their song “The Next Right Thing” (if you frequently watch Disney movies) but I assure you it’s been a practice I’ve been preaching for a long while.

I’ve been in therapy for different reasons/concentrations at various points in my life. In College, I went to CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) to help with my then-new diagnosis of depression.

One of the key points of (my) CBT for depression is to focus on the steps in front of you and not so much on the past & big picture.

It was too overwhelming for me to think about everything I needed to do that day. 

So we focused on just taking that next step, literally.

Part of my work in CBT was to just take that first step out of bed in the morning. The next was to the bathroom to brush my teeth. The next was to go downstairs and feed myself breakfast. And so on.

Focusing on what’s right in front of you, especially when experiencing a low in your life is about all you can promise yourself.

You don’t know if you’ll get to the post office to mail the returns. You don’t know if you’ll be able to make it to class that day, do the homework, meet social requirements, etc.

Depression is all-consuming. What you can at least expect from yourself is to do one small thing at a time.

Pin, Share, & Comment if there are any other words of advice you can give to those who might be struggling to get out of bed in the morning.

Sending all my love and support <3

*featured image by Ashley Byrd on Unsplash