Got Post Vacation Blues?

Have you ever neared the end of a vacation and dreaded getting back to “the real world”?

Where you’re so burnt out that some time off just didn’t help?

I know I have. I’ve been the person crying at the end of the week because my life felt too overwhelming to return to.

But when I got back from vacation a couple of weeks ago I noticed I felt ready to return to “normal life”. It got me wondering what changed. 

The best answer I can come up with is this - A few years back I stopped constantly criticizing myself. 

See 5 years ago April was a very different April. Back then it was like my headphones were playing the “Ways You Suck” podcast on a loop.

No wonder I was exhausted!

Then one day a friend introduced me to a life coach’s podcast. It was like shining a spotlight into my brain and noticing the barrage of mean girl comments that had just become background noise.

I decided to do an experiment. I would count how many times a day I criticized myself.

The very next morning I counted 7 critical comments in the first five minutes of being awake. That’s more than a comment a minute!

By the time I was two hours into my data gathering I called it quits for the day. It was clear to me that I had a problem and I would need some help.

As a result of noticing this I hired my first life coach. And thus began a metamorphosis that has me barely recognizable from that tired sad woman I once was.

That thing that I did, where I took some time to pay attention to what was going on in my brain, I highly encourage you to give it a try. We become so accustomed to the negative self talk that we don’t notice it unless we actively try. Noticing is the first step to making it stop, which trust me, you want.

Because now I can return from a vacation happy and refreshed, instead of full of sadness and dread.

And as always, if you need help, schedule a coaching consultation. I’ll listen and understand, because I’ve been there and I know the way out.