Compete Against Depression!
Monday, April 25, 2011 07:57
You just delivered a proposal of a life time to the Chamber of commerce. Not one of your competitors had the staff and infrastructure to handle their group business as competently as you.
You receive an email to discover that they went with another advisor but thanks for your interest and hard work.
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You're partnering with another advisor that specializes in large premium finance insurance cases. You bring in an elite asset protection estate planning attorney and together you combine for a terrific plan that will involve a super freeze offshore tax compliant trust and the taxes will be funded by the insurance leaving quite a large estate for the family. The client agrees and just wants to have his accountant look it over. You get a call from the clients' office to cancel everything.
Your wife tells you she's not happy. She's not leaving you, or threatening to do so, she just says you have "disappeared" and she's just not happy. You attempt to explain how you've got to generate business but it's so unfulfilling you're not even convinced yourself.
You go back to your office and notice, I'm depressed!
Depression may be described as feeling sad, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods. True clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger or frustration interfere with everyday life for a long period of time.1
The human brain with its over 140 billion neurons is an electrical chemical organ. It takes a thought, which is an electrical burst and turns it into a chemical, which is a release of neurotransmitters.
It is your thinking that causes the chemical imbalances in your brain. It's not what happens to you, it's your thinking about it and the interpretation that you give to what happens to you. Your thinking causes every situation in your life.
I don't need to give you the symptoms but I will. If you're depressed, you're going to know it. At any rate:
- Agitation, restlessness, irritability.
- Dramatic change in appetite, either weight gain or weight loss.
- Difficulty concentrating.
- Fatigue and lack of energy.
- Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.
- Feelings of guilt.
- Thoughts of death or suicide.
- Inactivity and withdrawal from social activities. (avoidance)
- Trouble sleeping.
Anti depressants may be called for in severe cases. These are selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and the most common are Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Lexapro. This has to do with the neurotransmitters that I previously mentioned. That is how your brain cells communicate with each other by taking the electrical impulse and releasing chemicals. These chemicals are then received by the uptake neuron.
When there are not enough of certain chemicals in the spaces between the nerve cells then the pills will block the uptake of the released chemicals so more are available to be received. This helps you to feel better.
An over the counter herb called St. John's wort may help some people.
Talk Therapy, also called cognitive behavioral therapy works just as well as medication in many cases. This treatment teaches depressed people ways of fighting negative thoughts.
I'm going to give you my tough love coaching on depression.
Here is the first preliminary step to take.
Set a time for a pity party. That's right. Pick Thursday, 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. No feeling sorry for yourself until that time and then let it loose. The world sucks (gravity is a myth), everything is against you, life is horrible, poor me, you name it. Let it all out for one hour. That's it. Now you're done. Now you are ready to compete.
Here are the steps.
- Identify the worse case that could happen to you in your life. Go to the bottom line. If everything failed where would you be?
- Can you recover from the worse case scenario? If no, you're going to need medical treatment. If yes, come up with your precise "recovery" plan. Answer the following questions:
- What do I want? What am I building?
- What do I need to do to have what I want?
- What do I need to do this week?
- What will I do this week? (Necessary Required Actions)
- Make a behavioral contract with commitments and accountability-consequences for non performance.
- Get M.A.D. Make a decision that there is only one end result, your success, period. Control your attitude. You can assign another one hour period of time to go victim, otherwise it's a positive attitude period.
Your thinking influences which area of your brain is being electrically active. I won't go into detail other than to say that you can change the receptor cites for the opium like drug endorphins by the way that you think. You must control your thinking. You must only allow positive thoughts. There is a science behind this and that will be the topic of another article, I promise.
- Identify your STAND. Who do you need to be to reach your goals? Who are you? What great service or problem do you solve? Keep that in mind as the stand you need to take. Orient from that stand when you don't feel like executing the necessary required actions.
- Exercise. Make a commitment to your physical health and exercise. Make sure that you are eating frequently, small meals, and get enough exercise, minimum four times a week.
This is a great start to compete against depression. Let me know how you do. Send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I'll also hold you accountable to execute your plan via email as well.
You can do this. I BELIEVE IN YOU!
Comments (1)
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Great guy and Advisors4Advisors, Inc.
JAL
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