Feel Like You Woke Up In Someone Else’s Life & Body? Here’s What to Do About It

“Whoa, who is that in the mirror? And how’d they get in my skin?”

Have you ever felt like you woke up in someone else’s body, or maybe someone else’s life?

It’s almost the odd feeling of not knowing HOW you got where you are… or how to get out of where you are. It’s like you woke up in a bad dream, with zero recollection of the events that got you there.

I sat down with a friend who shared this story of how he woke up in a funk, realized he didn’t like what he saw in the mirror, realized he didn’t know how he got to this “nightmare of a life” and had no clue out.

In today’s video I’ll share what to do when that happens – and how to get back on track.

How Did I Get Here?

It can be tempting to think that just one specific event got us here, but that’s almost never true.

We almost always got to where we were today because of thousands of tiny little things we did – accumulated over days, weeks, months, and years.

So the first thing to remember is that it was the accumulation of choices – choices relating to our health, to our relationships, to our finances, to our happiness.

Tiny choices got us here, and tiny daily habits are keeping us where we are.

It’s almost like the changing of the seasons. The seasons are always changing, but doesn’t it always seem like one day we just wake up and go “whoa, it’s getting cold, winter is almost here! Where did summer go?”

And then once it’s cold, one day we walk outside and the birds are singing and we realize: Whoa, it’s getting warm again! Summer is almost here.

The truth is that we’re always changing: it just happens so slow we don’t realize it.

There are a few things to keep in mind here.

#1 It’s Not One Thing, It’s a Thousand

Think of weight gain, since it’s a great example.

Does eating pizza and ice cream one day cause us to gain 30 pounds? Nope. Never.

Does eating sugar once lead to sickness and disease? Nope. Eating lots of sugar for many months, years and decades is what leads us down that road.

Now, the opposite is usually true too: what got us into this situation wasn’t one thing: it was a thousand. It was a thousand tiny, daily choices that we made that led us down the road.

And realistically, it’s going to be a thousand tiny, daily choices that get us out of this hole.

So whatever it is – our health, our relationships, our happiness – don’t approach it with the philosophy that just one thing is going to fix it, and fix it quickly.

Think about what tiny actions you can repeat daily, that’ll get you back on track in the coming months. It’s rarely just one thing that needs changing.

#2 Pick a Few Simple Habits… And Do Them

Remember, it wasn’t just one choice that got us here – it was hundreds and thousands.

So rather than freaking out and deciding it’s time to go crazy and go into overdrive (like working out 5 hours a week at the New Year if we never have before), track very simple, daily habits.

Remember, we’re building the snowball that’s going to take time to get us out of the hole.

So for example, let’s say you’ve got low energy.

A very simple habit you can cultivate is this: eating more regular meals, and adding more protein and veggies to the meals. This will help balance blood sugar, which stabilizes cravings, mood, energy and lots more.

Again, remember we’re looking for simple, repeatable habits we can use on a daily basis for incredible results. Ignite the power of the compound effect by committing to a few simple habits, and just doing them. It doesn’t require massive time, massive energy, or massive willpower- it just requires consistent application of a few, key principles.

#3 Deliberate Living & The Ultimate Multiplier

The third point to remember here is the power of deliberate living – am I really thinking about my life?

Am I thinking about what I actually want from life? What do I want my home life to look like? My relationships? My finances? My work? My health? What would your life look like if you spent a few minutes each day just thinking about what you wanted in each aspect – and then taking one step towards it?

And then another question: Are my actions currently getting me there? If not, what do I need to do/change to get there?

Think about Ben Franklin, like in his biography, he was famous for coming up with his own list of life virtues and every single night, he would reflect. Did he do what he said he would? If he didn’t, what did he need to improve tomorrow? What needed to change the next day? It’s the final skill – reflection – that prevents the autopilot lifestyle that sometimes leads us to wake up one day and go “whoa, how did I get here? That’s what my life/health really looks like?”

And ultimately, like all change, the ultimate multiplier is this: time.

What about you? Have you had this eerie feeling before? Take a second and share below.

– Alex