How I Quickly Ascended Out of Depression

The Downward Spiral

For the last couple months I had a persistent depression with feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, guilt, shame, low confidence, no mental or physical energy, etc. It sucked.

At the time I was blaming a lot of it on not being where I wanted to be in life. Moving back in with my parents, not being financially free, not having a girlfriend, not having a jacked body, not having anything else I desired.

While I think these things are a factor, to get straight to the point I believe the true cause of my depression was simply my lack of action.

I basically had quit my job as an EMT, wasn't working out, wasn't writing, wasn't applying on jobs, wasn't…. I wasn't facing life. I was cowering away from it.

This is dangerous. I found that cowering away from life sets up a positive feedback loop of negativity and inaction. AKA a downward spiral.

Depressed = inaction = more depressed = more inaction = … until you either whither away to nothing or get so completely fed up with living that way that you have no option but to act if you want to survive.

I knew this state of being wasn't the true me and I knew I didn't want to stay there.

Here is what I did to snap out of it in a 1-2 week time span.

1. Accepted where I was and that things weren't going to be easy

This thought came to me at some point randomly:

"You already feel like shit, so you can continue to lay here and feel like shit, which wont lead to any possibility of not feeling like shit, OR I can continue to feel like shit while I take action on the things I know deep down will lead to me possibly not feeling like shit. Either way I am going to feel like shit for now, so might as well take action while feeling like shit."

I don't totally know why this worked for me but I guess it came down to me accepting that at the moment I am going to feel like shit either way and that there is no easy way out of this. I can't lie here and wait for it to go away.

Just accept that you are in it and that you are going to continue to be in it, while you work your way out of it.

Buddhist mantra: "Life is suffering"

Do I want long term suffering with short term pleasures?

or

Do I want long term "pleasure" and life satisfaction with short term suffering?

2. Recognized the similarities between previous highs and previous lows of my life

Similarities between the highs:

• Working out every single day or very often

• Severely reducing THC, nicotine, or any substance use

• Playing less video games

• Reading often

• Writing daily, planning out my day and reflecting

• Using my phone intentionally. Not doom scrolling for hours.

• Getting out of the house and interacting with people

Similarities between the lows:

• The opposite of everything above

• Addictive behavior: THC, nicotine, social media, video games, etc.

• Not building my body

• Not actively looking for better work

• Allowing life to just happen, not pushing myself in a direction, no willpower

3. Take some fucking action

This is what it all boils down to.

It wasn't the fact that I wasn't where I wanted to be in life that I was depressed

It was the fact that I wasn't actively working to get to where I want to be in life

For me it came down to discipline. I decided on 3 things I am going to do every, single, day. No matter what.

1. Go to the gym

2. Learn (read, go through a course, watch educational content on entrepreneurship, fitness, remote work, etc)

3. Write

These are all actions which will inevitably lead to growth. If I could take DAILY action on these 3 things, I know I am working towards the life I want. These can be whatever you deem fit for your life.

I've been at this for multiple weeks now, without missing a single day and it has completely turned around my mental state. Through daily action I am proving to myself that I am worth it. I AM taking action towards what I want in in life, I am respecting my current and future self.

I am

• Building my body

• Growing my mind

• Organizing my mind and creating content

• Most importantly: gaining positive momentum which has spread into other areas of my life.

Everything is moving up instead of down.

However, it takes work. If I just stop, it all starts to shift downward again.

NEVER fucking stop. Do shit every day, regardless of how you feel about it. Get your mind away from short term pleasure.

Short term pleasure leads to long term discomfort

Short term discomfort leads to long term pleasure

I am talking to myself here.

What you should do:

If you are in a similar state as I was and your looking for a way out

I employ you to

• Embrace discomfort. Realize it wont be an easy and comfortable fix. The fix is in the stuff you don't want to do. Embrace it.

• Pick 1-3 things to dedicate yourself to doing EVERY, SINGLE, DAY

• Don't make these to grand. Make them achievable. I recommend some sort of physical exercise and some sort of mental exercise.

• Get your addictive mindset in check. Put away the phone, put away the weed, put away whatever you need to. You don't need to get rid of everything all at once but start getting rid of these mental energy black holes. It is all just distraction.

• Just take some action, WHILE you feel terrible. Please don't remain stagnant. Simply acting towards what you want in life in any capacity, no matter how small, it will start to shift your mindset from negative to positive.

You aren't just going to emerge out the other end freely. You need to put in the work. Start very small and build momentum. Its about showing up for yourself, showing yourself that you are worth it and ultimately just taking action, and mostly when you don't want to.

If you have read this far, I greatly appreciate you,

Jackson