Have you ever felt engulfed by something around you?

Even on an early morning trek to work, it’s likely you’ve seen the fog swallowing up the innocent pavement in front of you.

While it’s possible to move out of literal fog with a vehicle or train, it can be hard to outrun the mental fog of depression. This type of fog doesn’t lift on its own at approximately 8:37 AM like a natural New York fog would.

Depression has a way of hanging onto you with vice grips and engulfing you in a misty-like heaviness.

To move out of the fog of depression it takes deliberation. But, it most certainly can be done.

Here’s how.

1. Give the Fog a Voice

There’s usually a reason why the fog is there in the first place. More often than not, it’s because of repressed emotions. Sometimes it’s anger. Other times it’s pain or regret.

After taking some time to be nitty-gritty honest with yourself, cut loose.

Find a healthy way to express the negative emotion that’s been engulfing you. Give it a name—anger, resentment, shame—and then give it a voice.

This first step to moving out of the fog is an epic one. It may even involve establishing personal boundaries or giving up toxic relationships. Once your fog has a voice, you can better address depression.

2. Walk Right Into the Misty Unknown

Depression often haunts you because you’re not really doing what you want to be doing in life. Essentially, you’re dissatisfied and unhappy at the core. Mostly, fear is to blame for this.

To move out of the fog, you may very well have to walk right into it. Meaning, face your fears.

For instance, if you’re afraid of failing, fail on purpose by obliterating a comedy routine at open-mic night. Afraid of being alone? Go on a dating sabbatical for six months or a year. And if you struggle with not feeling good enough, go run a 5K and come in last.

What you’ll find is that you survive 100 times out of 100 times. And it will empower you in wonderful, surprising ways every single time.

3. Make Friends with the Space Around You

Depression has a tendency to silence your own thoughts with distractions. It’s like you don’t want to slow down even for a minute because you don’t want to face what’s really going on inside of you.

When you finally do stop filling up your time with other things to distract you from you, it’s noisy. Your thoughts are noisy because you’re not used to them. But give them space to exist and just listen.

Rather than telling yourself it’s too hard to face this or that, you’ll figure out that you actually can face these things better than you imagined.

4. Get Closer to What You Want

Rather than settle for an “okay” life, career, relationship, etc., pinpoint what you truly want.

For instance, if you really want to be a travel blogger full-time, then make sustainable steps to get there. Or maybe you really want to launch your own firm but are stuck behind twelve other names at your current law firm. Decide what steps will lead you to your goal.

You don’t need to do it all at once. But to move out of the fog, you need to do something every day to make what you want a reality.

5. Keep Going Until You’re Through

Believe that you’re worth it—plain and simple.

Except that it’s not plain and simple because being engulfed in depression often means being swallowed up by low self-esteem, self-doubt, and unworthiness.

So, hold tight to that powerful belief that you’re worth it, even when it’s difficult to believe.

And don’t give other’s the opportunity to weigh in on your worth. See this thing through that notorious fog and put on earmuffs when the doubters or scoffers spew their negativity.

—

If you’re ready to move out of the fog of depression and start living your best life, please contact me. I’d love to be able to help you reach your goals and become the best possible version of yourself.