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30 Signs You’re Living Like a Zombie and What to do About it

Living fiercely alive (hopeful, joyful, excited, purposeful and inspired in most of your moments) is something you don’t realize you’re not doing until you wake up one day in the middle of a life that feels boring, depressing, unfulfilling, unhealthy or just plain blah. When more days end up feeling this way than not, it’s time to look for other signs you’re living like a zombie, and it’s definitely time for a change.

What if there’s something you haven’t learned yet that could change everything?

I ask this question of myself often. Asking myself the big questions has become a hobby of sorts, and it’s a common one for people on a healing journey. When you meet us (the light-worker, healer-types), we’re always practicing things like awareness, healing, spirituality, communication, and pursuing more joy. We’re full-on in our lives as an active participant, unlike zombies. We’re interested in pursuing big dreams and changing the world, while zombies are quite content to follow the crowd to the next piece of meat.

Well that’s cool, you might be thinking, but that world-changer thing’s not me. Okay then, I’m assuming you might at least be interested in creating a life that feels good for yourself, one where you feel connected, inspired and enthusiastic more often than out of control, overwhelmed or resentful. If so, please let me give you some signs that you aren’t living life on your own terms; that your headed toward zombie status:

1. You don’t feel a life purpose
2. You think, believe and do what everyone else thinks/believes and does
3. You don’t feel connected to nature or anything bigger than yourself
4. You’re working to retire
5. You don’t feel good (physically or mentally) most of the time
6. You don’t know what you love
7. You don’t have any passions or hobbies
8. You don’t connect with those you love on a regular basis
9. You practice regular self-sabotaging talk
10. What you think and believe does not serve joy and love
11. You hate your job
12. Your relationship is toxic (or just not joyful)
13. You regularly numb yourself with alcohol, drugs, over-work, or over-exercise
14. You don’t have any good friends you spend time with
15. You’re not a part of any supportive communities
16. You’re stuck in the past, resentful, angry or revengeful
17. You don’t feel anything
18. You’re too afraid to speak up for yourself or others
19. You consistently feel ashamed of yourself
20. You’re too afraid to talk to people or socialize
21. You’re in constant judgement of others
22. You’re never wrong
23. You don’t laugh very much
24. You don’t embrace fun, play or joy
25. Suffering always overpowers enjoyment
26. You’re always tired
27. You feel burned out (in your job, relationship or home roles)
28. You constantly feel taken advantage of
29. You don’t express yourself
30. You feel fearful most of the time and prefer to stay in your comfort zone

In case you’re wondering, many of these things were once me. I spent half my life hiding, afraid, ashamed and striving for people to like me by achieving more. I couldn’t express myself, didn’t know what I stood for, and had no idea what really turned me on. Until one day I woke up and realized life was too short for all that crap and decided to do something about it.

If any of these feel true for you, here’s the good news; there’s something you can do to start living in a way that has you waking up hopeful, joyful, excited, purposeful and inspired.

There’s something you can do to change everything and start living in a way that makes you feel fiercely alive, grateful, and full of on-purpose positivity and joy. There are things you can do to change a zombie life to a meaningful one, today.

Here are 5 steps toward a cure for the zombie life:

Step One: If this is you, you’ve already taken the first step; you’re now aware. Awareness is everything. It’s what gives you the choice to make a change. With awareness, every moment of every day is a choice you can make that aligns with something better. You’ll have to practice awareness every day, more and more. What’s the something better you’re going after? That’s step two.

Step two: You have to have an idea about what feels good and what you want out of life to be able to shift toward those things. Take a moment now to do this journaling exercise if you’re not clear about what feels good or what you want:

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Grab a notebook and pen. Get comfortable, close your eyes and take several full, deep breaths, relaxing more with every exhale. Drop down into your body, clear your mind and feel. Now do this writing prompt: What I really desire in my life is____________. Start your timer and start writing without stopping. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or even finishing sentences. Just write without stopping for five minutes. Don’t censor yourself.

Now take a look at your writing; maybe even read it out loud to yourself. You may have clues at this point to what your deepest, truest desires are. This is exactly the place you need to start to bust out of living like a zombie and realizing that life is about what you desire and about what you love.

Step three: Make up your own rules. When you start knowing what you really desire and want in life, and you realize you’ve spent a lot of time thinking, believing and behaving in ways everyone else wants you to, rather than ways that feel good to you, it can be life-changing. This awakening won’t mean anything though unless you start to take action on those new rules you’re making for your life. The action is step four.

Step four: Now that you’re more clear about what you really desire, and you’ve woken up to the ways you’re staying stuck in other people’s opinions and rules, and you’re beginning to define your own rules, it’s time to take some action. This is both the hardest and most important step to living fiercely alive. You’ll have to do things that align with your desires, dreams and goals, a little bit every day, no matter if you’re terrified or not. You’ll have to be afraid and do these things anyway. Action is the magic to changing a zombie life into a life that feels amazing.

Step five: Create a discipline or lifestyle around increasing clarity about your desires, creating your own rules about your life/dreams/desires and goals, and taking action on them. You’re going to be living your life practicing awareness of these things every single day. You’ll create the environment, circumstances, rituals, habits, conversations and events of your own healing and in doing so you’ll create a new life. When you want to live differently, you have to act differently.

The fiercely alive life is the warrior’s path. It takes consistent and steadfast awareness, courage, and vulnerability, along with an indomitable spirit. It takes an attitude of positivity and a willingness to feel everything. It takes one simple thing; making the decision to change. You ready for more joy, love, purpose, and fun? Ready to leave the zombie life and join your fellow warriors? I thought so.

Want more info about how to take your life to the next level of goodness? You can grab your free copy of my eBook, 7 Badass Habits for Next Level Living, HERE! And until next time…what inspires you to live as your fiercely alive whole self? Go do that!

Laura Di Franco, MPT is a holistic physical therapist, published author, poet, blogger and black belt with over two decades of experience in healing. Her programs combine the transformational tools of body awareness and therapeutic writing to help you learn the language of your intuition and gain the clarity you crave for your life and business. Laura’s enthusiasm is contagious and the spark that’ll inspire you to make the change you’ve been afraid to make. She’s the sherpa you’ve been looking for! Want a workshop that’ll give you practical powerful tools you can use to heal yourself today? Find them at www.BraveHealer.com And more free inspiration on my Facebook page HERE.