Hey Dereck,

I thought maybe I could offer a few suggestions that might help. Gradually weaning off the alcohol until you are at a level you can feel good about in the morning might help your motivation. Going to work with a fresher perspective could help you focus on the good you are doing in your work rather than thinking about just getting through the day. You said you learned that helping people can make you feel better… how could you help someone at work? Even just a compliment or a unasked favor could really brighten someone’s day, and sometimes even change a life. Then you can leave work focused on the good you did instead of dreading slogging through another eight hours tomorrow.

You say you get a lot of anxiety, and especially when you think about change. Lately I have been taking the advice from DARE: A New Approach to Ending Anxiety, and use that initial jolt of anxiety to get excited, not fall into it with fear as I used to. Fear fuels anxiety and makes it grow larger, but excitement can overtake the anxiety. You are living life, you are growing, when you feel anxiety. Let it allow you to grow.

Focus on the positives of change, on all the possibilities, not on criticisms. Don’t fuel criticisms by arguing or responding. Consider the criticisms, take the parts that could help you improve into the person you want to be, and forget about the rest. Decide who that person is that you want to become and try to move toward that person each day. Progress is a lot better to think about than anxiety or stagnancy.