Are you a survivor or a thriver?

Are you surviving or thriving – and what’s the difference?

Are you a survivor or a thriver? It’s the modern mantra. We all have days when life is a matter of survival – just keeping our head above water and hoping we get through some of our to-do lists. When you’re surviving, it’s really hard to see the woods for the trees – and you feel constantly at the mercy of other people and their agendas.

But if surviving becomes a habit, it can play havoc with our mental health – eroding our physical, and emotional wellbeing.

But as a thriver rather than a survivor, you’re leaning into life and embracing it. Thrivers have consciously worked out what they want to do with their lives, and what they need to change, do or stop doing, to achieve that.

It’s like hitting your stride, and you radiate positivity and energy.

Only you can know your purpose in life – it’s unique to you. But if you’re feeling stuck in survivor mode, we hope this blog will help you switch from survivor to thriver.

How to spot when you’re in survival mode

• Do you feel like you’re living day-to-day?
• Did you forget lunch again?
• Do you want to hide if someone asks you about your long term goals or aspirations?
• Do you feel a low level of stress most days, and find it hard to focus?
• Do you worry you’ve lost your creative mojo? (Don’t worry, you haven’t. It’s just gone behind a cloud.)

How can you learn to thrive

Learning to thrive, not just survive, isn’t about making sweeping changes to your lifestyle, and it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s about knowing yourself and accepting what makes you happy and fulfilled. Once you know your purpose, you can make conscious, mindful tweaks to your lifestyle. Like crash dieting, if you try to do too much too fast, you won’t embed those new habits.

You have to grow into thriving – here’s how.

Prioritise your own self-care. We know we say it often but make those changes little by little and it’ll become a habit.

Gradually cut back on the ready meals, make yourself your own healthy lunchbox as well as the kids’ the night before.

Create a ritual for bedtime, putting the laptop in the drawer, lighting a candle, listening to music, so you drift into sleep more peacefully.

Make sure you speak to or see at least one good friend once a week or more.

Take time each day to think about what you’re grateful for, whether it’s your health, your loved ones, or something as simple as a tree in blossom, or a standout sunset. 

Track your survivor to thriver journey in your journal (choose your favourite feel-good Zebra pen for the task). Record the little wins, and most importantly, how you feel. When you look back, you’ll clearly see a sea change in your health and happiness.

Life’s thrivers know their purpose in life

But the biggest change when switching from a survivor to a thriver is to find your purpose in life. Finding your purpose can sound grandiose, but it simply means understanding what makes you feel happy, fulfilled and true to your values – and letting that direct your actions. Your happiness and sense of self-worth are the guiding light to thriving.

Why being creative helps us thrive

Being creative is rewarding in so many ways – it give you a sense of purpose and achievement. Our creative hobbies enable us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. And thriving feels similar to that magic moment when your ideas start to flow, and there’s no stopping you – so long as you’ve got a Zebra in your hand!

When you look over something you’ve created – whether it’s last year’s journals, or a poem or spread that turned out better than you hoped, you’ll feel that pulse of joy and pride that tells you you’re thriving. So pick up your pens, pick your me-time moment, free your imagination, and thrive!

Feel yourself thrive