You don’t know what to do at the start of the day.

External events determine how you schedule and spend your time. Sure, you eventually jump into something, but your priorities are not your own. You find yourself responding more than initiating.

                       

You are preoccupied with tactics and short-term opportunities.

Instead of seeing the long-term goal, you see only 2-3 steps ahead. You are a tactician instead of a strategist, in other words. There is no master plan.

You are disillusioned with the things that used to bring you joy.

What once made you happy is no longer sufficient. You do the same things you used to, but without the same feelings of anticipation and enjoyment.

You are envious of other people’s success.

Instead of feeling happy for them, you feel resentful. You find reasons why they don’t deserve their success, and you feel mad at the world for giving it to them.

You can’t “take the win.”

When something goes well, you fail to appreciate it. When something goes wrong, it feels like a disaster instead of a setback.

You disengage.

You choose not to connect with friends and allies. Your sleeping and eating habits may even change—either you can’t sleep or eat, or you sleep or eat too much.

Lesson: The precursor to change is admitting that something is wrong. The next step is to correct the problem. For best results, avoid insanity.