The 2016 Glitch: When Your Younger Self Takes the Wheel
I wasn’t feeling confident…
I found myself sleeping-in most mornings as a way to avoid facing the day.
I was more insecure in my relationships and spent far more time than I’d like thinking about boys who just couldn’t be bothered…
Hold on…where was the self-assured, intuitive, ambitious and focused entrepreneur/coach that I had become?
My mind now felt scattered, I was unsure where to direct my focus. I was putting off facing the small tasks such as sending an email as if they were gigantic hurdles.
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“What do you notice in your body right now?”
All last week as all this was going on, I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the life I’d build around myself.
I brought this issue up in my coaching call and my coach asks me this question, “What do you notice in your body right now?”
First thing I noticed, I felt very disconnected to my body. I was having a hard time slowing down enough to look inward.
“I feel pulled forward, similar to a “hurry up” feeling. My chest is tight, I do not feel grounded.” I shared.
She followed this up with, “What does this remind you of? Check in with the version of you that feels overwhelmed with this “hurry up” feeling, how is she trying to help you?”
[A side note: our subconscious mind, or the different versions of ourselves, are always trying to help and to keep us safe. The issues can come up when they’re working from an outdated system. (Or when we want to move beyond ‘safe’ and into thriving! But that’s a topic for a different post.) Maybe your subconscious draws upon your old reliable patterns that used to work for you in the past. Whether or not these patterns worked “well”, it may have been all you had to draw upon at the time. The older versions of us don’t know the year is now 2026, and we have new skills and experiences to draw upon.]
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Who is this past version of me? How might she be trying to help?
I began to realize all of these old annoying habits (sleeping-in, feeling uncertain, feeling insecure, overwhelmed) that seemed disconnected, all had one thing in common - they were the classic signature of my 22-year-old self.
Immediately I was brought back to 2016, I was 22, living in Colorado, going through a breakup, moving, starting a new job I ended up hating, Funny little synchronicity that this is all happening amidst the 2016 reminiscing trend happening all over social media right now.
As I looked back, I began to see how this 22-year-old version of myself is someone I hadn’t fully accepted, healed and integrated into who I am currently. I felt embarrassed and disappointed in her; wishing she could have chosen some things differently or not wasted so much time consumed with worry.
22-year-old Alana was heavily swayed by the opinions of others and ideas of what she “should do”. she was also not very independent. She was very friendly and adventurous spending lots of time hiking and outdoors; but if she couldn’t find a friend to accompany her on the adventure, she wouldn’t go. She let external circumstances and other people limit her and dictate her life in a way.
Why is this all coming up now?
While I don’t yet know why the 22-year-old me ‘took the wheel of the bus’ so to speak, and was running my life over the last week; the key things is that I am now conscious and aware of what’s happening. And I get to decide, what do I want to do now?
I know for sure I want to get back to the 32-year-old version of me I’ve been enjoying, with new habits, more independence and confidence, the list goes on.
How do I get my current, 32-year-old self, back in the driver’s seat?
1st: Reconnect and acknowledge this past version of myself.
I had to remind her that we now have 10 more years of experience, we’ve grown, learned, shown ourselves we can handle harder things and navigate difficult situations.
My action step: I wrote a list of all the things 22-year-old me accomplished back in 2016. I looked back at old photos to help me remember.
2nd: Reconnect with my body. Whenever I’m not grounded in my body, instead being caught up in the day-to-day busy-ness, things always get out of whack.
My action step: I committed to taking Skyler on a hike in between meetings. Even though I felt I needed to use the time to pack for a 2 week trip I was leaving for the following morning (eeek!), I know that movement is one of the quickest ways I reconnect with my body & feel grounded, so I had to make this time a priority.
3rd: Decide what I want to do as the 32-year-old me.
My action step: Send the emails I’d been avoiding. No excuses, just send it.
Appreciating your younger self:
A key to integrating these former versions of ourselves: Take a moment to reconnect and appreciate everything the past versions of us accomplished. Acknowledge that our younger self did the best they could with the information & skills they had at the time.
A few key moments I want to acknowledge 22-year-old Alana for navigating back in 2016.
❤️ I moved to a new town with out knowing anyone
❤️ A few months later, I followed a gut feeling to then leave that town, quit a job and move back to Vail. This snowboard season ended up being my favorite out of all 9 seasons I was there.
❤️ I coordinated and went on an epic Colorado roadtrip
❤️ I hiked over twelve 14’ers (a.k.a mountains over 14,000 ft, this is a big thing in Colorado)
❤️ I made time and intentional efforts to see family & reconnect with old friends
❤️ I fostered friendships that I still have to this day in 2026
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I share experiences of my the work I do with my own coach, as it very much parallels the types of conversations I’ll have with my own clients. All of the work I bring into client sessions, I have tried and used in my own personal growth journey.
I’m curious to hear who might relate to my story and experience. Is there an older version of yourself that steps in sometimes and tries to run the show in present day? Send me an email at alana@mydearlittleself.com. I’d love to hear from you!
