I know. Super cliché title. However, I think it’s important to address a few things that I see a lot of my friends deal with, as well as myself. I struggled a lot when it came to self-confidence in the past, and I always caught myself thinking about the past and worrying about the future. I realized that in order to be content with life, I have to be content with myself first. I needed to stop thinking about unnecessary things and start focusing on what is in front of me instead of the past and future. Therefore, I have compiled a list of things that I live by. These have helped me change my entire perspective on life and hopefully will help you too!
- Be There for Yourself
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Invest in yourself first. Do your own thing. Those who are meant to be in your life will come and find you— you should never have to chase or beg anyone to live in your life. In the past, I constantly put other people’s feelings before my own, and in the end, I was the one left feeling sad. Once I started realizing this was happening and began to stand up for myself, I started to feel a lot happier and confident. At the end of the day, just remember that you got you! Self-love is a thing, guys, don’t underestimate the power of it.
- Start Doing
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Stop talking about your big dreams and how you want to live in the city making millions— work toward it. Nothing will happen without work, and no one will make it happen except for you. This is the easiest way to get stuck in a vicious cycle— the more you talk about how much you want something but never actually do anything to achieve it. If you really want to reach that goal of being in the city and making millions start working toward it. Thus bringing me to my next point…
- Never Give Up
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Several bumps in the road and you still get to your destination, right? So why are you giving up after one small mishap? In order to not give up, you have to accept your mistakes and failures and learn from it. Life is tricky, but as long as you trust your own skills and strengths you can overcome anything.
- Don’t Worry About What Others Think
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It’s not your business anyway! Who cares if you have a question about math, what your major is, or what brand your winter jacket is? If they do care, they have a lot of time to think about you, specifically. Not worrying about others is hard, I know. I struggled with this a lot too; I used to spend a lot of time thinking about what others thought of me and nothing good came out of it!
- Stop Thinking About the Past
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Thinking about the past won’t change anything in your future. Accept that what’s done is done, and move on! I made this mistake a lot; I thought about my past experiences and was scared to do things in worry that it would be a bad experience, like how it was before. BIG mistake. The cool thing about life is that you can change your future! You have so many experiences and lessons learned bagged up that you will know what to change in the future. As the famous quote goes, “don’t let your past define your future.”
These 5 statements helped transform my life into something— that I can say with full confidence and happiness — I love. I am constantly trying to find ways to better myself, and the journey is long and there is so much to learn. Hopefully, some of this helps you too, and I hope you find your statements that you live by as well!