I’m sure I am not the only one who takes a 15 min “TikTok” break and ends up scrolling through your entire FYP for 2 hours. I check my daily usage for the app, and the daily activity is insanely high. This sounds horrifying and like I have serious addiction issues lol. But recently, I noticed my algorithm goes more along the lines of “positive affirmations” and “things to do to make yourself have a better day.” As someone who struggles with anxiety and depressive episodes now and then, I can see why my FYP ended up looking like this lol, but that is beside the point. I made it a promise to myself to stop just liking the posts and try the things that it says, and let me tell you; it is quite life-changing, as they say in their captions.
“Wake up at 7 am. Stretch and meditate for 10 minutes. Say 3 things that you are thankful for. Say 3 goals for the day. No social media before 10 am. Start and finish your schoolwork within a time limit. Allow yourself to rest, really rest.” Every night before bed, I would see a video along those lines and say, tomorrow I’ll start for real and 2 weeks into the semester, and I never did. Until recently, I stopped myself and gave myself a pep-talk and promised I would do less promising and more doing and so I did.
I started waking up at 7:30am, not checking my phone, forcing myself out of bed instead of laying around for minutes, a quick stretch and praying, and thanking God for at least 3 things and writing down my 3 goals for the day. It’s crazy how we are so used to thinking only big changes can have an impact, but that is so wrong. I have seen more change in my life by just doing that than I have ever before. It took me so long to believe what people would tell me about how a positive mindset goes a long way, how you have to take control of your thoughts, and the actions leading to those thoughts. And I know it’s hard, one second, you feel so motivated and feel like you can take over the world, and the next, you’re back to ground zero and feel as if nothing can change for you.
I promise you, it’s all about the little steps and you really wanting something for yourself and believing it. So set that alarm for 7am, even 8am, do your stretches and loosen up all those tense muscles, say your goals and gratitude out loud even if it seems silly and whatever you do, DON’T TOUCH YOUR PHONE!! And always, always set some time for yourself to relax, and I mean really relax, unclench your jaw and stop thinking about tomorrow. Go do that, and you’ll thank me later.