Small Habits to Improve your Well-Being

My first semester of Junior year was probably the worst time I’ve had in my life. While it was not that long ago, when I look back on it, I can still feel the residual pain from that time, and I’ve actively strived to keep myself far away from a place like that again. 

My mental struggles prevented me from staying afloat in all spheres of my life: school, my relationships, my extracurriculars, my job. However, it wasn’t until winter semester that my mental health began to improve. With a new year and new classes, I had a clean slate to focus on myself and my well-being. Here’s some habits I started and that I continue to do that have helped me mentally grow. 

Therapy

As self-explanatory as this may seem, therapy was the biggest step I took in prioritizing my well-being. For the majority of my life, I had always felt as though I needed help, but ultimately brushed my feelings and emotions under the rug. However, this only worked for so long, as my mental state continued to worsen that I had to ask for help. Through this process, I’ve learned so much about myself, much more in the past eight months than I ever have before. My outlook on life is different. I feel different. Talking with a therapist has helped me process so much about my life and has helped me grow in ways I couldn’t imagine.  

Positivity Jar

Drawing inspiration from a random TikTok I saw, as well as a recommendation from my therapist, I began storing small messages for myself. Each day, I write on a small scrap of paper a success of my day and some sort of affirmation to myself and place it in a jar. This serves as a reminder to myself that each day provides some sort of good. At first, I struggled to find what I considered to be successful or good about myself, but I’ve come to find that my successes don’t have to be huge—it can be eating something yummy for dinner or going to bed early. No matter how big or small, I am choosing to celebrate parts of my life and myself that I did not appreciate before. 

Practicing Gratitude

Remembering what I’m grateful for always keeps me in a much more positive space. I began looking for things that I was grateful for to remind myself how much benevolence exists in my life and to keep myself from catastrophizing in certain situations. Expressing my gratitude for those in my life by telling them how much I appreciate them has served to remind me how full of love I am, and it also radiates positivity that is felt and seen by others! There is so much to be grateful for.

Sunshine

I always made it a priority to open my blinds every single day. As simple and stupid as it sounds, I wasn’t always in the habit of opening my blinds everyday and didn’t realize how much of a difference it has made. It’s easy for energy drains to occur during the Winter where the sun doesn’t shine as much. However, opening my blinds every morning has helped give me natural sunlight that was much needed in waking me up, and it is always so refreshing coming home to my room with the sun beaming inside as opposed to fluorescent lighting. Spending time outdoors and in the sunshine really makes a difference and can make your world so much brighter (literally and figuratively).

• college
• gratitude
• love
• mental health