3 Ways to Feel Not Just Better — But Awesome — About Yourself
Sound advice from a modern self-care expert that when practiced daily, has the legit power to change your life.
What stands in the way of many people’s “successes” isn’t a lack of money or opportunities. Or a bad boss or a shitty job, or even the coronavirus pandemic.
According to influential confident coach Celinne Da Costa, our most significant roadblock to success is ourselves. More specifically, it’s our self-sabotaging mindset.
In light of the new Fall season — which is largely representative of new beginnings and change — I’m giving you three weirdly powerful ways to reframe your mindset so you can go about your days more positively and more productively.
The end result? Your life becomes enjoyable.
3 Unconventional Life Hacks, told by Tara Schuster
Whatever area of life you’re struggling in, these tips apply.
1) Make your habits enjoyable
Our lives are nothing but a continuation of self-made habits. It’s up to us whether those are good or bad habits.
Do you love your morning coffee, but hate making it because your coffee maker sucks? Stop complaining and get a new coffee maker.
Do you have a ridiculously hard time waking up at 6 am, but know that if you do your entire day will go smoothly? Put a “You can do this!” post-it by your alarm clock to serve as wake-up motivation, and implement a new, enjoyable routine like lighting your favorite candle or putting on your cozy socks.
Tara’s tip on healthy habit-building:
“If I make my habits enjoyable, and if my habits give me pride, oh my god, my everyday existence becomes a more gleeful, confidence-building, awesome time. And then I am more awesome to people because I’m not scattered. I feel calm, like I’m accomplishing the modest goals I’ve set out for myself.”
2) Find something that excites you
Something I will never forget from her book, Buy Yourself The F*cking Lillies, is that she claims to not be a disciplined person (she has been journaling her anxieties out onto paper every morning for the last 9 years), but an enthusiastic person.
In essence, her enthusiasm is her discipline. She says if you can find something you are enthused about — knowing that working out every day (the discipline) gives her energy, clears her mind, and allows her to focus on her creative work (the enthusiasm) — then she is more than happy to do it, because the end result is always worth the effort.
So, instead of viewing whatever you dread doing as discipline, view it as enthusiasm.
3) Stop doing things that make you feel bad
Period. Like drinking too much.
If you’re one who likes to take the edge off with a glass or two of wine, or indulge in a night of drinking with friends, that’s all great — unless it begins to negatively impact your life. Aka not being able to enjoy the next day (or 2 days) because you have terrible hangxiety or general feelings of “blah-ness.”
This one isn’t just about drinking, of course. The point is to stop doing anything that makes you feel bad about yourself — like hanging out with unsupportive people or staying in a career that feels purposeless or following Instagram accounts that make you feel worthless or unsuccessful.
Takeaways
- Make your habits enjoyable — not just healthy or routine — but enjoyable.
- Find something that excites you! — and do whatever it takes to sustain those feelings of enthusiasm.
- Whatever is making you feel bad — physically, emotionally, mentally, whatever — just stop doing it.
As always, thank you for reading!
Ashley Alt is a writer based in Connecticut. Her area of expertise lies in mental health + self-improvement, but she can’t help her allure to fashion. Laughing is her favorite thing to do. She is a SoulCycle addict and a big proponent of the 4-day workweek.
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