Veera is a published Author (‘Endured’ and ‘#LoveBitesLifeHacks’) and Columnist; a passionate Educator and Counsellor; Poet and Philosopher… but most of all, a lover of all things literary.
Hello and Welcome 2021! But, just to be clear – we do have great expectations of you!
While 2020 was undeniably a challenging year for us all, the reality is that most of us had found ourselves stuck in our lives, even prior to it. There is always something. Yes, life is, indeed, a roller-coaster and we all go through phases of the ups and downs. Some of us experience lean periods, a time of being stagnant and that feeling, if continued over time, can seriously contribute to gloom. Being depressed and stuck in life can unhinge the best of us.
In life you either grow or stay stuck. There are no tricks or pills to change life. You don’t pick a perfect life full of vigour and joy out of magician’s hat. You certainly don’t wake up one day to a magically different life, like in a Disney movie! No, my dear, you need to make some changes, tweak the rough corners, work on the patches, and most of all, invest in your well-being. Small changes end up creating biggest differences.
We all have an idea of what we want in our lives – perhaps a loving partner, or an improvement in your health, or you want to shed that weight, or then, seek new employment or simply retire from it all. Maybe you want to burn that book of life and write an entirely new one. But wanting isn’t getting. Creating change is much harder than simply desiring it. Change happens when you learn to invest in yourself. We all have dreams, we vaguely know what they would look like but there is always that head trash that interferes with our success. We oftentimes create a barrier between our current state and our future self, we short-change ourselves.
‘To invest in yourself, you need to believe in yourself.’ You need to recognise your abilities, your potential and your true beliefs. Choose the things that matter, the right people who surround you. Are you motivated enough? Do your people challenge you? Surround yourself with people and goals that drive you further, encourage you more and inspire you infinitely. We need to set goals challenging ourselves doing the best we can, under all circumstances. Investing in ourselves is all about valuing ourselves and our self-worth.
Investing in yourself physically, emotionally spiritually and financially, you allow yourselves to become the ‘Best Version of You’! There are ways and ways to do it…
Start With Investing In Your Thoughts: Thinking is creating. Start journaling your thoughts. Journaling thoughts are an effective tool for both – personal and career growth. Writing down thoughts can often help you make sense of complex feelings and emotions. It increases your self-awareness and improves mental-health, hones your writing skills and helps you track your goals and objectives. Journaling has the potential to drastically change your life, if done consistently.
Invest In Your Sleep: Good restful sleep is the single-most vital contributor to mental and physical health. Sleep is the time we rest, restore and revitalize. Sleep improves memory, makes you calmer, prevents stress, decreases blood pressure and improves overall mood. Happier people are the ones who have great sleep patterns.
Invest In Time-Management: We set our routines, schedules and patterns to a clock. Every living breathing moment of our life is invested in time. If time is a driving factor, learn to prioritize it. It’s really a simple formula – investing in time management is investing in yourself. If you are a morning person, jump out of bed earlier. Get in an hour of exercise before the sunrise – whatever time of day works best for you. Energy levels rise and fall throughout the day – be mindful of yours. Remember, to be more productive, willpower alone won’t work. Time and energy are sort of locked in this symbiotic relationship, that’s why you need to manage your productivity accordingly. Determine that optimal part of the day to do your best work yet.
Invest In Your Food: This is a big one, but perhaps the most neglected of categories. You are what you eat. There is no secret here. Need to lose weight? Zip that mouth! There is an entire field of study dedicated to how people can increase their mental health and well-being through the foods they eat. It’s called Nutritional Psychiatry. Food affects your mood and wellbeing, simply because serotonin, the chemical that affects our happiness and sleep, is produced in our gastrointestinal tract. Hence, your gut needs to be in top form for neurotransmitters to send ample amounts of serotonin to your brain. When we tend to eat nutritionally poor food, our gut bacteria become imbalanced and our digestive tract weakens. To eat well is to feel well.
Invest In Reading More: The powerhouse of all knowledge is books. Reading is a sure-fire way of keeping you abreast, armed and in tandem with the world. Reading is fuel for the brain. Every bit of information you garner from books is power. Books can teach you what others don’t know – they teach, instruct and guide. They can leave you breathless and happy; they can leave you on the edge of your seat in anticipation and excitement too! Books are truly transformative and can change your life and perspective! Read more to know more.
Honour Your Intuition: It’s a time tested formula for success. Investing in you is mainly about trusting yourself. Your gut speaks to you, so learn to listen without prejudice or without the colour of opinions or judgement. When intuition whispers, you tend to make better decisions for yourself. Listening to your intuition allows your thoughts and feelings to process things without filters. Paying attention to how you feel will help you make smarter, better quicker decisions, effortlessly. Trusting your intuition is empowering.
Throughout your life, you are guaranteed to always be with that one person – YOU! Make sure that you live up to the Best Version of yourself. After all, it’s a relationship that’s not going anywhere, anytime soon!
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