[stuckinapril]

Every time you try to get your shit together, the first thought on your mind should be “how can I make this as simple as possible for the purpose of going from doing none of it to doing more of it?” Like I’ve made so many posts about this this week but it’s simply too true. How can you make this as simple as possible. Say you want to work out more. Instead of shopping for cute workout clothes and at home equipment, why don’t you just find a beginner video to start and wear something you already have. If you want to read more, grab a book you enjoy and set the timer for 15 minutes. Simple simple simple. Keep it simple when you’re easing back into a habit always. Habit breeds consistency. Only when you’re at consistency should you start adding extra steps to any process at all. Always remember that simple = consistency.

[dovai]

be busy. busy not checking messages. busy reading those books you never started or finished. busy having a good night of sleep. busy taking care of yourself and your skin. busy moving your body. busy helping your community. busy reflecting on your life and what you can improve. busy doing things aside from the capitalistic viewpoint of “productivity.” busy slowing down.

[stuckinapril]

Every time you try to get your shit together, the first thought on your mind should be “how can I make this as simple as possible for the purpose of going from doing none of it to doing more of it?” Like I’ve made so many posts about this this week but it’s simply too true. How can you make this as simple as possible. Say you want to work out more. Instead of shopping for cute workout clothes and at home equipment, why don’t you just find a beginner video to start and wear something you already have. If you want to read more, grab a book you enjoy and set the timer for 15 minutes. Simple simple simple. Keep it simple when you’re easing back into a habit always. Habit breeds consistency. Only when you’re at consistency should you start adding extra steps to any process at all. Always remember that simple = consistency.

[dovai]

be busy. busy not checking messages. busy reading those books you never started or finished. busy having a good night of sleep. busy taking care of yourself and your skin. busy moving your body. busy helping your community. busy reflecting on your life and what you can improve. busy doing things aside from the capitalistic viewpoint of “productivity.” busy slowing down.

[aetas-aurea]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and I mean that in the most literal and most urgent way possible. Do not wait. That is the entire message and everything else is just elaboration on why.

The human tendency to assume that time is on your side is one of the most expensive cognitive biases available and it costs people everything eventually. You are young. You are healthy. Things are not that bad yet. You will deal with it later. Later is doing an enormous amount of work in that sentence.

The all nighters and the drinking and the not moving and the eating whatever you want and waking up fine, that is not evidence that you are exempt from consequences. That is evidence that consequences operate on a delay and that the delay is currently working in your favor and will not do so indefinitely. The body keeps the score of EVERYTHING you do to it and everything you fail to do for it and it presents the bill on its own timeline which is almost never when you expected it and almost always when you are least prepared for it.

This applies to everything simultaneously and with equal urgency. Your health (start now, before anything is wrong, because prevention is exponentially cheaper and easier than treatment in every possible sense of those words), your finances (the money you do not save at twenty five is not just the money you do not have at fifty, it is the compound interest on that money across thirty years of growth you will never recover), your relationships (the patterns you establish early are the patterns you will spend years trying to undo later if you do not address them now when they are still flexible), your career (the credential you do not get, the skill you do not develop, the connection you do not maintain). These have costs that accumulate invisibly until they are suddenly very visible.

Prevention is not pessimism. It is the most optimistic possible relationship with your own future because it assumes you will have one worth protecting.

[2productive]

Finding offline hobbies you enjoy

* Revisit activities you loved as a child to uncover interests that may still bring you joy today.

* Try a variety of hobbies without pressure of committing to one, just allow yourself to explore and give things a shot. Ideally this will be done for free or with minimal financial input.

* Choose hobbies based solely on enjoyment rather than skill, productivity, or recognition. Don’t go in with the idea that you will get money or likes or followers from it. You are doing it for your own enjoyment and nothing else.

* For mind engagement, try reading, sudoku, word searches, crossword puzzles, seek and finds, cryptograms, and logic puzzles. 

* Try movement-based hobbies such as walking, running, dance classes, hiking, biking, skating, or recreational sports. You’d be surprised how many rec teams for adults may exist in your area that could become a huge part of your lifestyle if you join! It’s great to have physical opportunities that aren’t the standard “workout routine”.

* Experiment with creative outlets like writing, drawing, painting, photography, or learning an instrument. 

* Spend more time outdoors through hobbies that connect you with nature and fresh air, even by taking a hobby you’d typically do indoors and instead doing it at the park.

* Notice which activities make you lose track of time and enter a flow state, as these could be indicative of true passion and may be something you want to devote to making a bigger part of your life. 

* Look into joining local groups, clubs, or classes to make hobbies more social and motivating. This could be your new ‘3rd place’

* Consider a hobby sampler challenge by trying something new each week or month.

* Sometimes you may need to give new hobbies multiple chances before deciding whether they're a good fit for you. 

* Ask yourself how you want to feel, then choose hobbies that support that pursuit. Maybe you want to feel more artistic but feel frustrated by drawing and painting. Don’t abandon your artistic goals, instead try different styles (watercolor, colored pencils, acrylic, oil pastels, markers, pencil only etc), different starting points (rather than a blank page try coloring books or paint by number canvases), or other mediums like pottery, sewing/embroidery etc

* Remember that the best hobby is one that makes you excited to spend less time on screens and more time engaged in real life.

[2productive]

How to stop comparing yourself to others

* Focus on whether you're improving ONLY compared to your past self, not someone else's past and present. You are your only metric. They are not your competition.

* Define success based on your own values instead of social expectations. It doesn’t matter if others find it impressive or awe-inducing. Do you like it? Are you happy with it? Are you proud to do it? Okay then. Always focus on building a life you genuinely enjoy rather than one that relies on the validation of strangers.

* Limit exposure to social media accounts that trigger unhealthy comparison.

* Keep a journal or simple log of your progress and know that lulls in growth are normal. Don’t expect to really judge your results until you’ve been doing something for maybe 1-3 years at least (depending on the pursuit).

* Don’t only allow yourself to feel pride when you hit major achievements, feel free to celebrate small things like doing something for 3 days in a row, doing it for 30 minute blocks consistently, etc. Be happy for yourself!!! Pat yourself on the back and say good job!!! Be your own source of praise and validation.

* Ask yourself what you can learn from others rather than what you lack. Be inspired, not jealous. 

* Recognize that everyone starts from different circumstances and advantages and that they may be making good use of their starting point just as you can make good use of your starting point.

* Spend more time taking action toward your goals and less time monitoring others. If you spend an hour drawing and then an hour online feeling hurt by other peoples drawings, you should’ve been drawing for 2 hours and maybe you’d have something you’re proud of too.

* Practice gratitude for the opportunities, skills, and resources you already have. There are people behind you who can’t wait to be at your level, to have the tools/materials you own, and would love to be able to go to that class that isn’t available in their area. 

* Stop assuming that someone else's success automatically means less success is available to you. Stop with the “there can only be one” mentality.

* Measure progress by consistency and effort, not by speed. If someone learns something in a year but it takes you 5 years, who cares? You both learned it, hooray! 

* Study the habits behind someone's achievements. Have a students mindset and perhaps you can adopt some of their methods you may not have considered. Use others' success as evidence of what's possible.

* Acknowledge your strengths twice as often as you notice your weaknesses.

[2productive]

To help grow body confidence 

* Wear clothes that fit your body comfortably right now instead of waiting for a future version of yourself.

* Focus on what your body can do, not just how it looks.

* Stand tall with good posture to instantly feel more self-assured.

* Celebrate your health and fitness achievements that have nothing to do with the scale.

* Move your body in ways you genuinely enjoy, whether that's walking, dancing, biking, hiking, or stretching. Try different things until you find what’s the right fit for you and engage in it as often as possible.

* Stop comparing your appearance to edited photos online.

* Take care of your basic needs like sleep, hydration, and healthy meals.

* Keep a list of physical features you appreciate about yourself and revisit it often. Play up those areas.

* Speak positively about your body, especially features you can't change. 

* Focus on building strength, energy, and health rather than chasing perfection.

* Yes, you should take photos of happy memories instead of avoiding the camera.

* Appreciate your body's role in helping you experience life, relationships, and meaningful moments!

* Remember that confidence can be built by showing up as yourself in a way that says “this is me, I am proud of that, take it or leave it”, not only by looking a certain way.

[djglory]

realizing nothing can fill my void other than doing everything i said i would do for myself

[k-k-77-7k]

endlessly inspired by women who take good care of themselves

[pretty-and-paid]

IDGAF what the economy is doing, I'm going to get what I want, eat well, and live an abundant, happy, well-designed life. I didn't come here to suffer or be in bondage.

[eatmangoesnekkid]

Part of your work has to include you rooting into your belief system that you don’t have to be perfect to be worthy, abundant and thriving. You don’t have to have the perfect relationship. Or the perfect self-care routine. You don’t have to love yourself perfectly. Or have the most perfect food or sleep schedule. Or the most perfect nails, brows and all the things. Or the most perfect outfits and fashion style. Or speak perfectly, in the most perfect pitch and sentences. You don’t have to be a perfect dancer before you share and post your dance reel. When you know that you don’t have to be perfect, that’s when everything ripens and blooms. —India Ame’ye

[nsaint1]

Something people don’t talk about enough in this healing/self love journey is gaining your own trust back. Telling yourself “I choose you” subconsciously and consciously, everyday, through your actions, your decisions, and listening to yourself the first time.

[aachanel]

[2productive]

I got a lot of asks on this topic with slight variations of essentially the same question so here goes.

Fake confidence is not confidence. It’s literally fake, it says that in the name. It’s pretending. That’s not terrible but if you’re wondering why all this time has gone by and you still haven’t become truly confident it’s because it’s fake! At best it will appear real to outsiders, which is nice, but you will still be miserable as the person who is inhabiting your body and living your life. Fake confidence only looks good until someone with authentic confidence walks into the room and shows you how it’s done. The truth is that most people who fake it until they make it, don’t ever make it. They are just hoping to be perceived as someone who has made it.

I’m sorry to tell you but if you’ve been doing affirmations for years and years and you’re still sending me asks about being confident, it’s not working. I can’t say if you’re doing it wrong, not doing it enough, or not believing it hard enough but either way, something’s gotta give. How many more years are you gonna waste?

You start building confidence in 2 ways: one, you get action-based self esteem. Get some hobbies and work on them. Learn some skills, get good grades, try something new. Do something with your days!! Make an effort!! Complete something!! Scrolling all day won’t give you a sense of accomplishment and when 5,7,10 years go by and you look up and realize that you have nothing going for yourself, you will obviouslyyyyy feel like crap. Reread this point over and over again. Two, get in tune with yourself and figure out what you like, dislike, and truly want. When you really know yourself like that, you will make moves accordingly. You won’t question everything you do and run all of your decisions past other people. You’ll just happily make decisions on your own accord. You will not get to know yourself on a deep enough level if you are online all day and that’s a fact. You’re constantly bombarded with everyone else’s content, everyone else’s opinions, everyone else’s sense of style. Your brain has become a frankstein monster of every other persons ideas. Who are you even? Do you even know? Without a bunch of tiktok girls to tell you what your new aesthetic of the month is, do you even know what you like doing, buying, wearing, how you like to decorate, or what you want to do as a morning routine? Or are you just gonna keep letting outsiders tell you that in January you’re a pink Pilates princess and in March you’re a clean girl and in July you’re that girl. Who are you?? You’ll never be confident if you’re always cosplaying other people. Log off and find yourself.

Stop crumbling every time someone doesn’t like you or what you do. Learn to like yourself! Stop letting the opinions of strangers hold you hostage. Do you like yourself? Okay then.

Remember that being confident doesn’t require you to think you’re the best of the best, the crème de la crème, the hottest thing walking. You can think your looks are overall average, and still be wildly confident. You can acknowledge that you aren’t the best in the world and still be confident. Not only is being less than perfect absolutely okay, it’s rooted in reality. When people try to boost your confidence by having you tell yourself that you’re essentially perfect in whatever domain, that’s toxic positivity and fake confidence yet again. Rid yourself of the thought that confidence always looks like arrogance and lying to yourself about being at the top of the pyramid. Yes you have shortcomings. Lots of them. So do I. And???

I just want to reiterate that lying to yourself hardly does anything for your confidence long term and it’s just so clear. If you are upset about the fact that your body is average, your face is average, you have little to no dating experience, and you haven’t been a part of any substantial activities since freshman year volleyball where you weren’t even that great and quit after one year, I don’t know why you think that pretending you’re Maddy Perez or Jennie while you halfheartedly recite affirmations that state you’re the sexiest woman in the room ✨, everyone is obsessed with you ✨, you attract nothing but life’s luxuries ✨ is really helping you. Like….this isn’t building your confidence really. Giving you a bandaid perhaps. But what would really make you feel better is to go out and get some activities into your schedule where you start at a low level and through your hard work you get better and better. You start working out and building the body you want. You accept the fact that you don’t need to be the prettiest girl in the world to enjoy yourself and have a fantastic life, so instead you style your hair and makeup in a way that you genuinely like and confidently go out into the world knowing and fully being okay with the fact that not everyone thinks you’re stunning but that’s okay. Because you are pleased when you look in the mirror. And there’s more to life than trying (and failing) to be everyone’s type. That’s much more progress than listening to “manifest looking like an instagram model 10 hour 3D audio” every night.

[russiawave]

[scorpionlafemme]