Be The Change
When I want to start a new habit, I think about it as becoming a slightly different version of myself—still me, but with something fresh. A new habit means change and growth, which also means stepping into an unfamiliar, uncomfortable but hopeful space. I know now that part of building any new habit is building […]
Boundaries Over Blame
When something goes wrong, it’s easy to blame someone else. Maybe my parents didn’t give me what I needed, my partner isn’t noticing me, or my friend is too demanding. Any of those things could be true, but putting all my frustration on other people rarely makes things better. I believe in being direct and […]
How Mental Tools Aid Healing
I have a cast on my right arm and hand because of a fracture near my wrist. Interestingly, this cast isn’t what’s healing the bone itself. My body is doing that on its own, slowly. So why wear a cast? It’s not a magic fix; it’s there to protect me from doing more harm while […]
Stop Worrying
My mind used to slip into relentless loops of repetitive thoughts—about my workload, family worries, and all the other “bla bla bla” of life. But with practice, I’ve learned that I actually have the ability to decide where my thoughts go and what I think about throughout the day. It didn’t happen overnight, though. It […]
This is The Year… AGAIN!
When I was a kid, I would start every school year with the best of intentions. I’d tell myself, This is the year I’ll be organized and disciplined. I’d buy all the right tools—fresh notebooks, post-its, label-makers—and convince myself that the new me would follow. But what I wasn’t doing was building the habit of […]
Uncomfortable But Worth It
I was thinking about how to get things done. Just like everyone else, there are some things that come easy to me. We all have certain talents or aptitudes that feel natural as soon as we try them. There are also tasks and activities that become easier over time. Anything we do repeatedly becomes familiar […]
Living with Myself
Why am I constantly talking about and seeking ways to help myself and be a better person? Because I live with me all day, every day. When I’m not taking care of myself, it feels like I’m carrying a sick toddler—someone who is screaming, crying, and miserably in pain. It weighs on my day, making […]
Create Yourself
I talk to myself all day. Sometimes, I have full-blown conversations, asking myself questions and answering them. This is common. We talk to ourselves, sing to ourselves, and even yell at ourselves sometimes. Recently, I realized that I invented a “me” that helps me be more productive—the “me” I want to be. When I don’t […]
Defending Your Life
I’ve caught myself arguing against myself in the court of my mind. It’s like I’m a lawyer, and my job is to convict myself of being lazy. I always had a couple dozen arguments ready to go. I could pull up that time I gave up on my exercise routine or the fact that I […]
I Want My Mommy: How to Adult
Life can be really challenging sometimes… a lot of times. I’ve started to think of myself as the person I’m assigned to take care of. Parenting myself seemed like a sad idea at first. Shouldn’t I have parents for that? Is it pathetic to need to self-soothe? That’s when I need the good self-talk to […]