Life is a journey and sometimes it moves so quickly that it is hard to take a moment for self-care. Self care is important because if a moment isn’t taken to re-boot and re-energize then you may find yourself stuck in a rut in your work, in your spirit, or in your mind. Self-care cleanses your senses, opens up your, mind and resets your body to allow room for better focus and higher energy. Do you have the tools to get yourself to perform optimally everyday? Do you have the tools to re-energize when you are burnt out?

Here are a few self-care tips to reboot your mind:

Mind: The mind is an important aspect of our beings. It is so complex that today we are still learning about the capacities of our mind. The most important fact of our mind is that we hold the power to change our brain and how well it works. Your brain is so powerful that even in a normal day it is being reshaped. By engaging different aspects of your brain at the same time and making neurons fire together through your work, learning, and meditating and more you are permanently rewiring your brain to work more quickly and efficiently. It is with regular stimulation that you can form a habit and teach your brain to work in a completely different way. For example, if you strive to move your life in a different direction and you want to pick up skills that you did not have before it is as easy as constantly immersing yourself in the new activity to create new pathways and fire neurons in your brain.

It is with this in mind that it is important to keep learning and filling your mind with motivation. Studying and emulating the people who have made it is a great way to learn and guide your path to success. Put yourself on a social media freeze and instead invest that time into your growth. Some things that you can do during that time is to read a stimulating or educational book, listen to an educational or motivational podcast, or even watch a documentary or webinar to learn something new.

5 book recommendations to stimulate your mind in a positive direction:

1. The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris – This book is an oldie as it was published in 2009 but it still has valuable gems for time management. In the book Tim Ferris explains how he went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month with a 4 hour week.
2. Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes – Shonda Rhymes as you may or may not know is the creative genius behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and the executive producer of How To Get Away With Murder. Rhimes’ Year of Yes explores her life and journey towards exploring, empowering, and loving her true self.
3. Mistakes I Made at Work: 25 Influential Women Reflect on What They Got out of Getting It Wrong – Mistakes I Made At Work is the perfect book for professional women who are just starting out their careers, seeking to advance their themselves at work. Jessica Basal interviews 25 successful women and how they recovered and grew from their mistakes.
4. Get Over Your Damn Self: The No-BS Blueprint to Building a Life-Changing Business by Romi Neustadt – Get Over Your Damn Self is a no-nonsense direct life reboot. In this book, Neustadt teaches the best way to manifest the power that’s already within you to build the life that you desire.
5. The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women by Elaine Meryl Brown Marsha Haygood and Rhonda Joy McLean – The Little Black Book of Success is the ultimate guide for navigating the business world as a black woman. It provides highly beneficial advice from three highly successful executives as they act as your “mentor in your pocket”

Comment down below and let me know how you take care of your mind!

It is very easy to get stuck in ideas and stuck in what you think you need to get started today. All you see is the present and the insurmountable gap between where you are now and your future self. How can you jump this hurdle and realize your dreams? It is a lot simpler than what you make it to be and it is as simple as starting today. Life isn’t about being perfect and having everything right this moment. It is a process and you will fail, you will learn, and you will get better. Starting today is progress because you will have more today than you did yesterday. Starting today is also intentional because by putting your intentions into the universe and moving towards your goal eventually there will be alignment.

Today, you need to do research, collect what you have and move your life into the direction of your dreams. Today, you need to put your intention into the universe that your future self is attainable and it is as simple as research, setting your goals, starting today, and completing your goals one step at a time. It’s easy to get frustrated, lose motivation and not progress and it’s hard to challenge yourself. Nothing in life will come easy and you will only get the success you deserve by starting now.

 

 

My high school experience was unique in the fact that I went to an all girls, Catholic college-prep school. High school for me was a turbulent time as I fought to discover my identity and keep up with the high expectations of my high school curriculum. Going to an all girls school really guided me to focus and to come up with a plan with how I wanted to achieve my goal of attending a college of my choice. My entire expectation of high school was to determine what I needed to do to make myself an extremely viable candidate for college. I needed to keep my grades up and I needed to commit to a leadership role and extracurricular activities. It is with this in mind that I fond my interest in volleyball and dance in which I participated in for the remainder of my time at Oakknoll. Involvement in activities and leadership roles really instilled in me the value of working hard and balance.

College was a new experience in many different ways. I was officially on my own, learning to live independently from home, and balancing my college curriculum, work life, and social life. The one mistake that I made with my college experience is not stopping to really figure out my passions and where I wanted to go in life instead of just meeting expectations. I started college and I went right into what I was comfortable doing by just finding things to do on campus and keeping myself busy. I followed my interests but I didn’t visualize my future and what I needed to do to meet the goal of what I wanted to be in life. I did not realize this mistake until it was my senior year and I was at a crossroads in deciding my life after college. I took time to myself and fully realized that I wanted to really pursue my passions and become an entrepreneur.

In this moment, I looked at the bigger picture and comprehended that if I just visualized my future and the steps I needed to take to live out my passions I could have started even in high school. Every step I took and every opportunity I had I could have used to position myself towards fulfilling my dreams. I was literally going through the motions until I figured out that other people are not in control of my life but that I am in control of my life. I had to wake up, look within, visualize, set my goals, and complete my goals. Many people get stuck in the motions and the world teaches you the straight way to meeting success includes going to high school, going to college, and finding a job. I propose that instead of going through the motions to stop and look at whether that life aligns with your passions and what you need to do to realize your goals and potential.