Hello everyone! I am so good to be posting this for my readers to read and this post is inspired by two of my favorite Youtubers Lavendaire and Saloni Srivastava. If you would like to check their channels out, then the please click the link down below:
At first, I was quite reluctant about talking about my own experience in this platform, because, I was contemplating this for quite a long time and then when I kept re watching their videos, I knew that this would be something that people would like to know because I wanted to give my readers a glimpse of my life.
So, to commence, I would like to say that I am not a perfectionist at all, I am an avid learner and I have learnt many important things by making small tweaks here and there to my lifestyle. Hence, that is where I would like to share with you all, 5 habits that have changed my outlook on life for the better.
(i) Journaling – The brain dump method!
This is the first ever habit that made a massive change to my mindset. Going through a bad time in the recent years, had made me feel more vulnerable and the fact that this took a toll on me mentally by usual overthinking and accumulating my mind with tons of garbage (that’s the best way I can word it out). Because, what's unnecessary and no matter how many times you keep replaying it or lamenting over from time to time, it is garbage. It is not only instilling a sense of anxiety, but also makes us to be a of prisoner of the past or the future. And the sooner I realized this, the faster I took efforts to make this a habit a part of my lifestyle. So what I did was, whenever I felt scared or had the sense that things were going haywire, I used to brain dump on a piece of paper or a notebook and used to write down whatever is coming to my mind onto paper sans filter.
I make sure that I be brutally honest with myself while doing this process. And yes, to be honest, there are times even now, where I break down, when I write about certain aspects because that’s the way it is. And that is perfectly normal. It was tough at the beginning to maintain a schedule, but I made sure I spent 10 mins every day to do this exercise and slowly I increased the time by 5 mins in the forthcoming weeks. If you feel like nobody could understand you or even listen to your pain, then I suggest you to start following this method. If you are unsure, on what are some of the questions you want to ask yourself, then I have a separate blog post on how to start journaling
(ii) Practicing Gratitude
I need not stress this part enough, because in every post be it in blog or Instagram, I have spoken enough about Gratitude and the level of impact, it had on me. I need to admit this, at first everything sounded cheesy, but I trusted my mentors and my idols who preached the art of practicing gratitude and now I believe that they couldn’t have been more right. This small mindset made a magnanimous change all together in the way I see things and talk to people, because today, I don’t take anything for granted, be it good or bad. I have a whole post dedicated to gratitude and I have etched out some of my personal experience and the detailed notions into the process
(iii) Listening to podcasts
In the last couple of years, especially in India, podcasts have turned out to be a significant name in every household. Gone are the days, when people go to Ashrams to seek motivation. But today, with the advent of Internet, just with a simple click, you can access everything that you ever wanted just sitting by the comfort of your couch. Podcasts are just the audio version of your regular videos that you see more often to seek motivation. The one benefit of Podcasts are that, you can listen to it, whenever you’re on the go. Be it from doing mundane tasks like doing laundry or cooking or even while commuting to work, if you would like to chip away your downtime productively, then podcasts are your best friend. Out of my experience I am fluent in French and an intermediate speaker in Spanish only because I have been listening to podcasts quite more often. If you’re new to the idea of podcasts, then don’t worry!! I have a whole blog post to your rescue
(iv) Watching Ted talks every day
Now, need I say about how cool Ted talks are? I am not going to give any spoiler alerts over here, because to come out of an 18 minute talk totally refreshed and rejuvenated is what I can guarantee my readers, if you listen to them every day or at least once in 2 days. The frequency of watching or listening is something I leave it to you. Because it’s totally understandable to be fixated on to your work and not having the time to watch. But, hear me out, on this one! Try the simple method of watching one talk either going before bed or watching it right before you start off with your work (be it office or house work). And then watch the change!!!
But don’t get anxious if you’re confused on what to watch
The link that you see above has my top 10 talks that is guaranteed to make a mindset change among my readers.
(V) Removing Toxic people out of my life
Out of all the habits that I have inculcated, this one is my favorite.Don't get me wrong here. It took me 3 to 4 years to completely understand the importance of mental health and the art of letting go of certain people from our lives. I can honestly admit that, be it friends or family, whoever has made me feel low, made me drain my energy or even made feel unworthy and guilty, I have ruthlessly cut them off my life. This took me a while because, initially, I was skeptical in doing this particular step, because I felt, I would need them in times of help. But later I realized, I was well off without them. There are many occasions in which I have deleted or even blocked certain contacts from my social network and personal handle and trust me guys, every time I did that, there was one voice inside me that said “ That’s my girl!”. And that was my heart appreciating me in taking one small step towards my peace of mind.
But listen guys, all I want to say is, please don’t be apologetic for taking care of yourself. If you feel like, something is not right and that it doesn’t serve any purpose in your life, Trust me, cut it off right away! It’s completely worth it and there is nothing to be ashamed off...
So there you have it peeps!!
These are some of the small and easy habits that I have developed over the years and have helped me grow as a person. But a gentle reminder to all my readers: Please don’t beat yourself up! Give yourself time and don’t force everything all at once. What lasts, takes time…so be gentle with yourself and start with baby steps for a better you !
Thank you so much Harini ♥
Loved your writing. I saved them for later and I also like the idea of having a separate blog at the end of each topic. Keep doing more! Awesome ❤️