get your sparkle on

You want to know how people tell you to start and opportunities will find you? Movement boosts blood flow and oxygen to the brain which increases energy and mental clarity. It releases dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine to improve mood, focus and motivation, while lowering cortisol to reduce mental clutter. Even light activity, like walking, enhances memory, sparks new ideas, and breaks overthinking loops, giving your brain the chemistry it needs to think more clearly

That shift changes your energy, mood, and how you carry yourself, which directly influences how people and opportunities respond to you. Clearer thinking helps you make better decisions, notice possibilities you might have overlooked & take actions you wouldn’t have taken if you were stuck in mental fog

When your brain is firing optimally and your nervous system is calmer, you naturally project more confidence and openness which are qualities that tend to attract people, ideas and situations aligned with where you want to go. In other words, movement changes your inner world first and your outer world adjusts to match it

Where to start:

Exercise every day

Skincare + makeup of personal preference (yes this includes not wearing makeup at all if that is your personal preference)

Hair done

Showered and moisturized

At least one hobby you engage with on a daily/frequent basis

At least one skill you are developing on a daily/frequent basis

If you haven’t gotten a 7 day workout streak and completed the other bullet points on this list yet, stop moaning, get to work, and kill your distractions.

Discipline: making a plan and sticking to the plan, even if you don’t feel like it in the moment.

“I will do the dishes at 3pm”

[3pm comes, you’re currently watching a movie]

[you stop the movie, and go do the dishes like you said even though you don’t feel like it and the movie is more fun]

Motivation: relying on your current emotional state to dictate whether you stick to your word or not.

“I will do the dishes at 3pm”.

[3pm comes]

“hmm I don’t really feel like it. 4pm then.”

[4pm comes]

“I really don’t feel like getting up. I’ll just do it sometime tomorrow”

99% of the time, failures due to trying to find a spark of motivation is really just letting yourself stay comfortable instead of doing what you said you would. If you said you’d go to the gym but you stayed home instead even though you had the transportation, the time, and there was nothing preventing you from going, then that’s a discipline problem. You let your emotions (laziness, not wanting to be out of your comfort zone) stop you from making a positive change. This is very different from not doing something due to an unforeseen interference. To be more disciplined, you make a plan and you stick to the plan. You stop what you’re doing and go complete your task. You’re not gonna die from a 15 minute YouTube workout. You’re not gonna die from writing a page of your essay.

Now, when it comes to chronic illness, that’s a different story. In that case, you’ll have to listen to your body and give it the adequate rest and rehabilitation it needs. This may look like you requiring less of your daily schedule, taking more breaks, or going at a slower pace. Sometimes this may look like knowing that you need the day off. You need to know your limits and generally stay within in them, but don’t be afraid to push a little more every once in a while bc sometimes we underestimate what we are capable of. Sometimes it’s just modifying your plans but still sticking to them rather than giving up.

“I will do the dishes at 3pm”

[3pm comes]

“I am experiencing severe pains that are preventing me from doing the dishes right now, but I will take my medication and when it kicks in an hour from now, I will do the dishes at 4:30”

First you have to start by acknowledging that yes, both can be done. Anyone who says that you can't have time for both is not someone I'd want to listen to! We make time for what we prioritize, full stop.

Obligatory Elle gif:

Okay. Beauty doesn't have to be something that is terribly time consuming especially if you are doing it every day. By that I mean, if you do your hair every day, it won't take nearly as long to re-do it than if you haven't touched it in a while and you also need to get through the mess before it's back at an acceptable baseline. Washing off several day-old makeup takes a lot longer than washing an already clean face. Filling in nails is faster than starting from scratch. Maintaining a fit body takes less time and energy than losing weight. Do you get what I'm saying?

You might also need to simplify your beauty routine. You don't need a 20000 step skincare routine. Eating a better diet can shave off a lot of time in the gym trying to burn those extra calories off. A more cohesive wardrobe can save time trying to find a good outfit. All of my clothes are pink or go well with pink, which isn't difficult and saves me a ton of time.

Maybe have a simple daily beauty routine and only once a week, do more time intensive things as a cute little spa day! But finding a quick daily hairstyle that makes you look hot and revamping your wardrobe to be less complicated can be a great start! Simplify your makeup routine, try to find a set workout time, and don't worry about doing that 20 minute face mask every single day.

As for studies, you need to make a schedule. Like, deciding all willy nilly when to sit down and do work just won't cut it. You need to know, "I am going to do this, this, and this today. I'm gonna start at this time. I'm gonna do this much of it. I'm going to take these breaks." You need to know that either the day before or the morning of. Plan. Your. Studies.

And when you have a plan, you also know how much free time you have, which means you know when you can do beauty stuff. You know when is a good time to wash and straighten your hair. You know when is a good time to hit the gym. You know when is a good time to have a long bath. And you know that you have 3 hours of studying to do afterwards.

It's all about simplifying, planning, sticking to that plan (!!!) and prioritizing what matters to you. If you prioritize netflix, then yeah I'm sure you will struggle to find time to exfoliate. If you prioritize exfoliating, your day will look very different now won't it.

Obligatory Elle gif part 2: