#improve

Often, the insecurities we feel come from our desire to escape ourselves or to live like others. Especially when everyone around you seems to have a shiny, captivating life you want to borrow for a moment. But the truth is simple and brutal: you are the only one who will live your life. No one else can do it for you. The earlier you accept this, the gentler life becomes.

But acceptance is hard. How do you tell someone who has hit rock bottom that they must somehow love their life, or embrace its challenges? You can’t, at least not immediately. You inch your way into it. You practice. You fail. You try again. I remind myself of this every day because I fail in many aspects of my life, and life throws curveballs none of us feel prepared to catch.

So here is how to enjoy living, even when your life looks nothing like the one you imagined:

1. Keep a Journal

Write out your feelings, your ambitions, your fears, your joys, your small glimmers of hope. One day, when you inevitably rise from whatever pain you’re carrying, you will look back in awe at who you were and how far you’ve traveled. Journaling is a record of your becoming.

2. Do One Thing for Yourself Every Day

Something small, something consistent. Like skincare, making yourself a salad, lighting a candle, taking a long hot shower, preparing a cozy dinner, reading a few pages. This is how you quietly recognize yourself. This is how you build a relationship with your own care.

3. Look Forward to Something

Give yourself a point of anticipation: a gallery opening, a new moon, a phone call with a friend, a long walk, a weekly ritual, a movie night, a tiny trip. I look forward to visiting galleries, vintage shops, and bookstores. These are spaces filled with beauty, intellect, and craftsmanship, and they remind me that a life can be stitched together through curiosity, attention, and wonder.

You are going to STOP scrolling endlessly for self-help and advice content and you are going to STOP and apply the knowledge you have endlessly gained. Obtaining help and advice knowledge is useless if it goes through one ear and comes straight out the other. STOP becoming addicted to the idea of scrolling and scrolling for your problems yet you already have the resources to fix them. A fool is a person who cannot decide to take action despite having access to the information needed to do so.

BREAKING FREE FROM THE SCROLLING CYCLE

Learning and Applying is one thing, but Learning and Staying Stationary is literally brain rot. You're addicted to the idea of change and the end result, but you never take the steps towards discipline with a personal structure to get that result. You keep looking for quick fixes and easy hacks, but life is not a quick fix and no hack can elevate your life from 0% to 100% without visiting the rest of the numbers first.

TAKE A BREAK FROM SCROLLING

Take time away from your usual scrolling and learn to be on your own. Learn your own ways of self-care, learn what works for you and understand what you need, because nobody is the same. Following a millionaire's morning routine will not make you a millionaire. This routine has worked for someone to feel and be productive in the morning and was probably curated over the years to suit their current lifestyle. So, seeing other people's successes and comparing their working ways to your life is unrealistic if you are not in a position to implement them. Going straight from 0% (Being unproductive and procrastinating) to 100% (Being incredibly Productive and in tune with self) will not be sustainable for someone who has not built the discipline and the inner foundations required for it. STOP seeing information online and taking it without ALTERING anything to your personal situation.

STOP ASKING HOW TO AND JUST DO

"How to lose weight, How to become more social, How to do this and that"

Most of these things you ALREADY know the answer to. Everybody knows that to lose weight, you need to burn more than you consume. There is literally no other way, no magic and no secret hack, just that simple fact. I guarantee you know that to become more social you just have to be social. Learn to be comfortable in social situations which will require inner work, but it's not a difficult concept. Most of us know what we need to do, yet we still try to find quick fixes or another way that same message is presented to us differently. We act as if we are improving and developing on our "improvement" journey yet we are just finding coping ways to feel like we are moving, yet we are still in the exact same place as before. I know you know what to do, I know you have researched what you should do and ways you can do it. So why are you not doing it? Why are you still not where you want to be? If you are not where you want to be, then what you're currently doing needs to change. You cannot do the exact same thing you've been doing for years and expect a different outcome. You need to curate a routine suited to your needs that is realistic and achievable to adopt.

LEARNING TO MOVE ON YOUR OWN, STOP DEPENDING ON OTHERS TO FUEL YOUR SUCCESS JOURNEY LISTEN TO: NOBODY IS COMING TO SAVE YOU BY JULIENHIMSELF Make yourself your safe space, your foundation. When you see yourself in the mirror you should be able to tell yourself "I love you", you should be so sure in what you do that nobody else can contradict what you believe in yourself, this is the end goal of self-improvement. Many of us have put aside our goals because we "are not ready", "people may judge us" or "I need to be/achieve ___ to.." Now don't get me wrong, I'm on this journey with you. I write on this blog to teach my brain how to think in the higher mindset that I'm creating for myself. I too have thoughts like this which is why in 2024 we are going to break out of our old selves to make room for our new selves together. We have to lose ourselves to find ourselves. If you're mood and self-worth are controlled by other people's opinions, then you will never advance further with yourself and will remain stationary. You have to stop allowing other people to determine whether you are allowed to pursue your desires or if you shouldn't because of fear of rejection. Don't take life too seriously, we are only here for so much time. So what if people make fun of you? In a few years will you look back and be proud and fulfilled of your past or feel regret and disappointment? LISTEN TO: WHY YOU CARE SO MUCH BY JULIANHIMSELF + LISTEN TO: HOW TO DETACH BY VICKITA TRIVEDI

The only way to get to 0%-100% is by doing.

I've been feeling horrible lately. My mental health isn't ok these days, so I couldn't draw as much and literally finished this one piece on the span of multiple days, but it didn't turn out horrible, which is good. I followed a bunch of Japanese tutorials. They're always the best! Anyways, what do you think? Did I improve? Anatomy wise? Coloring wise? Anything? Also, waiting for episode 4 from NSO!! The anime's been good so far.

You can commission me, by the way: https://ko-fi.com/ip00r/commissions