Ugh, where do I even start? How am I supposed to do this? Maybe I should wait a little longer? I can’t do this on my own… These are the questions and statements I hear more often than not when it comes to change and stepping outside the comfort zone. A cliché.
I’m sitting on my tiny sofa, it’s Sunday evening, and I’m wondering whether to treat myself to a longer reading session than usual with the book that’s completely captivating me right now – or whether I should read a few more pages of notes for an upcoming exam instead…
Surrounded by all this confusion (to avoid calling it the all-pervasive madness), I’ve arrived at what is perhaps not such a groundbreaking insight, but a rather sobering one: we’ve all somehow started slowly losing our compass and falling into our own little rut. You’re probably wondering now: “Why is she talking about us, when the post is called self-motivation?” That’s exactly the point.
As someone who has experienced all kinds of ups and downs over the past year and more – professional, academic, emotional, psychological (I mean above all moments of joy and sadness) and so on – I feel the need to address you, dear reader, and share a few of my routines and tips that make my life easier and more beautiful, because they’re lived consciously and have become part of who I am.
Drowning in a sea of information available at just one or two clicks, we often get lost in the search for ideas on how to boost productivity and self-motivation. I’ve heard from people close to me: but I can’t be my own driver – I need someone to get me going and motivate me, otherwise I don’t see the point.
Hold on, slow down. That’s wrong on several levels.
You Are Your Own Greatest Ally
We ourselves need to be our own greatest support, our own greatest driver, and above all the commander of our own lives. That’s something I really love about myself.
I love myself because I love working on myself.
Every Detour Leads to the Right Path
When I look back a few years, I realize that for the most part I had no idea how my life might unfold or which direction it might go. And yet somehow everything falls into place. It’s not for nothing they say: “What you radiate, you attract.” Somehow, through all those roller coasters, I understood that you are your own best friend and your own worst enemy – if you don’t praise yourself when things go well and constructively criticize yourself when they don’t, you won’t move forward.
And then comes the moment when you realize that all of it was actually for something – that you’re actually happy. Let’s go, then! Even stronger, and above all so much wiser and more experienced.
I am the one who steers my life – and I will make the best of it that I possibly can.
In those moments you feel an indescribable energy pulling you to rise above the situation and become even stronger. We’re not complex psychophysical beings on this planet for nothing. That energy in my case was so powerful that it led me to what I had been longing for deep in my soul for a long time: my professional calling. Sometimes it seems you have to go through a whole lot of “filters” before you reach the final product. Every detour ultimately brought me back to the main road.
I don’t consider everything that came before to have been wrong – quite the contrary. I’m grateful for every challenge and every obstacle that crossed my path, because they shaped me and taught me what I am today.
My father once said to me: “Be proud of yourself and of who you are today – because what you’ve been through over the past few years, the highs and lows in a foreign world while reaching for your dreams, some people don’t experience even in two lifetimes.” That carries me to this day and gives me the strength to keep going. Every day I try to be an even better version of myself than I was yesterday. Of course it goes without saying that without all of them – I mean my most wonderful family in the world – Ana would not be sitting on her tiny sofa writing this post, from the most wonderful city in the world, completely fulfilled and happy with what she has and how she lives.
The Small Things Make Life Beautiful
And no great philosophy helps in filling the days, weeks, months, and ultimately the years with meaning.
It’s all the small things that make life more beautiful.
For me, it’s the morning sun that wakes me before my first morning coffee, tea, or glass of lemon water. It’s the favourite song I listen to in the shower to wake myself up properly. At least a few pages of a book read every day. It’s the work I do. Yes, you read that right – the work I genuinely love doing. The real joy when I go to training at the gym – or, when that’s not possible, turning the music up full and dancing around the apartment. Or the smile of my niece, which means the world to me.
Find your own centre of gravity for happiness – and everything will come a little easier. If not everything, let’s not exaggerate – then at least you’ll be able to say: but I’m happy. I can do anything!
Be the best version of yourself – regardless of others!
See you soon,
your
Leave A Comment