Investing in Yourself

September has not been what I expected. A combination of university work piling up, the inevitable life-reshuffle of changing from one job to the next and some other 'perfectly lovely' stressful situations that I won't go into has left me out of whack. I've been stressed more, sleeping to catch up from being stressed and stressing because I've been sleeping and not working. It's a vicious cycle, and I'm sure that a lot of you have found yourselves stuck going in unhealthy circles once or thirty times in your life. That being said, there are ways to help. I'm going to dive straight in with some tips for investing in yourself, body, mentality, social spheres, the lot.


L O G  O U T  ( A N D  D O N ' T  F E E L  B A D )

Whenever I feel under the weather, I log out straight away. Don't get me wrong, social media is fantastic, but things like blogging can always come later. If you're feeling volatile, comparison is your worst enemy and when you follow 300-500 people it's hard to avoid. You can do without it for a week. It will let you gain some perspective, and perspective is always a welcome refresher. With the added time and clarity, you can channel your energy into other things!

P R I O R I T I S E  J O Y

Happiness is something I honestly crave so much, enough is never enough. We all find happiness in different ways, but whatever avenue you take to get it is the right one. Personally, I'm always happy drinking coffee, having good conversations or listening to live music. These are the things which bring me joy and so I've started to make them my priority. You may find joy in other things, yoga or weightlifting or baking, but you should take the time to do these things as often as you can. Seek joy in abundance, make it a daily pursuit. Joy is not a luxury item, you can make as much of it as you like (preferably make tonnes) so make the investment.

E A T  /  S L E E P  /  W A L K  /  R E S T

A key part of investing in yourself is investing in your body! Like mental health, which I have mentioned here and here, physical health is something you should be checking in with and improving regularly. You should eat well (and often), try as best you can to get 7-8 hours of sleep, and exercise as much as you feel comfortable with. Even just walking around your neighbourhood gets you out breathing fresh air and releasing endorphins into your body. With any luck you'll get into a nice routine, fixing the problem I was talking about in my introduction. Also, make sure that you get to properly rest. Take the time to stop and check in with your body. Relax points of tension and try intentional deep breathing. Your body is the only thing you truly own, so treat it with care. You won't regret it.

C R E A T I V I T Y & I N T E L L E C T U A L  P U R S U I T S

Even if you think of yourself as the analytical type, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking is incredibly valuable. Stimulating your creative thinking skills does wonders to adjusting your critical reasoning, and opens your mind to new ideas. Wherever you find creativity, within visual art or writing, photography etc, try to practice regularly and cultivate your craft. From it, you learn a medium of expression, passion, and a way to enjoy your time. Make some good art and I promise good things will come back to you.

I'm a massive advocate of life-long learning. Intellectual pursuits are an excellent way to invest in yourself; seriously, you can never be over-educated. Some great ways to do this is through Crash Course by the Green Brothers (I recommend world history, economics and philosophy), TEDtalks and podcasts. I also love going to talks and workshops, if you live in an Australian capital city, give Creative Mornings a try. Also reading non-fiction books outside of your course of study is a wonderful way to immerse yourself in new topics, plus you'll be wiser for it. As well as being clued up on a number of topics, if you're currently at university investing in your intelligence and research skills will pay you back when it comes to retaining information that you need to know for your coursework. Knowledge is an infinite and rewarding resource and it will never be unwelcome in this day and age.

F I N D  Y O U R  R O O T S

I mean this in the respect of keeping in touch with your environment. Go to the untouched natural places around you, beaches, rivers, forests, and take in the beauty of the world around you. I personally find that I get a great deal of energy from feeling connected with nature. This also ties in with the logging off point I made before, whenever I log out of social media I make a point of going to the beach and letting myself revitalise by taking time to appreciate the water, the sand and the sky. There is a wonderful sense of belonging that can only be found when making a connection with the land you are walking on.

S U R R O U N D  Y O U R S E L F  W I T H  B E A U T I F U L  P E O P L E

I cannot stress how important it is to surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you. Your friends and colleagues make up a lot of who you are and in turn, you make up a lot of who they are. People around you will always be an incredible influence, for better or for worse. I've been on both sides of the spectrum in my life, I've had people around me at stages of my life who made me feel worthless. Thank goodness I've wound up being in the company of the most supportive and wonderful people who consistently take my breath away with their generosity and kindness. The people in my life are so beautiful (honey I'm talking inner beauty), and I wouldn't be as confident or happy without their life-changing presence. If you aren't with people who make you feel special, go find those people. They're out there. Chances are, they're looking for you too.

Hope you found this useful, actually, it really helped me just writing it all down. Remember, you'll never go broke from investing in yourself.

See you soon, E.