The Era of Us
Ok everyone. I am going to be real with you… I have been through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. College is crazy and wild because while it’s filled with fun, new experiences and people, but it can be overwhelming and strange. My mental health and self love has been low, and it’s about time for that to change. We have the power to write our story and that is exactly what we are going to do. It is time for a full reset: mental, physical, emotional.
The way for me to get back on track and into my era is through writing down my goals and aspirations, how I will achieve them, and what has been going wrong. I want this to be effective so I am fully committed.
If you want to hop into this era with me, I more than encourage it. Let’s do this together. I will be keeping myself accountable through my Instagram stories (@ellavate.yourself).
What does this era mean?
It doesn’t mean perfection—rather embracing imperfection. Self-reflection, self-love, and joy. The path to happiness. Our paths will be different and that is beautiful. In this era we are present with ourselves. It is you vs. you. No comparison to others or your past self, but competition between just you in a single moment. Push yourself to grow and get stronger. Show up each day with as much as you can, knowing that everyday will be different. Be mindful and lean into the flow of life. Accept the messiness and just keep going. Don’t spend your time worrying—instead use that energy to create. Create the person you want to be. I am looking to become reinvigorated with life and find new ways to do that. I want to explore myself and the world around me without judgement. I will not define myself. I will let myself be free from the shackles of perfectionism. I will live my truth and do what I know is right for me.
Goals and aspirations:
I am learning balance. I want to set goals and I want them to be strict, but I will also grant myself grace. These are my goals and I want you to use them to fuel your own.
Keep working out each day, but try new workouts to boost my excitement. Don’t be afraid to workout at a different time, a new space, a different workout. I will incorporate more yoga, not just self-lead, but get myself in the studio. I will plan out my workouts for the week to ease my stress and keep a routine.
I will prioritize meditation for 10-15 minutes everyday. I will not allow myself to get out of this. I need this time to breathe and get my life together. This time is productive. I will experiment with new types of meditation and post them to my Instagram.
Morning affirmations: Every. Single. Morning. Write them, say them, whatever I’m feeling. Look myself in the mirror and give myself the love I deserve.
Eat whole foods and protein as much as possible.
Be ok with saying no. I don’t always need to add to my to-do list. Instead, I will work on being fully present with my current endeavors.
Not using my grades or workouts to define my worth. I am so much more than my accomplishments. I chose what defines me. I don’t have to define myself through one quality. I will learn that I am more than enough regardless of outcome.
Work on redefining my love for school. Lately school has become one big blog of anxiety. I want to re-instill my love of learning. I will complete tasks not just to check them off, but to grow from them.
Go with the flow and know that each moment in my life serves a purpose. I have been mourning my summer life at home full of family, work, workouts, and yoga. However, each part of life teaches us a lesson.
Take breaks and mental health days/nights. It can be hard in college when you feel like you have to be go go go whether it be school, social life, work, workouts, but taking breaks and having a chill night to refill my cup is so necessary.
Keep scheduling days to the best of my ability and know that I am doing the very best that I can. Scheduling has been extremely tricky with workouts, hockey, tutoring, class, and sorority life. I will learn that there is only so much I can do.
I can’t please everyone. I can’t make everyone happy. My first priority is me. I will protect my peace.
Keep embracing the college life. I will remember that I only get these four years to have this experience so I might as well have fun and make memories. I don’t want to look back on my college life and have regrets.
If a task is making me unnecessarily stressed, I will back away and come to it later. I have found myself having many days where I am insanely stressed over almost nothing. There are some things that are out of my control, but others are controlled by me. Life is too short to make the things controlled by me suck.
How I will achieve them:
Holding myself accountable through Ellavate stories, friends, and myself. I will do daily check-ins to self-reflect and debrief. If I find it useful I will write a journal to keep tabs.
Sunday scheduling nights. I will schedule my week/days, make my workout plan, and prep for the week ahead.
My mornings had always been my “me time.” Slowly but surely they started to become infiltrated with work. I am going to keep my mornings as my time to workout, meditate, and do my affirmations. Once I have completed those tasks, then I can begin my work.
I will leave enough time in the day to breathe, get my work done in an enjoyable way, and do something to fill up my cup.
Before saying yes, I will take all things into consideration and then make my decision.
Plan out meals at the house vs. the dining hall vs. in my room.
Trying new workouts, but not letting scheduling get the best of me. If it isn’t working that’s ok.
This whole journey comes down to self-love. No one has it all down and it’s a lifelong process with many ups and downs. While our confidence may fluctuate, our self-worth will always stay the same. We are always worthy even when we don’t feel like we are.