By: Sruthi Kanchi
Introduction: Become Enlightened ✨
“Self-care means giving the world the best of you instead of what is left of you.” said Katie Reed. No part of what she said was disagreeable. Being in the 21st century meant acing the hardest classes, earning national awards, being accepted into top colleges, and everything after that was less prioritized. You were expected to fulfill all of these unspoken standards even if it cost your health. What is long-term is the life you are currently living and the self care practices you start right now to become that person you look up to. These are things I wish someone had told me. So, allow me to give you a place to start.
It is not worth stressing over: Resolve and leave problems in the past
- Your time is valuable, manage it wisely. Ditch the sticky notes on a chromebook, quit pinning or starring emails in your inbox, etc. Stormboard states, “a recent study in the United Kingdom found that fewer than 1 in 5 people use any sort of formal time management system.” You need to:
- Have a strict planner and prioritize your tasks
- Note deadlines
- Rate the difficulty for tasks
- Estimate how time consuming it may be
- Keep daily reminders as well!
You are not a tool, set your boundaries. That one friend that keeps using you just for answers but is someone you want to be friends with? MAJOR red flag. Peer pressure is not your friend.
📢 Emotionalize your interests: Listen to your body
Do what YOU love, not what your friends love. It is understandable, anyone would want to be a really great and relatable friend and create stronger bonds. However, it is believed that it is harder to love something when you are doing it for someone else. From sketching to painting, typing to coding, dancing to singing, you have many options. It is time to drop that class that you hate and will not do much for you in the future and chase the ones you want. Explore your interests, observe your skills, you can do it!
Accept the wonderful person that you are: Keep fake friends behind your back
““FRIENDS” Some people will only ‘LOVE YOU’ as much as they can use you. Their loyalty ends where the benefits stops.” – Picsmine
Feeling left out from that friend group you think is awesome? Becoming an emotional support animal to the same person who left you in your sad times? The best part of life is that it is YOUR life and you are the main character of it. Value your honorable actions, whether it is when you’ve been there for a friend, stood up for those who couldn’t, etc. Next, accept that flaw that makes you unique from others and embrace it. Wondering why you made such a small mistake years ago? Believe it or not, that is growth. You are becoming a better person.
—Do vs Don’ts—
| Healthy Habits ✅ | Unhealthy Habits ❌ |
| Exercise – “Both men and women who reported increased levels of physical activity and fitness were found to have reductions in relative risk (by about 20%–35% of death” (National Library of Medicine) | Substance Use: “In 2016, almost 12 million people ages 16 or older reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs, including marijuana.50 After alcohol, marijuana is the drug most often linked to impaired driving” (NIDA) |
| Social support – get help from a best friend or family. | Avoidance: Don’t avoid the signs: not sleeping or eating well, feeling depressed, etc. |
| Therapy – “Therapy can help individuals increase their ability to communicate effectively and strengthen relationships with loved ones, including family and friends.” (HealthCore Clinic) | Emotional Suppression: Stop telling yourself, “It’s okay. You’ll be fine” and “You’re asking for too much.” Take care of your emotions, they are sending you a signal you need to pay attention to. |
| Self-Care routines – Journal frequently – Eat 3-5x a day – Listen to music – Go on a walk/run – Take care of your hair or nails – Sketch, paint, sing, or swim – Give yourself a shopping spree | Excessive phone use: “reported an interaction between high sensation seeking and abstinence whereby abstinence for 1.5 h increased excessive smartphone use ratings in high sensation seeking students.” (National Library of Medicine) |
Mind4Youth 
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