1. Be who you are and stay true to yourself –
Being unapologetically your-self is easier said than done. We all have somewhere or the other done things and acted in a ways that made us uncomfortable or unhappy; just to please someone else or to simply fit in. If you find yourself saying and doing things that you feel not so good about, just to please someone else, I suggest you stop! People who truly love and care for you will accept you as you are with all your flaws. Those who don’t are simply not your people. Wish them good-luck and move on.
2. Take responsibility for yourself-
You cannot control every situation or person around you no matter how much you try. The only thing you can do is take responsibility for your life, your finances, your health and your happiness. Include more things and people who help you become a more stable, healthier and happier version of yourself. If you find the world afflicted with issues, try to help the situations in your capacity. How can we expect something from anyone if we do not expect it from our- self first!
3. Value Time-
We are all here for a limited amount of time. So use it more mindfully. Yes careers, jobs and ambitions are important but remember to take out time for family, friends and things that you truly love and enjoy. Life is unpredictable and we need to spend our time on things that fill our souls much more than the ones that simply fill our pockets.
4. Invest In Yourself –
There is no bigger investment you can make than in your own self. Take that chance to grab your dream job, upgrade and up-skill yourself to equip you with skills for that dream job or startup venture. Invest in your health (physical & mental) and finances smartly. Educate your-self to keep up with this ever changing world. If you have to bet on something in this world, it better be yourself. The only person capable of giving you everything you want is you.
5. Save for a rainy day-
Our parents and grand-parents advice on saving is absolutely handy. Yes luxury goods, travelling are all fine. But make sure you save a certain amount of money from your salary every month and invest in assets that help you out at the time of need.
6. Believe in yourself-
Sometimes life gets messy before it gets better and that we all go through our own struggle. During such times don’t stop believing in your-self because no one else will. The world around you will always try to tell you that you are too little or too much. But do not let their definition of you define who you are. Keep believing and working towards your dreams.
7. Learn to let go-
Don’t hold on to people and things that don’t serve you. Let go of toxic people and traits that hurt you and those around you. Let go of grudges. At the end of the day every bad experience teaches us something. Close those painful chapters and decide to move on to better things.
8. Show up and be kind-
Life is way too small and un-predictable as we all have come to realize in this pandemic. Be kind to people around you as you never know how much the other person might be in need of it. Show up to help people and show your love to people you care about.
9. See the World-
Travel and see the world. Try and see as many cultures, taste as many cousins and talk to people as diverse as can be. Seeing how different parts of the world are and how people live there expands our horizons and give us a very wide perspective on life itself.
10. Don’t chase beauty standards –
We all have flaws and you can never be perfect. But the good news is that no one is. We all have our flaws and even the most beautiful and thin people in this world harbor insecurities about themselves. We in India chase fair skin while the westerners chase tanned skin. Both fat and the thin are body-shamed equally. The standards set for beauty are so high and well defined that they have become simply impossible to achieve. You see, we are made to believe that we have to be anything but ourselves to be beautiful. So accept your flaws and love yourself, tell yourself how much you love ‘you’, the world and its beauty standards can go to hell!
11. Learn to enjoy your own company –
Get comfortable with being alone with yourself. This can be one of the hardest things to do but is actually profoundly simple. Once you get comfortable with being alone you will learn to create your own happiness.
TANYA CHOPRA
