Motivation Monday : Let's talk self-care 💆🏾‍♀️

For this week's Motivation Monday, I don't have any videos or intuitive quotes (well I might use a quote at the end), I just wanna have a discussion about self-care.

What is self-care? Self care is defined as "the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress". Personally, I think the media has distorted a lot of how we perceive self-care and what we think it is vs what it actually is. Social media has played a part in simplifying its meaning & limiting it to the physical aspects.

I'm here to tell you that self-care is more than just face masks and massages.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am all about the upkeep of my image and personal hygiene. But when it comes to self-care, your mental health always comes first.

When you think of self-care, think of literally taking care of yourself, starting with your mental health. Think internally. Think progression, think growth, self-improvement, self-development. What can you do internally to improve your overall well-being?

The key to self-improvement is change. Step out of your comfort zone. And this does not mean to disrespect your own boundaries. You are a scientist conducting an experiment with your mental health and your first trial didn't give you the results you needed. In this next trial, change your variables and hypothesize that you'll get much better results.

Think about the steps you can take to bring about positive change in your life. Think about habits you can start implementing into your daily routine. When you think of practices for mental health, what do you think of? Meditation, exercise, giving gratitude, journaling, reciting affirmations? All of these apply among many others.

If you're serious about your personal growth, you can imagine that it's something you have to study. Research it, read articles, watch videos, expose yourself to as many practices as possible, and determine which ones work for you. Self-care is not math or science, it's takes a lot of trial and error and self-education to even get a grasp of. It's not a perfect process, nor an easy process, and that's the beauty of it.

What relevance does self-care have to Shaping Your Future? Remember that Shaping Your Future is about more than just education. You & I? We're growing together. One of my many goals with this blog is to share with you all some aspects of my own personal growth journey in regard to education so that you can use it as a reference as you embark on your own journey. Shaping Your Future is all about preparation for the future and development. I made my purpose very broad because I want to cover various factors that contribute to overall well-being.

Mental health and education go hand-in-hand. Your educational foundation depends on your mental health and you need both of these aspects to be a well-rounded individual. In your educational journey, it's important that you stay motivated, stay driven, stay hungry, stay consistent. Your mental health is what keeps you motivated and focused on your educational goals. When you keep your mental health in check, you keep your overall well-being in check.

Anyways, I just wanted to have a brief discussion on self care for this week's Motivation Monday, and obviously I plan on going more into detail later on. For future reference, I intend to give in-depth descriptions on the types of practices that have moved me forward in my own journey with self-care, but for right now I just wanted to introduce the idea of it.

I understand we are all currently going through a transitional period with trying to deal with the pandemic & everything while still going through school. It's important that we keep ourselves focused through all the hardship and remain consistent. Happy Motivation Monday once again 🥳 & take some time this week to meditate on how you can improve your well-being and quality of life.