as my mom once said to me:
"forget hard work! at least do work"
please, for some of us, talking about "hard work" is far away for us. so forget about working hard. what about just working? not working hard, just doing at least something for your future, yourself, your family. or are you okay with being a huge disappointment to others and yourself?
just doing the bare minimum at least for yourself! you don't have to go over the top or make it so hard for you. at least put in the bare minimum so you don't have to live the worst life. okay?
doing at least 5 pushups + 5 squats a day
studying a bit for exams
saying one affirmation of self-love a day
if someone talks to you, don't try to run away from the convo.
all this isn't hard. its just what every human being should be able to you (not talking about anyone with disabilities, thats a different case). okay?
the first step to this would be to reduce the amount of screentime everyday. i don't care if its "educational" or "self improvement", thats all bs. whats actually gonna make a difference is that instead of tricking your brain into thinking you're doing something or telling yourself "i'll work my hardest tomorrow", you don't work your hardest today but you work.
putting in little effort is still putting in effort.
i know that a lot of you are gonna be like "no but i believe in myself that i can put hard work into something i care about!" so okay. good job for believing in yourself, love that. but... are you actually gonna do it? or are you going to continue to sit and watch "educational" "self improvement" videos because it distracts and tricks you into thinking that this is hard work?*
*don't get me wrong, of course if you used to be a person who scrolled a bunch of nonsense, the first step would of course be to change what you consume into something better. but there comes a limit where you have to actually get up and put in the work. simply changing what you consume isn't all you need to do. theres more steps to improving your life. just like when you start with a new skill; in the beginning you may start with something very simple and easy for you to do. but once that becomes your "comfort zone" (as in very/ much easy to do), you need to move to something that challenges you more. otherwise, you never grow.
sure, believing that you are capable of doing it is certainly the first step of almost anything, but believing isn't just enough. you gotta actually do it. you don't earn my respect by "believing you can do it" (what are you, a toddler?) but by actually executing your plan. and for most of us, it turns out that our definition of "hard work" is actually just watching "self improvement" all day.
so what am i implying here? :
if you believe you can actually do the hard work, then do it. do not waste another second on self improvement videos (remember; those are just meant as a guide, a starter. a place for advice). if however, you find that you finally realise that hard work isnt just watching self improvement videos and having to actually do something, then shut up with the hard work. at least do work.
one of the biggest things I can advocate for (in academia, but also just in life) is to build credibility with yourself. It’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking of yourself as someone who does things last minute or who struggles to start tasks. people will tell you that you just need to build different habits, but I know for me at least the idea of ‘habit’ is sort of abstract and dehumanizing. Credibility is more like ‘I’ve done this before, so I know I can do it, and more importantly I trust myself to do it’. you set an assignment goal for the day and you meet it, and then you feel stronger setting one the next day. You establish a relationship with yourself that’s built on confidence and trust. That in turn starts to erode the barrier of insecurity and perfectionism and makes it easier to start and finish tasks. reframing the narrative as a process of building credibility makes it easier to celebrate each step and recognize how strong your relationship with yourself can become
No offense but I think some of you would be a lot happier writing a fictional atlas or encyclopedia instead of a narrative story
discipline is self care
self care isn't just face masks and bubble baths, it's also doing your assignment in advance so you won't pull an all nighter before the deadline, cooking at home instead of ordering out; discipline is an act of self love and care
hi! if you’re feeling especially depressed, or anxious during these times, or just in general, i’ve compiled a list of things that are sweet and hopeful and might help you smile!
tumblr posts
How To Feel Again by @wowanothered
make a Hot Honey Drink with @fierybluebeacon
love is via @battlechick
little notes for when you’re sad by @flowerais
asks
Make Me Admit Stuff by @jreadhd
Lighthearted Questions by @definegodliness
Soft, Stay At Home Ask Game by @serotoninsuggestion
Let’s Get Personal by @castielwinchester83
Fantasy Asks by @spectral-ask-memes
Flower Asks by @thatsthepositivitea
videos
Some Good News with John Krasinski
Reasons To Smile by Thomas Sanders
Homemade with Steven Lim
Ambient Worlds (a channel dedicated to the background music of different places you’ve wanted to visit, i.e- each Hogwart House common room, Disney World, etc.)
Walkthrough Disneyland
books
Tea Dragon Society: Katie O’Neill (cute graphic novel about tea, and dragons)
Extra Yarn: Mac Barnett (a cute picture book about a little girl and her magic yarn)
The Astonishing Color of After: Emily X.R Pan (YA novel about grief, and love)
All Out: Sandra Mitchell (short story collection about LGBTQIA+ characters)
Counting By Sevens: Holly Goldberg Sloan (a middle grade novel of grief and family)
The Prince and the Dressmaker: Jen Wang (an adorable YA graphic novel with a non gender conforming character, and a soft, teen love story, set in the middle ages time period, with loads of lovely dresses and magic~)
Winnie The Pooh: A.A Milne (we all know our beloved winnie the pooh)
The Hidden Life of Trees: Peter Wohlleben (a rly interesting nonfiction book about trees and how they communicate)
Bloom: Kevin Panetta (a soft, cute, gay graphic novel love story)
movies
any Studio Ghibli film
the classic, animated Winnie the Pooh
any old, animated Disney movie
Legally Blonde, 2001 dir. Robert Luketic
Miss Congeniality, 2000 dir. Donald Petrie
High School Musical (we all know the one)
Princess Diaries, 2001 dir. Gary Marshall
Wall-E, 2008 dir. Andrew Stanton
shows
The Good Place
New Girl
Schitt’s Creek
One Day At A Time
Hilda
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
Merlin
podcasts
Welcome To Nightvale
The Two Princes
activities
pick and press flowers
heres some basic homesteading skills that are pretty fucking cool via @martinihomestead
knit/crochet (same link as ^)
read
(heres another link for free books and essays from @diabeticlesbian)
listen to music (links via @vivienvalentino)
bake
cook
art things with @artsyskelly
redo your room
sketch
learn a new language
lie on the floor with your window open and listen to the world
read through wikipedia articles
host an online game night/day
get ahead on schoolwork
say fuck this and go on a run
make tea
make face masks
sew
plant shit
make a discord server
generate cool mansions/cities via @mostlysignssomeportents and @vesperlionheart
yoga
water your plants
create an oc with @kannibalprinceref
paint by numbers
call someone and either talk, or watch something together, or do your own thing, still on the call, as if they were with you
clean
write letters and save the USPS
catch up on the news (but in bursts, perhaps find some good news too)
make sidewalk art
talk to your plants
play a boardgame with someone (online or with the people you’re living with)
clean out your room
make your room/house into a place you feel safe
dance
write a song
write a story
(writing prompts via @veronicabunchwrites)
call someone
learn to play DnD
paint your nails
paint someone else’s nails
go adventuring
make a youtube channel
make a podcast
talk to yourself
learn to bake bread
garden
paint your room a new color
lie on your floor
lie in bed
sleep
watch a crappy free movie on youtube and make fun of it
exercise (but stretch first)
go on a walk and take pictures of things you think your friends would like
scroll through social media and send things to your friends
cover your wall with pictures, quotes, artifacts
make lists
find a pen pal
clean shit
you dont have to be productive, babe
these are just things i’ve seen/read/thought of- so if anyone else wants to add on- pls do!
this isnt complete! so pls add on things that help you feel good, or stuff for people to do whilst stuck in quarantine!
Recently I've been shockingly productive. My last final exam is tomorrow and I am cautiously optimistic about it. For all my other exams I was kind of nervous, but for this exam I am cautiously confident. This morning I even got dressed and put on a cute outfit and styled my hair. I am going to make a personal end of year wrap up tomorrow, as well as college tips. I worked on a few writing projects and finished my crochet skirt, and am very proud of the person that I've become, even though it was a little late in the semester to change, but better late than never.
today I: studied 2 hours washed sheets write 1000 words organized my writers notebook read my book
also still looking for mutuals if anyone wants to reach out, i love talking to people!
"And I had to explain a lot of stuff to him." It amazed me how Johnny could get more meaning out of the stuff in there than I could— I was supposed to be the deep one."
The Outsiders, SE Hinton
"It was like sitting at the edge of the world."
The Outsiders, S.E Hinton
so i just read a secret history, and Richard what the fuck?
I feel so called out
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