Hello guys, welcome back!! I hope everyone’s week has been peaceful, and fulfilling. Typically I would wish for you to have had an exciting week; filled with activities, busy schedules, and joy filled memories. I would wish that because that used to be the way that I would gain fulfillment. Like so many of us, I really felt like my days were marked on quantity and not quality; like the days had to be filled to the brim in order for me to feel satisfied. One of my personal goals that I have been working on is romanticizing the simple life, and finding fulfillment in the little pleasures of every day.

Craving action

Look, I know I am not the only one, but do any of you guys feel like you need to be productive all the time? Like if I am not doing something from the minute I wake up to the moment I rest my eyes, that I wasted the day? I know I am not the only one who feels this way because there is a name for this – Hustle culture. Hustle culture is toxic, insatiable, and exhaustive. It makes us feel like we need to always be tending to a to-do list, responding to a million emails, and always striving to achieve that ‘end’ goal. But I just want to know… when will it be enough?

Resetting my mentality 

Part of the joy of being in my 20’s is having to unravel beliefs and mindsets to which I grew up – the main one for me is hustle culture. Since moving to LA, I have had to really slow down, find joy in my own entertainment, and gain fulfillment from the joys of everyday life. When I am done working for the day and am left to my own free will, what can I do to make the day enjoyable? In order to answer that question, I have had to really learn to enjoy spending my afternoons doing activities that make me feel happy. Whether it is going for a walk, checking out a new bookstore, reading in a coffee shop, or even cleaning – I am learning that those little activities throughout the day can actually be quite enjoyable, and fulfilling. Of course, I struggle because my mind likes to play tricks on me that there is always something more that I could be doing, or even people that I could be doing it with, but if I always compare my moments to what they have the chance to be, then I will never be satisfied.

Romanticize the everyday

Something that has really helped me to love doing the simple things with myself, is by adding in extra ~spice~ to make it a little more enjoyable. For example, if I am going to work from home everyday, you best know I am going to do it with my hair and makeup done, and in a very cute outfit. If I am going to go for a walk, it’s going to be done with the best playlist/podcast that I am loving, and in a matching workout set. If I get to write my next blog post, I am going to try a new cafe and work from there. You get the point that I am trying to make, but I really want to emphasize how much it really does make a difference.

Building a routine

The thing that has helped the most in romanticizing my life is definitely the morning and evening routines that I have curated for myself. I have always been more of a morning person, but I found that I lagged getting out of bed, and I was staying up late to delay the responsibilities of tomorrow. It was not that I was depressed or anything, I just didn’t have something going on the next day that was truly for me, and it didn’t feel worth it to get out of bed. With work being the only thing I had to wake up to, I stopped feeling like I was waking up for me, and I saw no benefit to enjoying the day. So, I started to slowly implement things into my day that brought me happiness – and gave me something to wake me up to.

My morning routine

My morning routine is nothing of vast complication, or anything unachievable. In fact, you would be surprised to hear how just one or two set things that I do in my mornings have turned it into my favorite time of day! The first thing I do  when I wake up is make my matcha. It is not much different to those of you who make coffee right away, or drink water, but this little consistency of my favorite drink subconsciously gives me something to love about mornings – and something that I look forward to. The next thing that I would say is that once I get my matcha, I go out on my patio, soak up the sun, and say a quick morning prayer filled with thankfulness and gratitude. This is something that takes maybe 2 minutes, but waking up and choosing to be grateful in the morning sets your mentality as something you GET to do, not HAVE to do. 

Conclusion

Now I am not saying you need to go and do everything that I do in order to feel happy, but I would say that this should inspire you to find 1-2 little things that make you genuinely excited, and incorporate it into a routine. Your brain can start to view it as a reward for starting your day, and I promise it will make a difference. It really is true to what they say – how you start your day is truly how you’re going to end it. Also, this might have been obvious, but NO phones lol.

What are you going to do to for your mornings?

“I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:12-13