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How To Get Back Into Your Routine
If you read my article on Monday, you know I’m out of my routine. I thought for a while I was doing myself a favor by being loose with my schedule. Now, I see once again why I deserve my schedule. I deserve to sleep well. I deserve to eat well. I deserve to feel ready for my day. My schedule provides me with all of those things. It allows me to be the greatest version of myself. So here’s how I am getting back into my routine: Start Slow We’re running a marathon here, not a sprint. We have to start slow. I started by going to bed an…
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My Goals for 2021
On Wednesday, I looked at my goals for 2020. I’m happy to say that I met almost all of them with flying colors. I don’t necessarily believe in New Years Resolutions. However, I think it’s important to always have goals and strive to meet them. Once again, I will write my goals out for outward accountability. I will push the boundaries of what I feel comfortable doing in order to become the best version of myself. Goals for my personal life:My number one goal for 2021 is to graduate college. I’m on track to receive my BA in the Summer. I’d also like to finish my application to graduate school.…
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Reviewing My Goals For 2020
I was looking back at all my articles recently. After pursuing for a while, I stumbled upon my goals for 2020. I wrote out and posted those goals because I wanted outward accountability. With the pandemic and more surgeries than I expected, I forgot what I wanted out of 2020. When I wrote that article, I hadn’t even heard of covid-19. So let us look back together and talk about what I wanted vs. what I did. The goals I set for my personal life were as follows:-Start dating againI’m happy to say I followed through with this. It hasn’t been the journey I expected but it’s definitely been very…
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Dealing With Decision Fatigue
Lately, I’ve gotten a lot of slack for being indecisive about small things. I will be the first to admit that this is not my favorite quality about myself. I am incredibly driven and know what I want out of the next twenty years. However, when it comes to what I want for dinner, it takes me almost twenty years to decide. There’s a reason for this. It’s driven by decision fatigue. In the world of anxiety, decision fatigue is quite common. I used to struggle with this a lot during high school. The more I got my anxiety under control, the more decisive I became. Now, covid has driven…
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Why I Don't Set Goals According To My OCD
Something I learned very early on having anxiety was to not set goals based on OCD. This lesson was extremely important for me to learn. I used to make decisions based on what I believed I could do within the limits of my anxiety. I shifted my focus to believe I could do anything. Suddenly, I felt much more confident when confronting challenges that gave me anxiety. I want to say that I’m speaking out of my own experience. Anxiety is very real but this is how I’ve overcome a lot of my fears and been able to live outside of the boundaries my OCD set. Shifting your mindset is…
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You Deserve Professionals Who Care
I was struck this week by how important it is to trust your healthcare professionals. I see this in all aspects of my life. It has taken me a long time to find people that will work with me based on my values and vision. Not all professionals are the same. At the end of the day, everyone is human. They all come in with their own ideas and ideals. If they’re unwilling to put their ego aside and listen to you and your needs, it’s time to move on. This thought came to me while I was at physical therapy. I LOVED my physical therapist last year. I felt…
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Easy Ways to Clear Your Mind
I think everyone needs more resets lately. Personally, with school and everything I have going on, I do. I’ve found what works to clear my head and I thought I’d share it here with you. On the off chance you don’t know how to step back, try some of these tips! Let me know what works for you. Clean Your space is a projection of your mind. If it’s cluttered and overwhelming, there’s no doubt that you’re probably in overdrive. Take a second to tidy up. Even if it’s not a deep clean. Take the opportunity to slow down and focus on your space. It will likely get you into…
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How to Confront Perfectionism
My OCD continues to improve with ERP therapy. Lately, my perfectionism has been my most difficult challenge. I started to strip away habits and compulsions. Now there’s an underlying anxiety to ensure things are perfect. Even if you don’t have OCD, perfectionism is very common. Our society has trained us that we need to always be at our best. For me, when you factor in chronic illness, that’s just not possible. I have some days where I struggle to function. It’s taken me my entire chronic illness journey to realize that it’s not a weakness to ask for help. In battling perfectionism, I’ve found some tricks in daily life. These…
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How to Stay Present
Life is filled with trials and tribulations. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by work, family, or social situations. Having OCD, I’ve found various ways of staying present. This has become second nature. After a while, you start utilizing these techniques without even realizing it. If you have anxiety or need a little help during the pandemic, here are some tips on how to stay present. Ground Yourself Before you do anything, ground yourself. Bring yourself back to the present moment. Whether you find the rainbow, use your senses, or do 4-5-7 breathing take a moment to come back. Without grounding yourself, your mind will automatically be overwhelmed. Any attempts to…
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OCD and Surgery
I dread having surgery when it comes to my OCD. Downtime is something I really struggle with. I try to keep myself busy. I feel purpose when I have a task in front of me. Relaxing is something that doesn’t come easy to me. It’s something I work at every day. Surgery is the combination of a lot of things I fear. It’s a lack of motivation, energy, and filled with downtime. Going into surgery, I often come up with a cope ahead plan. I plan activities that stimulate my mind. I plan for mindfulness. I schedule appointments with my OCD therapist for exposures and accountability for compulsions. Surgery can…
