The year 2020 was something else. On March 13, 2020, my workplace released everyone to go home for two weeks. At first, I treated this lockdown more like a stay-at-home vacation for the first week and a half that I was home. Then, after a month, I started to feel more and more anxious and uncertain of what could happen. The number of people dying from COVID was scaring me and I was scared to go outside for fear of catching COVID and bringing it home to my mom who is older. So, I did everything to avoid people as much as possible and only go out to the stores only when it was truly necessary. It was towards the end of April when I can across a video of a motivational speaker who proposed an interesting insight into the times we were living in. She asked, "It looks like we have two choices here: 1. You can stay paralyzed and be stuck with the same person you are, or 2. you can use this time to learn, grow, and be better." I'm not going to lie, but that really hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew I didn't want to stay afraid and not do anything during this time we were going to be in quarantine, so I decided to get my act together and I wrote down all of the things I wanted to accomplish so that when quarantine was over, I knew I wanted to feel differently and become stronger. Here is my list of things I did to survive 2020:
2. I discovered amazing fitness trainers on YouTube and I exercised every single day (including the weekends) for 45 minutes. My favorite trainers are: Lucy Windham-Read, Heather Robertson, Chloe Ting, Olivia Lawson, Brian Syuki, Holly Dolke, and Popsugar Fitness. I interchange the workout videos on a daily basis and I found myself engaged every single day. Everyone has a different style of working out so I enjoyed the variety it provided me during this time.
3. I started to sleep 7 to 8 hours per night and it made a world of difference in my life! The more I slept, the better I felt. I had more energy and my focus levels had improved drastically! I was more creative at work and I had better ideas to share with my team.
4. Not only was I sleeping well, but I was also waking up every day at 5:00 am. I started to dedicate the first hour of the day to myself and I started to love myself for it. I would wake up early and make my bed, tidy my room, and work out for 45 minutes. Then shower and get ready for the day.
5. I would plan out my entire day, from the moment I woke up to the moment I got into my bed at night the night before. Planning for my day helped me stay on track and helped me accomplish my daily tasks and goals. It was easy after a while to follow the plan because it wouldn't vary so much since I had most of my morning and nighttime routines already set. I was forming habits that helped me stay in control. I once heard someone say that when times get tough, your daily habits are going to help you stay and feel grounded and that's exactly what they did for me.
6. I listened to over 80 audiobooks in 2020 that were mostly autobiographies and personal development books. I began to apply what I was learning to my life. Listening to an audiobook on sleep helped me realize how important sleep truly is to the body. I would listen to audiobooks mostly in the mornings when I was getting ready for work or in times when I would do my household chores.
What I noticed the most about myself during this time of self-care was that my anxiety levels had lessened during quarantine because I felt more and more in control of what was happening directly to me. I also noticed that I was more patient with others, I was more positive, I encouraged my team, and I was more creative with my projects and ideas. The best part is that others were noticing the positive changes in me, too!
I've learned to love myself and I can truly say that I'm a better person to myself than I was before. I give myself more grace, and I have more positive self-talk. Now I know the things that help me stay in control. I'm glad I made the choice to change and become better. After all, your success comes from the things you do every day. And I truly believe that now.
Thanks for reading,
Mayra
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