It's the time of the year again.

Time flies so fast especially when the pandemic came. It's a big adjustment for all of us, but when we think about it, if we look at the bright side of it, there's a good side as well. We just have to look for it, think about it deeply, coz sometimes, we tend to overlook it. We are so busy complaining about the bad effects of pandemic. It's normal, we are only human, it gave us a lot of stress emotionally and mentally. Time flies so fast that I even forgot my age haha, I even had to do the math. I forgot because I feel that 2020 just passed by in just a blink of an eye. My age stopped in the year 2019 hahaha.

July is my birth month and I'm not the type of person who gets excited about their birth months. As I get older, for me, my birthday is just an ordinary day. I do celebrate, but it's not a big deal anymore like how it used to be. I don't know exactly when it's started, I think when I was 26, I'm always emotional and my energy was low every July. I'm too hard on myself before. I always had these negative self talk "okay it's mid-year and you're still the same", "you're getting older but you still there, you didn't achieve anything". I was like that for how many years, I'm punishing myself mentally for not achieving my plans no matter how hard I tried and worked for it. I forgot that He has a plan for all of us, in His time, not ours. I was disappointed in myself for not being enough, I don't appreciate my skills and talent because, for me, it's not enough. I should have done better, I always matched my success with my age. At this age, I should have this and that, I should be better in this and that...I forgot that we are never too old to set another goal, another dream, another hobby. It's never too late to become the best version of ourselves.

I slowly accept my flaws and turned my back on society's definition of happiness and success. I began to love myself more, to appreciate myself, to appreciate my talents and skills. It's not easy, no growth is easy, growth is painful, it's out of our comfort zone.

That's when I started not to care about others' opinions about me, about my own definition of success. Why? because I don't have to prove myself to anyone. I have my own battles with myself already, they don't have space in the war zone. Only those people who genuinely happy for me, love me, and supports me, matter. I used to be a people pleaser and I was too hard on myself because I absorbed and allowed their opinions to dictate how I feel, and that's the worst. I thank God that He helped me during my self-love journey. I still feel down of course...I embraced it, feel it a bit then shrug it off and fight again in life.

This year, July is a wake-up call for me. I think I wasted too much time looking for apps and sidelines that I almost forget how to live. Setting too many goals that became unrealistic because we only have 24 hrs a day haha. Alangan hindi ako magsleep? hahaha. I made a new habit and routine 2 days ago, it's a big change for me. Gonna share with you my normal everyday routine before, my not so healthy lifestyle.

- Wake up around 8:00 a.m., (I used to wake up at 10 or 11 before, but I'm slowly changing my sleeping habits and my goal this month is to wake up at 7 am.)

- Drink water

-Sometimes I eat breakfast, most of the time don't

- Sit in front of my laptop and work until night

- and never-ending procrastination

I spent most of my time working but I'm not focused, I easily get distracted and my friend is staying with us since last year. We are in the same room and I'm so stressed because he has calls and sometimes listens to upbeat music. It stresses me out, I need to do something so I moved to mom's sewing area, I have space here now because they moved sewing machines in our house in Bulacan. Having my own space is very important to me. I need space where I can focus alone. Working at home for many years requires a lot of self-discipline.

That's why I set a 4-hr deep work every day session. My ultimate goal is to consistently complete 4 hrs. of DEEP WORK per day at the same time each day. I chose 1-4 pm. Focusing deeply without other extra activties. I started yesterday and I love it, I have plenty of time for my slow pace lifestyle. in the morning and evening. I even finished the task that I set that I've been delaying for weeks now.

I love this idea. Slow living every morning. Enjoying my breakfast, doing some chores, I'm back to yoga too, specifically the Surya Namaskar, either morning or afternoon. At night journal time, guitar practice time, and other things that I want to do.

It's effective and I want to make it a habit. That's why I write my article in the morning, and publish it before lunch, coz I need to deep work for 4hrs and set my other activities at night. Claiming that July is really my month haha.

Do what makes you genuinely happy. Stay humble. Stay healthy.

Thanks for dropping by. Stay safe ❤