Written by Events Coordinator, Olivia D'Amico
If there’s one key takeaway I have from my adolescence, it’s that your mindset is the most powerful thing you can control. Whether you realize it or not, your mind is highly receptive to every thought you feed it – it is so important to nourish your mindset, especially during the times you find it the most challenging. The reason I make this claim is because I have seen the change in the person I am today from developing and working on my mindset over time.
In middle school, I struggled with self-confidence, overthinking and major anxiety. While I was still my outgoing self, I was highly pessimistic and I didn’t feel truly happy. Things started improving in high school, but right when I started to see light at the end of the tunnel, the COVID-19 pandemic hit in Grade 10. I was at an all-time low and felt hopeless. If there were 99 things to be happy about and 1 bad thing, I would focus on the single negative. I could have changed my focus and been grateful for all that was going well, but I decided to obsess and stress over what wasn’t going my way, in turn, making myself more miserable. Then one day when I was out with friends, I decided to purchase something new for the first time: Crystals. Yes, “magic” crystals.
At the time, I believed in the power and energy these crystals held because, frankly, it worked. I would wear a rose quartz necklace and write down positive affirmations in my journal. After doing this consistently, I felt surer of myself and started seeing the bright side of things. Looking back now, it was clearly the placebo effect, but hey, it helped! Little did I know, this was the start of me learning how to positively train my mindset.
“Focus on the good, and the good gets better”. This is one of the many phrases written a on sticky notes hanging above my desk that I remind myself of daily. Repeating sayings like this has allowed me to reframe my mindset, just how the crystals enabled me to do. Don’t get me wrong – I very much still face struggles and setbacks. Whenever I find myself feeling low, I practice gratitude. I journal everything I am grateful for, reminding myself of all the good life has to offer and what makes me special as a person.
As silly as it may sound, words of affirmation and gratitude journaling have transformed me into the self-confident, positive, and genuinely happy person I am today. Even when it seems like the world is working against you, being able to rework your mindset is a superpower to lift yourself out of dark times. It is a continuous journey, so please, be kind and patient with yourself <3