Yes, we entered college, yet it just isn't what it was cracked up to be and it is really taking a toll on our mental health.

Long nights, early mornings, heavy drinking, a lot of alone time while every one else is at class, a sh*t ton of responsibilities you might not have previously had, more down time than you know what to do with... I could literally continue this list forever.

Plus, couple this with the ever growing landscape of social media where we are constantly comparing our lives to every one else's lives, or perceived lives, and it's just not a good combo at all.

​It's like every day is another jab at your sanity and even after just a year or two you can be very lost and honestly pretty sad, at least that's where I found myself.

I took my happiness upon myself rather than trying to find it through other people, and I would love to help you start doing the same!

So, let's jump in and get you started.

​​Oh yeah, and welcome to the gym! MMNTM (/mo-men-tum/) is the first of its kind... a gym for your mind. From mental clarity, better problem solving, happiness and just a more positive mindset, think of each blog post as a "training' for your mind, much like at the gym. Plus, "workouts" are coming soon so stay tuned, that will be dope!

If you are new here or a returning member, thanks for the continued support! @yourmmntm on all social platforms if ya would like to follow!

Let's get to the post now.

I'm pretty sure this list could be different for every person, so I just wanted to touch on what I have experienced the most in my life as well as have witnessed throughout the years of interacting with our peers.

First off, I think one of the biggest reasons for unhappiness I have seen and personally experienced is when we put all our happiness in external things and especially in other people.

When you can't find happiness on your own and have to rely on your friends or significant others for your happiness, you are never really going to be happy.

Why? Because the amount of time in your life that you spend with yourself far out weighs the amount of time you spend with other people, just think about at work, studying, working out, in the mornings and evenings before bed, etc. If you can't find happiness within yourself, you are going to struggle deeply whether you want to admit it or not.

This is especially true in relationships when the two partners happiness relies solely on how well the relationship is going. Relationships are supposed to be about two people coming together to be "partners in crime," in a sense and teach and grow with each other.

When there are no factors of happiness outside of the relationship, then there is pressure that is put on each partner that doesn't need to be there. Happiness in a relationship is essential but it should not be solely on one partner to make the other happy.

Another major thing I see causing unhappiness is the amount time we are spending on social media comparing our lives to what we think others are living like. You do realize people only post what they want you to see on social media, right?

Finally, this last one might be a little confusing but I will explain it: people are unhappy when they are just doing the easy sh*t.

​Just think about it, there is only so much Netflix you can watch before that really isn't making you happy anymore. That extra 3 hours just doesn't have the same impact on your happiness as the first hour, so you just keep watching more and more. But, with only so many waking hours in the day, you run out of hours.

Without the responsibility in your life yoiu have nothing that is challenging you and having those things that challenge you can actually make you much more happy.

Why?

Because when you start overcoming those challenges, you show yourself that you are capable of much more than you think, boosting that confidence and happiness.

What better time than in college and in our 20's to build that discipline to do the hard things too, because you likely have a ton of free time on your hands.

Well, yeah it's pretty much the rise of social media technology and the amount of time people are spending alone rather than with other people.

Yes, I know I said you do need to spend time alone and be happy even if you are alone but human interaction is essential to happiness, you can't argue that one it is just a fact. You need those close relationships in your life in order to be more happy and the rise of technology is trying to replace those human too human interactions. Whether we realize it or not, some of this convenience technology is actually impacting our happiness.

I also mentioned social media a little above but it is worth mentioning again as many of us spend hours a day on it looking at what every one else is doing and how their life is "so much better than ours." 

Even though all you see is essentially the "highlights" of their life rather than actually how they are living. Even if we were seeing how they were living, who cares? It isn't your life and you could be working on doing similar things if you weren't spending all day on social media.

Speaking of spending all day on social media, imagine instead of spending all that time on social media, you take the time to do some hard stuff and work on your goals.

Everyone is trying to just get through classes, how about you actually take the time and discipline to learn something, weird thought but you are paying all that money so might as well!

A lot of the time I had found myself unhappy I had no discipline in my life and no goals I was going after. Trust me you can sacrifice those nights out at the bars for some REAL happiness, it's a good trade-off I promise.

Okay, I added this section just to talk about a major thing that I see as I go to a private school and many people put probably more emphasis on social status and material things than they probably should. Maybe that's different at your school, but this is what it is like at my school.

The amount of kids I see saving all their money to buy that Gucci belt or expensive shoes is actualluy insane. Either they are thinking that social status they get from having that item or that item itself will make them happy and they are very mistaken.

After doing the same thing and buying some nice items of clothing, backpacks and shoes, I realized that it just seems like another item after a while and you really don't care what brand it is.

And I can assure you that nobody else cares about the brand as much as you think they do.

So, save the money for yourself and use it to make real memories like taking a trip or having good experiences. The things will definitely not make you happy.

I'm not saying you can't buy these things, as I also enjoy a nice shoe still, I am just saying you should just see it as a shoe and not an end all be all to your happiness search.

I know I have already touched on the other few so I reserve this section solely to that first bullet point: Don't go chasing an end result.

(I will have a full blog post on this tomorrow so stay tuned for that as well:
yourmmntm.com/blog)

While we jump into most things in life to solve a problem and get to an end result, whether that be to get back in shape, make more money, have a better relationship, etc., we can't focus on the end result being the only time we will be happy.

In reality, if we are really trying to find happiness we have to start finding it in the process rather than just the end result.

If you are only going to be happy when you are shredded and in shape from your workouts, then after four months and you aren't seeing the results you thought that you would, super fast, then you are going to get mad and likely stop working out as much thinking "it doesn't really matter."

When if you would just find happiness in showing up every day and putting in the work, you are going to stick to your goals and be much more happy as you are not reserving your happiness for after you get the result.

It's a win win as the odds are more in your favor of actually reaching your goal and you will be more happy.

Sample workout time! If you are new here, a sample workout is where I show you how to apply some principles in a "workout" form to make it easy to start and understand!

​Exercise #1: No Sugar or Alcohol This Week
Reps: 1x
Duration: 1 week
Why?: It is not easy to do this at this point in our lives and it is a great way to start doing the "hard sh*t" while also clearing brain fog.

Exercise #2: Get off Social Media for the first and last hours of the day.
Reps: Every day
Duration: At least a week
Why?: When you aren't reacting to others lives right away in the morning you start living your life more and more.

Exercise #3: Meditate
Reps: 2x per day (morning and evening)
Duration: 20 minutes
Why?: Always good to focus on meditation while searching for happiness, it will help you ground yourself and live more in the poresent rather than stressing over the future or regreting the past.

Exercise #4: Go outside
Reps: 1x per day
Duration: 1 hour
Why?: You really can't beat what going outside does for your mental health. Those UV rays are essential so get with it.

Thanks again for stopping by the blog, and look forward to seeing you back tomorrow for a great blog that I already hinted at. Stay tuned: www.yourmmntm.com/blog and @yourmmntm on social media.

-Taylor

Okay, right off the bat here you might be thinking that happiness is going to the beach all day, drinking margaritas and getting a tan. I mean it can't get better than that right? That's what everyone thinks they want when they retire so why should that not be the definition of happiness?!

Well, let me break that down for you, how happy will that actually make you?

Don't get me wrong, for about a week you actually might be happy sitting on the beach and drinking, likely with your significant other.

But after a week or two it is just going to be normal to do that and no longer are you looking forward to the beach, rather it is just part of your daily routine.

As you go to the beach more and more the return on happiness gets less and less, resulting in you needing to search for other things to make you happy.

Sure, you could go find another pleasurable activity to make yourself happy, yet the same thing  is just going to happen.

You will spend your whole life chasing happiness by doing pleasurable activities constantly and wondering why you aren't happy.

Maybe pleasure is not the answer to happiness. Even though it is very easy to just sit at home and watch Netflix, that is a temporary happiness "high" and eventually you are going to have to watch more and more Netflix to get that same return on happiness.

So, if you want to avoid this never ending cycle of trying to find happiness in the wrong places, this is the right place for you.

Even better, you don't have to give up all of your pleasure either, just adjust the focus of your life from purely pleasure to more of what I am here to talk about.

Oh, and by the way, welcome to MMNTM (/mo-men-tum/) the gym for your mind! Glad you stumbled upon this article as it has a principle that has helped me immensely in my own personal happiness and I hope it can do the same for you! Be sure to stop b y for the daily blogs at yourmmntm.com/blog

-Taylor

Now, let's get to it!

If your view of perceived happiness is laying on the beach, listening to music and getting drunk, you might want to read this whole article a couple of times.

Too many poeple are putting their happiness in the external world from more money to more likes and follows on social media to more clothes.

But, is thaty what really makes you happy?

It would be easy to say yes, because that is what everyone seems to value in society today but if you look at case stuidies across the world of people who have killed themselves after having all the money and clothes they could afford, you would come to the conclusiuon that that is not the case at all.

Happiness, to me at least, is an internal state that can't be derived from external factors, at least in the long run.

Sure, another hundred followers will make you happy for a few hours maybe, but eventually you just won't care that much because whats the difference between 1,000 and 1,100 followers, really not much.

Or, will that Netflix actually make you happy when you have more productive things to be doing? Sure, the temporary happiness might last a night from it but the feeling of having the discipline to get what you need to done, will last much longer.

Especially if you do the hard sh*t on a daily basis.

Well, I can't say I am some perfect human being and right away in life I realized that happiness was not just purely pleasure, but I did in fact find that out the hard way after an emotionally stressful j-term in college one winter.

After a long winter of doing nothing but watching Netflix, drinking, going to the gym (pretty pleasurable for me), and essentially doing no real type of work while I was on break from college, I was the most unhappy I have probably ever been.

I just couldn't figure out why because it seemed like I had no real reason to be unhappy with so much free time and pleasure in my life.

That's when I started testing things, I mean I had the time so why not... plus I have always been into building new habits, it was time to slowly start finding some habits that brought me happiness.

After some months of testing, adding habits such as taking walks every day, writing blog posts, hitting the gym even harder, running, taking cold showers and picking back up my reselling hobby for a little side cash, I finally started to put the pieces together on what was and wasn't working for my happiness.

And guess what it was?!

​The habits and actions that were contributing the most to my happiness werre actually the ones that were much less pleasurable. They were the things that really took discipline and thought, not the easy stuff at all.

Isn't that crazy, the things that I wanted to do the least were the ones that helped me the most mentally.

It was the hard days at the gym, waking up early to go on walks, taking the time to put in work on the blog and so much more that were actually contributing the most to my happiness.

Sure it is kind of self explanatory that hope and goals can bring you happiness as they give you a more positive mindset with something to work towards in the future, but you aren't here for those obvious answers... So let's talk about discipline.

​You might think that the total opposite is true, the less discipline you have, the more happy you will be because you will not have any responsibility, but that is not the case at all, just read the quote at the beginning of the blog again.

When you lack discipline in your life, you start to feel like sh*t because you really aren't headed towards any goals and you won't be seeing any results without discipline, and you are essentially just letting life happen.

When you have no control of your life, you stay in the same place, never growing, your life becomes very boring because the pursuit of goals is what brings the most happiness, and without discipline it is kind of hard to pursue your goals.

This happens to many people, they have a great idea and set a goal, yet that as far as they get. they just like the idea of having a goal, not the actual work because it is actually hard (weird haha). But, the hard sh*t can lead to the most happiness.

It should be common sense, just think about it, what will bring more happiness: thinking about a goal forever or actually doing the hard work to reach a goal and feel accomplished?

Exactly.

And discipline is the bridge that you need to get from idea to results, there is no execution or results without discipline.

Obviously thinking about your goals and your dreams can make you feel good, for a little while at least, and it is a hell of a lot easier to just think about it than actually do the work.

I can assure you that is not what you want though, unless you aren't trying to actually reach your goals, you do you I guess.

Discipline is what leads to your action towards those goals that can actually help you achieve them, and I can assure you that going after your goals is way more beneficial for your happiness than just thinking about them.

Even if you don't reach all of them, just the process alone and the discipline you create helps your happiness significantly as you are proving to yourself what you are capable of and what you can accomplish.

And this applies to discipline in any area of your life, start building it in work, school, relationships, the gym, etc.

Discipline is going to feel like the hardest thing ever at first but just stick with it and it leads to the process of reaching your goals and that process can 10x your happiness alone.

If you need to put this discipline thing into perspective here, let me play out a few different scenarios for you here.

Let's say you keep on doing what you are doing in college or just out of college right now, just showing up for work or class every day and not really caring or just getting by so you can pay the bills or graduate.

You come home and think about this cool thing you want to work on but end up getting distracted on Netflix or by your friends to go out and drink for the third time this week.

Obviously, it is easier and more enjoyable to go out and drink, so you choose that. The thing is, you choose this same thing every single week and next thing you know, you are graduating with no idea what you are doing, after wasting all that money on school.

Or you are twenty years into your career, still hating it but you have to keep it now because you have to support your family and pay for that one trip to Florida every year.

You never chose to find discipline and while it may have been fun at the time, you are past that stage now and the after effects of that lack of discipline have carried to this next stage in life.

But, if you chose to be disciplined starting today, you could have had the after effects work in your favor.

Instead of partying and watching Netflix all the time, you started doing everything that you thought was hard, on a day to day basis.

Next thing you know you have consistent habits that discipline has built and you are starting to see some more results in your life and waking up every day feeling amazing because you are actually getting things done.

This feeling amazing leads to better mental health and more happiness as you are starting to see the positive in things rather than just laying around and being negative.

Next thing you know you are checking off damn near every one of your goals and more importantly loving the process that it takes to get there.

Sometimes the struggle and discipline are actually much more enjoyable, to an extent, than just sitting around and watching Netflix all day.

It's your life, live how you want, but I am definitely choosing the path less taken: building discipline.

Thanks again for stopping by the blog, a true pleasure every time you guys read and gain some value from it! Keep up with everything on our social media @yourmmntm and join the gym for more daily content.

Guess what? Memberships to this mind gym are free too, just show top on the blog every day!

-Taylor

I'm, glad you clicked on this article, because even if you don't think your stress is hurting your mental clarity and you are functioning "just fine," you are dearly mistaken.

Most likely the people that think they are functioning "just fine," haven't ever realized what it is like to work with more mental clarity and have a better mind to make decisions.

And I was in that same boat until I actually started to release some of the stress in. my life and body was it a game changer...

That is what this article is all about, not trying to convince you that your stress in life is bad, but to suggest what mental clarity and happiness you might be missing out on while you hold all of that stress in your life.

Let's get this started :)

Well, I could talk about how school, work and/ or your relationships are causing stress in your life, but that is already obvious.

Have you ever thought about things such as your mindset causing stress in your life? Or even habits such as using social media for hours a day? Didn't think so...

​What about if I told you something as simple as checking your phone right away in the morning could lead to stress throughout the day because this sets the tone that you are going to respond to others and not be in control the rest of the day, rather just reacting to what hapepns to you.

Or even that things that happened years ago, such as a break up, could still cause stress in your life today if there is still emotions attached to that person and you are worried about what they are doing on a day too day basis rather than just living your life.

These are just a handful of examples of things that cause stress without you realizing them, everyone has their different stressors, you have too figure out what yours are.

​(really dive deep, if you don't that stress will still be there)

Again, not here to talk about the obvious so yes, stress can cause anxiety but that is not the main focus.

What is the main focus is what this stress can do to our mental edge and mental clarity because if these things are wack and out of line, then the rest of our life will be not optimal as well.

Our mindset is the foundation to the rest of our life, we have two keep that in line and stress is not the move if you are trying to do that.

Stress can cause major brain fog which is actually kind of hard to "diagnose" per say, and many people don't even realize they have it until they feel what it is like without that brain fog.

When we are experiencing brain fog, we don't have the best decision making ability and can be a little confused on our goals, overall we just aren't thinking at optimal levels and that impacts the action that we are taking.

Oh, and guess what else is impacted in our lives when we have too much stress? Our sleep and with a lack of sleep, or quality sleep I should say, our brains are not going to be functioning at optimal levels, leaving many opportunities in your life on the table.

We really don't have to be wandering around life all confused and not really sure what is going on in our day to day lives. Just kind of following the patterns that we have set in place and not really giving too much thought about them.

But guess what? Those patterns obviously haven't worked in the past so why would they work now? That's insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

​Now Imagine if you were able to wake up, clear goals in mind and be able to take action mnore easily towards those goals?

How about waking up asnd not actually still feeling tired, bet that is a new one to you!

Even being able to think through problems more clearly without being easily distracted or lose focus.

Yes, stress can help all of that and then even more as well.

And no, I'm not done. Here is an actual plan on how to get started... in my favorite format: a "workout for your mind."

Exercise #1: Put that phone away for the first hour of your day.
Reps: 1x per day
Duration: 1 hour
Why?: Time too start living your own life and not just reacting to everything that happens to you, you will just be more stressed the second you turn on your phone between work and comparing your life to others on social media.

Exercise #2: No electronics for 1 hour before bed
Reps: 1x per day
Duration: 1 hour
Why?: Time to sit with your thoughts, get better sleep to reduce stress and maybe even time to try this next exercise...

Exercise #3: Meditation (ideally outside)
Reps: 1-2x per day
Duration: 20 minutes
Why?: One major stressor is living in the past, time to bring yourself to the present moment and embrace new opportunities.

Exercise #4: Evening walk without technology
Reps; 1x per day
Duration: 30+ minutes
Why?: Sometimes you need to "stop and smell the flowers," literally. This is one of my favorite ways to live more in the present and appreciate what's around me rather than be constantly stressed about the future.

Thanks so much for another great day on the blog an will look forward to seeing you back tomorrow at yourmmntm.com/blog

Also, @yourmmntm on social media if you have any comments or questions!

​-Taylor

I know you probably are already hitting the gym a handful of times each week, especially in college when we have so much extra time to stay in shape, but why not spend a little of that extra time working our your mind as well?

(Don't worry it will only cut into a little bit of your Netflix time and the results are well worth the effort)

We put so much time in working out in the gym, where we can see the results and that is what keeps us coming back.

How about doing something that has results you can feel as well?

Less stress, better problem solving, clearer thinking, more happiness and just a more positive mindset that can lead to many opportunities coming your way.

Sounds pretty great right?

That is just a FEW of the benefits I have seen while training my mind. It is time you look into starting some workouts for your brain as well, it has one of the best ROI's you will find in your 20's!

Yes, much like your muscles can grow as you workout and have a balanced diet that supports your workout routine, your brain can "grow" in a sense as well when you do simple workouts, some of which you might already be doing.

The brain is formed of many neural connections and as you practice new and challenging things in terms of habits, consciousness and mindsets, you are going to build new neural connections and essentially be "growing" your brain.

Crazy, right?

So, why don't treat the brain like we do any other muscle in our body? Why do we just think our mindsets and brains are the way that they are and there is no way to change them?

Essentially we can break down why we workout physically at the gym into a handful of categories such as:

• To open up new opportunities 
• To be healthier
• To feel "better"
• To attract other people
• To build self confidence

And these are a lot of the reasons why we spend countless days in the gym over the course of the year, in order to see and feel these results in our day to day life.

What if I told you you could essentially double the results relating to these categories that you are getting in the gym by training your mind every day as well?

Well, you can and should be if you are putting in your mindset training own the daily, just like your re hitting the gym on the daily.

With a more positive mindset you will start to attract better people into your life, because who doesn't love being around positive people, and you will start to see yourself find a little more happiness as you aren't looking at your life through such a negative lens.

I am not saying the results are going to come super fast but if you stay consistent with training and "workouts" they will come, much like in the gym.

To start you off, I'll give ya a sample workout at the bottom of this blog so keep reading for that! Also, keep reading and learning about more workouts on yourmmntm.com/blog or yourmmntm.com/workouts!

It is just not something they are putting emphasis on in their daily lives, mostly because they either have never come across something like MMNTM to open top their minds about the topic or they have never seen the results it can have on the challenges they are currently having in their lives.

With the rise of social media has come an unseen repercussion, the effect that it is having on our mental health and mindsets.

We spend hours each day on these platforms comparing our lives to others, constantly dreaming but never talking action and constantly seeing how everyone seems to have it figured out but you.

Even if you realize that social media only shows what people want you to see about their lives, it still has had damaging effects on our mindsets over the years.

While I am not saying that this is the only reason for poor mindsets and lack of happiness as I have seen in so many peers my age, it is without doubt a contributing factor.

What you might not realize though is that these simple trainings can be almost a cure for those problems around lack of happiness, positive moods, energy and more. Or at least these can help to lessen these problems over time.

Imagine waking up and not thinking about all the problems you have and rather all of the opportunities that you are going to tackle today. 

Or being able to let go of the past and be less anxious about the future so that you can live more in the present, the only thing that really matters at any certain point of time.

Or even getting better sleep or having better relationships.

Or also producing better work, in school and at your job which can lead to new opportunities in the future.

I could go on forever...

The bottom line here is that your mindset and mental health is at the foundation of everything in your life, essentially it is controlling your life and so many people don't realize that.

Once you take control of your own mind and thinking, you will start to see a whole new light I life that you really never thought possible.

Workout to be performed in the morning ideally.

Exercise #1: Keep your phone plugged in.
Duration: 1 hour
Repetitions: 1x
Why?: Don't be responsive in the morning, set the tone for your day and take control of it right away instead of responding to other people and their lives. This is your life, live in it.

Exercise #2: Stretching/ Yoga
Duration: 10 minutes
Repetitions: 1x
Why? To wake the mind up in a peaceful way, not stressful and get the body moving a little bit.

Exercise #3: Drink 16oz Water (super easy)
Duration: However long it takes to finish in line sitting.
Repetitions: 1x
Why?: You're brain is mostly made up of water, you need to hydrate right away in the morning as well as during the day. This makes sure you start the momentum on the right foot rather than pushing it off.

Exercise #4: Meditation
Duration: 15-30 minutes
Repetitions: 1-2x (morning and add evenings if you would like)
Why? There are many benefits that you really can only reach with meditation, mainly we are going to want to start out with just reaching the present moment and focusing on our breath and detaching from our bodies to experience our consciousness.

Exercise #5 (option 1): Walking with a podcast
Duration: 30 min-1 hr (depending on how much time you have)
Repetitions: 1x
Why?: What better way to both increase the UV light exposure in order to increase your happiness, experience a great morning as well as learn something while you're mind is still fresh and not full of all the thoughts for the day?

Exercise #5 (option 2): Technology free walk
Duration: 30 min- 1 hr (also depends on how much time you have)
Repetitions: 1x
Why?: Sometimes letting your mind wander is one of the hardest things too do but it is essential in order to increase creativity. I will be the first to tell you this is harder than you think without music, podcasts, your phone or smart watch. 

Exercise #6: Gratitude Journal
Duration: 5 minutes per repetition
Repetitions: 2x (once morning and once evening)
Why?: In order to start getting rid of the negative self talk in your life you actually have to start thinking positive thoughts, crazy right? Write a handful of things, experiences, people, etc that you are grateful for and why.

Exercise #7: Wish happiness to others
Duration: However long it takes you to wish happiness to three people
Repetitions: Every hour you are awake
Why? Same reason as #5, you need to change the way you are looking at life, especially those around you who you might not be too fond of.

Thank you so much for another great night on the blog, look forward to seeing your tomorrow on yourmmntm.com/blog hope you actually try out the "workout" above this next week and let me know how it goes--> @yourmmntm on all things social media

-Taylor

So many people tell us that after high school you are going to have the best four years if your life in college. Well now you might be just starting, deep into those four years or even graduated yet you still feel lost and struggling to find happiness.

I know that was the case for myself as well as may other college students in today's day and age with the mounting social pressures and pressures to figure out what you want to do.

You see all of your "friends" on social media living what seems to be the perfect life and you are sitting there and wondering where you are going wrong. Actually you aren't going wrong anywhere, it is totally normal to feel the way you are feeling, especially with social media now.

Social media leaves us comparing our day to day lives with the highlight reels of other peoples' lives and when you do that day after day for hours on end, it puts you at a tough spot mentally.

I know for sure that I was at a horrible spot mentally and while social media was a large part of that, it wasn't the only thing and it actually wasn't the biggest thing I had to fix in order to find some more happiness in my day to day life.

I needed to stop living in the past or stressing about the future, rather just trusting the present and glancing at the past for lessons and using the future as guidance.

These are some of the things that helped me reconnect more with the present and start finding more happiness in my day to day.

Okay one MAJOR thing that we have to discuss before jumping into these techniques, you are not going to be happy 100% of the time, nor do you necessarily want to be.

The days that you are not as happy help you appreciate the better days even more, you experience a good amount of growth and realization on the down days as well.

These are not some techniques to never be unhappy again, because honestly that is damn near impossible to do, learn to ride the waves of ups and downs with a less downs and even better ups.

That is the most important thing, to have the tools that work for YOU to be able to better "surf" that waves of happiness and find a little clearer mindset throughout your day to day life as I have been able to.

Let's get to it now, time to learn how to surf:)

This seems easy as f**k but honestly, for me at least, it has been one of the hardest to actually put into practice.

You constantly feel like you are missing out on something or that you are going to miss an important text. I was constantly dying to look at my phone during the hours that I wasn't supposed to be on it.

Let's be honest, if you put your phone down for even an hour or two, you are not likely going to miss an important text message or call or even social media post. 99% of notifications on your phone are nowhere near urgent, yet we all treat them as the most urgent things in our lives.

We respond right away, constantly look at what other people are doing and are so focused on other people that a lot of us forget that we have our own lives to live.

Why are we going to spend hours a day obsessing over other people's lives or constantly reacting to whatever notifications pop up on our phone that second?

We aren't, we are going to start living for ourselves.

​Spend the first hour of the day off of your phone and go on a walk, meditate, workout, do something other than respond and react to what everyone else is doing in their lives. Take control of your decisions and don't be reactive first thing in the morning. 

This is a total game changer for your mindset and happiness as you actually start living your own life.

Also, try shutting that phone off an hour before you sleep. You will get a deeper and more restful sleep when you don't have those blue and white UV lights in your eyes right before bed and being off of your phone will help trigger more melatonin production to help you fall asleep.

GOOD sleep is hands down one of the most important factors to mindset and happiness. A great foundation to build off of is to change that sleep habits first when tackling your happiness and mind as your sleep is usually all kinds of messed up!

Unless you have a job that requires you to be outside all day, I would venture to guess that the amount of time you spend outside on a daily basis, especially during the week days, is very limited.

I know that if I didn't force myself to go outside and find some outdoor hobbies at certain times of the day, then I would definitely not be outside more than just walking to class and in and out of the gym.

The UV light that you get by just going outside for an hour or two a day (which is actually easier than it sounds) works wonders on your mood and mindset each day, especially when you get that essential UV light at the right times of the day.

The morning is a super important time for me to get outside and not only get UV exposure but also wake myself upon a little bit with a nice walk. This gets you moving and not on a screen right away in the morning which helps you take control of your day and feel accomplished early on in the day.

After that morning walk, or run, whatever floats your boat, you are going to feel like you are in control of your day as well as increase that happiness as you are living in the present starting out right away in the morning.

This habit has been the one to help with my happiness so much more than others, sometimes its some fresh air, natural UV light and some time off from responding to others and your phone that is all you need to start seeing a slight shift in your mood.

I actually never would have thought of this to be a problem that related to my happiness until I was reading a book, blanking on the name at the moment, that was talking about how we need person to person connections in order to really find happiness.

That was my problem and I believe many others our age struggle with it as well. Social media is acting like it can replace person to person interaction by giving you interactions through a screen, and while it can do that, is that what we really want?

Texting, messaging or Snapchatting cannot replace the genuine feeling of interacting to people in the "real world," even though we like to pretend that it does. You just can't develop the same relationships through a screen that you can when you are with a person face to face. 

Yet, so many of us think that we can, leaving use a massive void that we can't even recognize the root cause for.

This is a case where'd technology is useful but should never be a replacement to the real thing because that would be a sacrifice to our happiness.

You have probably heard this everywhere when you think about creating new habits from a new website that you might be stumbling across, like yourmmntm.com, to a more popular course called the Miracle Morning.

Hearing about it and actually putting it to use are two different things, I would venture to say that many of you have never actually put it to use and it shows.

I was the same way, thinking "that's too simple and there iOS no way it would be worth my time to do that." Yet I was very wrong on that one.

By taking a few minutes in the morning to write about what you are grateful for in your life, from relationships to opportunities to your health, then you are starting to teach your brain to look for the goo din things.

For  myself and many others I know, a huge struggle has been around self talk and how we see our lives. I have ahed it where I have everything going for me and am working hard and then all of the sudden one thing sets off soigné negative in my brain and its a downhill spiral from there.

When you learn to master your internal dialogue, then you start to see the positive side of things and that leads to more opportunities but also more happiness in the long run.

Seeing everything in a negative lights takes a toll on you after a while and there is so much you are missing in life when your mind is not focused on the positive.

Piggy backing off my last technique of the gratitude journal, here is an even easier way to help you start controlling your inner dialogue with yourself.

Heck, so easy you don't even need a pen or paper like the journal.

Simply take 5 seconds every hour and wish two to three people happiness using some phrase along the lines of "I hope ____ is happy and healthy today."

This starts putting out positive energy into the universe and actually helps your happiness as well. 

It is even more effective when you wish strangers you are passing by on the road or walking, happiness as well as people who you might not like that much or that you have previously held a grudge against.

When you start hoping for other's happiness, especially others who you might not like as much" you start to focus on the positive, yet again, and train your mind to constantly be thinking and wishing about the positive in your life as well as the lives of others.

This is another easy step that is easily overlooked but you will really miss out if you don't give this a try.

While there is so much more I could talk about, I want to leave you with just one last technique that has helped my happiness and aI would hope helps yours as well.

Yet again, this can be categorized as "I have heard this before but have never tried it," seems to be a trend here if I don't say so myself as this has been another one that has helped my mindset and happiness the most.

​I kind of looked past meditation for the longest time, thinking that it wasn't for me because "I'm just a 20 year old, why would I need to meditate?"

Let me tell you why...

It seemed that no matter what I tried for my happiness aI was still missing that "one thing" and that one thing happened to be meditating. When you add this to your deck of cards for controlling your mindset and happiness, and find the right combination for yourself, you are essentially on track for massive mindset improvements.

The thing that I realized was that I was dwelling on the past too much and then I was super stressed about the future, essentially one or both of these things were in my mind on a consistent basis during the day.

If you are constantly regretting what you could have done or what you don't have, then you are going to be depressed and not focused on fixing the underlying issues in your life causing these mindsets.

Same goes for if you are constantly thinking about the future and how you don't really know what you want to do. 

Well, guess what? Nobody really knows what they want to do for their whole life because that is almost impossible to predict in this ever changing world. rather figure out what you are passionate about during this time in your life and roll with that.

Both of these mindsets have one major problem associated with them, when you are wrapped up in this thinking then you never take control of what you can actually change and that is the present moment.

We have control of the present and neither the past nor the future matters when you live and act based off of your present moment.

And guess what helps you live more in the present and stress less? Meditation.

Yep, you don't need to be someone hippy dude or even an old woman to practice meditation, it is actually much more common than you think, people just don't talk about it.

Give it a try for 10-30 minutes a day, ideally twice a day (morning and before bed), and start to see some real changes.

I usually just look up meditations on YouTube as guided ones are a great place to start, plus they are free and we love free as college students :)

I really hope that you find some value in this post as it has helped my mindset and happiness so much, opening up many more opportunities for me this past year personally.

I look forward to hearing what you guys think below and let more know if you try any of these strategies out.

look forward to seeing you back tomorrow on yourmmntm.com for another blog!

​-Taylor

"Really Taylor? You think that I can't figure out how to take a walk by myself?"

No, I actually really hope that you can figure that part out on your own.

What I do hope is that you can realize how impactful this everyday walk can be, if you do it "right." Yes, right is in quotations because everybody is going to have a different "right," I am just going to show you why you need to be stepping up your walking game.

Walk in the morning, walk at night, I really don't care, just realize that there is much more to walking than the physical benefits. Walking can help you craft your mindset and help you mentally as well, which adds a whole new dimension to just your average walk in the park.

If you are not gaining more mental clarity, finding more happiness, developing some sick ideas and pushing your comfort zone on your walks, then you are doing your walks all wrong.

I am here to change that, time for all for all of us in our twenties and beyond to start walking, it is a game changer mentally.

Sure, burning a more than a few calories is a great reason to start walking, there are a million articles out there on why that is so I really encourage you to check those articles out (after this one of course).

I don't wan't to talk about the physical benefits of a walk here, rather I want to talk about what a walk can do for you mentally.

First things first, we as humans were made to be moving at a consistent pace throughout the day as we evolved from walking miles each day for food and water. So, naturally we are not meant to be sitting around all day staring at a screen and then maybe for 20 minutes ti an hour, a few days a week, getting a hard workout in.  Walking more during the day helps us move how our bodies were meant to move.

Next, how much UV light are you getting on a day to day basis? No the office or classroom lights don't count. 

For many of us, the extent of the natural UV light we get throughout the day consists of walking into and out of our house, the office, school and where ever else you happen to go that day.

A walk can help you increase that UV exposure, especially right away in the morning when you wake up, and help get our brain functioning better and get our bodies back into a good circadian rhythm. This is going to help us sleep better and find more energy throughout the day, The lights you stare at on your computer on a day to day basis are causing you to lose that deep sleep and making you tired the rest of the next day. Get outside and get some of that natural UV, the brain loves it.

​A lot of us also use walks a s a time to catch up on podcasts and learn more about whatever is peaking our interests. This is a perfect time to do so because you can learn while doing an activity that keeps the part of your brain that controls motor functions busy, allowing you to absorb more and more information. I always seem to learn better this way even if I am driving and not walking, keeping the brain centers that control motor functions busy while you learn is essential.

So, that was just a few ways that walks can help you that you definitely haven't thought about before.

How about learning to really get that mental edge on a walk now?

It seems that nobody really talks about the mental benefits of taking a walk each and everyday, or it just get mentioned and never explained.

That mental edge consists of learning from podcasts as I had previously mentioned but there is so much more to getting that edge mentally than just learning something new.

Use this for example, maybe you are out of shape or don't move much and a mile walk seems like the hardest thing in the world, maybe even the last thing you would want to do. 

Then, you push yourself to take that walk and its hard as hell but you just put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, expanded your comfort zone and if you start doing this enough you can train your mind to start being a little more comfortable in uncomfortable situations. This is something that can help you in so many other areas of life than from your career to traveling an experiencing a new culture, it opens up so many opportunities.

So, maybe you just laughed because a mile walk is easy as hell for you. That's fine, there is other ways to get you outside of your comfort zone on a walk too. Start going on walks when it is pouring rain, when it is super cold or when it is super hot, just make sure to bring the proper gear. I bet you don't want to go on those walks. Start pushing yourself a little.

​Have you ever given yourself a chance to let your mind wander? Or appreciate the world around you, living more in the present? We all get trapped in our day to day lives, focusing all our energy on what is coming next or what has just happened and never stopping to see where we actually are.

Sure, it might sound a little out there or up in the clouds but obviously if you feel like you are missing something and reading this article, there is a reason and might as well try it out. Living more in the present has done wonders for both my mental health and brain function. When you are clearer on where you currently are and what is actually going on, without the lenses of your past or future, you can better make decisions for your life.

Even incorporate a waling meditation to your walks in order to start living a little more in the present and take a step back. Sometimes that is all you need to answer those questions you have been asking yourself or even solve the problems you have been working on.

All of this cultivates into a mental edge in your life. Whether that edge be learning more about yourself, about your industry or even just trying to get a clearer frame of mind to help you in your day to day life. There is a way to get ahead mentally from those around you and this is a free and easy way to start.

You may think that there really isn't a way to "f**k up" a walk and you may be right. But there is a way to not fully experience all that a walk has to offer.

Many people just go out with the intention of burning a few calories so they throw on some running shoes go on a walk around the same trails they always go on and then come home. Usually listening to the same playlist and you would be surprised how many people I walk by that are on their phones and not even looking at what is going on around them, even in the most beautiful places.

The problem with this is that it just becomes part of a routine, you aren't thinking about what you are doing anymore, you are just walking at the same time because "that is what you do." You are not thinking about why you want to take that walk today or what that walk is going to mean for you.

Is it a rainy day and you are still going to go out to make yourself uncomfortable? Or are you trying to de-stress and focus on nothing for a while while you take your walk?

​Plus, is someone is sitting on their phone the whole walk and just constantly taking in distractions on their phone, they are never going to actually take away anything from  the walk, even if they are listening to a podcast. They are likely to forget what they were listening to by the time the walk ends.

When you are on your phone you are never going to be able to get any of the mental edges that I talked about above because you are treating the walk as just another thing on the to do list rather than surrendering to the experience and going all in on what you are doing, not touching your phone the whole time so you really can think through problems or let your mind wander.

Not being distracted during your walks so you can experience what you are trying to experience is an easy thing to understand. What might be a little harder to understand is why you need a purpose behind your walks.

Just think about it like going to the gym, at first you know exactly why you are going to the gym and everyday is a challenge for you. Slowly, it starts becoming more of a routine rather than a challenge and eventually your results start to slow down because you have lost focus on WHY you are going to the gym. The only way to change that is to figure out that why again so you can change up the exercises and start pushing harder.

You need to understand the purpose of why you are doing something, don't just let it become a habit. When we let things become habits it just becomes second nature and we really stop pushing ourselves because we stop thinking about why we are doing something.

I have had this happen too many times when trying to add a new thing into my life to challenge me, it challenged me for a little bit but I ended up just plateauing after a while of repetition.

Apply this to your walks now, don't just let it fall into a habit and never really think about it ever again. Take a second to figure out what you want to get out of the walk and plan the walk accordingly based on the purpose behind the walk.

Are you trying to clear your mind? Appreciate the moment more so you can stop living in  the past? Learn something new? 

You have to decide that before the walk and plan accordingly.

What exactly does "plan accordingly" mean when it comes to planning your walk though? Well, it can be anything from how far you want to go, if you want to bring your phone or not to even if you want to meditate or let your mind wander for part of the walk.

For example, maybe you have a main focus for the walk about learning more about how you think and taking a step back to see what habits are holding you back that you really are having a hard time seeing. Maybe you are going to not bring your phone on the walk so that you can ponder with a walking meditation and really do a deep dive into this question without the distractions that come with a phone.

So, you plan out a route and then leave your phone at home. Simple as that.

Or, maybe you want to really learn more about this new industry that you are trying to enter so you plan out the podcast you want to listen to around that industry and then a route long enough to make sure you can finish that podcast. Maybe you want to think about what you just learned too so you add extra time to the walk in order to make sure you can finish the podcast and then take the headphones out and let your mind wander on what you learned.

There really isn't a whole ton that goes into planning your walk, it is a walk so it can't be too complicated. You just have to learn to match the goal for the walk with how you are going to execute it.

Finally, time to get to the good stuff, a few of my favorite things to add to any walk to give you that mental edge or even just make it a little harder. (In a nice list for ya too)

• Go further
• Go out when the weather is horrible: hot, cold, rain, wind, just make yourself uncomfortable (be safe though)
• Listen to different podcasts if you ares not already
• Do a walking meditation taking four seconds to inhale, holding for eight seconds and then taking 7 seconds to exhale.
• Leave the phone and music at home to let your mind wander
• Go a different way than you normally do or do your route backwards to get out of the routine.
• Go out with a topic that you want to think about and ponder that topic during the walk.

Walking is a super easy thing to get started and when you do it the right way and know why you are doing it, it can really give you a mental edge!

I hope this helped some and have a great rest of your night,
​Taylor