In my experience, the base of success in all walks of life stems from having a positive mind-set. Believe me, I will be the first one to say that this is easier said than done. Like many youths, I went through years of low-confidence, harsh experiences (kids can be mean!) and depression. I thought I was a failure. Truth be told, I do still have low days. We are human after all.

While I was reflecting on how far mentally I have come, I felt like it would be a good topic to write about. Maybe it can motivate a reader to challenge themselves and their thinking?

Challenges

Like many young people, I went through what I call the “awkward phase”.The tween years are those fragile years where you find yourself constantly experimenting with who you are or could be. There was the “emo” phase, having my eyes entirely covered by my fringe and relating so deeply with the character in “The Catcher In The Rye”, then came the “girly girl” phase with short skirts and poorly applied makeup…

For many years even prior to these transitions, I was very unsure of myself. As time went on and I had more involvement with my peers, I became less and less comfortable in my own skin. Small experiences (from all aspects of my life) gradually built up in my mind and without realization, they started to make my thought processes more and more negative. By mid to late teens, I had absolutely no confidence, I was always doubting my own capability and at this point began to more constantly self-harm.

Achieving self-assurance and self-love

It was only after I reached the bottom of the pit that I had a self-realization or an epiphany per say. I was so tired of this negative lifestyle and knew that if I didn’t make a change and fast, I would permanently lose myself and my blessed life.

I am fully aware that everyone is different, talking to people and professionals helped me temporarily ease the pain but it was ultimately up to myself to make the change. And I knew that I had to firstly begin to love myself in order to see a positive change in life.

I remember waking up one morning and telling myself that if I can’t be positive toward myself, if I can’t love myself, then I will practice it until I do! This was excruciatingly difficult in the beginning. The reason why I was successful was because I really did want to get better. I had certain aspirations and dreams that I knew would never come true if I stayed the way I was. So I pushed myself, and you know what? I realized that I was stronger than I ever gave myself credit for.

How I did it

“Practice makes perfect” became a central theme in my life.

I used to wake up every morning, look myself in the mirror and tell myself that I was a smart, intelligent and a well capable individual. That there was more to life than what I chose to see.

If negative thoughts could rule my life for so many years, surely the opposite end of the spectrum could positively transform my life? Slowly I began training myself to think positive, seeing the positive things around me rather than the negative, especially when it came to myself. I would always find myself leaning toward the negative in a situation, in that moment I would step back, assess my thoughts and look at the positives.  When my mind started to become aware of this “new” thought process, I began to see not only a positive change in my character but also of everything around me.

Where am I now?

In short, I have never looked back. Like I said earlier on, sometimes rough days get the better of me.I do get low but my mind knows how to pick itself up and see the positives through all the cracks. Being very young, I have many more experiences to go through that will be more challenging than what I have seen so far. However, now I have the tools to handle it! Through my eyes, over-coming these challenges have made me successful already.

The mind is a powerful tool and shouldn’t be under-estimated. If negative thoughts can bring you so far into despair, positive thoughts can bring you anywhere you put your mind to.

Have you gone through any such experiences of negativity in your life? If so, how did you overcome them? I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences!:)