

3 Tips To Get Out Of Your Own Way And Succeed
Life is made up of moments, and if we're not careful, we miss them. Working and living in the digital world can be emotionally debilitating at times.
It seems that every day there is a new tragic story of a school shooting or terrorist attack or hurricane, followed by an intense societal debate on Twitter or Facebook that lingers for days. It can consume your emotions quickly. At least, that's what happened to me. I lived in the tiny square spaces in my phone rather than the life happening right in front of me. I was focusing on how to be better for the digital world, not my actual world. I forgot how to live, breathe, and hustle, constantly focused on what others were doing or what they thought of my life.
Related: Why Taking a Break From Social Media Is Critical for My Self-Care Routine
On top of that, our culture ties success to your social standing. Due to that, a lot of people will tell you that how bad it is to take a break. To many people, success only looks one way and is only achieved one way.
But success means significantly more than the dollars in your bank account or titles on your resume (albeit, very nice).
Personal and professional success is built on others; the way you make them feel, the impact you have on their lives, the way you help those who can't help themselves. Success is more than the self-help articles allude to. It takes more than just working yourself ragged every day. Success looks so different at 29 than it did at 24, or even 27. It will look different at 40, 56 and 70. Here are some ways to get out of your own way and succeed:
Keep Challenging Yourself Against Your Own Standards
This is in regards to life, love, career, travel; challenge yourself in everything you do. It is imperative that you find your purpose and pursue it with ferocity. By living in fear, you give up on the potential of life. It creates self-doubt to a paralyzing degree. It's akin to signing the Terms of Agreement without actually reading the terms. "Don't do that, it won't end well." "Why would you go there? You know you won't enjoy it." Don't limit what you can do based on what someone told you. It creates self-doubt to a paralyzing degree.
A life based on others is not a successful life. Step out on fear and rely on yourself.
Relish In Your Hobbies
It's extremely difficult to feel good about being disconnected. I used to listen to my vintage collection of vinyl records every night but hadn't done so in about a year. I used to do small paintings to clear my mind but haven't touched a paint brush in years. Why? Because I'm too busy of course. Isn't that what we all say? Well, I'm calling bullsh*t and taking back my free time. You should, too. One night of wine-induced record listening provided me with a week's worth of energy to take to work. One Sip N' Strokes on a random Wednesday gave me the energy of three coffees from Starbucks. In those moments, I remembered the key to being successful, and that is me.
Always Double Check Your Friend Inventory
Friendships change over time, just like people. It's always been a personal obstacle finding worthy friends. Often times, I find myself invested in a relationship that is as one-sided as a police interrogation mirror. Young women need a tribe of supportive and empowering peers, not women trying to judge or compete. If you feel like a friend isn't genuine, you're probably right. Don't waste time trying to placate or value someone who doesn't care for you or doesn't support you; life's too short. By moving this person to the back of the theater, I learned I can still be there for that person; their negative vibes just won't influence my happiness anymore.
Not everyone needs a front row to your life, some people are best left in balcony seating.
When you put your phone down and jump into life, you amaze yourself. Forgotten are the newest likes on your photo, or how to get the right video for Snapchat; immediately you start living in the moment. You start to remember the things that make you happy, the things from your childhood that brought you immense pleasure and satisfaction. The sun shines a bit brighter, the grass smells a bit better. Sometimes all you need to succeed is nothing at all.
Featured image by Shutterstock
- Get Out of Your Own Way To Blogging Success – Corbett Barr ›
- Get Out of Your Own Way at Work . . . and Help Others Do the Same ›
- Getting Out of Your Own Way | Psychology Today ›
- 8 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Way (and Achieve Success!) - Essence ›
- Succeed at Work: How to Get Out of Your Own Way | Psychology ... ›
- How to Get Out of Your Own Way on the Path to Success | Inc.com ›
- 7 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Way and Get Things Done ›
- Get Out Of Your Own Way To Get Ahead. Here's How ›
Courtney is a contributing writer, based in Puerto Rico by way of Tennessee. Interested in the intersection of fashion and culture, she has an affinity for fashion, empowerment, and really good tacos. Keep up with her on Instagram (@hautecourtxo).
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Why Do Millennials & Gen-Zers Still Feel Like Teenagers? The Pandemic Might Be The Reason.
There’s nothing quite as humbling as navigating adulthood with no instruction manual. Since the turn of the decade, it seems like everything in our society that could go wrong has, inevitably, gone wrong. From the global pandemic, our crippling student debt problem, the loneliness crisis, layoffs, global warming, recession, and not to mention figuring out what to eat for dinner every night. This constant state of uncertainty has many of us wondering, when are the grown-ups coming to fix all of this?
But the catch is, we are the new grown-ups.
As if it happened without our permission, we became the new adults. We are the members of society who are paying taxes, having children, getting married, and keeping our communities afloat, one iced latte at a time. Still, there’s something about doing all these grown-up duties that feel unnaturally grown-up. Enter the #teenagegirlinher20s.
If there’s one hashtag to give you the state of the next cohort of adults, it’s this one. Of the videos that have garnered over 3.9M views, you’ll find a collection of users who are overwhelmed by life’s pressing existential responsibilities, clung to nostalgia, and reminiscent of the days when their mom and dad took care of their insurance plans.
@charlies444ngel no like i cant explain to her why i had to buy multiple tank air dupes from aritzia #teenagegirlinher20s #fyp
The concept of being a 20-something or 30-something teenager is linked to the sentiment of not feeling “grown up enough” to do grown-up things while feeling underprepared and even nihilistic about whether that preparation even matters.
It’s our generation’s version of when we ask our grandmothers how old they are and they simply reply with, “I still feel 45,” all while being every bit of 76 years old. In this, we share a warped concept of time while clinging to a desire for infantilization.
Granted, the pandemic did a number on our concept of time. Many of us who started the pandemic in our early or mid-20s missed out on three fundamental years of socialization, career development, and personal milestones that traditionally help to mark our growth.
Our time to figure out and plan our next steps through fumbling yet active participation was put on pause indefinitely and then resumed provisionally. This in turn has left many of us hanging in the balance of uncertainty as we try to make sense of the disconnect between our minds and bodies in this missing gap of time.
Because we’re all still figuring out what the ramifications of being locked away and frozen in time by a global pandemic will have on us as a society, there really is no “right” way of making up for lost time. Feeling unprepared for any new chapter of life is a natural rite of passage, pandemic or not. However, it’s important to not stay stuck in the last age or period of life that made sense to us because self-growth is the truest evidence of personal progress.
So whether you’re leaning on your inner child, teenager, or 20-something for guidance as you fill the gap between your real age and pandemic age, know that it’s okay to grieve the person you thought you would be and the milestones you thought you’d hit before you ever knew what a pandemic was. If there’s anything that the pandemic taught us, it’s that we have the power to reimagine a better world and life for ourselves. And if we tap into our inner teenager as a compass, we can piece together our next chapter with a fresh outlook.
Sure, we’ve lost a couple of years, but there are still some really amazing ones ahead.
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Featured image by Stephen Zeigler/Getty Images