Written By Angela Mujukian
1.) Develop a routine. But first, coffee. Wake up, shower, coffee, repeat. Kiss your loved one(s) on your way out the door (furry beings, family, lover, or friend, etc.), go to work, school. Make a grocery list and laundry time and fit that in once or twice a week into your schedule. Add some "me" time in there! Schedule a girls nights or guys night, because we all need that quality time in our lives! Either try to make an effort to exercise early in the morning or after work/school or in between lunch breaks. Just make it happen, even if it's 30 minutes a day. Get work done, breathe, and repeat. Habits are what creates success. Good -- habits.
2.) Be productive. Be mindful. Throughout the day, think positive thoughts. If you're feeling overwhelmed or anxious, take a second to just -- breathe. Relax. It's all good. Tell yourself that everything is fine. You are becoming a better version of yourself each and every day by making an effort. Find peace within yourself. Try yoga, mindfulness, or Oprah's Chokra love, meditation experience.
3.) Get off that phone! Use social media in moderation. You have a job or school, check your social media profiles once a day, on your lunch break. Don't let it be the first thing you see in the morning or the last before you sleep at night. Living a quality life means living in the moment and not in cyberspace. Stop dwelling, stop searching, re-searching, stop "liking" for gratification. You DON'T need "likes" for validation of your worth. It's just an illusion that our compulsive behaviors need to stop feeding our egos and insecurities. You are ENOUGH.
4.) Be a human. Develop quality relationships. You don't need a hundred false friends, you just need a handful of real friends you can call sisters. So you need to vent? Tried journaling? Hugging your puppy or rag doll cat, and even the comfort of their furriness doesn't budge? Then pick up the phone and text or call your friends. Being "friends" on social media and liking some content is completely different than actually building a meaningful relationship with people, and meeting them in person to have an actual verbal or physical conversation with. In essence it takes out all the punctuations (why did she leave a period, how rude) or (why are his one word texts offensive) or (why does this person send extra long dramatic texts -- yes we all have that one friend, guilty). But less is more. Stop -- with the long messages. It's unnecessary, just stop it! Use emojis or texting capabilities to inspire or send out positive vibes to each other for support to create a more peaceful environment. Everything gets misconstrued and misinterpreted over texts, it creates arguments or leaves implied emotions that shouldn't be there in the first place. Pick up the phone or meet up with that physical human being! Lets all try to be humans, now.
5.) Create a vision board. Yes. A vision board. Post it up on your wall or office space, and glance at it every morning when you walk in. Write down a list of things you would like to accomplish in 2016, stare at it daily before you start working and come back to it by the end of the year.
6.) Yes, You CAN sit with us! Smile and be kind to others. Always. Bullying by "empowered" females whether in any aspect of the professional field is deemed non-humanitary. Many times these experiences shape the future of many adolescent females growing into women today. What separates the "cool kids" from the "nerds"? Even though those nerds are going to be writing off your paycheck stubs one day. Be a nerd! Being smart is more captivating, suave, and attractive than trying to fit in. We shouldn't discriminate or leave others in isolation because of our egos or the beliefs that you are better than the other person since we were all created equal. Being mean is NOT cool, classy or sexy by any means. We should be uniting as a female race and empowering and lifting up each other, not bringing each other down. Bless up or less up! As females, we are the minority, the "braniacs" and we shouldn't be creating an expansion or divide to let the race who perceives themselves as superior to stand against us as well.
7.) Pay it forward. You get what you give back to the universe. Whether that's positive energy and thoughts or acts of good deeds and kindness. Sign up for something you've never done before, whether that's serving women in a homeless shelter or making a small donation or even smiling when you walk passed someone on the street (no, not the LA/NY mad dog face, a genuine smile will do).
8.) Do what makes YOU happy, ultimately. So you thought you had to be a doctor or lawyer? In today's world, social media's climbing ladder of success envisions the latest MUAs and Lifestyle Bloggers as leaping forward, traveling the world, and not in any type of loan debt. The idea of happiness has a different level of measure. The idea of working hard has changed to some degree. This is not to discredit those who have pursued higher education but to encourage a well rounded and balanced lifestyle. Or if you're really persistent about it, you can have your cake and eat it too! You can balance both career and hobbies you've always wanted to do! Why not? Take the chance and do it! You CAN be a blogger on the side and have a career and be a wifey with kids. It may take you longer to get there, but the journey is worth it, and doable!
9.) Don't settle down unless you're ready. After all marriage isn't for everyone and just because all of your friends and family are getting engaged or popping babies doesn't mean you have to also. Focus on yourself, your career and goals and the right person will come into your life at the right time (and give you those butterflies). On the other hand, if you are planning a wedding and ready to settle down as a family, don't blow thousands of dollars on a ceremony to impress others. Save and use those gifts to travel the world on a destination vacation instead and purchase life experiences with your honey boo boo.
10.) You want to purchase that Saint Laurent YSL handbag or those Tom Ford sunnies, don't do it! It's not worth it. Create a bucket list and follow it! Don't give in to capitalism and consumerism, live on an island for a temporary amount of time. Go sky diving, explore Bryce Canyon, Northern Lights, Machu Picchu, ride elephants and pet tigers in Thailand, taste authentic bonchiks in Armenia -- travel the world. Material possessions don't buy happiness but experiences do!
This is YOUR life. Live it with meaning! Be YOU. Be beautiful.
Angela Mujukian is an M.D. Candidate at St. George's University School of Medicine and a co-author of 20 Beautiful Women, Volume 3 edition. Angela joined the Armenian American Female Physician Association to help young, premedical students and strong females like herself in the advancement of their career goals further empowering the uniting of women. Angela graduated from UCLA as an English major where she wrote for several newspapers as the Editor-In-Chief of Armenian Chronicles and Viewpoint Columnist/News Reporter for UCLA's Daily Bruin, trained by the LA Times. Angela joined the movement of 20 Beautiful Women to raise awareness and help others by sharing her struggles and journey to the rest of the world, uniting Sisterhood, and making the world a better place, one chapter or blog post at a time. Not only a medical student, but writer, and mentor the sky is not even the limit for Angela.