Live for Yourself by Nivi

Not listening to yourself and only listening to others can lower your chances to achieve your true potential. 

It makes you lose motivation and the urge to keep moving forward, but once you realize how to actually listen to yourself when it’s necessary, it has a tremendous impact on your mental health, freeing you from stress and helping you feel proud of yourself. 

This boost improves almost every aspect of your life, making it extremely important to your wellbeing.

Often, I’ve been expected to live up to many standards, like being smarter than others or performing better in activities. This felt like a weight of pressure on me, forcing me to act in ways I was unable too. 

The first time I tried to learn just for myself, I adopted the mindset that whatever I was doing was for my benefit and not for others. This mental shift made me feel like that weight had been lifted off of me.  

With this freedom, many of my grades started to drastically improve. 

In a Psychology Today article, “Live Your Life for You, Not to Please Expectations” it states, “Expectations are an illusion—they add useless pressure to everyone. Let’s recover the joy of living.” 

This represents the idea that expectations toward yourself are like a mirage, making you think there is only one possible way to live your life. It’s like you’re holding up a huge boulder, with pressure adding up every second. 

This article goes on to explain, “Remember when you were a kid. You probably didn’t have time for expectations—you were busy enjoying life one minute at a time.” 

Living adulthood with the same mindset as when you were a kid will give you a more optimistic outlook on your responsibilities. This results in you feeling better about your projects. 

Once, when I was forced to work on something I didn’t want to do, I recurrently felt distracted and bored, making me unable to complete any work. It seemed like someone was constantly trying to pull me away from the task on hand. 

But the moment I worked on something I liked, I actually enjoyed being productive, in turn making me more efficient. With this motivation to act, I was able to do things more effectively. 

In the article “Authenticity Can Protect Mental Health” from The Washington Post it states that, “Authenticity isn’t just a buzzword. Researchers have found that authentic people enjoy better psychological health and a greater sense of meaning in their lives.” 

In this case, the word “authentic” is used for people that want to do things the old fashioned way, giving themself a sense of accomplishment and making people want to keep going. 

Another article from StanfordReport, “Your Powerful, Changeable Mindset,” includes a quote that states, “If you are willing to learn the technology of changing your mindset and defeating your distorted thoughts, you can have significantly more happiness.” 

This shows how your mindset is mostly affected by what you do and experience in life, so going through unenjoyable experiences while living can bring down your mood and motivation to keep pushing. In contrast, going through something exciting and entertaining can make you more productive and lift your emotions.

Only listening to others can negatively impact you throughout your lifetime. An example of this is how without a proper reason, you can feel the need to stop trying, which can hinder your progress in many ways. 

At times when I was told to do something, I lacked motivation to act and try my best. This made me feel as if there was a wall that was impossible to get over blocking my way. The longer this went on, the less and less I tried doing even meaningless things, which lowered my efforts on projects that actually mattered.

The research study “Self-stigma and the “why try” effect: impact on life goals and evidence-based practices” shows and concludes that the stereotypes of other individuals that are seen by one make them feel as if they will not be enough. 

This makes them feel it is pointless to even try, which can lead to long term bad habits.

When you only listen to others’ opinions and decisions for everything, it makes you feel like a robot that just follows commands for the benefit of others. Stereotypes and opinions make big changes on how someone can act. 

Learning how you can and why you should overcome the pressure of change can make many chapters in your life much more enjoyable.

Don’t hesitate to make decisions for your own well-being.

The result is an enjoyment that can help be more productive, making you achieve more than what you would have if you followed others’ paths.