An image of your ideal self is a good starting point to mental wellness.
What do you consider your “best self?” I’m not really talking physical things like being buff or owning lots of stuff or being married. Those can be components, sub-categories of your best self, but what’s the foundation? Your best self is your vision of yourself at your utmost, mentally speaking. You’re happy, you’re well-rounded, you don’t have any major worries beyond the day to day stuff we all have to deal with. Most importantly, though, those are all things that you are in control of (mostly). If your vision of your best self is composed of facets that you’re in control of, that makes it attainable, and working to attain that best self can help to keep you grounded in life.
The one thing you need to know from the get-go is that you’re not going to attain your best self overnight. That’s literally impossible; you need years of learning and maturing. But that’s okay as long as you take steps toward bettering yourself every day. They don’t have to be big steps, either. A little lesson here, some insight there, and you’ll reach your goal someday. But you do need to stick to it every day, and I mean every day. Even if things are going well for you, don’t get complacent. You never truly finish learning about yourself and the world after all.
The best thing you can have during your pursuit for your best self is a good support network. Positive, helpful, uplifting people that want you to succeed as much as you do. Toxic influences won’t do you any favors, though that’s true whether you’re pursuing your best self or not. What you want are folks that are working to improve themselves just like you are. If you’re both trying to improve, you can work and learn off of each other.
Some people like to live in the now, others are always looking toward the future. Either’s fine, but remember that the now will only be the now for a moment. You can live in the now while still planning for the future.
