Miscellayneous

 Does anybody remember when I tried this before?

& I never followed up on it...

Well, I'm back!

While perusing YouTube today I came across this video by JENerationDIY where she is starting what she calls The Glow-Up Project. The idea of it is to reset, redevelop habits, and make smaller steps to make bigger changes to feel better about ourselves. After a year lulling around in 2020 with working from home and not going out much and vaccines helping that all to come to an end, I thought this would be the time to get the gears turning on something like that. A project all about me.

I'm not going to lie, I haven't been feeling great about myself lately.

My hair color is never quite right.

Due to PCOS, I haven't been taking proper care of any excess hair that grows.

My nails are forever short, bitten, and brittle.

I'm not putting the right things into my body causing my to feel both mentally and physically sluggish.

I'm not completely satisfied with the space I'm in.

My work ethic has been slowly on the decline.

I don't keep in touch with people and I miss making human connections.

And, I don't really know what my next step is.

This is going to be a new start on all of those things. Over a handful of posts, I'm going to be figuring out myself and working to make myself into the next, better version of who I am now. This is going to create a span of trial-and-error until I find my way through, but I feel confident in starting this journey now.

I am not really setting a time limit on it, but it'd be cool to see some changes by the end of the year. I'm not looking for a grand reveal into a brand new person, but I am trying to become a better person that is well put together, more structured, and more thoughtful. 

The first thing I want to do is present some stats and photos to you all.

this is me at the beginning of TGP, on 4/5/2021:

My hair is just past shoulder length in a grown out bob box-dyed to the closest color to my natural color that I could get.

I weigh 246 lbs.

I have not been working out, but now that my foot & hip are healed I can change that.

My pant size is 16 and my top size is XXL/1X.

I've read 13/100 books this year.

I work two jobs: one in book distribution and one in retail.

My current debt total including student loans & my car payment is $98,738.

This is a photo of my bedroom:

I live at home, on Ridgeway Avenue in Chicago, with my mom.

I don't have any routine: working out, skincare, morning/evening, cleaning, etc. 

I don't dedicate any significant pockets of time for myself.

Physically, I should be taking way better care of myself in terms of supplements, activity, and down to smaller things like tooth care and laundry.

When it comes to figuring out what is next, I feel like it'd a true shot in the dark instead of something that's been thought out and is a reasonable next step.

This is my current Spotify On Repeat and I'm curious to see how/if it changes.

I want a better handle on things. My family tends to procrastinate and I want to be the one that is more organized and on top of things. I want gain confidence in my opinions and in my ideas and become more well-rounded in general when it comes to communication.

I want to feel productive at the end of each day, but also find the balance between that and burning out.

The end purpose of this project is not to feel complete, but to grow into a better version of myself now and to figure out the grand what's next. I have a loose time goal of next summer; that's the time my mom is selling the house and I'll be finding a place to move into somewhere else. Between now and then, much growth needs to be done and I'm looking forward to embarking on this journey with you all.

I'm not sure how often I'll update this. I'm thinking one large update once a month in a post similar to this. But, if I'm trying any new products, projects, or make any larger changes worth documenting, they'll get their own post as well. :)