A lot of it started in Grade 10. Grade 10 was probably the biggest changing period in my life. Before that, I was confused, uncertain, depressed, just a bundle of emotions, skills, interests, all formed into a person. I did well in school, 80′s or something like that, and had a good, strong circle of friends. Life was good, but I wasn’t enjoying it, I wasn’t living it. And it was bugging me. The first thing I did was really find out what was bothering me, was deep seated emotion was making me so stagnant. So I thought about it. I realized that for me, it was the fact that I had no autonomy, no decision making power within myself. Sure I bought my own clothes and dyed my hair whatever colours I wanted, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s always your parents making the “recommendations” eh? So I started to try and become myself, I stopped eating meat, I stopped practicing Christianity as a faith (I’m not a religious person, at all) and tried to figure out my personality a little bit. So for me, after thinking about it, it was self-choice, and self-expression, that was keeping me down. But for others it could be lack of motivation, lack of knowledge on how to start something (Google always has the answers) So that was that, I set in motion the development of my sense of self, you know? I was determined to figure out who I really was.

1.  I’ve said this before, and I’ll probably say it again, but people need to write things down. Once you put it on paper, everything clarifies. Isn’t it easier to do math on paper, when you can see everything and how it changes? Well it’s the same way with your personality, and your interests. I recently put out a post about my life, and it’s literally all about creating a book with every aspect of your personality written down inside it. Title a page with “Values” and write down all the things that you respect and value within people. It may be harder for you to figure out what you really hold close to you, and that’s why it’s good to try and figure it all out. They don’t even have to be serious topics, dedicate a page to writing down all the foods that you love/hate. Or why not a page dedicated to which video games you’re best at? Hockey teams you like? ANYTHING. It’s just you, writing about your life. This book was definitely something that helped me shape who I am now. It let me realize, “wow, I love when people are like that, am I like that?” Everything always points back to the ‘treat others the way you would want them to treat you,’ thing. If you need a starting point, writing things down, classifying and organizing your characteristics, interests, goals, anything, is a great place to start.

2.  Get on top of your time. Let’s be real, you can do much changing when you don’t even have the time to figure if you want to change, how you can change, what it would do, how you would live. The thing I did was to start using the Pomodoro Technique, a time management technique focused on breaking down time into 1/2 hour intervals, focusing on raw productivity and a relaxation time after each session. So you go to the library in the afternoon, pound out 3 hours of work (or 5 pomodoros cause there’s a big break involved) and you’re done anything you needed to get done today. Simple. Because it focuses on a distraction-free environment, I saw levels of productivity I’ve never had before, and it helped me get on top of my work, and my life. So time management, BIG deal if you want to settle down and figure things out.

3.  Determination, don’t bitch out here. This is for time management, but it also helps with change management, being able to stick to rituals or goals that you have. Everyone’s familiar with the “GO TO GYM” New Years Resolution, but how many times does that really ever work? Rarely. So I knew that wouldn’t work, so I wanted to try to find a way to build my determination/focus naturally. What I did is that if I mentally said I was going to do a small task, I made bloody sure I did it. I’m not talking about “Do 2 chapters of econ reading tonight, do it!” I’m talking about saying things like, “ahh, I should shave before class tomorrow,” and then actually doing it. A lot of people will say, “oh, it can wait, I’ll do it later.” And sure, it’s not a big deal. They’re not going to lose sleep over it, nothing will happen. But I’ll tell you what WON’T happen, their commitment level rises. Your mind knows that you went back on something you said you were going to do, and it notes that as a failure, OR it relates that to the assumption that “things can be put aside.” In my view, saying no to those really small issues were the underlying causes of procrastination and shit like that, because people can’t just SIT DOWN and WORK. There’s Facebook, text, all this crap to distract us, but it’s not a distraction if you had some self-control and just didn’t look at them!

Sorry that was awfully long, but this is something I came up with that actually works, and I hope it’s not that confusing. Just try it, for a week, or two, when you say you’re going to do something, literally just stand up and do it. Or get it done by the time you said you would. By doing the things you say you will, you’re subconsciously assuring yourself and reinforcing that behavior. Just. Do. It.

4. Enjoy the simple things. Not even so much enjoy, as just try. Drink tea more times than you drink coffee a day. Take 5 (only 5!) minutes a day to sit down through guided (or self) meditation. Choose paper over a screen. Turn all the lights and just think. Having moments of calm and discipline are really nice upgrades from the usually hectic, chaotic student lifestyle. Everything just listed are all things that I try to do at least once a day. And it helps a lot. I started to give meditation a shot, and it’s done a lot. It helps me go to sleep faster, it keeps my heart-rate lower (and I can lower it faster), it motivates you, rejuvenates you, and it helps your posture! (If anyone cares about that) Having a moment where you’re reading a book instead of looking through Facebook on your iPad is a lot better. But most importantly, dedicate maybe 20-30 minutes to just lay down and think about your life. Who do you like? Why do you like them? How’s school going? Are you happy with that? Music? Clothes? News? Issues? Just think about it. It definitely helped me a lot, every few hours having basically a pit stop in my day, refocusing myself and getting back on with everything. Not bad!

5. Implement as soon as possible. When you think of something you want to try out, try it out as soon as you can! As things progress and you start juggling all these different techniques, you’ll be able to settle down into a good routine effectively all while being able to keep up with your life. I’ve had 2 great examples in basically the past few weeks. I’ve always wanted to make an impact on peoples lives. That’s about my only real life goal. I want to make a difference, for 2 people, 200, 2000, or 1. I don’t care how many, but if I can absolutely, undoubtedly change (for the better) or assist in someones life and they recognize that and tell me, well then I can die writing this post.

But anyways, for example 1. Last week I got a really nice message on Tumblr. Apparently from someone who knew me a while back (because I doubt a rando would’ve worded it the way they did) But they said something along the lines on, “I wish I could tell you how much you’ve changed my life. I regret meeting you but can’t imagine how I lived so long without meeting someone like you.” And sure … the regret meeting you thing got at me a little bit, but I gave it a positive spinoff. I just thought it was amazing, sure it was an anonymous message, but I’m sure that they thought about it. And in the end, if that message was sincere (it did say a bit more) then I’m happy. That makes me feel like I actually impacted someone’s life, a lot! So that was an amazing experience, a good way to start.

My second experience happened only yesterday. The professor in one of my lectures essentially said, “That’s true, so which girls in this class are going to change that for women employees?” Background: Human Resources class, talking about gender equality in the work force, talking about like women CEO’s or a similar topic. And as is usual with most questions from professors, everyone sat around shyly not doing anything until one girl raised her hand confidently. Didn’t say anything out loud, but it said a simple message, “well I’m going to try to change it, change the thought, change the world.” And with that, a bunch of hands rose in unison, all supporting the original hand. I’ve been doing so much thinking about who I am, what I want to do, etc., that seeing that really caught my attention, someone else just knows who they are. So I sent them a message to say I thought it was really impressive what they did in class. And you know, they wrote back saying it made their day. And that was it, that was an amazing experience for me. I thought to myself, “damn, that was cool, I’ll let them know.”

No one does that shit anymore, and it’s sad. No one gives compliments to people, no one says good job. It’s disappointing, and it was something I wrote in my book (^way up there in #1) that I wanted to try to do. So I tried it out, and it went really well, I made someones day, I stuck to my beliefs, and things worked out!

Finally, that’s about all I have to say to you guys. 5 things that jumped into my head. 1. Figure yourself out.  2. Give yourself some time.  3. Stick to what you say.  4. Simple, healthy, quick activities.  5. Start, and enjoy. Now let’s be real here, I’m not some God with my entire life, goals, dreams, foods, all figured out, but I think I have a better foundation then most. I’m still incredibly weird, but I’ve realized that I like that about myself. It’s just who I am, quirky Eric, and I’m totally okay with it. Well, have fun finding yourself everyone. Happy hunting.

That’s what I’m starting a new project this year. Nothing serious, but I want to call it the Book of Eric. You know the movie the Book of Eli? Where he has the bible, written only in braille, but the book means everything to only him. It’s sort of what I want to do, write something that means everything to only me. My idea is just on every page to write down a title, like “Hobbies I Like” Simple shit, but stuff that not a lot of people know about themselves. Writing down everything about your life, from stupid things like how I like to study, to what I like in a girl, to who I want to be to others. I think it would be a cool thing just to figure out who I am and what I like, not a lot of people know everything about themselves, and it’s seems sad to me.

But I think people should try it, writing down pages and pages of just things that make them who they are. So I just wanted to share my latest endeavour, and I’d encourage you to go try it, even if it’s just because you’re bored on rainy days, you may learn a lot about yourself. I haven’t posted in a while, just wanted to put up another post; enjoy it, and I dare you to try it!