Taking Care of Yourself in 2021: The HOW to Feel Good about YOU

​By Quinton Kiser

So, it’s a new year.  It’s 2021, to be exact.  For some of us, it is a little hard to believe that we are actually in the year 2021.  I can remember when the year 2000 was an exciting, futuristic year that many people were looking forward to.  I can remember when the year 2010 was a vague year that seemed far off in the future, and I couldn’t imagine what life might be like when we finally got there.  But now we’ve arrived.  If that doesn’t amaze you (even just a little), you’re probably at least glad to be done with 2020.  That year was definitely a year for the history books, and I’m sure many of us are hoping that 2021 is better.

The good news is, you don’t have to merely hope that 2021 is a better year.  You can do certain things for yourself to help make this a decent year.  Granted, 2020 was filled with all sorts of things that most of us had little control over—COVID-19, a rancorous presidential election, Tiger King, and depleted store shelves.  Nevertheless, much of our well-being is still in our control.  We just need to take the initiative to self-reflect and decide specifically what we need to work on in our lives and how can go about doing it.  Here are some ways you can take better care of yourself in 2021 so that it is better than 2020. 

We all need to take care of ourselves.  Many of us do that in a variety of different ways—by eating well, by exercising, and by managing our financial lives, just to name a few examples.  However, as we work to take care of ourselves, we need to realize that we all have many aspects of ourselves that need care.  If we eat well and exercise, we may be taking good care of our physical bodies, but we might be neglecting to take proper care of our minds.  In this article, we will be looking at ways to do that.  Obviously, these aren’t the only things people can do to take care of themselves in 2021.  As you read, be sure to think and reflect on other ways you can take care of yourself in the upcoming year.

1. Reflect on your diet and make necessary changes.  This one probably seems obvious.  We are constantly told to “eat healthy” and “eat right.”  However, in 2021, you might want to take a harder look at your diet to see if there is anything you are overlooking.  How much fresh vegetables and fruits are you eating?  Are you eating the right foods to get the proper nutrients you need?  It might help to take a few days and keep a food journal wherein you write down everything you eat.  After doing that for a few days, you can look at everything you are eating and look for anything that needs to be changed.  You might find that you are eating too many carbs or that you are not eating enough foods with necessary vitamins and nutrients.  
2. Observe your social media habits.  In many ways, social media is a good thing.  It provides a convenient way to communicate with friends and family, particularly ones who live far apart from us.  However, social media has a dark side, too.  There is much negativity on social media.  Many people on social media like to use it to air out their views on politics and society, for example.  This leads to a lot of fighting and negativity.  Exposing yourself to this kind of negativity can greatly influence your mood and mental health.  Recently, a term called “doomscrolling” has been coined.  It refers to constantly sifting through social media and reading upsetting news.  I have been guilty of this myself.  Whenever I am bored (or just bored with whatever I’m doing), I have developed a habit of picking up my phone and scrolling through Facebook.  This, in and of itself, is not bad.  However, constantly exposing yourself to upsetting news can have a bad influence on your mental health, leading to anxiety and depression.  Likewise, if you are constantly getting on Facebook or Twitter and exposing yourself to friends and contacts who are fighting about politics, election results, the direction of society, you can develop anxiety, depression, and an overall negative outlook on life.  In 2021, it might be a good idea to analyze how much time to spend on social media and take breaks from it whenever you feel it starting to negatively affect you.
3. Examine your social life.  Many people probably don’t realize it, but your social life does have an effect on your overall well-being.  First, think about the friendships and company that you currently keep.  How are those working out?  Do those people increase your feeling of well-being, or do they decrease it?  When you are around these people, are they improving your mood or making it worse?  If the people you are around on a regular basis are abusive towards you, then it is definitely time to get them out of your life.  However, being around people who are constantly negative can drain your well-being, too.  For example, are you regularly around people who are frequently complaining, are frequently critical, or frequently wanting to fight and argue?  Toxic relationships where these things happen can cause you to slump into bouts of depression and anxiety.  Sometimes it is hard to limit the amount of time you spend around certain people, but if it’s affecting your health, it is probably something you should do.  Also (and this applies even if you don’t have any toxic relationships), you might want to make it a point to develop some new friendships or relationships, especially if you haven’t done so in a while.  We all need some time alone, but if you are spending too much time alone, that can also affect your mental health.  Several years ago, I went to my doctor and was diagnosed with depression.  After talking to me for a few minutes, my doctor said that he had the impression that I had a lot of social isolation in my life.  Social isolation can send people into depression, and it can influence your overall mental health.  As humans, we need friendships and relationships with one another.  Positive relationships help us to have a better outlook on life, and they help us to enjoy life and get more out of life.  Likewise, positive interactions with other people can stimulate your mind.  You can learn new things and broaden your horizons.   

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We definitely have been through a challenging year, and many of us are hoping that 2021 will be better. Many things happened in 2020 that we couldn’t control (like COVID-19).  Nevertheless, we can, to some extent, control the quality of our lives.  In addition to the points listed above, I challenge you to consider other ways that that you can improve your well-being in the upcoming year.