The 5 Things Challenge

beauty & wellness mental health

A friend recently asked me to challenge myself to come up with 5 things that I like about myself and 5 things that I would like to improve on. At first it feels a little awkward to create a written list of attributes about yourself, but I also found the introspective navigation to be surprisingly therapeutic. Not only does this challenge evoke self-love through insightful acknowledgement, but it holds you accountable in creating a to-do list of things to reference and work on.

5 things I’m proud of:

I have an unwavering loyalty to my friends and family. They are the anchors in my life that keep me grounded and able to overcome any obstacle. It is fulfilling to know I have the ability to reciprocate that same uplifting companionship and support to them.
I like to think I’m pretty funny. My mom and dad have electric personalities with quick wit and hilarious antics, so it seems to have rubbed off on me over the years. It brings me great happiness to keep the people in my life laughing!
I have a caring heart with deep compassion and empathy towards humans and animals in need. Deep down, I know we should be here to make the world a better place and give more than we receive.
I am proud of my persistence and commitment to things, whether it be finishing my Bachelor’s degree or ambitiously landing a sales job, I like to see things through. This year I celebrated 7 years with PepsiCo as the Vancouver Island sales manager, I landed this role a month out of university and have been doing it ever since! I sell Quaker, Tropicana and Gatorade to 72 stores across the island.
I love the person I have become in becoming a mother. It has been the most rewarding, challenging, and fulfilling journey that I could have ever imagined, but no matter what the day throws at me I have a feel-good notion reminding me how far I’ve come. As a mother you are predominately putting your child’s needs and wants before your own, and there’s something beautifully humbling about that. It makes me a happier more whole person to know that everything I do is now ultimately for my son, Hudson.

5 things to improve:

A better sleep hygiene. By nature, I am a night owl and like to watch tv in bed followed by reading on my phone until I can barely keep my eyes open. I would really like to reprogram my brain to be most efficient in the morning, rather than coming “alive” at night. Things like putting my phone away hours before sleeping, limiting tv watching to only a few nights a week, and light book reading before bed are definitely on my to-do list.
I need to learn how to slow down. Too often I find I am rushing around trying to tackle everything I can in a chaotic ineffective way. I need to set a daily reminder to pause and meditate more often to make clearer more efficient decisions.
Be in the moment more. Social media and the internet itself seems to have gotten the best of a lot of us, and I am definitely in that bracket. Now more than ever as a mommy-blogger, I need to ensure I am time blocking periods throughout the day where my phone is away and I am just present with my family. Witnessing Hudson’s continuous development is truly a miracle.
Let go of things I cannot control. In my life, I have let the opinions of others dominate the way I think of myself. I have let situations determine my sense of well-being for extended periods of time. It is none of my business what others think of me and I’ll certainly never be able to please everyone so why waste energy worrying about it?
Practice self-love. Exercises like this one is a good start, but making it more of a weekly routine is important. Sometimes I am unnecessarily hard on myself or will find myself seeking validation and approval of others. The opinions I think of myself are the only ones that matter.

I hope this exercise serves as useful for you as well, and I challenge you to join me in creating a list too. I have linked three self-help books below that have benefitting me tremendously in this day and age. Regardless of your life situation, these books are guaranteed to enhance a better quality of life. Comment below if you have any good reading recommendations for me!

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