Category Archives: #LifeGoals

Slow Down

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When was the last time you stopped doing what you were doing to take a deep breath? Many people can be as busy as a bee, with almost no time to live, as the days seem to fly by quickly. Whether you are a teen tackling the challenges of high school and the future ahead of you, a young adult trying to figure out life as you enter adulthood, or an adult tired of the same constant cycle of sleep, eat, and repeat, many people can agree that life can be so busy sometimes that we forget to stop and slow down. It is often said, “Stop and Smell the Roses,” meaning slow down, enjoy life, and savor the world around you, but I feel like people forget to do this all the time nowadays. People are too focused on getting that promotion, getting those grades, doing well in life, and dreading the future, that they don’t focus on the now. As a high school student nearing the end of my high school life, I also find myself focusing solely on the future too much. The school work has gotten busier tenfold, and I haven’t been able to balance between my school life, my friends, my hobbies, and taking care of myself, so it’s gotten really stressful. I’ve been so focused on good grades, new friends, finding a job, and becoming the best version of myself, and trying to do this and that, that I forget how to slow down sometimes. The song “Slow Down” by Laufey embodies this message, and I recommend listening to it if you ever feel like life is too stressful as a reminder to stop and slow down. The song highlights the narrator’s young adult life and how she’s grown now and is living life independently, and everything happened in the blink of an eye. I found that stopping to breathe in the middle of studying, doing homework, or doing chores, even for a short moment, can help ease the stress. Yes, getting those grades is important. Yes, getting that promotion is important. Yes, doing well in life is important, but your health is also important. It’s okay to put everything aside for a little bit and take a nap, do something you like, hang out with your loved ones, or even do nothing. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so take a moment to stop and take a deep breath.

Why Is Eating Breakfast Important?

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Life can be busy and chaotic, especially in the mornings, when the alarm goes off and there are so many things to do that it’s overwhelming, it’s really common for people just to skip breakfast. However, this is not a healthy habit. Eating breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a reason. According to Eric Romm, a professor in the departments of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard, when a person skips breakfast, their calories are evenly spread out throughout the day during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, when a person skips eating breakfast, there’s going to be an uneven distribution of calorie intake throughout the day because when a person skips breakfast, the calories not eaten during breakfast will cause a person to eat more of those calories during lunch and dinner. This causes a spike in glucose and insulin levels, which increases the chances of obesity or type 2 diabetes. According to studies by Harvard, males who skip breakfast have a 20% increased likelihood of having a heart attack, while females who skip breakfast have a 20% increased likelihood of getting Type 2 diabetes. Not skipping breakfast is an example of a healthy habit that can create a healthier lifestyle. 

Not only does eating breakfast lower the risks of health complications in the future, but it also helps with present problems that people face all the time. A study from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, states that when a person consumes breakfast, it improves cognitive performance through improved memory performance and attention, and alertness. This can be very beneficial in many ways. Imagine having to take a school test or having a report to do for work. With an increased cognitive performance, it could make it less difficult to do those tasks. Studies show that students who incorporate breakfast into their daily routine tend to have a higher boost in academics compared to those who skip breakfast. As well, consuming breakfast improves mood and behavior, which may seem small, but has a big difference. If consuming breakfast improves mood behavior, a bad start to your day can change into a less stressful one. 

However, while eating breakfast has many benefits, if done wrong, it could have completely opposite effects. It is important to balance your breakfast composition so that you consume the right amount of nutrients in order to have the positive effects. Not skipping breakfast doesn’t mean eating chocolate every day in the morning. Breakfast should be eaten with fulfilling foods that give you energy, such as a breakfast with a mix of foods that contain protein, fiber, etc.

How To Pass Your Permit Test

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Turning 16 years old can be a checkpoint or a milestone in some people’s lives. After all, many changes come along with turning 16. For example, permit life. It’s a time when many teens are working hard to get their license by driving with instructors, parents, etc. If you’re 16-17 years old, it is guaranteed that you have heard people in your grade begin talking about getting their permit/license or practicing for their license. However, before getting a license, it is required to get a permit first by passing a permit test. Some people may be confident in taking the permit test, and some people may not. When I took my permit test, I was extremely anxious and worried that I had waited all that time in line for nothing, but don’t worry. Here are some tips that I can give as a teen who passed the permit test on the first try with 45/47 correct. 

Study the Handbook

This is the most important thing you need to pass your permit test. This is your study guide—your golden ticket. If you just study the handbook, it’s almost certain that you’re going to pass. This is because the handbook is basically what you’re being tested on for the permit test. The handbook covers the basic rules of driving and the things you need to know before driving really well. If you study the handbook well, you don’t need to do anything else, and you can do well. You can find the handbook on the DMV website and download it as a PDF. You can also find audio readings online that you can listen to as you are reading.

Practice Quizzes/Tests

Take as many practice quizzes as you can. When I was studying for my permit test, I did lots of practice quizzes and practice permit tests, and these helped a lot. Before I started studying, I took a practice test to see where I was at and took note of what I got right and wrong. Then each time I studied, I did practice tests and quizzes along with it. There are many of these online. Just search up “DMV Practice Test/Quiz,” and just take as many tests as necessary. You can even download apps from the App Store. For me, I used this app called “DMV Practice Test” with a green logo and a car. The app also had the handbook, which I thought was useful. Then it had a section of practice quizzes and a section of practice tests. These were so helpful, and they helped me pass the permit test. 

Although these tips are useful, it is also crucial to get good sleep and eat well before the permit test, especially if you are really waiting in line. It is hard to focus when you are tired, and it makes it way easier for your brain to work during the test. But remember, even if you fail the permit test, you can always try again, and you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. Trust me, don’t stress too much; you’ll be fine. Good luck!

Saying No Is A Strength- But Why Do People Have Trouble Saying No to Distractions?

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Daily writing prompt
How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?
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In today’s world, we are constantly surrounded by distractions that attempt to pull us away from more meaningful pursuits. Take, for instance, technology such as our phones. Whenever we are faced with a task that we find uninteresting, the temptation to check social media may creep in. Perhaps a student scrolls through TikTok for several minutes before starting calculus homework, or a teacher feels the need to to check Pinterest before they begin grading essays. In reality, the task may only take a short period of time to complete, but still we allow small distractions to get in our way. This feeling is universal, but does it signal laziness, or is there a deeper meaning behind this phenomenon?

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According to McLean Hospital, there are several reasons why we might procrastinate. For some, it truly is a sense of laziness that, from time to time, causes us to lose motivation. Other times, there may be deep-rooted mental health problems that interfere with our ability to complete tasks. This includes, but is not limited to: anxiety, OCD, depression, and ADHD, just to name a few. What’s more is that procrastination can not only be a result of these mental health issues, but it can also be a cause of them as well. As people procrastinate, they have less time to accomplish whatever goals they have, which can then cause stress over time management.

The National Library of Medicine states that most people who procrastinate are between the ages of 14-29, and in another study, found that people between 18-25 have the greatest prevalence of mental illness. These statistics make even more sense when considering the especially high workload placed on people in this age group— college students attempting to manage rigorous academics along with anxiety around starting their new lives.

However, there is one positive to be considered. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), mental illnesses such as those linked to procrastination tend to peak around 18-25 and consistently decrease thereafter; a similar trend can be seen with procrastination.

Results from the 2010 NSDUH: Mental Health Findings, SAMHSA, CBHSQ

https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHmhfr2010/NSDUHmhfr2010.htm

Procrastination scores across the life span according to sex. Note:... | Download Scientific Diagram

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Procrastination-scores-across-the-life-span-according-to-sex-Note-Post-hoc-analyses_fig5_294257227

So, given this information, what can we take away from this? I believe this shows that we must be kinder to ourselves, even when we have trouble saying “no” to something that’s on our to-do lists. If we continually struggle to complete a certain task, it may be worthwhile to examine the underlying emotions that it brings us and address those feelings before we move forward. As always, we must strive to be better, not perfect.

Life-Changing Habits To Pick Up For This New Year

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An article by Brown University Health states that good habits are exceptionally beneficial to people’s daily lives through efficiency, consistency, goal achievement, health and wellness, time management, skill development, and even stress reduction (“Why Habits Can Be a Good Thing”). This conception emphasizes the importance of good habits and implies that good habits result in a better life. Thus, it is important to implement positive habits that can change your life for the better in 2025. 

With the upbringing of the era of technology, planet Earth transformed significantly and people started to depend on technology for their daily use. Although this global transformation had some positive impacts, one of its negative impacts is the amount of time lost by humans in their life due to technology. This means that as humans became reliant on technology, their time started to be consumed by it, especially on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram where it created an endless cycle of addictive scrolling, which resulted in teens using their phones before they go to sleep and right when they wake up.  Although this may seem relaxing, it transformed lots of people, specifically teens, through the incorporation of this bad habit into their daily life. In order to prevent your time from being further wasted, then you should start implementing this in your routines. You should go on your phone and put restrictions on your phone for the time you wake up and before you go to sleep in order to prevent yourself from going on your phone. You can also distract yourself with other things. For example, you can listen to energetic music instead of scrolling on social media. 

Another habit that can be a head start for a great life in 2025 is to meditate. Many people’s lives drastically change due to meditation and studies from Harvard state that mindfulness makes positive changes to physical and mental well-being (Powell). If meditation is incorporated into your daily life as a habit, then by the end of 2025, your life will definitely have changed for the better.

Lastly, another habit you can begin is sleeping the right amount of times. I can not stress this enough but getting enough is so important to your health. It can impact your mood and how you act. Sleeping the right amount of sleep can improve your mood and your energy. If you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll all be grouchy and tired. If you get enough sleep, you will be in a way better mood. 

In conclusion, the three habits to implement in 2025 are not getting screen time when you wake up and before you sleep, which prevent the loss of time, meditation for your physical and mental well being, and getting enough sleep, which is extremely important for your health in general. Implementing these 3 habits might seem small but their impact is drastic. Thus, you can make 2025 a year of growth step by step with these habits.

Taking A Step Back

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The soft scrape of a page being turned in my newest book is what brings me happiness.

Too often are we, as humans in the 21st century, focused on attaining a goal or possession that we have glorified in our minds. Admittedly, I used to (and probably still am, to some degree) like this, but I realized during my junior year of high school that this was an insatiable pursuit.

During my junior year of high school, I was obsessed with keeping my grades up. I would stay up until 3 am studying for a math test that I had the next day or spend hours perfecting a paper for a class in which I already had a 97%. I would spend 20 minutes on a drawing and rush to finish it if I couldn’t get it done because I would start to grow tired of it. I would start a new video game in an attempt to get a “perfect playthrough” and then drop it as soon as I did. In doing these things, I realized that I wasn’t pursuing a genuine feeling of enjoyment out of them- rather, I was chasing the immediate gratification I would feel from their completion.

As I reached the end of my junior year, I realized that I was happy, in part from these things, but for the most part, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what made life so great. Was it that I had gotten an A in my math class? That I had gotten that internship or won that award? Something told me no. It was the day-to-day victories that should have been insignificant, most of which I had already forgotten which made life so great. It was the inside jokes my friends and I would cry from laughing at during lunch. It was the random FaceTime I would get from a friend I hadn’t seen in forever or an old photo that would hit me with a wave of nostalgia.

It was going to the bookstore with my Omi to check out a new book, hearing stories from her during the whole car ride there. As we entered the store I soaked in the soothing scent of books and felt perfectly content. I weaved through the aisles trying to find the book I wanted, and clutching it like a prize, would bring it up to the checkout counter. I opened it as soon as I got home, eager to see what adventures I had missed out on during the time between this installment and the last. And so I turn the next page and breathe a sigh of contentment knowing that this is what brings me happiness.

Learning a New Language

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Learning a new language can be very beneficial, but it can also be one of the most challenging endeavors. When I had to fulfill my high school graduation requirements by taking Spanish this summer, it was quite tough. I decided to take my Spanish class at my local community college because my school offers dual enrollment for the summer. I could provide more details about this whole experience, but that would take a long time.

Honestly, it was worth it because now I got it out of the way, but I was so bad at all of it that I had to contact a lot of my Spanish-speaking friends to help me. It was a difficult couple of weeks, I will admit.

Writing about that experience also helped me get introduced to the fact that learning a new language so late in life is very difficult, I mean usually when we get good at something, most of us start off young. An example would be that I have been dancing since I was a kid, I practiced a lot and went to classes but at the same time, I honed that and now I can confidently say that I can dance.

Speaking another language is a similar concept. I must admit, people my age who know more than just one language are impressive! But then I remember that it’s never too late to learn something new. I know that if I truly try hard enough, I can fully learn another language. All I need is the right mindset and the proper resources.

Rethinking my New Year Resolutions

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Can you believe it’s already a couple of months into 2024? If you like me and have a list of New Year resolutions to accomplish this year, you will understand what I’m going through. Reflecting on the resolutions I set for myself at the beginning of the year, I’m disappointed. 

As a teen, I’m no stranger to the ebb and flow of enthusiasm that comes with goal-setting. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, I was excited, armed with a list of resolutions I was convinced would transform my life, maybe just a little.

Yet, as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, that initial spark of determination began to flicker. School assignments piled up, extracurricular activities demanded more of my time, and the daily grind of teenage life overshadowed my lofty aspirations.

It wasn’t until recently that I took a step back to reassess where I stood with my resolutions. Sitting down with my journal, I flipped through the pages, revisiting the goals I had written down with such fervor months ago. Some seemed laughably unrealistic now, while others felt attainable with some recalibration.

One resolution that stood out to me was my commitment to prioritize self-care. I neglected my well-being in the craziness of school, friends, and obligations. Late nights cramming for exams had become the norm, and exercise had taken a backseat to whatever needed to be done. I realized I needed to prioritize self-care to thrive and not just survive.

So, I started small. I set a bedtime for myself and stuck to it religiously, no matter how tempting it was to stay up late scrolling through social media. I put time into my schedule for exercise, whether going for a run or practicing yoga in my bedroom. Most importantly, I learned to say no to activities that drained me mentally and emotionally, choosing instead to spend my time on things that brought me joy, fulfillment, and a bit of relaxation.

Another resolution that needed a bit of tweaking was my goal to improve my grades. While aiming for straight A’s sounded impressive in theory, the reality was that I was spreading myself too thin trying to excel in every subject. Instead, I focused on critical areas where I could improve significantly. I sought extra help from teachers, formed study groups with classmates, and adopted better time management strategies to stay on top of my assignments.

Reflecting on my journey over the past few months, I realize that the key to success lies not in grandiose gestures or sweeping declarations but in our small, everyday choices. It’s about showing up for ourselves, even when it’s hard, and adapting and evolving as we grow. So here I am, rekindling the flame of my New Year’s resolutions, armed with a newfound sense of purpose and determination to make the most of the rest of this year. I hope you also rethink your New Year resolution so it brings you the joy of a little victory every day.

If you need help starting or know what to do with a healthy way to set goals and resolve them, I invite you to check out some of these books from the Library.

Total Teen, Tracy Anderson’s Guide to Health, Happiness and Ruling Your World.

You, the Owner’s Manual for Teens

A Guide to A Healthy Body and Happy Life

The Secret to Teen Power by Harrington, Paul

The Self-esteem Habit for Teens

50 Simple Ways to Build Your Confidence Every Day by Schab, Lisa M.

Here’s to everyday victory!

Bella H

Next Year Jitters

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Whether you’re going into high school, Junior year, or Senior year, then obviously it’s going to be scary. As a sophomore who is going into Junior year, there are so many nerves that are just happening all at once. Especially now that you have to try harder in your academics for potential colleges and careers. One thing I’m glad I know though is that I’m not going through this whole feeling alone, so it gives me that sense of comfort. I asked a lot of my friends these questions about what they’re going to be doing for their classes next year and every response I get makes it seem like they have it all figured out, which I have to admit, I’m a bit jealous of.

It’s not that I know what I’m walking into next year in terms of academic courses, but it also runs down to the fact of how I’m going to handle it. One thing I tend to notice about myself is that I don’t know how to handle pressure, which is a skill I desperately need to work on, but at the same time, how does that benefit me for next year? Because I know that this year (or whatever grade you’re in now) determines a good portion of your life. I know everyone has their way of coping with certain situations, but there would also be a lot of doubt when I feel the walls closing in. Maybe it’s because of fight or flight reaction..?

I know a lot of schools right now are getting out for the summer right now, but thinking about next year kind of makes you think in a new light. How everything in your school career has gone into this very moment of now. Moving into the next grade and all that good stuff, embracing new and old peers, learning new subjects, it all seems a bit surreal. I could probably just be ranting here but the whole moving up to another level of school is very dawning, it just occurred to me that I’m entering junior year next year and mentally, I am not ready in the slightest.

But, I also think about the new things I will be enduring too, because high school is an experience that you can experiment with both the good and the bad at the same time, so it gives that good reflection too! I would say I’ve enjoyed these past two years so far, and it’s also nice to know that I’m in the same boat with a lot of people too. It’s sad but true, school does get harder as you go, but the only way we can actually persevere through the trials and tribulations is just to dive in head first and put in the work to make it all worth it.

Together4Teens on April 13

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Join the library, the City of Mission Viejo, and other local groups for this great event for teens and their parents!

Earn community service credit while attending valuable workshops. There will be a resource fair plus a complimentary lunch. Don’t miss the guest speaker, Larissa May!

For more details, see the program here.