Background
Hello everyone and welcome to Making my Mark on the world. I am Mark (of course 😊), and in this blog I’ll be sharing my journey to personal wellness. I am a millennial that recently moved to DC. I love animals, nature, traveling, and following football. I am also passionate about mental health, and as time goes on, I will be sharing some of my personal experiences. Perhaps more importantly, I will be sharing the steps that I am taking to grow personally and professionally. That is the impetus for this blog. In this post I will introduce what this blog both is and is not and what I am working on. I will conclude with some general musings.
What this blog is
First and foremost, some of my core values are kindness, genuineness, and honesty. All posts will attempt to uphold these values. However, I am human. I am imperfect. I will inevitably have times where I fall out of alignment, and I will also try to share these experiences and the steps that I take to get back into alignment.
Overall, I will be sharing the steps that I am taking to transform myself from a “shy guy” with a lot of anxiety to a life that better matches what I am looking for. I am sharing these in the hopes that they might provide valuable insight to people in similar situations, or just for anyone who is interested in growth. Additionally, I have also been inspired by Youtubers that vlog their lives. At times, this blog might have a similar feeling to those (only in written form). This blog will be a journey.
What this blog is not
That said, it is important to note what this blog is not. I am not a subject matter expert in the topics that I am writing about. Therefore, this blog is not intended to provide professional advice or guidance. As mentioned previously, this blog intends to provide my own insight on a multitude of topics related to personal growth. Furthermore, I will be sharing some of my own personal struggles. However, I am not sharing these for pity. Rather, I am sharing this information because it is real and provides context.
What I am working on
Now that personal growth has been established as a core tenant of this blog, I will share some of the things that I am working on. It is important to note that this list is dynamic and raw. It is likely that I will continue to refine this list as the year goes on. Some of the goals will change. Some of the goals might even be removed. Below is a list of goals along with some of my thoughts on them:
Build healthy relationships: This will include meeting new people and strengthening my existing friendships (being more present and available to friends).
Another central component of this goal is to be in an intimate and romantic relationship with someone. This is a complicated topic, and I certainly have a lot of feelings on it. Thus, there will be entire posts devoted to this topic.
Attending social skills training is something that has been recommended to me. I have been avoiding it. I have a lot of questions on this. It is something that I need to further reflect on. Do I want to go? If not, do I have a reason other than it would make me uncomfortable? Would it be valuable? If it helps me to develop more healthy relationships, then it is most certainly valuable.
Being kind to myself and increasing motivation, while also being able to accept criticism.
I tend to be self – deprecating. In a way, this is a coping mechanism that I have developed to deal with anxiety. I almost feel as if criticizing myself first will help to mitigate the pain of someone else criticizing me. It is also a method of seeking reassurance. This is not a healthy mindset.
Hobby development: I’d like to find more activities that I truly enjoy.
Throughout my life, I have struggled with hobby development. People typically ask me, what do you do for fun? The truth is that I struggle to answer this question. I think part of that stems from growing up in front of a TV. I’ve always had technology to mindlessly distract me. However, in the coming months I’d like to find some of my true passions.
One area that I am interested in exploring is photography, particularly I am interested in taking nature and wildlife pictures. I have always enjoyed taking pictures on special occasions such as vacations, but I have never really given myself permission to pursue more formal photography.
Consistently blog, create a production schedule, and build a personal website.
I’d like to blog at least once a week. In addition, I want to create a personal website that mirrors my blog. This includes learning about website creation and blogging software.
Increase physical activity to 150 minutes a week, I really enjoy group workouts.
This one is complicated for me, and I will eventually talk a little more about why. However, it is a very personal issue and I need to time to explore the appropriate boundaries.
This list is likely to grow and be modified. Nonetheless, these are some of the core tenants that I am focusing on.
General musings and conclusion
It is important to note that growth and wellness are not linear. That is, there will be good days and bad days. My objective is to have an overall trend of growth. To uphold the values of honesty and genuineness, I will share difficulties that I experience on this journey. I will share my shortcomings. I will also share successes. Blogging is a new endeavor to me, and I am still developing my style. Therefore, difficulties and successes will also be relevant to the art of blogging itself.
With all that being said, I’d like to share a core tenant that I’ve learned over the years. That is, invest in your own personal wellness. I have been active in therapy for years, and more recently I have also been working with a life coach. If one has the means to invest in these services, I think they are certainly worthwhile. It is an investment, but in my experience, it has been worth every penny. I am not sure that I would be around today, or in overall good health, if I had not started talking to somebody. DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP, DON’T FEEL ASHAMED. I fully support initiatives that seek to end the stigma around mental health issues.
This blog will not always be pretty, but I can promise you that it will be real. I hope that you will join me on this journey of personal growth and wellness.
Without further ado, this is Making my Mark on the world. Subscribe below and let’s have some fun!
Twitter: @ItsMarkPlato