5 Steps Towards The Future

I've done a lot of thinking, and I've found 5 areas in which I need to make some changes. I'm sure that i'll think of many more, but here's what I came up with so far.
This fairly basic concept has a lot of challenges that I will have to overcome and work on, but there are a few things in particular that I firmly believe I should tackle along the way.

1) Removing Toxicity
You'd think this would be the easiest and most obvious thing to have been doing all along, right? Well, I can tell you that it isn't. My constant need for acceptance and to be liked, remembered and considered relevant has kept me from wiping away the things that are holding me back.

- Removing people from my life that cause me stress
- Removing people from my life that are negative sources of energy
- Removing people from my life that require too much effort
- Removing people from my life who I've held onto out of some need to be liked/accepted
- Removing people from my life who have proven themselves to be shitty friends


2) Building New Relationships
Since I'll be cutting a significant amount of fat from my social circle, I want to focus on finding the people in my life that are positive, understanding, passionate and overall better fits for me. I think it's also a good idea to make steps towards meeting new people and creating a healthy, fun and positive sphere.

- Cultivating existing friendships with positive people
- Reconnecting with people who I've fallen out of touch with who I value
- Trying to be a better friend to the people I care about
- Getting out into the world to meet new people


3) Eliminating Negativity
The world can be a very bad place, and I tend to gravitate towards things that upset me. In order to help establish a better mindset, I need to start removing these things from my environment, as I can't seem to be trusted not to constantly subject myself knowing it will cause me pain.

- Start a new Twitter account to easily wipe the slate clean and no longer be privy to stress
- Populate new Twitter account with friends and people that bring me joy, education and positivity
- Do a thorough audit of other social media platforms, bookmarks and pages I follow
- Create a blocked site/account list to keep the things I choose to cut out, away


4) Create A Daily "To Do" List
Time management and keeping track of things that I need to do are a major issue. While schedules aren't something that has ever worked for me, trying to establish and maintain some daily routines are going to be baby-steps towards eventually being better at managing my life. Here's a rough draft.

Weekdays:
- Awake and out of bed by no later than 9am
- Take ADHD pill immediately upon getting up
- If you have any appointments or time sensitive things today, prepare and plan accordingly.
- Check work email and respond to anything new accordingly
- Try to spend at least an hour, without interruptions focusing on work tasks
- Take the rest of your medications at 12pm and brush teeth/wash face/shower while in the bathroom
- Pick one small task around the house to accomplish.
- Take a few minutes to unwind, relax and recharge if needed
- If there are outstanding work tasks, try to finish or set up a plan for the next day
- Celebrate small successes, write in your blog, or do something you enjoy

Weekends:
- Awake and out of bed by no later than 10am
- Take ADHD pill immediately upon getting up
- Check your personal email, social medias etc and have a coffee or breakfast
- If you have errands, plans or things to do, prepare to get ready an hour before you need to depart
- If it's a laid back lazy day, try to accomplish one small household task


5) Be More Open
Things are going to be a struggle like they always have been, but hopefully I will soon have a better environment and tools to make the changes in my life I need to make. In order to do that, I need to continue to learn to be more open in a few areas

- Learn to better express my feelings when things aren't okay
- Learn to ask for help when I am struggling with something
- Learn to be more honest to myself and others about who I am and my challenges
- Try to be open minded, honest and receptive during therapy
- Learn to celebrate small successes and wins
- Learn to forgive my failures and learn from my mistakes


I'm going to try to start implementing these changes over the coming days. Wish me luck!

-S