I changed my life in 6 months and this is how I did it 6 months ago I set out on a journey to become the best version of myself to switch careers build my personal brand make new friends build unshakable confidence and become the fittest version of myself as well as run a half marathon not everything went according to plan but we'll talk about that later I didn't expect to feel like a completely different person in such a short time in these past 6 months I switched career paths by starting a master's program in a new field I grew my YouTube channel free fold I landed a new job ran a half marathon and most importantly I decided to finally bet on myself this is what made it possible don't let fear hold you back there are many different types of fear but the one I struggled with the most the fear of failing especially publicly I constantly battled this fear that if I got off track from the perfect path I envisioned for my life everyone would see me as a failure what if I never reach my goals what if I never even get close to the best version of myself it felt like all the hard work sacrifices the pain would have been for nothing I was terrified of disappointing myself and convinced that I needed to have everything figured out and that held me back from trying at all for so long I kept telling myself that I wasn't enough not smart enough not pretty enough not talented enough not good enough I was my own biggest hater and I was telling myself I would never reach my goals before I could even try to reach them but let's be honest it gets really tiring to constantly talk down to yourself and here's the thing you won't get anywhere without trying the fear of never Reaching Your Potential has to be stronger than the fear of failing so I started thinking about it this way in 5 years will I regret not trying or will I regret failing I started embracing failure started seeing every failure as another stepping stone another lesson I had to learn I started posting more YouTube videos even if the old ones weren't performing so well at that time I applied to so many jobs trying to find a way to work in the field that I did my degree in and I got so many rejections I was bad at things on purpose so that I could learn I forced myself to find friends and network by just going up to people even though I am more introverted and I just went for all my goals I overcame myself out by just doing things that scared the living sh out of me I refuse to let fear hold me back from truly living from becoming the best version of myself and fulfilling my dreams I didn't want to regret not trying it doesn't mean that I wasn't fearful anymore I still am to this day but it doesn't hold me back anymore it just pushes me to do better to be better fear doesn't make me doubt myself anymore because fear is not a sign that you're doing something wrong it shows you that you're outside of your comfort zone and that you're growing the goal is not to never have fears the goal is to feel the fear and do it anyway embrace the cringe have you seen my first you YouTube video I haven't not recently anyway but it is probably cringy but you know what's truly cringy never trying and just hiding behind a screen or behind other people's backs and judging others it's easy to criticize and judge from the sidelines but it's much harder to actually take a chance and put yourself out there to show the world that you are trying and maybe not yet succeeding we all start somewhere my first videos were awkward but they are authentic they were the first steps in my journey and I had to put myself out there in that potentially cringey way if I hadn't embraced the cringe and just put myself out there I wouldn't be where I am today the most important thing of starting something new isn't being good at it right away it's being able to get through the awkwardness through the cringe wory moments in order to move forward it's part of the learning process and with each step you grow more confident and skilled and you might even start asking yourself why didn't I do this earlier embrace the cringe take that first step make that first video write that first blog post start that new hobby you might feel awkward at first but each attempt will make you better and one day you look back and see how far you've come and if you're being held back by the thought that someone might judge you for putting yourself out there and for trying new things just remember people only judge someone doing more than them you don't need to have it all figured out I'm 22 I have not one but two jobs while also doing a master's degree and from the outside it might look like I have life fig figured out but some of the time I still feel like I'm 17 and completely lost but maybe that's okay maybe we're meant to feel this way we're meant to question decisions and not to just blindly do things like a machine also how boring would life be if we constantly had all the answers maybe we were meant to constantly evolve to continually search for what truly makes us happy the reality is life is messy and unpredictable you don't always have a clear road map and that's perfectly fine it's kind of fun knowing that there is some uncertainty and that the destination might be more beautiful than we expected when I impulsively signed up for half marathon right before New Year's I didn't have all the answers actually I had no answers just questions I had barely ran before I didn't know how to train properly what diet to follow how to prevent injuries I just knew I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could do it I started running and I hated it I ran about 10 times in the course of three entire months and then I realized that I had 9 weeks left over to train for the race which is not a long time my only option was to give it my all I scheduled my runs at 6:00 a.m. before work or after work when I was already tired and it was dark and cold outside there were days I wanted to quit my legs hurt I was absolutely exhausted and I doubted my ability to even finish the half marathon I kept going one step at a time and on the big day I did finish the half marathon with some issues but in the end I crossed that finish line but while what matters most is not finishing the race getting that medal or the Instagram post what really matters is that I the need to have it all figured out to start I just needed to take the first step and trust that I would figure it out along the way and now I can really say that it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life it's okay to feel lost and unsure life isn't about having a perfect plan it's about not quitting finding answers to your questions it's about making mistakes taking them as lessons and growing from them if you're feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to have it all figured out take a step back remind yourself that it is okay to be a work in progress to start where you are use what you have and do the best you can the rest will follow discipline is the highest form of self-love four years ago I moved away from my hometown in order to start University in a different country that felt like a new beginning and it felt like now I could finally reach all my dreams and goals because my environment had changed but while changing your environment definitely has an impact you are still the same guess what I didn't magically achieve my goals because my environment changed I was still the same me and I was forced to realize that I was the one standing between myself and reaching all those goals I had some really bad habits but the one that held me back the most letting the way I felt in a specific moment get in the way of the goals I had set months and years before I would often just give into temporary feelings of laziness or discouragement if I didn't feel like working out I wouldn't if I didn't feel like studying I'd procrastinate if I felt overwhelmed I would go on my phone and scroll my emotions were dictating my actions and that was preventing me from making any real progress it took years to learn that discipline is the highest form of self-love it's about showing up for yourself even when you don't feel like it it's about honoring the commitments you've made to yourself and pushing through the discomfort because you know it's leading you to where you want to be the way I initially buil self-discipline was by going to the gym I started consistently working out 2 years ago and that was the first step in building a foundation of self-discipline that has positively impacted other areas of my life since then initially it was incredibly challenging I wasn't used to pushing my body physically or to actually sticking to something and showing up every day without excuses the gym became a place where I could practice discipline daily it was a tangible measurable way to see progress and build healthy habits each workout required me to push through discomfort to ignore the voice in my head telling me to take it easy and to focus on the long-term benefits over short-term Comfort I started to see changes not just in my physical appearance but in my mindset I began to realize that if I could push myself through the challenges in the gym I could apply what I had learned to other areas of my life you need to be patient and you need to show up consistently even when you don't feel motivated that is the only way to reach any meaningful goal and especially in the moments where you feel like giving up it is so important to just keep going those are the moments you show yourself that you put yourself and your goals first it's about understanding that true self-love involves doing what's best for you in the long run even if it's difficult in the short term if you are the smartest in the room you need to go to a different room sometimes we are in such a rush to have answers and to figure it out but the truth is there is no end point you could spend years studying a subject and there might still be things you are yet to discover that can feel disappointing and demotivating at times but it's a good thing not knowing everything allows us to grow we cannot become the best version of ourselves if we limit our potential by saying that we are done learning around the beginning of the year I had just gotten a new job my YouTube channel was finally taking off I was finishing my bachelor degree and starting a master degree in a completely different area and I had also decided to run a half marathon with no training I was scared shitless about having to learn how to juggle it all it's safe to say that I learned a lot since then and that doesn't mean I don't feel overwhelmed at times I still do to this day but that doesn't hold me back it drives me to be better being around smarter people doesn't make me feel lesser it makes me feel inspired it makes me push myself to be better to learn more because growth isn't about proving what you know it's about expanding what you don't the goal is not to be the smartest person in the room the goal is to be always learning always growing always pushing to know more the goal isn't to always have the right answers the goal is to keep asking questions to keep learning to always be open to new knowledge and New Perspectives the moment you think you know everything is the moment you stop improving you can work out all you want you can have the best grades be surrounded by friends and acquaintances but until you work on yourself and you learn to love yourself you'll never be truly at peace for the last 2 years I've been on that that workout game I love it but at the same time I have to admit despite the fact that I was getting closer and closer to having my dream body something didn't feel right over the last 6 months I realized that no amount of external achievement could fill the internal gaps the same happened in other areas of my life I would work towards a goal give it my all put in a lot of effort and after reaching it I did not feel fulfilled it didn't matter that I was in a much better place than years ago moved out of my hometown to another country living in a beautiful city surrounded by friends I absolutely adored but all of that never made me feel more complete as a person it wasn't until I started working on my mental and emotional well-being that I began to find true peace so I did the work I started seeing a therapist opening up about my insecurities my fears my doubts I began journaling reflecting on my thoughts and feelings and really getting to know myself I started being honest with myself in order to recognize the parts of me that were seeking validation or or were leading me to self-sabotage I went through those tough journaling sessions where you're just ugly crying on the floor for no apparent reason the process wasn't pretty but it was effective slowly I started to understand that self- Lov isn't about achieving Perfection it's about recognizing your worth not because of your accomplishments but because of who you are at your core so yes work out pursue your goals and surround yourself with amazing people but also take time to work on yourself to to accept yourself to love yourself because true contentment isn't found in the external but in the depths of your own heart and mind did I reach my goals I did but that's not the most important part in the end it was all about the journey fear discipline learning and self-love are all interconnected embrace the journey with all its ups and downs and you will find that you're capable of achieving more than you've ever imagined [Music]