Look At Your Life Through Your Own Eyes

I think one (if not the most) important thing about leveling up is to know exactly what you yourself want and tune out the noise.

It’s easier said than done, of course. You’re constantly bombarded with pictures, articles, and stories of people who are living seemingly perfect lives. They live in spacious and beautifully decorated apartments, wear fabulous clothes, have 10+ super close friends, and constantly go on exciting adventures abroad. Other people seem to be ever so confident, witty, and accomplished.

This is exactly the kind of noise you need to tune out.

It’s perfectly fine to sometimes get inspiration from others and know what the world has to offer, but you can’t live your life by other people’s standards.

Look at your life through your own eyes

You know the song “Through Heaven’s Eyes” from The Prince of Egypt? I want you to have a similar attitude towards your life, except that instead of heaven, you’re going to look at your life through your very own eyes.

Think of all the things you have achieved in your life, all the experiences you’ve had, all the changes you’ve made already, and all the good qualities you have.

There’s so much you’re not giving yourself credit for, even though you should.

Think of your 15-year-old self and how surprised and amazed she would be to hear all the things that you have accomplished and that have happened to you. There might be a couple of things that would disappoint her, but that’s life.

When I was in high school, I dreamed of going to film school. And I sort of did: I did two one-year film programs in two different schools. Were they famous film schools that produce the biggest names in the industry? No.

But it was a dream come true for me: I had a wonderful time and there I had the best teacher I’ve ever had, who taught me what still feels like everything I need to know about writing.

Should I feel like I’m somehow less-than because I didn’t go to a prestigious school? Well, I’m not going to. Because in my eyes, I got to experience something that mattered to me.

You’ve done big things

People often don’t give themselves credit for what they do. You might feel like you haven’t done anything meaningful in your life or accomplished any of your goals.

But what if you took a better look at your life?

I bet there are some things you’ve done that many people haven’t. Maybe you did well in your studies, have traveled a lot, or you’ve learned to speak fluent Italian.

Maybe you’ve done something that took a lot of courage, or you’ve survived some really tough times in your life. Perhaps you’ve grown a lot as a person.

These are big things that not everyone has done. Why not write a list of your biggest achievements so far?

And many small things are good in your life

Not all good things are grand and something to brag about. Many of them are small and often go unnoticed because they aren’t exactly achievements or hard to get.

There are many seemingly small things that I absolutely love. Watching my favorite films over and over, going for walks, afternoon tea, reading books in parks give me so much, yet these things are so easy to ignore.

So let me ask you this: what are the small things that make your life better? The moments you wish would last forever?

Count those blessings, even if no one else would. You may not even notice, but they make your life so much better. They are the things that matter.

Don’t waste your time on social points

I’ve written about this before, but I need to say it again. You can’t live your life based on what would grant you the most social points in other people’s eyes.

Even if you had all the fame and fortune in the world, and you would tick off every item on the list of an exemplary person, none of that would matter unless you yourself genuinely wanted that life.

How other people see you won’t keep you warm at night. But if you look at your own life and can’t help but smile – well, that will.

It’s time to choose your own standards

It’s essential that you learn to ignore the social pressure and stop thinking about what your life looks like to other people. What do they matter? This is your life, and you get to choose what good life means to you.

Make it a habit to look at your life through your own eyes and reserve the right to be proud and happy about what matters to you.

You get to choose your own standards for life and set your own goals. Whatever your friends, family, or society say doesn’t matter here.

Just do what is right for you.