October's Living A Better Life Resources
A monthly musing where I share my favorite health, wellness, and beauty products, podcast episodes, articles, and more.
Summer is finally over, and Spooky SZN is upon us. There’s a chill in the air, and my skin is ashy because of it. Impending eczema flair-ups aside, I’m glad the weather is trying to cool off, even if it isn’t fully there yet in D.C.
This month, many of my resources are outcomes-oriented. Fall and winter are great times to build consistency in your daily routines to achieve the desired outcomes. The parties have died down, more people are staying home, and there’s generally less to do.
I’ve been reevaluating my habits, goals, desires, and aspirations and slowly implementing new, practical protocols to get the results I want across the most critical areas of my life right now: physical health, career building, and stacking this money.
As the TikTok girls are saying, it’s time to hunker—bunker?—down and enter our winter arcs.
Let’s get into it, shall we?
This book on building systems that empower you to create and keep good habits: I’m not the biggest fan of the self-help genre, but Atomic Habits is so helpful. I’m reading it for the second time, and it’s one of the few “Here’s How to Be Better” books that provides feasible, actionable suggestions and advice to implement good habits into your life. I love it.
This article telling us to calm down and stop trying to have it all figured out: I needed to read it. As cliche as it is, comparison rooted in unrealistic standards is the thief of joy. It knifes happiness in the back every day. Regarding my aspirations in life, I’ve been working on removing “have to” from my vocabulary and focusing on what I want to do instead. Allie’s reporting validated my journey; I’ll always take a lil validation.
This episode of Balanced Black Girl on shifting your mindset: Les clearly and beautifully explains the benefits of adopting an athlete’s mindset, locking in on your why, and allowing it to motivate you toward your goals. We often hear “athlete’s mindset” in the online health and wellness space, but Les isn’t being daft about it; she’s using it as intended by speaking on the mental toughness required to move through this world—especially as a Black woman. And no, being mentally tough doesn’t mean you have to be a “Strong Black Woman” or that you shouldn’t take care of yourself. Please remember there’s a difference between the SBW schema, which dehumanizes us, and true resilience—which involves saying fuck you to anyone who expects you to be a mule. (Okay, I’m going to stop ranting!)
This ointment for my hands, lips, and face: I told y’all I was ashy. Prequel is one of my favorite skincare brands right now, and the skin utility ointment combines the best features of the CeraVe ointment and Aquaphor into a single product. It’s hydrating, moisturizing, light on the skin, and long-lasting. Brava.
This article explaining how to make a “dopamine menu”: Writing down and having on hand a list of things that perk you up when you need it is a cool concept. It reminded me of the Living A Better Life Resources note I have at the ready.