Hi there! My name is Camille Pierre-Louis and I’m one of your FLI Ambassadors. A little about me: I’m from South Florida. I am a junior pursuing a Bachelors in Political Science and Managerial Studies. I enjoy planning events and managing finances. My goal is to earn and save $1 million by the time I’m 26. Ultimately, I want to help FLI students that grew up as I did understand the profitability outside of the entertainment industry and encourage them to acquire skills of success.
The transition this semester to online learning has been very stressful and abrupt. Having to deal with the stresses of family safety, financial stability, and personal welfare has been a bit overwhelming in addition to trying to focus on school. The way I manage that stress is through committing to short term exercise challenges. I look through various YouTubers and workout plans and pick the ones that I know I can do within 30 minutes to an hour. Here is the work out plan I've been sticking to.
Exercising creates a mental space in which I’m solely focusing on completing a new position or doing another repetition. It helps my mind escape the worries of the outside world. When I finish exercising, I feel more confident in myself and my abilities. I’ve already accomplished something so my mind is ready to accomplish even more. That helps me focus while I’m studying, stay engaged in Zoom classes, and helps me spread upbeat positive energy throughout my spaces. Even a 10 minute stretch can help you feel more centered.
The aforementioned tips work for me and my lifestyle, however, I know (particularly during these times) exercising isn’t for everyone. Some other substitutes could be yoga, walking around the backyard or neighborhood (if possible), or even mediating. Some alternative activities include:
- Meditating. Headspace is offering FREE resources through their app, which includes guided meditation, as well as sleep and movement exercises.
- Practicing gratitude. Writing a weekly gratitude list by naming things you are thankful for is an excellent way to create a structured, positive break for yourself.
This is a time for me to re-evaluate how I define success and failure. Typically, when I’m working all my jobs and attending all my in person classes and leading clubs, I expect myself to be performing perfectly all the time and doing everything very quickly. I talk faster, walk faster, and tend to be slightly uneasy at all times worrying about the next obligation. This time to re-evaluate has shown me that maximizing my productivity doesn’t equivocate to maximizing my happiness. This time has given me the much needed space to slow down and find personal joy and achievement in doing things for myself as opposed to constantly working to complete things for others.
This is a great time for self-care and rediscovery of passions like cooking and painting that I previously didn’t indulge in as I had marked them as being “non-essential." Though these are hard times, I’m grateful for the new perspective I’m gaining about happiness, socialization, and achievement.