By Lerato Chinyangwa

You know that feeling of anxiety, waking up in a cold sweat and feeling like your life is entirely unfulfilling. This is usually how most millennials feel after graduating from university and having  that first job for a few months. The reality of life settles in and that’s when the insecurities build up, the feeling of not being good enough, the wanting more from life. The realization that the list of amazing life goals you have is nothing but unrealistic.

This, dear friends, is the Quarter-Life Crisis. As a millennial myself I am intimately familiar with these feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy. Here are 10 ways I’ve overcome these feelings.

1. Exercise!!! I can’t stress this enough. Some of my favorite exercises are traditional cardio, a minimum of 50 squats, 1-minute Russian twists, 1-minute plank and weight training. All of this in the morning before work – it’s so important and you will feel accomplished and so much better about yourself as the day passes. Plus, if you’re someone who wants to shed a few pounds or tone up quicker, then this is for you.

2. Eat a lot of vegetables and protein – you will thank yourself for preventing bloating in your body.

3. Drink a minimum of 3 liters of water a day – This is just because.

4. Make sure you have at least 3 close female friends – Keep company that inspires you to be your best.

5. Get a job that pays the bills until you start doing what you love to pay the bills – For a few lucky ones, like myself,  you’ll get a job you love from the get go. But don’t settle if you haven’t, enjoy what you can from it, learn a lot and always brainstorm on what’s next.

6. Travel as much as you can – Travel is so fulfilling, travel around the world and don’t feel guilty for doing it.

7. Create an ongoing vision wall or list.

8. Continually try to level up spiritually, mentally, financially, physically and emotionally.

9. Stop telling people more than they need to know – This will help you to maintain the protection of your peace. Get rid of toxicity. Cleanse your space and cultivate love.

10. Most importantly, and something that might help you as much as it helps me. I vowed I wouldn’t let anyone deconstruct my peace. That I won’t hand another soul outside of myself the tools to tear me down. How’s it been going you ask? Pretty good so far!

To this end I will conclude my list with one of my favorite quotes from Tracee Ellis Ross, “Happiness is not always the goal, but joy more. Happy is sometimes a little fleeting. We can be as happy as we make our minds up to be. There’s a lot that happens on the path to growing up. You are exactly where you’re supposed to be. And enjoy those spaces and those times, and really listen. Not just to what’s happening outside of you but inside of you. Be who we are in a really full and beautiful way and live these lives that we are all living.”