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Yesterday I began to take action to start the process of taking control of my personal brand. Close to a year ago is when I first even learned what that term meant with the help of significant influencers such as Tai Lopez and Gary Vaynerchuk. From Tai, I purchased his social media marketing agency course, teaching me how to manage and grow small businesses using various social media platforms. From Gary, I learn things more personal that I can relate to my life like finding what I love to do and why! Also, why documenting instead of creating is the way to go when building your personal brand.
As I was writing down my interests and trying to figure out how and which platforms I will use for content, I wrote down self-care and mental health as one of my benefits. I was thinking about how I will go about documenting this. I knew right away the last thing I wanted to be doing was record myself applying lotion and washing my face. I fell like the other side to self-care is how you actually feel and how well you know yourself. As I continue to think through how I want to go about talking about posting content about this subject, I noticed my mood and energy just became drained all of a sudden. I figured I just needed to take a break and do something else for a while, but I was still in this mood. Just deep thought and pretty much doubt about choosing the right career path, do I enjoy all of these things on my list? And just found myself analyzing everything!
Later that evening, I began to try and figure out why I was feeling like that earlier. I know it started with self-care. Then, I began working on analyzing and thinking very logically about my life, instead of just going with how I feel. My father never really shows or expresses emotions but will consider everything before he makes a decision. Bingo! I got something, but it still did not resonate with me why my whole was affected by this. So as I am talking through this with someone, I trust we begin to talk about my relationship with my dad than
(Background information) My dad was in the army but retired back in 2009. He was stationed overseas and even after retirement still worked abroad because he made more money doing his job there instead of in America. Up until 2015, my dad would only visit home for a couple of weeks or a month or two at a time. Even then, we never did a lot together or talked about much, which is entirely different from the relationship my mom and I had. Because for a while, it was just her and me after my older brother and sister moved out. She did everything she could for me, and at the same time, I had to do a lot for myself. My mom still worked and always could not be there physically for me.
As we begin talking, I knew that I was never upset with my dad because I understood he had to take care of his family financially. Working overseas was the best way he could do that. Mainly because my mom and I were comfortable for a long time and we had the flexibility where she could get me stuff I wanted. As we talked and I continued to think about that situation and began to tear up.
(More background stuff) The only other time I remember crying because of emotions was when I was in middle school. My mom and I had a similar conversation about how I feel about my dad not being home.
Though my dad and I talk, it’s only Hi and Bye or it’s always a pretty formal conversation about how college, work, or what’s going on in the news. I cannot articulate what it is I feel about that situation, but I realized this is an issue that I have been dealing with deep down. I know that I need to begin to try and express to him that something has been missing from our relationship.
Through this experience, I know what self-care is to me, and I must first help myself by having a conversation with him before I can talk about this topic to help others.
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More on Mental Health on Campus:
What Campus Mental Health Centers Are Doing to Keep Up With Student Need
If You’re a Student Who’s Struggling With Mental Health, These 7 Tips Will Help
The Hidden Stress of RAs in the Student Mental Health Crisis