Last week I shared a list of 10 things you need to stop caring about and the response was amazing. If you haven’t seen it, just click here before you get started on this one.

Sooooo,  to continue my story, you remember how I said I really wanted a group of people to like me and then I later came back to my senses and stopped caring. Well I guess I didn’t really come back to my senses because my new plan was stupid. I decided to stop caring about everything and anything. I wanted to be numb, a robot.

Don’t worry, I’m laughing at myself too.  We are humans, not robots. We shouldn’t ever get to a point where we choose to care about nothing at all. Many parts of my life suffered for this. But most importantly, I identified these 10 things you and I need to consciously care about no matter what:

1. Your happiness

Before anything else, the first thing is your happiness and it is a choice. You have to choose to be happy. Forgive. Counter any negative feelings with positive ones and you’ll see how nothing beats being happy in life.

2. Your goals and dreams

Having something to look forward to gives meaning to your life basically. Set goals and dreams that set your soul on fire and take action to make them happen!

Don’t be scared of setting goals because you might not hit them. Be bold enough to be ready to fail. What’s really important is that you’re striving for something. That’s what makes life worth living.

3. Your Health

There’s the obvious part of this. Watch what you eat. Pay attention to your body. Don’t deny or overload it. But there’s also the part where you need to be healthy emotionally. Think healthy thoughts. Clear your mind. Delete toxic people from your life, breathe in some fresh air and take a cup of tea to ‘relaz ya navzz’.

4. Family and friends

Yes, family can be super annoying. Especially African parents 😭😭😭 but they almost always love and want the absolute best for you.

On the other hand, family is not always about blood. Sometimes it’s about who is available to support you and hold your hand and give you their shoulder to lean on when you need it the most. And trust me we all need it at some point or the other. Try not to do anything to hurt these relationships and be quick to fix it when things go wrong.

5. Network

I can’t overemphasize the importance of building a sensible network. Emphasis on sensible. The most successful people have the widest and most diversified network range. Build a network of people that you can reach out to in different fields. Don’t limit your network.  Your future would thank you for creating and maintaining these relationships.

6. Other people.

Thinking about yourself alone is a selfish thing to do. Don’t be selfish. Care about other people. Ask how they’re doing. A lot of people are going through really trying times. Do what you can to help. Treat everyone well. You can never know what life would bring. Ever.

7. Your relationship with God

As you grow older you’ll realize more and more how important it is to develop and maintain a relationship with God. Don’t trade it for anything. With God, everything is wayyyyy easier.

8. How much value you’re adding to the world.

You should care about how much change you’re bringing to the world. What do you want to be remembered for? Ask yourself this everytime you do (or do not do) something. Let your answer decide for you.

9. How you present yourself. 

When I was in school, we almost always had presentations for every group assignment we were given. I had this coursemate (he’ll probably be reading this) who never ever contributed to the assignments but when it was time to present, he would read the slides right there and explain, speaking so well that you would think he was the only one that did all the work.

No lecturer ever caught him. Ever. He always presented like a boss and they perceived him as such. Meanwhile, those who really did all the work seemed like they were saying what he said.

Long story short, put a lot of care into how you present yourself. If not, you might do all the work and still look like you didn’t do anything. But with perfect presentation you’ll get better results even with minimal effort.

10. Personal growth

Your greatest competition is yourself. Work harder on yourself than at any other thing. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone in order to be the best version of yourself and you’ll see how great it would turn out in the end.

In essence, what I’m trying to say is that caring is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength because you’re gaining the ability to weather the storms of life instead of  pretending that they don’t exist.

I know there are other important things we all care about. Let me know in the comments section below. Do share your thoughts on my list too. I can’t wait to read. Keep growing. Keep caring. Stay consistent.

Much love 😍

Your tiny eyed storyteller.

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