3 Of The Most Hardest Pills To Swallow In 2024 ... So Far

2024 has been a year. Phew! It has shown out and showed its true colors. With everything going on in the media, the natural disasters, the untimely horrible events, and so much more misfortunes, the year is still not over. Out of everything that has transpired already this year, I think we all, if not most of us, can agree on these three being one of the hardest pills to swallow.

Social Media Still Has A Huge Influence Over Society

The point of social media is to stay connected with those we may not see too often; whether that be friends from childhood, college roommates, family and friends, it is supposed to keep us updated with the happenings of those in our lives. Over the years, it has turned into something that has impacted our mental health, self-esteem, and has created a barrier between reality and online. I’ll never forget a few years ago when I was confiding in a friend about the person I was dating at the time and his usage of social media. He would post questionable things, and portrayed himself to be this womanizing individual that I personally did not know him to be. My friend told me this one comment that made me look at the guy I was dating, myself, and social media as a whole completely different. He said, “sometimes we love who we are online more than we love who we are in the physical (aka ‘real life).” I was shooketh. That one comment made everything clear for me. You can be whoever you want to be online. You are 100% free to post, or pose as, whatever it is you desire. 

I bring this up because there are some who have created an online personality for themselves. In ‘real life,’ they have their share of struggles and get sad and depressed just like everyone. The thing is, they aren’t going to be as open to sharing their adversities for reasons such as being ridiculed, judged, embarrassed, and more. They are made to think they have to meet these unrealistic expectations about their status in life, physical attributes, and etc to feel validated and accepted.

Not only that, but people are taking it personal if someone doesn’t follow them back or they get unfollowed on their social media platforms. People are literally taking it personally. What might be trivial for one person, might mean the world to another. 

If You Wait Until The Perfect Time, You’ll Never Get Anything Done

Have you ever heard of the phrase, “professional procrastinator?” Do you delay, postpone, or avoid certain obligations until the last minute, and then when it is time for you to do whatever it is that you’ve been putting on hold, you’re rushing and disheveled? Procrastination comes in all types of different forms. It isn’t just waiting until the night before class to work on that 4 page double-sided essay with 5 outside sources. It’s not letting your clean laundry sit on your bed until the end of the week because you’re exhausted from your 8 hour shift at work. It’s not buying a book because you told yourself you wanted to read more this year, and now it’s been sitting by your bedside for over a month. While these may seem minimal, some have actually normalized procrastination. Speaking from personal experience, I have had my fair share of putting things on hold until the last minute, but it wasn’t because I’m lazy or too tired all the time; it was deeper than that. My fear of failing, being judged, and wanting things to be absolutely perfect have hindered me from a lot of experiences and missed opportunities. 

It wasn’t until I told myself “enough is enough” that I started to actually pursue the things I wanted. I’m a work in progress, so I’m still learning that the more and more I put things off until something magical happens that I was only doing a disservice to myself.

Having said, if last year, you told yourself that you were going to workout more this year, cook, start that business you’ve been dreaming about, or whatever goal you had set for yourself, ask yourself right now what got in the way of accomplishing it? Sometimes it does start with reading a chapter of that book by your bed or instantly folding those clothes after they’re out the dryer. Taking baby steps isn’t just for babies; it’s for adults too. If you’re used to telling yourself that you’ll do “this or that later,” break the habit by setting small goals for yourself, week by week. If you’re waiting for the ‘perfect time,’ that time is now.

Job Market Scarcity

I think most, if not all, of us can agree that this years’ employment shortage has affected millions of people. With advanced technology (AI) on the continued rise, more and more companies and businesses are replacing human roles in various industries. If you live in a major city like Los Angeles or New York, you probably know or have seen how overcrowded it is becoming. It’s because many are moving from one city or state to the next in hopes to find work. With the job market plummeting, unemployment rates are significantly increasing. What’s unfortunate is that there are many, sometimes overly, qualified candidates still on the job search hunt, making it extremely difficult to stand out.