Key Takeaways
- 1Late starts do not ruin the day if you decide to show up anyway.
- 2Caring for your hair and body can reset your mood more than you expect.
- 3Small pockets of focus time create real progress on big creative projects.
- 4Rest can look like scrapbooking, night swimming, and laughing with people you love.
- 5Discipline builds self trust, and self trust feels better than any quick dopamine hit.
Slow Start, Same Story
I wish I could say I woke up at 6 a.m., journaled, went on a hot girl walk, then filmed this video. In reality, I smacked the alarm about six times, rolled out of bed in the afternoon, and stared at my hair like, “Yeah, this tracks.”
My curls had been in a bun for days, my camera situation was a mess, my routine was gone, and I felt it. Not just in how I looked, but in how my days had started to blur together. Wake up late, scroll, talk about getting back on my grind, repeat.
This vlog started there. Not with a perfect morning, but with bed head, a clingy dog, my brother crashing at my place, and me deciding that even if the day started rough, I could still turn it into something.
Curly Hair, Real Care
Hair first, feelings later.
If you have curly hair, you already know wash day is not just “wash and go.” I soaked my hair until it was fully drenched, then used two ride-or-die products: a leave-in from As I Am and Miss Jessie’s Multicultural Curls. Once that was in, I grabbed my bounce curl brush and got to work.
The trick is small sections and patience. I brush through, curl the brush out, and let each section clump on its own. You can literally watch the strands group together and form curls when the hair is wet enough. If you think it is wet, add more water. Your future curls will thank you.
Then I scrunched in a bit of gel and grabbed my new dryer. It has magnetic attachments, a diffuser head, and steady cool air at a set temperature, so my curls are not getting fried. Five minutes of diffusing got my hair to that “mostly dry but still juicy” stage that used to take me twenty. The roots had volume, the curls had shape, and I felt like myself again.
That is a theme here: when my hair is cared for, I show up different. It is not about perfection. It is about reminding myself that I am worth the extra fifteen minutes.
Coffee, Chaos, And Small Joys
After hair comes coffee. That is just how I function.
My brother AJ rode with me to Dunkin’. The curls were curling, the camera angle felt weird, and my brain was still half asleep, but the energy was good. I ordered a cookie dough iced coffee with sweet cream cold foam and waffle cone topping. Basically dessert in a cup. I took one sip and remembered: oh yeah, I actually hate regular coffee. So we land somewhere in that “this is sugar with caffeine in it” zone and keep it moving.
These little coffee runs seem simple, but they break up the day. I get fresh air, I talk to someone I love, we clown each other in the car, and suddenly the day does not feel as heavy. You do not need a full reset trip to feel human again. Sometimes you just need a drink, a playlist, and one person who knows how to roast you and hype you up at the same time.
Barnes, Wi Fi, And Real Work
After coffee, I headed to my favorite plaza. There is a bookstore, places to sit, trees, shade, and just enough background noise to keep me focused. I sat outside first, opened my laptop, got on the Wi Fi, and looked at my to do list.
Emails. A long curly hair routine video to edit. A TikTok to finish. A sponsored segment that needed to feel honest. On paper, that is a lot. Once I started, though, time moved. I locked in and edited the entire video, which was over forty minutes of footage before cuts.
That is something I forget when I am in a slump: I am capable. The problem is not talent. The problem is the gap between what I say I want and what I do with my time. When I actually sit down, put my phone away, and give myself an hour, I get things done. The proof is there on the timeline.
Scrapbooks, Pools, And Play
Later at home, I wanted something that was not content, not work, just life. So I pulled out my dusty scrapbook. It covers my early twenties, and I realized I had nothing in there from age twenty-one. Whole year, no pages.
That hit me. Not in a dramatic way, just in a quiet “oh” kind of way. I have memories, trips, people I love, big moments, but I never printed the photos or gave myself time to turn them into something tangible. So I grabbed my photo printer and started sorting through highlights. The printer decided to have its own issue, but even touching the old pages reminded me why I started that book in the first place. My life deserves to be documented for me, not just for the internet.
Then came the night swim with AJ. Sibling chaos, jokes, underwater hair, timed breath holds, all of it. We turned into big kids in the pool, and for a few hours my brain was not thinking about views, deadlines, or emails. Just water, laughter, and the low-key fear of mosquitoes.
Rest is not only face masks and candles. Sometimes it is splashing around with your brother until your storage fills up and you have to say goodbye to the camera.
The Wake Up Call I Needed
After all the fun, I had a real conversation with AJ that honestly felt like someone shook me by the shoulders. He was blunt in the best way:
You say you want certain things. Your vision board says one thing. Your habits say something else.
And he was right.
I have slid into a pattern of late mornings, fast food, skipping workouts, staying on my phone, and calling that “taking a break.” At first it felt like self care. Then it turned into avoidance. My creative work slowed down. My mood dipped. The progress I built last year started to stall.
That is when it clicked: this is not about ambition for the internet. This is about self trust. Discipline is not punishment. It is proof that I keep promises to myself.
I do not want a life that runs on cheap dopamine. Scroll, snack, snooze, repeat. I want long term joy. Things that take time and give something back. Reading a whole book, not just three captions. Going to the gym and feeling strong in my body. Building systems that support me when motivation is low.
So I am treating this vlog as a tangible “before” point. Not in a dramatic glow up way. More like a line in the sand.
Reset Season, Not Perfect Season
If you feel called out right now, same. I am speaking to you and to me.
We still have time left in the year. You do not need to restart your entire life overnight. You can:
- Set one alarm and get up when it rings
- Pick one habit you miss and bring it back this week
- Charge your phone in a different room at night
- Create a little “survival kit” for your car or bag that helps you feel cared for
- Schedule a focus session just for your creative work, with no distractions
Tiny moves, stacked on each other, change the way a day feels. Then a week. Then a month.
I am not chasing a perfect version of me. I just want to be a little more honest with myself. Less autopilot, more intention. Less “I will start next week,” more “I will start after this paragraph.”
If you needed a sign to stop snoozing your goals, this is it. We are getting back on our Zoom, together.
See you in the next one.
