This post is going to be a long and a personal one. It talks about how I incentivized myself to live a better life. So here it goes…

The day I got my admission result for the college that I am currently studying at, I was beyond happy. I had finally gotten into the college that I was aiming for. I thought this was it. I had finally made it. Life after this was going to be easy. I had gotten into one of the best colleges for economics. What could possibly go wrong? Well, only if life were that easy.

 Anyone I meet after a long time asks me this one question, “How is college going?” to which I normally reply, “The first year was difficult.” Allow me to use this post today to explain why.

School life was easy. Very easy. I had my own friends circle at school. Studied well. Got decent marks. Went to play in the evenings. Ate. Watched Taarak Mehta with my family at night. Hung out with a few society friends and went to bed. I was disciplined. I had a routine. That was my world. And I was happy.

After working hard for 12^th and being a good student all my life, I wanted to “chill” and take a back seat in college (live the glorified Karan Johar college life). Here’s what I did when I say I wanted to chill – waking up 15 minutes before the first lecture at college (mind you, I live 6 kms from college), bunking classes, eating outside almost every day and scrolling through Instagram(obviously). I felt lethargic and procrastination was becoming a habit. I had never lived like this. I’m not going to lie, I enjoyed the newfound freedom, but it came at a cost. I had lost all discipline and routine. I am the sort of person who thrives in routine (at least a good morning routine), and here I was, doing absolutely nothing.

Two weeks into this, my body and mind started reacting. My sleep cycle was disturbed, and I was constantly dissatisfied with my life.

After initially taking it negatively, this very feeling acted as an incentive for me to change. There was no way I was going to continue living like this.

Mornings are important to me and the only thing I had to do right was wake up early, meditate, exercise and set the tone for the day.

It is difficult to wake up early in the mornings especially during the rainy and winter seasons. I have recently found an incentive to do just that, on the days I don’t feel like it. Anyone who knows me knows that I live for sweets. Yes, you are right. I get to eat a small laddoo 10 minutes after I wake up. Try it if you have a sweet tooth like me. Works.

I have been more or less consistent with my morning routine from the past 2 months and it has worked wonders. I am mentally and physically in a much better place, and I hope that I continue to do so. If not, well, bad mental health is still going to be a negative incentive.

Incentives don’t have to be materialistic or monetary. They could be as tasty as a laddoo , as awful as bad mental health or as simple as a smile.

For all the lazy peeps out there, do it for that smile.

 p.s. ‘Incentives matter’ is the first principle of economics.