*sigh*

How often do you find yourself letting out a big sigh and thinking to yourself, "What the hell am I going to do now?"

Daily? Multiple times a day? I find myself doing it far more often than I'd like to. However, I have come to a realization. And that realization is that you can get yourself back on the right track.

Simply put, life can be a pain in the you-know-what. There is no telling what might come out of left field and throw you for a loop. With that said, there are ways to avoid finding yourself sighing and unsure of what to do next. Let's list 5 of them and then we can go through them together. Here we go.

1. Look yourself straight in the mirror and ask yourself, "How truly happy am I?"

First, you have to truly be honest with yourself and admit that you might be putting on a fake smile to your friends, or even worse, for yourself. Key signs of this include severe loss of motivation, sleeping a lot, weight gain/loss, irritability, and passive, yet consistent avoiding of your friends.

These were the main things I noticed when I finally brought myself to see a psychologist about what was later diagnosed as depression. But seriously, go look in a mirror and stare yourself right in the eyes and be 100 percent honest with yourself about everything that is troubling you.

2. Write down the big things that are adding the most weight to your shoulders.

Now that you have admitted to the issues and feelings you may have, get a pen and paper and write all of them down. This is big because you are now becoming transparent with yourself and are finally listing the things that are bothering you. You're are digging deep to find out which ones are really dragging you down. Do not hide anything. You will only be cheating yourself in the end. Don't worry, the list you made is for your eyes only.

3. Set some alone time for yourself to really dig deep and get to the bottom of these issues.

Find time in the week after classes or even on the weekend where you can tell your friends you need some time for yourself. Take a long look at the things you decided were most important and figure out why you actually believe they are the most important. After you do that, now is the time for you to think carefully and come up with a game plan.

Let me give you an example. After I made my list and came up with my biggest issues, I realized that the best and most effective way for me to fix these matters would be to see a psychologist who can give me insight on why I might be feeling this way and to genuinely move past them.

4. Don't hold back.

Fourth, let it out. All of it. You will get frustrated, you will get emotional, and you will get to the point where you think this is all BS, but that is actually a good thing! It means you are heading down the right path and that you actually care to improve. If you didn't have these strong emotions, you probably didn't care about improving to begin with.

5. Evaluate your progress on a set interval.

Fifth, now you must go forth with the action plan. Whatever you decided to do, whether that was seeing a professional, or giving yourself more time for yourself, it doesn't matter. You need to go out and do it. Set an interval -- once or twice a week -- to evaluate your progress. This constant self-evaluation helps you get motivated to fix these issues. Setting and reaching goals, even small ones, will help empower you.

Now that we have gone over 5 things to do to pick yourself up, there is only one thing holding you back from making progress, and that's you. You are the only one who can determine where you go from here. There is nothing you cannot do if you set your mind to it and put forth an action plan. I want each and every one of you reading this article to look into that mirror again in a few weeks and say, "I believe in myself and I will continue to become a better person."

Depression is a serious thing. I can attest to it. However, if you really dig deep inside yourself and you can find that strength to get yourself to a point where you want to be, that's all that matters. There is no obstacle that you cannot overcome. Each and every one of you is an exceptional, talented, well-rounded individual who makes the world a better place. It's now time for you to make yourself happy.

One of my favorite quotes is: "You cannot love another person until you love yourself."

Find your strength. Find your happiness. Find your motivation. Never give up. There are three things that you can always control: attitude, preparation, and effort. Never allow yourself to beat yourself. God Bless.