Recently, I went through a pretty tough experience that changed the way I prioritize my time and my wellbeing. That experience was quitting my job. I was really nervous about it at first, but looking back on it, I'm so glad that I did.

I'm the kind of person to take on a lot. I always want to do a little bit of everything and I can't say no to a job, a leadership position, or a volunteer position. I'm not even bragging, I just tend to overdo it.

But overdoing it comes with consequences. About two months into the semester, I started to feel like I was going crazy. I'm not overexaggerating. I was so stressed that you could see it on my face all the time. I was managing, but I had no time to myself and it felt like hell. Literal hell.

Not to mention the consequences of my stress. Being stressed all the time means you can't spend quality time with your family, your friends, or yourself. If you're constantly high-strung, like I was, you can't just sit and have a laugh with the people you love. It's not that easy anymore.

Fortunately, when I started to feel this way, I recognized that I needed help. This isn't the case for everyone. Some people suffer through school, multiple jobs, kids, and more without complaining. Some people do it because they have no other option or they have no one to complain to. Fortunately, I was able to call my mom and ask for advice.

I first reached out to her when I woke up one morning and almost immediately had a panic attack just from thinking about all of the stuff I had to do that day. I texted my mom explaining what was happening to me in an emotional novel of "I don't know what to dos" and "I find myself crying all the times." I was right to reach out to her. Within a few minutes, I got a text back that read, "Just know that I love you. Call me when you can and we'll figure it out."

I'm lucky to have a support system in my life, like my mom. But not everyone is.

After calling my mom, we decided I had to give up something. I couldn't do everything and I had to choose my least favorite thing and get rid of it. Completely. This was really hard to choose since I liked everything I was doing, despite it all causing me so much stress.

Eventually, I decided on quitting my job. I'm involved in a lot of clubs on campus and while I'm not getting paid, they are what I'm truly passionate about. I just couldn't give them up.

The hardest part was actually quitting my job. I haven't had a lot of jobs in my life, therefore I've never really had to quit anything. I wasn't even sure how to go about it. Even worse, all of my friends were telling me to send an email and call it a day.

My mom wouldn't settle. She was convinced I had to go to my employer and explain my situation. "Be honest," she said.

After many hours of talking myself into it, I went. I cannot explain to you how nervous I was walking into my former boss's office, but I went through with it. Surprisingly, they were very understanding and appreciative of my honesty.

The wisdom here is that YOU'RE #1. You are your top priority. You can pursue what you love and work really hard, but you always need to put yourself first. It's better to know this from the beginning rather than learning the hard way as I did.

So if you're ever at a crossroads in your life and you're not sure what to do, ask yourself the following questions:

Am I putting myself first?

Am I considering my best interests?

Am I my #1 priority?

Am I doing this for me or someone else?

I'm not saying you should be selfish about everything. I'm just saying you should find the line between selfish and selfless. You can live your life serving others as long as you serve yourself, too.