We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tyler Carpenter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tyler, we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hops that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
I give myself grace! I feel like we are so hard on ourselves and very critical of how our mental well-being should be, that we don’t give ourselves the time to feel the emotions that we’re having. About 3-4 years ago, I came to the conclusion that it’s perfectly okay to not want to get out of bed and just watch Grown-ish all day, but that comes with its limitations! I can’t JUST lay in bed all day. I know I have friends, family, and responsibilities that I must show up for. I know that being gracious with ourselves and allowing ourselves to “feel” is important, but I also know that if I continue to “feel” and give myself grace, then I’d be in bed for days on end, and that is something that isn’t serving me anymore.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Hi! I’m TC (Tyler Carpenter), a 19-year-old content creator based in Atlanta! I create comedic skits about anything relatable, but especially about moms, lol. I started content creating when I was 16, when three videos that I originally was supposed to submit for an English Final project went viral and made me gain 800K+ followers in three days. It was crazy, lol. I love creating my skits and “POVs” because I’m able to be expressive and act in comedic ways that I wasn’t able to growing up. For some time, I felt like I didn’t know my purpose of being on social media and playing characters, but now I know that the reason is to make up for the time lost when I was 13-16 and to show younger kids like me that you’re able to DO and BE who you want, and you will always find the people who love it!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back now, the three qualities that were most impactful were consistency, resilience, and optimism! The first two are self-explanatory. Consistency allows you to see progress in whatever journey you’re on, and resilience enables you to continue being consistent and develop that ‘whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ mindset. Now, optimism. Developing an optimistic mindset was/is the most useful trait because we must ‘think positive to achieve positivity’! For me, it was the algorithm and seeing that some of my videos wouldn’t perform well. But continuing to be optimistic about my journey and not letting small things deter me from my goals is what got me to the point I am at now. But we’re not done yet, haha!
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
Oh, yes, lol. I’ve been facing the issue of being too nice to others and having people take advantage of my kindness. But a more direct issue I’m facing right now is my discipline. I rely on motivation to get things done, and that leads me into a procrastination pool, and I’ve been sinking in that pool for a while now. But ultimately, discipline is something I’ve been trying to grasp onto.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Tylercarpenteer
- Youtube: @tylercarpenteer
Image Credits
Kevin Jackson
