Hey there,

I’m going to start today by being honest. I wasn’t planning on writing a post this week. I’ve had a million things going on in my life and so much work to do, I just couldn’t find the time to put something together.

To be even more honest, I was feeling kind of down on myself for this and thought maybe this blogging thing just isn’t for me. It can be really tough to keep up with everything #trending on social media. Sometimes I feel like my writing isn’t really making much of an impact, and why should I be wasting so much of my time writing and photographing these things anyway?

Then, something magical happened. I realized…

WHO CARES?

I love doing this! It’s one of the reasons I shoot out of bed in the morning and rush to make my breakfast (the other reason is because I love eating breakfast). I know I’m definitely not the best at it and I probably never will be, but who cares. I’m doing it because I like doing it and hopefully someone out there will find it helpful. 

That’s what inspired me to write this post and share it with you all today. If you read it, cool! If you don’t, whatever, that’s cool too.

So the other night I saw this Facebook post in one of my Facebook blog groups that I don’t actively participate in and I couldn’t help but get excited about it! I read it through 3 or 4 times!

Check out the link to the original article below by Benjamin P. Hardy:

50 ways to Happier, Healthier and More Successful People Live on Their Own Terms

I was going to share the link directly on my Facebook page but I really wanted people to read it and get as excited about it as I did. Let me say that I don’t absolutely LOVE or agree with every single one (especially the first one…definitely not going to do that anytime soon) but most are great and really inspiring.

For those of you who don’t have time to read 50 things, I’ve decided to make a vision board to share my 7 favourite below. I chose 7 because that’s how many pre-cut pieces of paper I could find in my desk drawer and I needed to draw the line somewhere.

Ok, so my vision board is actually just these pre-cut pieces of paper taped to my fridge, but hey, it works. Maybe one day I’ll get a little fancier and I’ll be sure to share that with you when the day comes.

7 Ways To Change Your Life

 

#1. Read 1 Book Per Week

“Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek educational learning.” I love this because this is something I can easily do and I enjoy doing.

Audiobooks anyone???

And don’t forget podcasts count! The article also points out you can download an app called Overcast and select the Smart Speed feature which will let you listen to podcasts and audiobooks 1.5-2x faster!! What??! Awesome! I am totally doing this.

(I sound absolutely crazy writing this right now).

#2. Make a Bucket List and Actively Knock Items Off

This is probably my favourite one.

“You pile up enough tomorrows and you’ll find yourself left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.” – Harold Hill. 

Basically you should be living and building your life AROUND your goals and not building or placing your goals around your life. Make sense?

So go ahead and book that trip, go for that promotion, pursue that passion or hobby you’ve been thinking about for so long, and buy the shoes 😉

#3. Do 1 Thing Everyday That Terrifies You

You’ve all heard the saying you can’t expect to do great things if you’re constantly living in your comfort zone… Or if you’re dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough… Or something like that. Anyway, how many times have you finally decided to face your fears and try something new and actually surprised yourself by what you were able to accomplish??

Fear is totally normal to feel when you are stepping outside of your comfort zone. Acknowledge it and then face it head on! I promise you will grow and be better because of it.

Just remember: “The anticipation of the event is far more painful than the event itself.” (Except for childbirth, or so I’m told)

#4. Check Your Email and Social Media 60-90 Minutes After You Wake Up

This one seems counter-intuitive as I am currently using social media to get this message across. I’m not saying “don’t check your social media” because it does have a time and place and I strongly believe it adds value to life. All I’m highlighting here is give yourself some time in the morning to focus on you (maybe do some meditation, go for walk and listen to some podcasts on 200% speed during this time ;)).

It will help remind you of the importance of putting yourself and your needs first before the needs of others. And when you focus on you, you will naturally feel better and be better to others.

“Private victory always precedes public victory.” – Stephen Covey

#5. Stop Obsessing About the Outcome

This is a hard one for me. I have big dreams for myself but sometimes focusing on the end result makes the little things I do every day seem insignificant and the journey seem long and daunting.

And that’s where I need to reframe: I need to focus on how much I enjoy the process and how much joy it actually does bring me.

“Do what is right, let the consequences follow.”

#6. Make 1 Audacious Request Per Week (what do you have to lose?)

This one is simple in theory:

“If you don’t ask, you lose by default.”

Plain and simple. If you don’t ask for that raise, time-off or for help, you probably won’t get it. I’m going to start trying this and just see what happens. Stay tuned!

#7. Tithe or Give 10% of Your Income Away

I’ll be honest, I just learned what tithe meant today – and then I heard it like 5 times! Isn’t it so weird how that happens? Tithe literally means giving away 10% of your earnings to the church.  But I am going to make it translate more to #RandomActsofKindness, because I can do what I want.

I’m going to give this a try. I don’t think I’m a super greedy person but I could definitely stand to be more generous! I’m a firm believer in karma and what goes around comes around.

Let me be clear here that I don’t have an extra 10% of income lying around ready to just give away. However, I will absolutely do my best to be generous with my money, but also with my time, knowledge and the information I share. Because if I can help someone in some way for free, then it helps both of us!

“The world gives to the givers and takes from the takers.”

So that is all for today and I hope you at least took something away from this post. I encourage you to check out the rest of the items on the list and the original article as there were plenty of other ideas mentioned that I absolutely LOVE and that could be more meaningful to you. 

50 ways to Happier, Healthier and More Successful People Live on Their Own Terms

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have anything you’d like to add to the list or just simply feel like chatting 😀

Until next time,