Yesterday Dreams Came True! Yesterday was a big day here in the States. Our new President and Vice President were sworn in to office! Inauguration Day is such a big event for so so many reasons and a beautiful day it was today with sunny {read more}
Life is… Life is… Alllright be honest what word came to mind after the … ? Sweet? Good? Blah? Don’t even want to talk about it?? Our lives are made up of lots of days, (according to google women live on average to be about {read more}
Please note today’s post is the first to include a bit of ‘story time’ with background on how I arrived on the self improvement journey. <3
Made it to day 14 of the new year! A bit of research on www.statista.com indicated the top 2 most common resolutions surround the topic of health: exercise and eating healthier. Interestingly, resolutions around family time popped up like never before according to forbes.com.
Making resolutions can be fun and hopeful, especially in the first few days of a new year when things feel fresh and we have 12 full beautiful months ahead! Think back on your own resolution-making. Can you pin-point specific years where you accomplished your goals and saw progress within the year of which they were set?
So far on BrightEyedSmiles, we have not discussed resolution setting, instead we focused on goal setting. The two are similar but not the same.
Resolutions are typically broad, something like ‘workout more’ or ‘save more money.’ An increasingly number of people are setting resolutions which is positive as long as they are more than passing thoughts.
My recommendation is to turn resolutions into specific goals with outcomes attached. Eat healthier becomes ‘cook at home 3 times a week, removing cheese from my diet’. Connect with family becomes ‘call my favorite cousin once a week, respond to texts within a day, make plans to social distant see sibling’.
Making a statement using the goal and it’s purpose results in an even stronger resolution! An example is: Cook 3 times a week and remove cheese so that I save money and my skin clears up.
That being said, let’s do a mid-month check-in with ourselves to see how we are feeling about the steps we have taken thus far to setup 2021 for success!
Hoping you have been following along the blog and perhaps your goals are set. Vision boards are in plan sight, and some soul searching is partially complete? Maybe you have even used the intention setting post this week!
Even if you have only just thought of your resolutions or only have your Word of the Year 2021 selected, it is still a good time to check-in on progress!
Word of the Year: Does it still fit for your 2021 dreams (be real with yourself!)
Focus Areas: Do you want to subtract or add anything?
Goals: Have you made progress, are you on track toward accomplishing your January goals? Do any adjustments need to be made? Can you schedule anything today to get them moving?
Timing: Is there anything you accomplished sooner than expected and want to rearrange your list?
Connect: I would love to hear how your year is going and what progress you have made!
Previously (and potentially surprisingly to this audience), my big life-changing decisions were most quickly implemented after some sort of eye opening event. Instead of the much easier route of disciplined goal setting. These events include but are not limited to: broken bones, a less than desirable working environment and a health scare. (I’m fine now don’t worry).
Each of these events ‘woke’ me up in a sense and, after getting through the initial shock, allowed me to become empowered. Each event changed my perspective and resulted in behavior changes. Positively impacting my physical body, honoring myself and actively expressing gratitude for what I am able to do.
Gradually through sometimes, small or subtle changes I was seeing drastic improvements. I figured out what type of position would work best for my personality and skill set and found a job that fit it – resulting in being truly happy everyday in my career. I learned and implemented the nutrition and feeding schedule which works best for me and my body. And after a handful of broken bones (yes we will have a story time sometime…) I started honoring my body and thanking it for what I am ABLE to do.
Not wanting to have to experience something bad for something good to come out, came deliberate and intentional study of self-improvement techniques. Knowing my ability to hyper-focus can become destructive, I tried to be gentle with myself in the first year of this process. Typically when I do change things, I go big, making decisions quickly and jumping all in (usually a burn the ship type moment: no looking back!).
I was going to add something here about how I didn’t go big but once I started thinking about the start of my serious commitment to the self-improvement journey it turns out I went big (ha!). Within 6 months of looking myself in the mirror and committing to better I: quit my job, started a business, got my puppies, started a new job, changed my eating habits and bought a house. Everything worked out in the end – as I believe it always must, however I would not recommend making such large changes so quickly!
The events that lit the fire occurred over a decade ago! The commitment to myself followed and the proactive self-improvement journey continues today (right this moment!)
Setting goals in advance that are personal to me, following up on them and adjusting to a way that fits me and seeing the results is pure bliss!
The best part about waking up is… wait wait wait that was a squirrel moment (and I’m guessing that little advert tune is stuck in your head now too!) Anyway – the best part about waking up each morning is knowing I am prepared for the day and looking forward to the fun (but safe) magical moments that have the opportunity to come about because of the space I plan for myself.
Here is to warm fires, inspirational people, focused minds and magical moments!
Intention setting provides a deliberate aim going into any day, meeting, phone call and especially workouts! As we go into a new week: the second full week of 2021, let’s keep the momentum of goal creation and dreaming big going! Throughout life you may have {read more}
Before we jump into today’s blog post. After the recent historical events which occurred yesterday in the United States it is with hesitation that this post goes up today. After reflection, today’s topic lends itself well. When we may need stability within ourselves or find ourselves asking {read more}
Thank you for so many sweet comments, texts and messages on the vision board and goal-setting posts. Happiness fills my heart to know that this site is becoming a source of inspiration!
Now that we’ve explored the visual and verbal side to our goals, it is time to add another facet: sound. For some, music is so personal, evoking more emotion versus looking at a picture or reading words. In this article, a music therapist discusses how music helps us to achieve our goals.
It takes fuel to stick with our goals! If music is your source of fuel, this post is for you!
In the past, I’ve created playlists just for fun, or if I enjoyed a particular song I would make sure it was apart of my favorites list. This will be my second time creating a deliberate playlist related to my goals and dreams. It worked the first time, so may as well try again! An extra fun part of selecting songs and giving them added meaning comes when you hear the song while out and about. It can instantly provide motivation and uplift the mood!
If you decide to do this – I would love to hear about your experience: if you would like, please comment below 🙂
The plan is to pick songs that speak to your heart and directly elicit happy feelings. Let this be an enjoyable exercise, something that lets you explore new music or make a list of all of your favorites! My first ever “All my dreams come true” playlist contains music from all genre’s. I used Amazon Music (most songs I want are available with my Prime Subscription).
I love music but am not the best at remembering songs, artists and the like. If you are similar, find someone that has this talent – the talent of a music library in my mind, thankfully I have a family member who provides this resource happily!
Baseball is my favorite sport. In my opinion, it explains life extremely well. That is a story for a different day (p.s. Opening Day is currently scheduled for April 1, 2021; which is less than 90 days a way! Fingers-crossed we will be in the clear at that point in time.)
Annnnnyway… in baseball the players have ‘walk-up’ songs. The song goes through the loud speakers for the audience to hear upon the players walk-up to the pitchers mound or to bat. The song is selected by the player to get them hyped up, to get the audience going and acts as a tool to identify the player. The player’s walk-up song is apart of their overall image/brand.
With this in mind – think about your own vibe, and the vibe you would want to be associated with YOU. This will be the first song on your playlist.
A few I’m considering but haven’t fully decided for myself:
If you don’t already have a song in mind, this can be as simple as searching for songs that contain your chosen word for 2021. Always remember your playlist can be updated therefore don’t stress if you can’t find something that feels like it fits at first. Keep looking and eventually it will all fall into place.
This step might be a bit easier because many artists sing about their accomplishments, whether it be:
In all seriousness, I do love that song – so its on my list! Some more predictable songs include:
Hopefully this was fun and helped provide some good examples. I realize the music here might not be for everyone, please comment down below the songs you selected or you felt would help someone else with their playlist!
Happy listening 🙂
Over the years, goal setting has become the one habit that has brought the most deliberate success. One of these days we will dive a bit deeper into why goal setting did not originally come natural to me and how I have cultivated my mind {read more}
Look Forward Today is the last day of 2020 and we now have the opportunity to look forward into 2021and all it has to offer! The start of a new year (and even a new month to be honest) has always made me a tiny {read more}
Today I want to share with you a few of my favorite things… these are my tried and true. The tested, the staples, the things I go back to over and over again.
If you are anything like me, there are days when we just want consistency, these days have increased lately, in my opinion, as the world around us changes without our choosing, while our work situations are constantly in flux. As a person who usually thrives on new experiences, 2020 was a year where I can genuinely look back and see a shift in what I would consider ‘comforts’.
Did I try new recipes? Yes. Did I try new activities? YES. Did I meet new people (at a distance)? YES. But when I came home I wanted something to be familiar.
When I want my cozy, comfy feeling… these are the products I turn to…
This list contains affiliate links.
My all time favorite snack (okay yes, I eat too many Frito’s… but lets talk about actual nutritional snack that I can without hesitation recommend). After almost a decade of searching for a protein shake with a good protein to carb ratio, good taste and no nasty ingredients… I found the holy grail! OWYN. Only What You Need comes in many flavors. The three I like the most are:
Favorite Daily Beauty Products. Never does a lady reveal her actual age, and it is never too soon to begin a skin-care routine or just in general use products that are cost effective but make you feel great!
Most recently I started a new practice of ‘icing’ my skin each day which has been a game changer. Otherwise I am fortune to have a sweet friend that owns her own day spa in nearby Charlotte, NC (you can check her out here: https://www.truesthetics.com/).
Typically however, I use products that can be purchased on Amazon. I’ve been trying to keep it simple lately. Here are my top favorite every day beauty products:
1. Everyday Soap: Grandpa’s Witch Hazel Bar Soap The smell of this is light and natural, it is gentle on my sensitive skin but also makes me feel clean and refreshed!
2. Makeup Applicators: Makeup Sponges. I used to buy much more expensive ones but found that these are the best value and work wonderfully. It also makes it so I change it out more frequently. Although I will say in the current environment, I haven’t been wearing much makeup.
3. Facial Cleanser: After I use a makeup wipe I have found that the TruSkin Vitamin C Cleanser works best to calm the skin, soften it and make it feel completely free of makeup from the day!
4.Daily Serum: This Hyaluronic Acid Serum is the best I’ve found on the internet thus far. It has no scent (which is important to me), it goes on and absorbs quickly. I use it day and night for my face and down my neck. When I’m not wearing makeup for the day, I simply apply this and that’s it!
5. Dry Shampoo: My all time favorite (years and years of experience) dry shampoo: BATISTE! The influencer that originally opened my eyes to this (LeighAnnSays), still swears by it but also recently suggested something different. If I try it and have good results, Ill let you know in my hair post :-p
Eventually I will do a post about additional products, pampering days, makeup and yes, my hair.
Home Stuff. Currently, my home has also become my work space and my workout space. It was alarming how quickly I wanted to make improvements, move furniture, continuously clean and… honestly MOVE after spending so so much time in just one place. That being said, I am overwhelmingly thankful that my position can be done from home, over video. For all of you out there that aren’t afforded this, we APPRECIATE YOU. I know I am so thankful for the people that are making the world tick – either at the grocery, the doctors or at the distribution warehouses that are literally making the world go around right now. THANK YOU.
For those of that are at home… I did find a handful of things that have helped me and I hope they can help you too!
Okay so I know there are all the jokes about those of us that had standing desks in the office. We apparently don’t stop talking about our standing desks. *que Trey Kennedy skits here*… well at home without my standing desk, and after getting a blister on my wrist from poor posture I was ready for something different. My ‘day’ job requires quite an amount of time in front of a computer and I needed something that would reinforce good posture without taking up a ton of space. SOOO I found this kneeling chair. I would probably rather stand because I do like to move around, however it is a good alternative and has made these past 10 months much better!
Yes people… this blog is meant to be for those of us that are real. We all need a decent trash can in our life. Specifically, as a dog owner, I’ve always appreciated trash cans with a lid that closes and doesn’t open easily. I’m sure some of you out there have dogs that know how to step on the lever and make these babies open… but if not, and you are looking for something that is big enough for the bathroom or office, closes and isn’t an eye sore… may I present to you this little SimpleHuman Compact Trash Can! It was so good I bought one for each of my bathrooms.
Welcome to my first blog post! It is with a nervous, nail-biting and also optimistic appreciation that I start on this journey. If you know me personally, you know my idea to start a YouTube Channel has been on my heart for some time… let’s {read more}