Welcome back to my blog everyone, and happy autumn season here in the northern hemisphere. As baseball season is transitioning from its regular season into playoffs; I thought this was the perfect time to highlight how great of a sport it is! And of course, {read more}
For my readers in the United States, Happy Independence Day! For those elsewhere, Happy Monday! To all, welcome to today’s blog. More importantly, welcome to the official second half of 2022. We’ve made it this far. It’s time to assess where we are by doing {read more}
Welcome to a new daily affirmation track for June. Once again, keeping under 5 minutes, to start your day off. These affirmations are focused on creating the feeling of summertime! If you haven’t listened to my first affirmation track, from February this year, it is worth a listen!
Recreating the feeling of being a little kid and getting ready to be done the school year. Feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, or maybe a brief run through the sprinklers. It should evoke feelings of the sounds of summer, the lively board walk, or the ocean waves. I hope you enjoy!
Look at us, nearing the end of the year. How fast or slow did this year go for you? I can hardly believe it is coming to and end. It has been awhile since I’ve done a goal check-in. Since we’ve still got 8 weeks {read more}
You asked for it! So here it is. Below is a typical ‘day in the life’ of me 🙂 Most days I try and mix things up, but the activities contained in my day are usually the same. The theme of the pandemic and being home all the time, and not really seeing many people is apparent in this post, simply because we are still living through it. One day Ill do a day in the life of, once things are back to normal!
This post brought back memories of my this or that post about a perfect day!
First, waking up, sometimes to an alarm, sometimes naturally. Typically, 6am-ish wakeup, dependent on how early my first meeting is. And immediately taking Bianca out for her morning walk. Sometimes she is grumpy in the morning, however with the temperatures cooling down she is a bit more chipper in the morning!
Next, we make coffee, meditate and enjoy the morning. I especially love mornings where it is still dark when I get up and I can sit outside and watch the sun come up. Sometimes I’ll take my journal outside and others I’ll sit with my hot coffee and enjoy fresh air.
After a nice slow morning, next it is time to get ready for the day. The means either a quick shower, or at the very least washing my face applying lotion and brushing my hair. Followed by makeup some days, others none.
As you may already know, I am an intermittent faster, so you’ll notice no mention of breakfast. Coffee only and it is basically black. Most days I log on 30 minutes before my first meeting to catch-up on emails and make sure I’m prepared for any meetings. Working from home because of the pandemic has been nice to be close to more coffee and the ability to take Bianca out whenever she wants.
I do try and take breaks while I can and do little stretches here and there. Around lunch time I’ll heat up something prepared (see my last meal prep post here). Now that we’ve been in work from home for so long, I typically actually take a full lunch. Either by taking a longer walk after eating or doing anything by going in the office in my house.
Once the day is wrapped up, I change back into workout clothes.
By this time, all I want to do is be outside and moving. This means walking around the neighborhood, or going to a local park. Sometimes meeting up with friends to walk and enjoy one another’s company. Either way, getting additional steps in, either full out exercise or chatty walking! Afterward I’ll pick up dinner or heat up whatever I meal prepped.
Then it’s time to do all the things I love to do … yoga, deep breathing (more on that one day later), more meditation, reading, watching shows or talking to friends.
Once it is time to wind down, I’ll take off my makeup, take a shower or tie up my hair, get Bianca outside for one last time and get in bed. I’ll admit, sometimes I stay up on my phone way too long, and other times I’ll go right on to sleep. Sometimes I’ll stay up reading and others I’ll barely lie down before I’m out!
I’d say this is a mostly typical day for someone with a job like mine who is still work from home! I’d love to hear your thoughts and how this differs with your own day in the life of! Would love to hear from you in the comments down below!
Welcome back fam! I’m going to get straight to the point: for the longest time I forced myself to be someone I wasn’t. Instead of embracing the delicate, soft parts of myself; I showed the world only my thorns. Randomly finding this little quiz on {read more}
The last post was all about deciding on the destination. Whether it be a new goal, or you still have your over-arching dream life in mind. Once you have determined your destination, it becomes important to keep your eyes and mind focused. Keeping focus on {read more}
Throughout the journey toward your destination, there will most likely be moments of worry, or doubt. Previous posts have addressed this from different angles. One post on self-doubt, which at the time I was feeling heavily. And another which provides some encouragement to keep going. It goes without saying that the mind body connection plays an important role in achieving success. This more recent topic of study is revealing that our minds affect the status of our bodies and our bodies affect the status of our minds.
Our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes affect our biological functioning… Many mind-body therapies focus on becoming more conscious of mental states and using this increased awareness to guide our mental states in a better, less destructive direction.
This awareness crosses over well with our specific goals and desires for life! Think about the initial rush you get when setting out for a new goal, typically without any hesitation or doubts. Or, in the reverse, think about the marathon runner whose body is ready to stop, but whose mind keeps them going over the finish line!
In my experience, mind over matter is a reality. Realizing I couldn’t live off the initial rush of a new goal forever, I had to find a way to help my brain and body align proactively. Specifically I would often have to convince my mind that at least trying something new would be a good idea. Convincing the mind that the feet should move!
Both of these posts discuss how great it feels when your first setting your goals, and completing your visions. Or even if you are a day dreamer, the thought behind the dream is exciting and positive thoughts swirl! I love this feeling, but the reality is, this feeling doesn’t always last. Sometimes, in the middle of the process to get where you are going, the happy swirly feeling wears off.
If for some reason you don’t have this initial feeling and instead are going after your destination because of a required outcome. Such as a degree or certification, this post is ALSO for you. At times, this can be the more difficult path, however you are already in a logical state of mind when starting. Meaning, the outcome is necessary for your ‘true’ destination.
Personally I don’t think this is a bad thing for a handful of reasons. First, when the initial feeling wears off, your logical mind must determine if it is something you truly want, really. If your goal is still in your heart, you will be able to push through the tough stuff. (Discussed in this post about tenacity.) Basically, if you want something enough, you will find a way no matter the challenges.
A second reason the wane of the initial feeling is beneficial, is that it adds meaning to each stepping stone. Instead of a feeling getting you through, character traits or virtues are built. When I think of the people in life I respect the most, my grandparents come to mind. Although their lives were not easy and they experienced long periods where faith just didn’t make sense; my grand mom especially kept her faith and continued on. They pushed through, raised a family (in my opinion very well). They started a business and maintained relationships in the community. All of these things are admirable in my eyes.
Potentially a bit old-fashioned but the struggle also keeps humility present. And lastly, having the dedication to keep going and learn how to maneuver, can be a catalyst for teaching the next generation.
This brings is to the purpose of today’s post, which is to provide a list of helpful affirmations to repeat when your logical mind can’t seem to see through the struggle.
Positive affirmations are brief phrases, repeated frequently, which are designed to encourage positive, happy feelings, thoughts, and attitudes.
These affirmations might not bring the magical feeling back, but they will allow a break in any negative thought patterns. If you’d like to learn more about affirmations from a scientific perspective, this blog post by Dr. Zarya Rubin, MD provides just that. In short, her post reviews why affirmations aren’t just another positive psychology “hack”.
In fact, affirmations can actually help our mood and provide a more positive self-identity, as discussed in this post with scientific references, by Catherine Moore (Psychologist and MBA). So, we know that there are rarely shortcuts in life, but we can use affirmations to help smooth the path!
Now that we’ve established that science backs affirmations, here are a few examples. Hopefully these will help to get you started, or can be added to your existing list! With this, I would encourage you to come up with a few of your own which mean something specifically to you and written in a language you feel most comfortable with
In the comments below, please share your go-to affirmations or any which have worked for you in the past! It will help to inspire others and uplift the community of readers!
What sets your soul on fire? Do you remember the last time you had an inner knowing that you CAN and WILL achieve your dreams? Today’s blog post discusses the importance of passion and tenacity when meeting your goals.
