This is still me ❤️

Learn how daily habits can improve your life I’m a huge fan of building habits, so when I read this article in Psychologies magazine, I just had to share. I find that having daily habits and rituals is good for my anxiety. Be productive whilst you move My Fitness Pal shared this blog post. I’ve had some great ideas whilst out on a walk so I definitely want to try some of these suggestions. Achieve your goals I spoke a lot about goals this week and this article has some fantastic tips on how to achieve your goals Manage your tasks I am always looking for new ways to improve the way I manage my day and this blog post has lots of useful info on how to do just that A fab book If you are looking for a new read to keep you on the edge of your seat, then look no further. I just finished Hostage by Clare Macintosh and read it over a few days, although maybe not one for the plane 😉 Song Of The Day - If you missed it, here’s this week’s playlist .

This is my 700th post on Medium 🥳 I think I’ve come a long way since my first post Welcome To My Blog In yesterdays post, I shared 5 Steps To Setting Goals & Some Useful Tools & Tips Here are 5 articles I found on Medium that also provide some useful information around goal setting In the post What Do You Want? from Gustavo Gallina, we are reminded; “Dreams should be pursued. Set objectives and strive toward them.” In 3 Ways To Make Habits Stick Sobaan Saeed, also talks about failure “You’re gonna fail, you’re gonna screw up but if you show up with that positive attitude every day and just keep trying to do better that’s really all you can ask of yourself.” Daria Haller talks about self discipline in 8 Brilliant Ways To Master Your Self Discipline “don’t forget to reward yourself for your accomplishments.” Eve Arnold makes some great points in the article Why Trading Your Life Hack Mindset For Mindful Productivity Means You Wake Up Happier “Mindful prod

The reason I set goals is to motivate myself and give me something to work towards, it gives me a sense of purpose. Deciding on what your goals should be can be quite difficult. We need to think about what we truly want from life, not what we "should" want or what is expected of us. That's why I've listed 5 important steps to help you with your goal setting. 1. Ask yourself questions. To find out what it is you hope to achieve, you need to do a bit of self-discovery. What is it that you want from life? Remember, these are your goals and no one elses. 2. Write your goals down. Ideally somewhere you will see them often. 3. Think about why you want to achieve these goals and how achieving them would make you feel. This will hopefully weed out any goals that you aren't 100% sure about, you don't want to waste your time on doing something when your heart is not fully in it. 4. Decide on a time frame for when you would like to achieve each of these goals. 6

Pitch some articles Ok, I need to stop being a big baby and actually put myself out there. I’ve been using the holiday as one of my “excuses” of which there are many, but now the holiday is coming to an end and so is the money I have put away. It’s time to start bringing that dream to life and that’s not going to happen with a pile of ideas hidden away on my laptop. Meal plan I want to plan the meals for the husband and I for out first week home, firstly so I know what food to order for the shopping delivery and secondly so that we can make sure we have some healthy, normal sized meals Set Up a LinkedIn profile Much like the pitching of articles, this one keeps getting put on the back burner. Enough is enough now, I’m a grown woman and need to stop letting the what ifs get the better of me. Not only am I going to face the music, I plan to sing along. What are your intention for the coming week? ❤️

Planning is the key Write Back Up Content I am planning on doing some writing whilst I’m away. We have a 9-hour plane journey and there will be days lazing by the pool where I know I will think of something, but I want to have some pre-written content so that I don't feel under pressure to be writing whilst on holiday. I love writing and I don't want to make it feel like a chore. Daily Meditation I've been letting this slide lately and I've noticed that my brain has started to feel full of too many thoughts again. I want to get myself back into the habit of meditating, I just need to figure out which time of day works best for me. Finish The Power Of Focus I've been reading this for 15 minutes each day and it's very motivating. If you are self-employed, looking to start your own business or just want a bit of motivation, I would definitely recommend this book. Once I've finished this, I can then start my next book "The Last Law of Attraction Book

I always believed that I was the type of person, that if something wasn't going how I wanted it, I gave up. If the weight didn't come off after eating well for a few days, I would get bored, eat cake and say screw the diet. If I slept in when I was supposed to get up and exercise, I would decide to stay in bed and then barely move all day, thinking what is the point. Even sometimes in the past with writing, I would miss it for a day and then think "Oh I've blown it now" Whilst consistency is extremely important, it doesn't mean that we have to live our lives by ridiculously strict rules, in order to achieve our goals. For example, going back to dieting. If I put myself on a strict 1200-calorie-a-day diet for a month, I would lose weight, but I would be miserable and this is where I have gone wrong in the past. It's the same with exercising, I put myself under so much pressure with it, that any enjoyment I do get out of it is ruined because it is now

Starting and ending my days the right way. Wake up at 7am each day I’ve become a bit hypocritical. I’m always telling the husband he should keep a regular sleep routine but I have found myself being just as erratic with mine now. I like being up early, ideally 6am but I am going to start with 7am this week to get me back into the swing of things and get the day started properly. Put my screens away at 8pm Taking some downtime last week confirmed to me how important it is to spend time on things other than writing, so at 8pm each night, my laptop is being closed, my iPad is going on charge and my phone on do not disturb. I spend most of my days on social media platforms posting and engaging with others, so when 8pm comes around it’s my time to chill. Set up my LinkedIn profile This was on last weeks list, but life had other plans for me. I want to come back to this again this week, as it’s key to making progress with my writing career. I need to finish the SEO course (also on las

Over the last few weeks, I've been spending about 90% of my waking moments working towards my goal of writing for a living. I wake up and am straight online posting on platforms that I am unable to schedule posts on (or haven't learned how to yet) I could wait until later in the day, but I find that a lot of people read posts first thing, myself included. I meditate, do my self-reflection and review my to-do list for the day, apart from writing, I read other people's articles and engage with other writers on the platforms as practically all the articles and books I've read say this is a huge factor in being a successful writer, it's something I've found surprisingly fun. On top of this, I'm trying (and failing) to keep a clean and tidy home, cook dinners, see friends and family, and generally have a life. I'm not complaining, I bloody love it. I finally feel like I have a purpose. However, me being me, I have given myself a rather large to-do list, t

Small steps, daily. Set up a LinkedIn profile This week, I am going to set up a LinkedIn profile for my writing. I'm feeling quite nervous about this as although I have been writing this blog for 5 years now, I don't have any "work experience" when it comes to writing. It feels a bit like a catch-22 situation as I may not get writing work with no experience, but how can I get experience if no one will hire me? Well, no one is going to know anything about me if I don't put anything out there so this will be a good step in the right direction. Incorporate some movement into my days. I need to find something I enjoy to get me moving more. I'm feeling overweight and unfit and the exercises I have done in the past seem like such a chore, so this week I am getting up, getting my happy playlist on and I am going to have a little dance for a few songs. I think I'll enjoy starting the day like that. Finish the online SEO course I started this course a co

An extract from this week’s Substack newsletter I like to start each month by looking back on the previous month to see what went well and what didn't, how I can improve, what habits worked for me and any little ways I can make my life a bit easier for myself On the surface, June was a good month, but when I look a bit deeper, I can see that it wasn't without its challenges. I'll start with the challenges and where I can improve, that way we can finish on a positive note, rather than finish thinking how rubbish I have been! Emotional Hangovers Despite knowing I suffer from these, it still doesn't stop me. At the end of this week, I suffered terribly after drinking Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday this week. It's not a regular occurrence, but it is something I need to be more aware of and consciously make an effort to have more alcohol-free days. Not putting my screens away Guilty!! I managed to do this for a few days here and there, but I am still picking up

Feeling Thankful I’m so thankful to have had a positive week. Although I do wonder how much of it was simply down to my mindset. Reviewing my outgoings. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I had been sort of putting this off. I was scared that I would look at the numbers and realise I needed to earn money immediately and would have to take the next job that came along. Thankfully, I have enough money to pay the bills for a few months. This does of course mean that I have to cut back on a lot of things but when I weigh it up, the choice between being at home doing my writing vs earning lots of money, there is no contest. Money really can’t buy happiness. Good results on medium I’ve had my best month on Medium since joining back in April. I’ve had lots of views, claps, comments, and followers and I have earned the most! Sadly not enough to pay the bills, in fact barely a cup of tea but it’s a huge win for me and I have learned so much from all the other brilliant writers. Mee

Dream. Plan. Do. I have a lot to think about this week. For those of you that have read my posts this week, you will know that the job I was offered a couple of months ago, has not materialised, for those of you that haven't you can read here . In all honesty, I have avoided thinking about it too much. I know I need to, but I needed to get over any feelings I have about it first so that I can sit down with a clear head and think things through. It makes sense that at least some of my intentions should be around this. Review my outgoings This week, not only am I going to sit down and go through my budget daily, I am going to review my outgoings for the next couple of months and cancel some things that are not essential, namely my subscription boxes (sob) Hopefully, it won't be for long, but I would rather be prepared than stressed out about how I am going to pay for things when I am still getting a monthly box of beauty goodies I don't really need. Read For the l

What went weSometimes the little things in life are the most important. It's been another tumultuous week, I don't know how I am feeling half the time and it's so confusing. Once again, stopping and reflecting on my week helps me to see the good things in my life. Spending time with my parents. Sometimes, when things aren't going as you expect them to, spending time with your parents can take the pain out of things. Knowing they will always be there and have my back can sometimes be all the comfort I need. Relaxing Massage I meditated before going to my massage, getting all of my woes and worries out of my head, leaving me to just enjoy an hour of escape. As much as we need to think things through, we also need times when we can just forget our troubles and relax. Taking small steps toward my goals The one thing I do have is my writing and I have been relentless this week in taking small steps each day to make some progress. I have taken myself completely out of my

Mind, body & soul I’ve been so focused on my writing lately, that I have neglected some other areas of my life, so I’ve decided that I would try and do 1 thing each for my mind, body and soul. Put my phone away In last week's blog post I mentioned an advert I saw at the cinema about putting our phones away and enjoying what we are watching. I am incredibly guilty of this, even as I sit and type this now, I have a program on in the background that I have recorded. This week, I am going to put my phone on Do Not Disturb each day and put my phone, IPad & laptop in the kitchen whilst I watch a program. Sounds easy, but even in the cinema, I had to resist the urge to get my phone out of my bag. It's a very bad habit and I want to undo it. Get my steps up Although I am thoroughly enjoying the amount of time I have available to spend writing, the downside is that I am spending less time walking around. This week, I aim to try and increase my daily steps by 1000. I w

My productivity has skyrocketed since setting clear, concise goals. After spending some time last week reviewing my current goals and setting some new ones, I'm feeling quite excited about the future. For the first time that I can remember, I am very clear about what I want in life and it feels pretty damn good. Sometimes when I set my weekly intentions, I struggle to think of some, which is where I will usually chuck in something vague like "drink 2 litres of water each day" and then inevitably, don't follow through with it. Now I have some crystal clear goals, it's so much easier and I could list several intentions I have for this week (don't worry, I won't) I'll just give you the usual three. Finish my article One of last week's intentions was to write an article, I started writing one but as I mentioned in last week's post , it was bringing back some pretty painful thoughts and feelings. I will go back to that article, but only whe

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There’s no stopping me I am so thankful that I don't have a 9–5 job at the moment. I can’t say I’m not working, as writing has taken over my life and I love it. I am constantly brainstorming new content ideas and I spend most of my days, writing, planning what to write and researching. It’s my dream career. I was quite sad to have a busy weekend to take me away from it. We had a family bbq at my brothers on Thursday, my parents, my other brother and his family were staying at the same hotel as us, so we had a few drinks in the pub next door when we got back. One of the members of staff was so rude! Berating us because we hadn’t booked a table, despite only two tables being occupied. We weren’t expecting to be going and were just going in on the off chance if there hadn’t been tables available, we would have gone elsewhere. He continued to be rude and snippy to us throughout the evening and in the end, my dad told him about himself. He was fine after that. Incidentally, the

“Build Small Habits, Make Big Plan” — James Clear This week I have been thinking a lot about my goals, so this week, I thought I would share some inspirational posts on this.

So much has changed since January and that includes my goals. I looked back at the goals I had originally set myself at the beginning of the year and half of them are no longer things I wish to achieve. I’ve been reading The Power Of Focus which has some great guidance on goal setting, so I am planning on working my way through that over the next week or so. I want to write some more articles so that I have some ready to submit to publications. I often have ideas pop into my head and I keep a note of them. I currently use Evernote for my blog posts, I just need to organise my folders a bit better as I have almost all of my blog posts in there! Lastly, but most importantly, I am going to block a day out in my diary each week where I make no plans. No lunches, no appointments, no dinners. Nothing. It’s a day just for me to do the things I need or want to do for myself. What are your intentions for this week? ❤️

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