Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts

5 Things You Need To Consider Before Starting A Family

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.





Photo by John Looy on Unsplash


Thinking about starting a family is an incredibly exciting time, but it’s incredibly important you make sure you have considered absolutely everything before you try for a baby. Getting pregnant isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly, so if you’re starting to think about this exciting change, you may want to consider the following 5 things:


  1. Have You Done Your Research?


Before you consider trying for a baby it’s important you do your research. There are lots of different things you need to find out and researching them will give you a better idea as to whether or not this is the right decision for you. Try looking into preparing your health, the full pregnancy experience, potential costs and what it’s like to raise a baby once they arrive. You’ll feel much better if you prepare yourself for what’s to come.


  1. Are You Ready?


This is a difficult question to ask, as you’ll never really know when you’re ready to raise a family. Make sure you consider absolutely everything there is to consider when making the decision, seeking advice from those that mean the most to you if needed.


  1. Can You Afford It?


Raising a child can be an incredibly expensive process and if you’re in a position where you don’t think you’ll be able to bring a baby into the equation, perhaps it isn’t the right time to try for a baby. Try doing some research into each and every cost, setting a budget that will allow you to save for when you are ready.


  1. Do You You Have A Big Enough House?


Although they’re small, babies can take up a lot of room when they arrive! They’ll need their own room, a place to play downstairs and a cupboard that’s well stocked with lots of supplies and baby food. If you’re living in a place that’s too small, you may want to consider looking at a bigger house before you start trying.


  1. Are You In A Strong Relationship?


If you’re going to be having a baby you need to ensure you’re in a strong relationship with the father. Whilst it’s not vital to have a partner with you as you raise a child, a strong relationship will mean your child will be growing up in a family that has a good support system. If you’re unsure about the relationship you’re in as you’re discussing starting a family, it may be worth considering whether or not they’re the person you want to be with, especially if you want to avoid fighting for custody at a later date.


For more information on custody law and family law attorneys in Colorado Springs, you can visit this link here.


Are you thinking of starting a family? What do you need to consider beforehand? Let me know in the comment section below.
signature-fonts

Help, Life Is Too Much To Manage

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.



Everyone has good and bad days. But when your bad and emotionally overwhelming days are taking over, it’s time to look for a solution that can help you to take back control. The truth is you’re not a prisoner of your own life. But the feeling you are unable to influence events can be devastating. Can you free yourself from those stressful shackles? There is no denying that you are never in charge of what happens around you. But you can control how it affects you and how you react to it. You can turn those bad days into better ones!

How to Become More Organized With a Bullet Journal

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.




How to Become More Organized With a Bullet Journal



You already know that a bullet journal can help you make lists for the future, build your business, manage your finances, and relieve your stress. But perhaps one of the greatest benefits to this type of journal is that it can help organize your entire life.


What’s Stopping You From Becoming Your Best

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.


Life can be tough, there’s no doubt about that. But it can also be beautiful and fun, curious and incredible. And if you’re not really living to your full potential, you may not know that. So, it’s ever so important for you to be able to become your very best self. Yet, it’s really not always that simple. Sometimes, you feel held back. Yet you have no idea why. And sometimes, you cannot figure out what you need to do to be able to make a change. And when you’re in this kind of situation, you’re not going to be at your best. So let’s change that. Because we all have potential and we all deserve to live our lives to the fullest and really get the most out of life. So let’s take a look at what could be stopping you from becoming the best version of yourself.

Fear

To start with, it could be because you’re scared. And not on an everyday, you’re so terrified of life kind of fear. But the fear of stepping out of your comfort zone. The fear of changing your life. The fear of failing. Yet, you won’t ever know what will happen until you try. Or until you make that first step. And if you have dreams and you want to accomplish them, you need to feel the fear and work on them anyway.

Money

Sometimes, it can be money. And if you do not have the funds to do what you want to do in life, then you need to work on that. Start to save. Get a new job. Sell your stuff. Start a side hustle. More money can always be earned, remember that.

Health

Next up, it could be your health. Maybe you’re sick or something happened to you? When this is the case, you may be worried about how you can move forward. Or maybe you’re still recovering from birth injuries or a diagnosis and you’re unable to actually do much to help yourself? Then here, you’re going to want to help your health and get the medical assistance that you need to actually move forward. You owe it to yourself.

Others

If you know that the opinions of others are holding you back, or what they actually want for you, then you need to just move past this. This is your life, and you need to do what makes you happy - for you. Because you’ll only ever regret it if you don’t.

Your Mindset

And finally, we then also have your mindset too. Because it could actually be the case that you’re kind of holding yourself back. And sure, sometimes this is through fear, but not always. Maybe you’re too negative and you always see the bad in life and in people? Maybe you’re pessimistic all of the time? Then you will need to improve your mindset. Because you’re only damaging yourself here. When you’re positive and grateful, your opportunities truly are endless.

signature-fonts

Helping You And Your Family To Be The Best Versions Of Yourselves

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.  Contributed post







When you have a family, you just want everyone to be the best versions of themselves. You want everyone to be happy, healthy, and successful. It’s only natural to care about your loved ones. Of course, it can be hard to be the best version of yourself and ensure that your family members are striving for the same goal. But you shouldn’t have to support your family on your own, as we’ll discuss in this article, a group effort is needed. The following pieces of advice should help you and your family to be the best versions of yourselves.

How to Achieve Any Goal

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase. ***Contributed post.





Pretty much everyone has goals, right? For some people, it might simply be to make that promotion and earn a little more money and for some, it might be something a bit more ambitious like giving up work and traveling the world for a few years; it doesn’t really matter what our goals are, they are always important to us, and it is possible to achieve them if we set our minds to it.

Depression, PPD, and Decades of Living Through It: Chapter 3: Part 3

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.



So, now I'm pregnant!  That's fantastic, right?  That's what all the affirmations I'd been doing had been sending out into the universe and it happened!  YES!  Except I hate being pregnant or so I learned...

To read click:  part 1 and part 2.

July Goals - Mid Year Review

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.




Can't believe June is coming to an end. I feel like the month just began and here we are at the end already. I kind of feel that way about the whole bloody year. Seriously, how can it be July?? I'm having a hard time believing that I've actually accomplished several big goals this year already.

2018 Reading Challenge Courtesy of @AnneBogel

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.





June's Reading List

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase..



As I mentioned in my May Reading List, reading is my favorite.  Yes, hear it in a 7 year's old voice almost at the point of a whine.  As an only child, it was my primary form of amusement.  Finding good books to read always makes me smile.  This month's reads seemed to have a theme of what matters to the soul, what is integrity, and how do we define loyalty.  I certainly didn't think I was embarking on a soul-searching selection of books this month, but alas, I guess I have.

How to Simply Grow Your Journaling Practice

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin




As I've mentioned previously, in my post The Power of Journaling, I have been pouring my heart out to the pages of any notebook, diary, or journal I could find. It wasn't until the past several years that I became a more dedicated journaler with a daily (well almost) habit of writing.

Level 10 Life Explained: A 3 Year Journey of Discovery


**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
   
Level 10 Life
 I first heard of the Level 10 life from Boho Berry who heard from it from Hal Elrod. I've always enjoyed goal setting, self-motivation, dreaming, planning, and creativity. This seemed to combine all of those things! Needless to say, I was very excited to do it myself. So, what exactly is this Level 10 Life thing?

When You Aren't Using Your #Bujo

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.





The past several weeks I have not been using my bullet journal really in the way it's intended. I was writing my daily affirmation, my gratitude, and my goal every day, but I wasn't including ANYTHING else.  I wasn't writing about work priorities (yes, I have a real job) and things to do with that.  I wasn't even writing potential blog post ideas or creating pretty pages in my bujo.  I've been using a great workbook by Suzi at StartAMomBlog.com.  It's full of fantastic ideas, helpful tips, and resources; plus, a place for you to track post ideas, post titles, affiliate links, and so on.  It is AWESOME and because it's a Google Sheet, I can access anywhere and don't have to lug anything around.  

A journey to discover the perfect planner or journal or bujo

Follow my blog with Bloglovin
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.





I have loved journals, workbooks, self-discovery and journaling prompts, and notebooks of every kind since I was able to write, draw, or doodle. Remember the floral hard back lined journals? That is what I started with. I would use them to write quotes, keep a diary, and would have never thought to use it as a notebook for school. I'm not sure why - at the time, they were much prettier than the plain spiral bound notebooks I used. I also had Trapper Keepers and every other fad of the time.

6 Habits that will make you feel More Productive

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.






As I talked about in my Journaling post, I was really drawn to the daily ritual discussed in The Miracle Morning. It sounded equally like a great way to ease into the day as well as a way to get the creative juices flowing and as it touts "feel productive before 8am." I'm a bit of an overachiever; so, anything that makes me feel like I've already accomplished something is a win for me.


What constitutes this ritual? Why do habits and routine make us perform better? A habit is defined as "a settled or regular tendency or practice" which means it's something we perform on auto-pilot. It doesn't take extra thought or motivation to complete the action. When we have positive habits and rituals, our body goes through the motions without extra effort and sets us up with a foundation for daily success. Similarly, bad habits do the opposite but are oh so hard to break because they come naturally (eating fast food or smoking are some obvious examples). Good habits allow for us to reach life goals and set the tone for everyday life. With the Miracle Morning, you are training and implementing good habits while helping to visualize your end goal or life goals.



The first habit is silence. Just taking a few moments in the morning to give thanks for what you have; to meditate (if you wish to call it that).  Simply engaging in the act of not rushing to emails or social media or to your kids gives a fresh perspective on the day.  Daily gratitude has been shown to create real and long-lasting effects in one's everyday life.  Research done at Berkeley has proven that those that practice gratitude have better immune systems, have more joy, and are more helpful and generous.   Those alone seem like great reasons to start practicing silence and gratitude!

The next is affirmations.  I show my full affirmation board and talk about affirmations in another post.  Suffice it to say, I'm 100% on board with doing daily affirmations.  They make you feel better and according to some research, they help sculpt the brain and work the positivity muscle.  More can be read about affirmations here.

Along with affirmations, visualization is another key habit in the Miracle Morning.  If you can really see in your mind's eye what you want, you are already half way to getting there.  Most people wake up in the morning and go through the motions of everyday life without a thought as to what they want out of life.  Beyond thinking of the paycheck they need, that they have to feed their kids, that they somehow have to pay for college, that they need a bigger house, that they need more stuff.  Some are little better than zombies on the treadmill hoping they'll somehow run into the life of their dreams when they aren't actually going anywhere.  Yes, we all need money to pay for various things, but what do you really want out of life and why?  

Why do I want a really big 5,000 square foot house?  I love to entertain; I love traditional Southern decor and the grandness it demonstrates to me.  Those are the selfish reasons.  Ultimately, I want to have a house where fundraisers are thrown to generate donations to give back to the community.  I love historic preservation; I love children; I want to be able to give back.  No, you don't need a big house to give back - you can have a tiny house, not spend as much, and give cash.  That's just not me.  Plus, I've been living in less than 1500 square foot for a decade and I want room to spread out!

Exercise: the habit I love to love and love to hate at the same time.  We all know with our desk jobs that we have to exercise daily to prevent our middles from growing as we age.  Truthfully, I feel better when I exercise regularly. I used to go to the gym for an hour a day and walk for 2 hours a day, but I also lived in Washington, DC where everything was walkable and all I had to do was walk out the front door of my building.  I currently live on 400 acres full of forest without trails and on a relatively busy road.  I have to drive to go walk which takes time I don't have with a child and full time job.  This is an important habit I know; I'm just hoping with the new house and neighborhood I can get back to my walking habit!  I now try to do 20 minutes of exercise with Skimble or Sworkit.

Reading, as a habit, is important for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, it helps to develop the mind.   It boosts creativity, gives you new ideas, and helps you grow as a person.  Reading is my favorite habit and I have read every day of my life for pleasure with the exception of those 2 years of grad school!  You couldn't pay me to read for pleasure then!  Even 10 minutes can expose you to something you might not have otherwise encountered that day.

Scribing or writing every day is something that might seem to take a lot of time, but it doesn't have to.  Keeping a one-sentence journal every day is enough to get into the habit of it.  Writing down our thoughts and feelings helps to flesh them out, give them clarity, and make us really think about the swirling emotions, feelings, thoughts constantly circulating in our brains.  The Artist's Way does an excellent job of going into detail about how writing every day helps to unblock your creativity and open the mind to new possibilities.  


While the acronym is SAVERS, they certainly don't have to be practiced in any particular order.  Although, starting with Silence seems to work best, otherwise, you start going and promptly forget it!  I prefer starting with silence, making coffee, writing, doing affirmations/visualization, and the exercising but that's just me.


What about you?  What rituals and habits do you do daily?




signature-fonts

6 Habits that will make you feel More Productive

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.






As I talked about in my Journaling post, I was really drawn to the daily ritual discussed in The Miracle Morning. It sounded equally like a great way to ease into the day as well as a way to get the creative juices flowing and as it touts "feel productive before 8am." I'm a bit of an overachiever; so, anything that makes me feel like I've already accomplished something is a win for me.

The Life You "Should" Live

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.


The Life You "Should" Live

I've been reading Circling the Sun: A Novel about Beryl Markham who not only was an aviator but one of the first female horse trainers at the turn of the twentieth century.  It's a powerful story of what it is to be free, to be wild, and what it means to be in society.  Obviously, life for women has changed greatly over the past 100 years, but there are strides that have been made.  One of the biggest being you don't have to be married in order to have a life.  Some old timers might make snide and ugly comments about women that don't marry, but there are choices in providing for oneself.

What does Success REALLY mean?

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.







Last night, my husband and I were sitting on our back porch discussing our potential new house, careers, and what we wanted out of life. A pretty deep conversation for a Tuesday night but what can I say this house has created lots of questions for him, for me, for LB, and for our life altogether. We moved to my family's farm out in the middle of nowhere (it's really only 15 miles from downtown Charlotte) almost 2 years ago. The 5-year plan was to live there for free (lucky I know), save money, and then buy a house once LB was ready to go to kindergarten.

Affirmations

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.





I showed my affirmation board here, but I truly believe they work wonders. Affirming what you believe about yourself, your environment, and your life is a critical component in developing self-love, eliminating self-doubt, and telling the world what you expect from it. While that sounds a little like hocus pocus, it works for if for no other reason than giving a daily mood boost.

The Power of Journaling

I began journaling I think as soon as I could write complete sentences. I always was trying to find a way to getting everything going on in my head out. There was very little method is my scribing. Sometimes, I would write daily, even multiple times a day, and then other times, it would be weeks, if not, months...probably even years if I am honest. Regardless of frequency, I always returned. Things would become too overwhelming. Life would feel too bad. I’d be struggling with something I just couldn’t get over. Writing always seemed to help. It might not have helped immediately, but it just felt good to get some of the mundane madness out of the churn that existed within me.