Category Archives: Outfit

Goals

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Give yourself a goal. Give yourself a deadline.  Give yourself a challenge. Give yourself a nudge.  When you’re acting with a purpose you’re acting with clarity, discipline, and effectiveness. When there has to be a way, you find a way.  Want to get more done? Give yourself more to do.  Give yourself some ambitious and realistic expectations. Give yourself the effort, discipline, passion and persistence necessary to meet those expectations.  Give yourself a clear and compelling direction. And discover for yourself just how much good you can do.

— Ralph Marston

Even the most organized and inspired individuals feel demotivated and overwhelmed at times.  I love setting goals (yearly, quarterly, even daily), I get excited to reach milestones and check things off my list.  One thing I’m learning to appreciate more – is the journey.

Today is one of those days … I just didn’t feel productive or excited about what I had set out to accomplish.  Well …..that’s not entirely true – I’ve been feel like this for a few weeks now. 

So I’m writing this post as a reminder…

It’s not about the destination, but the journey. I’m reminded to enjoy the process, both the highs and lows.

It’s totally okay to have quiet days, off days or days where your feel like you are just in a funk.

On those days, learn to take a break, find rest and lean into your emotions. When you don’t want to work, instead journal, try meditation, take hot girl walks, listen to podcasts and make art. But if that’s too much, read in bed, drink lots of coffee (++ water) and binge your favourite show.

And remember, this too shall pass.   <3

5 things to quit this week

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A few days ago, I realized that it had been some time since I picked up my camera and take some creative shots.  So I set up some items around my house, put on a cute outfit and cleaned up my desk to get some photography.

Sometimes I hold myself back from 1) actually taking the time to create with my camera and then 2) sharing it here on instagram. And I’m not entirely sure why. I think creativity was meant to be shared with the world. That doesn’t necessarily mean friends and family will like it or even agree with it – which is OK (I’m being taught this lesson over and over by different situations).

Also part of the creative process is taking some rest so you can come up with the crazy ideas that you plan to execute on. So picking up my camera after a few months of rest is something I need to give myself grace about.

With all that said, most times it’s the voice in our head is what’s stops us from doing the things we know will nourish our soul. So I’m sharing 5 things to quit this week which helped me get out of my creativity rut!

Staying in your comfort zone: Sometimes I think “it’s just easier to not shoot photos because then I don’t have to worry about them looking terrible”. And although this thought can be comforting, it’s actually creating more harm than good. Be consistent and be comfortable getting out of your comfort zone.

Overthinking: Ruminating, spinning, wondering why you did something a certain way or wishing all together you hadn’t done something at all. Such a terrible habit and so defeating to your self esteem. Instead, let your mind think about the thought/situation, ask yourself if it will matter in 5 years (in most cases it won’t) and then let your mind consider what was one good thing that came from the experience.

Sacrificing your own happiness/mental well being for others:  This is a simple and obvious one. It takes time to realize that you don’t need to be responsible for anyone’s happiness but your own.

Being afraid of being different: If you want to wear the hoop earrings – do it. If you want to compliment someone – go for it. If you want to be off camera during a meeting while everyone is one – don’t let it stop you. This one came in waves this week but you accepting yourself/your decision is the most important thing.

Ignoring your purpose: Whenever you hear that voice in your mind saying “you should pick up your camera/paint brush or take those dance lessons or spent an hour writing” don’t ignore it!

Crystal Ball of Delusion

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Showing up as your present self:

Passage from a book…

One of our favourite ways to abandon our self control is to justify our sins of the present moment with planned virtues of the future. For example, research shows that simply planning on exercising later, can increase the likelihood not eating healthy right now. This way of thinking not only reeks of moral licensing, but also introduces another critical flaw into the mix. The assumption that we will somehow make a different decision in the future, then we do today. (ie: today I will skip my workout, but tomorrow I will double up or today I will binge my favourite TV shows, but then I wont watch anymore for the rest of the week.)

We simply give our future selves too much credit. Counting on them to do whatever we can’t bring ourselves to do right now. We are too quick to assume we’ll be more enthusiastic, energetic, willful, diligent, motivated, brave, morally strong in a couple of days, weeks or months.

Such optimism could be okay, if we knew we could actually follow through on it all. And we both know thats now how it goes. When the future finally arrives, the nobel idealized version of ourselves – is nowhere to be found. And the demands we face aren’t nearly as easily as we told our selves they would be. What to do then? Put it all off again of course, hoping that our saviour will rescue us next time.

This type of thinking simply burdens our future self with impossible load of tasks and responsibilities.

21 reminders from 2021

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The last few weeks have been have been strange for me in terms of direction and focus. Something must be said for following your inner knowing…because I find myself returning to thoughts I’ve always had about my purpose and my work, which to me means – that I’m still on a journey (and I just got side tracked – again lol).

Readjusting my aperture is what I call it (photographer here, and that play on words was absolutely necessary). I know that I’ll be constantly reminded of what I am meant to do so long as I’m not doing it. Kind of like you’ll keep receiving the same lessons until you finally get the message #ThankYouUniverse!

aperture, photo blur, self portrait, self care, growth mindset, mindset coach, self growth, productivity, goal setting, mentor, virtual mentor, planner, goal setting, intention, photography, fine art photography
adjusting my aperture

I think it’s okay to lose your way or to get distracted because I’m a firm believer that you’ll always hear a voice and be nudged back on to your path. So I think it’s important to lean into that voice and let that nudge guide you.

This post will also serve as is a reminder to myself that I’m still in progress. (And hey if you need it – take this as your sign too).

So in the spirit of having the right mindset and getting myself to realign to my goals and reprioritize what’s going on in my life, I’m sharing 21 reminders from 2021.

Important to note: this list is evergreen – these reminders apply to ALL areas of your life. Purpose, Career, Healthy Lifestyle, Productivity, Good Habits, Social Life, Personal Projects, Building a Business…seriously I could go on!

What we need to take away is that it’s always about the journey, that we can always re-adjust our focus and that it’s totally OK to start again.

  1. Everything we experience, will come in peaks and valleys
  2. When you think you’ve been buried, you’ve actually been planted so get ready to bloom
  3. Success is rarely achieved over night
  4. The fact that you are trying, is in and of itself hard
  5. When you need to plan something or find that you aren’t balanced – try the 3 bucket principle
  6. You’ll never be the same woman again, so celebrate with her everyday
  7. Breath and be grateful (every hour if necessary, which sometimes it is necessary)
  8. Make art, it soothes the soul
  9. Don’t put your energy into only one thing because if that one thing goes sideways you’ll feel lost
  10. Never expect your first draft to be the best version
  11. Balance is key
  12. If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it.
  13. Good things take time (instant gratification is something we need to break free of)
  14. Enjoy your success, Learn from Failure – and remember anything can happen
  15. Never let the internet fool you (everyone has a chapter they won’t read out lout, and some have a chapter they will never even write)
  16. When in doubt, go for a walk in nature
  17. Always appreciate the therapeutic power of putting pen to paper and letting everything out
  18. Find ways to learn, especially when things seem out of your control
  19. Pomodoro timer as a productivity hack for the win
  20. When you fail to plan you plan to fail: Goals for the year, milestones for the quarters, activities for the months, tasks for the day
  21. Need to focus, make a cup of coffee first

39 Laps (around the sun & running track)

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Last week I celebrated my 39th birthday! I took the day for myself and did all the important things that matter to me to me most. Outside of regular adulting/mom duties – here is how I spent the day…

I woke up, meditated & journaled.

Ran 15.6km (exactly 39 laps around a highschool race track*)

Went grocery shopping and donated it all to the food bank.

Picked up my birthday freebies at Sephora and Starbucks

Came home read a little then watch SATC

After school, the fambam sang happy birthday and the girls ate cupcakes

Had a quick photoshoot ;)

Lastly went to dinner!

Here is a quick video about my special day!

*You might remember I set up this goal for myself earlier this year!