Blogmas | I launched a digital planner!!

I need to raise a glass!  A cocktail glass full of a strong espresso martini!

Today is the day that I finally launched the digital planner that I first realized I needed to create 5 years ago!

And I realized that I needed to say something about ideas.  All the ideas that ever was and every is have already been ideated.  The only thing left is for us to uniquely execute the idea.  The uniqueness comes when we put our own spin on an idea – that’s the easy part!  But execution is where perfection and fear can get in the way!  And it’s the fear and perfection that prevented me from executing!

Suffice to say – we should keep practicing the execution.  Because success comes from 10% of an idea and 90% of execution!

So without further ado – my digital undated wellness journal & vertical agenda!

Would love for you to check it out, support and share 💕

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!

Blogmas | Intro & My Why

Happy December 1st! Long time no talk ;)

I’m one of those (analogue) people who looooooooves scrolling through the archives of a blog. I love seeing the beginning of people’s stories. I find it inspiring.

When it comes to my own blog, I NEVER look through the archives. I find it so cringe that I end up making my older blog posts private!

But at least I have them there, I have the stories and the ideas from the beginning. And really it’s all about keeping up with the practice that I admire in others and even myself.

So I’ve decided to start a BLOGMAS!

What is Blogmas?

For the Tiktok kids in the back, “Blogmas” is a series of posts on a blog leading up to Christmas (Dec 25th). It can be done on any online medium (or even offline). But my first memory of it was watching vlogmas done by YouTubers in 2012.

Why am I doing Blogmas?

I’m doing it for both logical and emotional reasons. Logical because I want to be writing, creating and posting more often – discipline is the name of that game! From an emotional perspective because I want have memories 🙂 Also because I’ve officially reopened my Etsy shop, I want to ensure that I’m aligning all of my online presences and themes: Inspiration, Consistency, Happiness & Productivity.
Lastly, the hope is that I’ll learn something from participating in Blogmas that I can either share here on the blog or implement on my Etsy store.

How can YOU participate?

In any way really! It can be something online or unplugged. You can paint for 25 day. Share a new pic IG for 25 days. Create a youtube channel and start Vlogmas. You can volunteer at a soup kitchen for 25 days or learn a new skill for the next 25 days.

It’s all about staying consistent, creating, learning something & having fun!

And of course, be sure to check back over the next 24 days and follow along with my Blogmas!

February Reads

Well I took it a little easier with February and decided on a fiction read that I knew was already streaming ;) 

Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng

Usually when I start a book, it takes me a few pages or at least a chapter before I start to connect the dots and actually start to “listen” (read: pay attention) to what’s going on. Which means I don’t always get the story line right away.  I also didn’t follow the story until Moody was watching Pearl from afar after biking to her new home.   What really drew me to the story initially was Mia’s story line.  I loved that she is a mixed media artist and a photographer in the truest sense. This book was full of little twists and turns but in a way that wasn’t too abrupt or aggressive.  Seeing the juxtaposition between privilege and humble family lives was both lovely and painful.   I enjoyed how the author made little links between Mia and Elena’s life (as mothers, women creating careers/pursing their life’s work and as humans living a traditional and not so traditional North American life). Another small detail I love about this book – it’s set in the 90s!      

In my head I imagined Mia/Pearl to be Asian (in the book their race is unspecified but not in the show adaptation). And it wasn’t until we learn that Lexie is in an interracial couple that I noticed that race was an underlying theme of the book.   I really appreciated that the novel talks about race, biases and the way a community my think they are “doing better” than the rest of the world/country.

If you need a weekend read or a vacation read.  Or just a break from the business/strategy/self development books (like me) I would definitely suggest picking this book up!

Find Little Fires Everywhere at Chapters Indigo (Canada)

Reading, Little Fires Everywhere, Chapters, Library Book, Book on Bed, Reader

January Reads

Reading Routine, Habits, Brain Boosters, Rituals, Best Self, Higher Self, Reading for pleasure, Reading for Fun, Thriller, Suspense, GoodReads, Bookstagram

I’ve been trying to read 20+ pages a day which has really helped me to read more efficiently.  And because of that I managed to finish 2 books in a little over a month!  I’m trying to diversify what I read because I’ll normally read business/strategy/career books and get bored and not want to read for a while.  Or read thriller/suspense/fiction one after another and then I feel like I’m consuming without learning anything.  So to prevent that – I switch it up (ie: thriller, followed by business, followed by fiction, followed by self growth, followed by thriller etc).  It’s a good way to stay motivated and the habit of reading a certain number of pages of day helps too!  Read on to see my reviews :)

How Women Rise by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith

This book had me nodding in agreement throughout!  The authors present 12 habits that women specifically do to serve them well earlier in their career – actually end up holding them back when they further their career.  What I really like about this book is that they talk about women-specific behaviours that I’ve learned also learned from other sources (like women not speaking up for their accomplishments).  The peer reviewed sense of it really made me feel like these things I do are common to all women and I shouldn’t feel bad.  More specifically, the habits of building relationships and never leveraging them or try to be perfectionists – I was immediately able to see the habit in me and other women I knew. With each habit, the book provided an example and actions to overcome it.  A great book and something I will reference and read again.

Reading Routine, Habits, Brain Boosters, Rituals, Best Self, Higher Self, Reading for pleasure, Reading for Fun, Thriller, Suspense, GoodReads, Bookstagram

Find How Women Rise at Chapters Indigo (Canada)

Such a quiet place by Megan Miranda

This book is about a close knit community and the strange things they know about one another and the efforts they go to preserve what they believe to be the truth about their neighbours.  The story reads well and although I wouldn’t say it’s a page-turner, it was definitely something that kept me engrossed.  Harper’s roommate is sentenced to 20 years in prison for a crime.  But her conviction is overturned which sends all of her accusing neighbours into a frenzy (and against Ruby).  Including Harper, who although believed Ruby to be innocent, but now wants to remain on the inside with her community.  There are twists, turns and random pieces of information that don’t necessarily add to the story but are still interesting info about the characters.  Definitely a great vacation ready!  *fingers crossed* we’ll be able to take vacations this year ;)

Find Such a quiet place at Chapters Indigo (Canada)

Reading Routine, Habits, Brain Boosters, Rituals, Best Self, Higher Self, Reading for pleasure, Reading for Fun, Thriller, Suspense, GoodReads, Bookstagram

Become a #GoalDigger + Free Wallpaper Download!

TL;DR

If you can’t get to the entire post, I’d like to highlight the following

  1. Vision boards are great tools to help you conceptualize and work towards your goals
  2. Even though I’m posting this on the last day of the year, #VisionBoards can be created ANYTIME (of the year) you need an extra boost of motivation
  3. Scroll to the bottom for the FREE download!

I’ve been a big proponent of vision boards for a long time – and still am!  

I’ve created them yearly (sometimes several times in a year) and find them to be a great way to focus and hone in on my goals. 

Visionboard, goal setting, yearly intention, #FutureBoard, goaldigger, Productivity, Personal Growth, Self Growth, Self Care, Routines, Systems, CEO School

I believe in them so much that I’ve got my girls in on it.  I want them to know what it feels like to both be strategic and reflective when it comes to goal setting.  I want them to know what it feels like to reach milestones and accomplishments they set for themselves.  I also want them to know that getting to those goals, doesn’t happen overnight – and what progress feels like.  

Also want them to know what it feels like to be internally driven.  Not told to do something because the school system, an adult, society or their friends etc have told them to do something.   And although yes, I do give them some guidance – I really ask that they think of the specifics around the goals. The journey throughout the year is really amazing. They consistently view their board, talk about it with me or between themselves and find ways to make their dreams a reality.

I’m so glad I introduced them to vision boards early. I only learned about them as an adult so I’m still learning and right now, I’m pivoting as well.  So two things of note:

  1. I’m currently perusing the book #FutureBoards for more inspiration and knowledge
  2. I’m taking on a different approach where instead of doing a vision board for the entire year, I create a vision board for a month or a quarter
  3. Creating a vision board doesn’t need to only happen at the start of the year

Some tips I’ve started to use when creating my vision boards are:

  • Come up with a goal statement and write it as if you’ve already achieved it! (very empowering) Remember you can also have several goals in different buckets (Personal, Professional, Fitness, Family etc)
  • Next write out a detailed story of each goal – be as specific as you can. You really want to help your brain see in your minds eye and your heart feel emotions attached to achieving the goal. If you have a why statement you may find yourself leaning on or tweaking that as part of this exercise.
  • Break down that vision into milestones, 4 works really well because that can fit nicely into quarters of the year or weeks of a month.
  • Now with each milestone, figure out activities that will help you get there. As an example if you want to change careers you might have a milestone to apply to your dream job. Activities for that milestone could be to research companies that align to your values, update your resume and then apply to jobs. Milestones can have many activities, so try to keep it to three activities so as to not overwhelm yourself.

Now here is the best part! You can create a vision board based on the goal statement, goal story OR on the milestone activity! Like I mentioned above, I’ve always created the vision board based on the goal story (macro level based on what you want to accomplish in the year), but this time I’m creating it on the milestone activity (micro level based on what I want to achieve in each quarter of the year).

Visionboard, goal setting, yearly intention, #FutureBoard, goaldigger, Productivity, Personal Growth, Self Growth, Self Care, Routines, Systems, CEO School

I don’t think there is any right or wrong way – I do think you have to try it out and see what works for you.

If you are planning on creating a vision board or set intentions/goals for the new year – enjoy! I wanted to share two motivational wall papers (for your phone and desktop wallpaper).

Click here for a free download!

Easy healthy granola – that tastes like a cookie!

The other day the Mister said that this granola tastes like a cookie, and I couldn’t agree more.

WhatsApp Image 2020-01-23 at 10.34.20 PM

I started making it because I could no longer find my favourite Special K Dark Chocolate Coconut Popped Granola in ANY grocery store.

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I used to make a nut granola but really wanted something a little lighter (nuts can get heavy) so opted for a baked oatmeal instead.

This is super simple to make and quick enough that I can make it on a Sunday to use thoughtout the week.

Where is what you do:
1) roughly crush up a half cup of dry roasted almonds

2) measure 1 cup of quick oats, add to crushed almonds and lay flat on a sheet pan. Bake for 10-15 min at 400 degrees. Check often to prevent burning and turn the sheet pan to make sure everything cooks evenly.

3) in a small pot (using the lowest heat) melt 1/3 cup coconut oil, then add pure maple syrup, cinnamon, cacao powder to taste (careful it’s hot!). Add a tablespoon of chia seeds and a pinch of salt. Stir often and combine well. If you want the granola to be chewy, add more coconut oil, maple syrup and cacao.

4) remove the oats and almonds and let cool for 5 min then pour coconut oil mixture on top (it will sizzle). Mix to coat all the oats/almonds.

5) pack the mixture so it can get stuck together and be chunky! (instead of laying it flat on the pan). Put back in the oven for 3-5 min. Check frequently as it can burn easy.

6) remove from oven and let cool before enjoying with yogurt, almond milk or by itself.

Optional add ons: dark chocolate, another nut or seed or dried fruit!

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Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments below?  Better yet, share your healthy home made granola recipes for me to try!


More like this? Check out this other healthy cookie recipe.