Starting the new year with renewed focus and intention

It was a GREAT 20 days of blogmas! I am pretty impressed with my ability, consistency and ambition.  I think it was the longest streak of blogging I’ve had in a long time.  For January, I’ll be returning to more regular yet less frequent blog posts.  Maybe, it will be twice a week and centered around a new theme – I haven’t confirmed my creative process yet! :P

<Admin reminder for myself> I’ve also yet to share all the posts on Pinterest so that will take some time in January also. So between editing titles (taking out the word “blogmas”), promoting on Pinterest (and twitter & instagram for that matter) I know I’ll be scaling back.  </end reminder>

So here is my first post – post blogmas!  It’s a multi day vlog showing my routines & habits.  All things I want to continue focusing on in the new year.  Whether that’s nature works, morning workouts, journaling, reading, meditating, doing well in my career – it’s a reminder that my Focus and Intention needs be all about consistency.  So hopefully it inspires others out there who want to start (or stay on …like me) the journey of their personal development and self growth.


Click here for Blogmas 2022!

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Blogmas | Books I read in 2022

I’m one of the people that has a stack of books to be read. I’m constantly updating my good reads “to read” shelf. But I’m happy to report that this year I made a HUGE dent in my reading goals.

Links to books (all are Chapters Indigo, but you could check amazon or any local book retailer)

Little Fires Everywhere | The Time Machine | How Women Rise | Last Girl Ghosted | The Culture Code | Such a Quiet Place | Malibu Rising | BigLaw | It Ends with Us | The School of Good Mothers | Verity | The Four Agreements

Here are some numbers

  • 8 new/modern fiction books read
  • 1 classic fiction book
  • 3 non fiction/self development books
  • 8 (all) fiction books with strong female characters

What went well

  • I was able to read fiction books fast
  • I need to balance all the fiction with some non fiction, spiritual & self development
  • Following BookTok & Bookstagram

What didn’t go well

  • Reading slumps came on quickly if I tried to read more than self dev book in succession
  • Tried to push myself to finish a book I was no longer interested in

Fav fiction book read this year

  • Verity (hands down)

Fav non fiction book read this year

  • The Four Agreements

Blogmas | Project50 for January

I’ve mentioned many times (check here, here and here) that I’m all about goal setting, productivity and self development.  I also have a thing for life hacks that offer consistent ways to improve in different areas of my life.  

Enter #Project50

 

From my research (read: heavy google searching), Project50 is along the lines of 75hard but closer to 75Soft. Essentially a way to kick start your daily routines and create long lasting habits and rituals.  

I should say, most of these things I already do daily, but there is no harm in calling out and trying harder.  If you are interested in getting started, check out the IG linked above and also set 7 rules for yourself.  The catch, if you miss any daily habit, you begin again from day 1. Check out my rules below & good luck!

Rules:

  1. Wake up by 6:45am
    • Sleep a minimum 6 hours
  2. Complete a morning routine (without distractions)
    • Mediate
    • Journal
    • Affirmations
    • AM Hygiene 
    • List to a Podcast episode
    • Weekly nature walks & forrest baths
    • Plan your days in detail
  3. Exercise for 45 min 
    • Cardio (20 min run, 3km or 4km run, Pilates or 5000 step walk)
    • Strength (everyday except for active rest days)
  4. Read 10 pages of a book
  5. Dedicate 1 hour to learning daily
    • Udemy (Python, excel, product, data, agile)
    • LinkedIn Learning (product, agile, productivity, self growth)
    • Free courses and ebooks (with actual note taking!)
  6. Eat clean
    • Llimit processed desserts, sodas and cocktails
    • 2.5 L of water
    • maximize fruits and veg intake
  7. Create content to track your progress
    • Blogpost (will be default mode to track)
    • OneDay
    • Tweet
    • IG post

*Image from Pinterest

Blogmas | The biggest lesson I learned this year

I was recently scrolling through TikTok and some someone post about what the biggest lesson that they learned this year. Without even watching the full post – I immediately thought about mine…(goes to show how mindless show intense my multi tasking is!)

I figured it would make a great blogmas post…

The biggest lesson I learned this year was maintaining consistency with my self growth practices.

Now as I’m saying that I realize it sounds very simplistic. But I realized not being consistent actually creates bad habits. Or rather, being consistent creates good habits. And for me those habits are helping me grow and develop.

So here’s the kicker: I find myself only being consistent with my self growth and development rituals (quality journaling, outdoors walks, forrest baths, deep meditation, creating content, making art, reading, learning) when I’m needing to change* something. And then, as soon as I achieve* that something I for some reason decide to de-prioritize those rituals.

Maybe that de-prioritization comes naturally because that thing I achieved takes up more of my time. But I’ve realized that I can’t let it. I need to be consistent with my rituals because they are the only thing that will support me in the long run.

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!

Blogmas | Do THIS before you create your reality with a #VisionBoard

We are 18 days out from 2023.  I hope between the get togethers, holiday meals and gift giving your are making time for YOU.  As a mom of daughters, with a full fledge and progressive career with ambitions of growing my business – goal setting has always been my thing.

But with the new year I definitely try to be more intentional.

Below is the process I’ve developed over the years + sharing my vision board capturing visual cues of all the areas I’m setting goals in (wellness, learning, career promotion, financial abundance, family, friends and world travel).

  1. Retrospective on the past year: I use the life audit wheel and do an audit of the areas of my life that went really well (10) and the areas that I felt I could have put more effort towards or that could have gone better (1 being the lowest on the scale)
  2. Write in words what the life audit showed me: This is really about writing down what went well and what didnt.  So now you have two representations of the past year.
  3. Get clear on what you want to achieve: Now taking the written retrospective, write down all the things you want to achieve.  Be as detailed as possible.  And also make room to jot down the feeling you have when you think about these achievements.  And most importantly, write down actionable steps to get where you want to be (full disclosure: this will take you more than one sitting)
  4. Pinterest, pinterest, PINTEREST! You are gonna grab all images that show you achieving everything you clearly articulated in step 3.
  5. Make you vision board: Now you are going to make a visual representation of what you wrote in 3. Before you make your vision board, make a gratitude list, meditate, light a candle, clense your crystals – just be in the most receiving space you can be in!  Once you love what you’ve created (also: this could take a few tries) PRINT it out, save to all of your desktop wallpapers & make sure you look at it multipe times a day.

You’ll notice a pattern here, we think, write and visualize.  Repeatedly.  Why? Because the brain can’t tell the difference between something actually happening/how it feels when you achieve something vs when you just think about achieving it & feel the feelings.  Once you brain believes you’ve achieved it, you’ll starting behaving in a way and taking actions in the direction of that achievement.

BONUS: Do future journalling – everyday of the new year, potentially as part of your morning journalling practice.  This is where you write down everything of the day as it it’s already happened (ie: these will be the actionable steps you wrote down in 3 aboce).  Again tricking your brain into thinking you’ve already achieved the accomplishment but on a daily basis.

Vision Board, Pinterest, Mood board, Future, Goals, New Years Resolution, Goal Setting, Happy, Abundant, successful, wealthy, prosperity, vitality, wellness

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!

Blogmas | Podcasts I’m listening to right now

I don’t know what I’ll do if they ever make it a full subscription model for free learning mediums like podcasts and youtube!  But grateful I get access to virtual mentors world wide through podcasts!

I am really into personal success stories, biographies & female empowerment when it comes to my taste in podcasts.   Read below to learn more about the podcasts I’m into these days (in no particular order):

Diary of a CEO: is hosted by Steve Barlett (an investor from Dragon’s Den) who is able to get the most comprehensive and value add stories from his guests.  I really love that given all of his experience he still breaks it down so anyone listening can gain the knowledge that he already knows to be true.  My only qualm is that each episode is over an hour.  

CEO School: is hosted by Suneera Madhani.  A brown girl unicorn founder and CEO.  She shares her own lived experienced lessons that are so relatable.  She also talks about smart topics such as how to level up in business and in life.  I really love wine-down Wednesdays, episodes are not over 25 min

*are we seeing a pattern here*

Goal Digger: is hosted by Jenna Kutcher (who’s amazing success story had me hooked from day 1: she was a SAHM, bought a DSLR and built a 7 figure biz).  She talks about EVERYTHING from crypto, to side hustles, to daily finances to biohacking.  I recently found her and so glad I did!

Podcast, podcast episodes, goals, productivity, entrepreneurship, business, corporate girlie

Affirmation Babe: hosted by Ashley Diana (what a beautiful name!). Her episodes are affirmations on important topics for most women. The episodes are less than 20 minutes and serve the dose of positivity and optimism you need to fill your mind with to change your story. One word of caution: some episodes contain explicit words so read the titles before playing on speaker!

Leadership Babes: is hosted by Atena Morelli & Laura Wizman. I’m new to this podcast but their topics are all about the journey to success: mindset, manifestation, and creating the consistency to build the life of your dreams. (if you are looking for a planner spread: check out my digital wellness and agenda pages here)

The Daily Motivation: Is hosted by Lewis Howes. You might know him as a lifestyle entrepreneur or best selling author – annnddd he was actually a footballer player. I really enjoy this podcast because each episode is less than 10 min and include the real impact & actionable steps of his longer episodes

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!