Self Improvement

Buying gifts for some people can be tough. And what about those people that are always trying to improve themselves and make positive changes in their lives? As a self-confessed self-improvement junkie, I can say that I am a little bit picky when it comes time to tell people what I’d like for my birthday or Christmas. Surely it's only a good thing when you know what you want. What's the purpose of self-improvement? The purpose of self-improvement is to enhance your personal growth and development by identifying and working on areas that require improvement. Areas like personal growth, emotional [...]

I know it sounds a little bit lame, but I only really discovered podcasts in 2017. I’m not even sure what made me open the podcast app but I started with a podcast from Headspace. This was also during the throws of postnatal depression. Now that I’d found a podcast to listen to, I found some similar podcasts. And so began my road to devouring self improvement podcasts. A little note about all the self-improvement podcasts listed here. These are all podcasts that I listen to regularly. I’ve been a long-time fan of each one, and some from the very [...]

Usually, when we hear the word willpower, we relate it to losing weight or quitting smoking. Willpower is extremely helpful when trying to break those bad habits, but it can also be beneficial in other areas of your life as well.  I'm sure that you've heard that your willpower is a muscle. The more you use it, the better it gets. And like a muscle, some experts believe that it can get fatigued from overuse. What is willpower? Before we can start building our willpower muscle, we need to know what it is.  Willpower is a tricky concept. We all want to [...]

Have you ever wondered about what is manifestation and how to manifest things? I know I have. And the truth is that you can manifest just about anything and in every aspect of your life. It all comes down to learning about the powerful tool that is your mind. Narrow it down with a few actionable steps by harnessing the power of your thoughts. And next thing you know you are practising the art of manifesting and living out your wildest dreams. What is manifestation? In short, manifestation is the law of attraction. It’s the practice of thinking certain positive [...]

Lately I've been noticing the small things that can make a difference to my mood. And I'm hoping you can use some (or all) of these to boost your mood too! Change your phone wallpaper A couple of weeks ago I change the lock screen wallpaper on my phone. And I cannot believe how much of a difference this has made to my mood. I'm still not used to it, so every time I pick up my phone I smile. And the strange thing is that it isn't a special photo. It's just a coloured wallpaper that I found on [...]

Regrets happen. Sometimes they are big. Like not reconciling with a family member before their death. Sometimes they are small. Like not buying that jacket when it was on sale. And sometimes they are really small. Like not ordering a McFlurry with your drive through order. And they come in many forms. Regret for doing something. Regret for not doing something. And the wondering of what if. Either way, I think it's impossible to live a life without regrets. When you look up regret on Google you get a wide variety of results ranging from tattoos, break ups and children [...]

Sometimes simplifying your life comes out of necessity and other times it's just an evolution. To me, simplifying your life is more along the lines of work smarter, not harder. And these are some of the changes I've made to work smarter. And while some of these steps are quite small, when combined they can make quite an impact on your day to day life. Robot Vacuum I really didn't think I needed a robot vacuum. It would only take me about half an hour to vacuum the whole house. And its not like I needed to find more time [...]

I knew something was up when I realised that my daughter was five days old yet I had not kissed her once. This got me so worked up that my eyes filled with tears at the thought of it. I really struggled to kiss her then and there. You hear about people falling instantly in love with their child and feeling this special connection. I didn’t feel that. I spent perhaps an hour with my daughter before I was whisked off to surgery, to be reunited with her six hours after her birth. My daughter’s six-week maternal health nurse appointment [...]

I have recently been learning how to give myself grace, particularly when it comes to my daughter. I’ve inherited a trait from my dad that I’ve only just noticed: impatience. I am very impatient with a short temper when it comes to my daughter. And it doesn’t take long before I start to feel how I did at the peak of my postnatal depression. So for me, learning how to give myself grace is becoming something I really need to pay attention to. I need to have more patience, more grace and put a lid on my temper. Some days [...]

I never had anxiety until I was pregnant but it has lingered ever since. Just like everything, there are good days and bad days. And I recently had two bad days in a row. So this is a journal of my anxiety for those two days. Friday I almost didn’t leave the house this morning. I'd booked and paid for a play session with a candid photoshoot for my daughter but I almost didn’t go. I changed my top twice. I made sure to have a breakfast that wouldn’t make me look bloated. Even shaving my legs for fear of [...]

I hate to use a modern-day cliche but sometimes I really do feel so blessed. Yesterday was certainly one of those days. Last night I had a chance to reflect a little. Thirteen years ago I had the chance to reconnect with some old family friends. Normally I would not have taken up that opportunity but I thought why the heck not? This group of family friends has grown, as other friends have been added, partners have been added and now kids have also been added into the mix. Some of these people I have known since I was born [...]

I have just completed a pretty big feat. I have just completed updating all of my old Quote Monday posts. Back in November, I decided that I should be using the same layout for all of my Quote Monday posts. By then I was already up to 110, so that meant I had to re-do 110 posts. It has taken eight months, but I am proud to say it is done. It wasn't easy. There were so many steps to make it right. Quote Monday Redesign The first thing I did was go through each and every Quote Monday post and [...]

Last year I turned 30, and in all that time I’ve learned quite a lot. Some of it important, like how to adult and some not so important, like the words to too many songs from the 90s. Most of these life lessons I learned in my 20s, but some are quite recent, like number 15. So here are my 30 life lessons from a 30-year-old. Have an outlet to relieve your frustrations; write, exercise, meditate etc. Prioritise by working out what is important to you. Stop spending your time on things you don’t enjoy. Hate a particular chore? Outsource it. [...]