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The Value of One

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I recently came across a lady called Karin Bohn who is awesome!

She is an interior designer, business owner and entrepreneur based in Vancouver, Canada. I discovered her about 2 weeks ago and haven’t stopped watching her videos. She gives real day to day insight into her wins, challenges and losses of all the different roles she plays, which I find incredibly invaluable.

Through watching her videos it reignited a fire in me that had been dormant and I am grateful for that.

The thought that keeps running through my mind is what if she gave up? What if she said no one is watching or enjoying my content? What if she had decided to close up shop one day and shut it all down? The business, designing, YouTube? I shudder.

This was a good reminder for myself that one person finding value in what you do can be such a difference maker in their lives and how important it is to keep being you, in all the spaces you occupy.  Yes, you may not always see it or feel like what you are doing is purposeful but it is.  Karin doesn’t even know I exist and yet here I am writing about her, case in point. 

Do not take for granted the difference you can make to your life and the lives of others simply by existing.

Xo

Keep That Same Energy

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It’s 8:20 am and I’m scheduled to be on time for work- woop! I’m hosting interviewees and the first person is set to arrive at 9:00 am so I can’t do my usual ‘stroll into work at late o’clock’.

Seeing as I should make it in slightly before 9’o clock, a thought crossed my mind as I walked briskly down the escalators that “I could take my time, there is no need to rush”.

I know better. It would just be my luck that as soon as I decide to relax, something happens. There’d be hordes of people trying to get on the train or it would suddenly be delayed by 10 minutes.

For a split second I did consider it but decided against it and continued to make haste, just in case. I was right to as there were delays…

A little random detail about my morning but it led me to think of this life hack. When you are making strides and you have built some momentum, that is not the time to take your foot off the accelerator, you do the opposite, floor it.

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It’s easy to become complacent once we experience a little bit of success. It gets to our heads and we think “ahh yes I can relax”, when really that window of opportunity is the time to push, go harder and do more. The aim is to firmly make your stamp in whatever it is you’re doing, not to do it just a little bit and the only way to do that is to generate enough traction that it lasts.

Remember when Beyonce took that year long career break? She could do that because she’s worked hard enough that her work speaks for itself whether she is present or not. Now I don’t advise you do what she does as I am sure its not entirely healthy, what I am saying is; if something is working, pursue it and pursue it well, strike whilst the iron is hot.

Life is full of peaks and troughs and you want to make the best of what you have, whilst you still have it.

Xo

P.s I made it on time 🙂

Call It Quits?

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img_0874You set a goal and start to execute your plans to see it materialise. You’re excited and more determined than ever, nothing will stop you, you can do it.

Months and years have passed and you can’t see the finish line, your energy starts to wane. You wonder if there is any point because nothing seems to be changing. You want to stop but you haven’t…yet.

Will it ever happen? Should I give up? Did I make a mistake going down this path? Can I fix it? Should I fix it? What did I do wrong?
It’s not going happen, I should give up, I never should have embarked on this journey, there’s nothing more I can do, I should have done this instead…

The constant noise, the incessant chatter of shoulda woulda couldas engulfs you. You can’t think straight.

Too overwhelmed to do much, yet too far gone to give it all up.

I know the feeling, it’s tempting to call it quits especially on days where it doesn’t make sense.
Truth is, when you made the decision to pursue your desires, there were no guarantees that it would happen, you only believed in it enough to do something about it, kudos to you.

In times like these, you must reconnect to your why. Stop the static by getting out of your normal environment and purge yourself of your thoughts.

Sounds simple, almost too simple yet it works.

I was having a nightmare of a time yesterday with a decision I had made months ago and I was so close to going back on my word. I had re-enacted what I felt like doing in that moment a trillion times but deep down I knew I’d regret it.

I wanted to stay on course but was struggling to. I called on my friends to keep me motivated; they helped, however it didn’t immediately ease my feelings. My thoughts were doing over time.

I decided to go to a small park around where I work. I opened notes on my phone, wrote two lines about how I was feeling and that was it. My sound mind was restored.

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Seeing the words was a visual reminder of why I was doing it and that the possibility of something better was worth the effort and indeed valuable to me.

Try it out. If you feel uncertain about your direction, get into nature. Spend time there, meditate, write or even talk to someone. It’s the best free therapy there is. And when you’re done, pat yourself on the back for everything you have accomplished so far, appreciate the moment you’re in now, stay connected to your why and never give up.

If it doesn’t happen on the first try, keep doing it, clarity will come.

“Anything worth having, is worth waiting (working) for”…apparently (lol)

xo

Where’s Your Head At?

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A few months back there was a big boxing match that I wanted to watch and for the life of me I can’t recall who was fighting now because it was so so dry.

Usually when big boxing matches are coming up, my friends and I look for a venue to watch it at, however we can never quite get it together and it’s always by some stroke of luck that we find somewhere at the very last minute.

Anyway this fight was coming up and I was completely over the palaver of trying find somewhere. Nope, not doing it. I am not looking for a place, a vibe, a nothing, but, I still had the issue of wanting to watch the fight, so what do I do? Then it hit me, ‘Irene, pay for it and watch it at home DURH!’. That’s what anyone with common sense would do, right? Except I was so used to having the mind frame of watching it with others, in their space and on their dollar that it never ever occurred to me that I could just pay for it myself and watch it in the comfort of my own home, without the hassle. Genius idea.

It might sound minute to you, but it shocked the hell out of me because I hadn’t realised that even in something as small as this I had become conditioned to think about some things in a way that was limiting my experiences. Needless to say I paid for it, watched it in bed and after the boring fight was over, fell right asleep, perfect.

It took me making a different choice to encourage me to have a different experience.

What old ways do you have that is limiting your experiences? What could you take responsibility for? What different choice could you make that might lead to a different experience?

The people who get uncommon results do uncommon things. Break your mould and do something you wouldn’t normally and yes sometimes doing that will be difficult and challenges will arise, push through anyway and do it.

I did a presentation last week in front of a whole directorate and I was shitting myself. They couldn’t tell though but I was so sure I was making an arse of myself. It was my first time doing something of that kind and trust me when I say all sorts of challenges cropped up in the lead up to it but I expected that because that’s what happens when you want soemthing. I seriously considered dropping out at the last minute and said to myself, ‘Irene why did you say you’d do it?’. But guess what? It was well received and my colleague and I had lots of positive, reaffirming feedback.

It was also a huge learning curve and built my character and skills, yet if I had quit, I’d never have that.

Its a new week, do something different and see how it goes. Whether you win or lose, you learn from it- you still win.

Food For Thought: The Grind

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I am starting a new thing called ‘Food For Thought’ where once a week, I write a sentence or two for personal rumination. I do think less is more and rather than constantly bombard you with an essay every couple of days (I’ll still do this), I thought it’d be good to give a few words instead. Of course whatever is written is up for your interpretation but I do hope it resonates in some respect.

Here’s the first one:

You cannot put a little bit of effort in and expect a massive return. That my friend, is theft.

Xo

P.s This may very well be laziness, only time will tell, but above is my story and I am sticking to it.

S/He is “Goals”

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I think we all can admit that we have looked at someones else’s life and admired them, possibly been jealous even at one point, but as I have learnt there’s only one life you should be concerned about, yours.

Its great that we can draw inspiration and learn from others, but we have to be careful how closely we focus on them lest we fall deep down the rabbit hole. Sometimes we look at someone’s life and think they’ve got it made until you hear about their woes, suddenly your life doesn’t seem so bad.

Learn to value where you are and have faith in where you’re going. Everyone’s journey is different as are the blessings and obstacles. Don’t look at anyone else and believe they’re “goals”, be your own goals.

Want to know how to do that? Set weekly, monthly, yearly real and practical goals and smash the shit out of them. Honestly, it works. It builds confidence and sharpens your tools. It will turn the focus back to you and on improving the quality of your life. Trust me, there’s so much living to do and if you’re doing it right, you won’t have time to inspect what the other person is doing. Granted, you can learn from them, however never hold their life in higher esteem than yours, ever.

Have a great weekend! And see you next week 🙂

Xo

Make Room

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I have an iPhone and it feels like every few seconds it tells me ‘Storage almost full’. Seeing this message has become the absolute bane of my life. I then start the process of looking for things to delete in order to create space and what I usually find tends to surprise me. ‘How did this get there?, erm this is useless, I’d never use this again, I have no interest in that, ergh delete’ are the thoughts I have when doing this.

It’s amazing how quickly things take form and become staples in our lives without us even realising it.

It’s crucial that we declutter on a regular basis so that we can make room for the things we really want and need in our lives now. This could be physically in terms of our possessions or mentally in respect of the way we think that no longer serves us and has now unknowingly become a hindrance or the time we afford others, it could be anything. Unfortunately we don’t have a message that pops up to tell us when we’re reaching our capacity and need to offload, but there are other tell tale signs that we can use to our advantage.

Lighten your load by decluttering and make room for what you want.

Xo

‘If It Doesn’t Challenge You, It Won’t Change You’

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I’d be the first to say I like an easy life. Stress and drama are not my kindred and so far as is possible I avoid it, but sometimes you simply can’t, sometimes its necessary.

I saw the above title on Instagram yesterday and all the ways this statement applies came flooding through my mind; the gym, my career, my relationships.

When hardship comes, we often look for the quickest way to stop it, instead of looking at how this can shape us to be better. We don’t want to struggle or to feel pain, but truth be told whether we like it or not it’ll come, the real test is in how we deal with it.

The challenges that come our way are an opportunity to become better and refine our character, however this will not be possible if every time something threatens our comfort we run or shut down.

Challenge is an integral part of anyone’s development, learn to embrace it and make it work for you not against you. When next it crosses your path, refuse to run or shut down, ask yourself ‘How can this make me better?’

Xo

Sixth Sense

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I knew spilling my guts on here would help me out. Phew!

It’s like having a good old cry and suddenly having clarity afterwards, or when you’re having a bad day and opt to just sleep it off and you wake up feeling better. That’s what writing out my jargon on here did for me, so thank you.

Letting it flow will always produce much better results that forcing it to go. 

One of the things I heavily rely to do this, is my intuition and its especially handy with my writing. I go with what I sense rather than what I think.

You might not believe it, but you actually know what’s good for you, you simply don’t trust yourself enough to go with it.

So before you rest your eyes tonight, take a little bit of time to figure out the answers to the following:

  1. What you are feeling?
  2. Why you are feeling it?
  3. What’s taking place?
  4. Where you are heading next?

Sounds like a lot, but you can very quickly figure things out if you really focus on getting answers. Use your sixth sense (everyone has it, you just have to listen) to guide you to a better life.

Life has its own ebb and flow that if you pay real close attention to, will serve you well. Go against it and you’ll be fighting the change you actually want for much longer and a whole lot harder.

Even if its not clear to you now, it will be over time, flow with it.

Trust it, trust yourself.

Goodnight xo

Have You Done It Yet?

17 Thursday Aug 2017

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A couple of days ago, my mind wondered back to being a child and what made things so much simpler.

I thought about all the things I had achieved then both great and small and one thing that I remember not doing is thinking. I just did.

I didn’t think about whether or not I’ll be good at cartwheels, I just did it until I was.

I didn’t think about whether or not I was a good reader, my hand shot up when asked for a volunteer and over time I got better.

I didn’t think about if I’d be good at 100m, I just ran on the tracks until I was faster.

I didn’t think I was stupid, I just applied myself until I improved.

As children (preteens, because teenagers are hormonal aka crazy) we didn’t sit there and ruminate over all the things that could go wrong like we do now. We spent more time doing things, getting it wrong and doing it again until we got it right or became better.

Which brings me to my point, many of us cancel on a dream without having attempted it. Did you hear me? Without having attempted it.

One more time for effect…

Without

Having

Attempted

It!

Do you know how crazy that is? You haven’t tried it, but you have convinced yourself it won’t work. Maybe in your case it’s that you are doing ‘things’ but the truth is you don’t really believe it will happen so you half arse it.

You miss 100% of shots that you don’t take and you can’t half arse anything!

And yes I’m absolutely guilty of this.

We need to revert back to that childlike attitude or better still evolve into mind-set that removes limitations.

So before you go cancelling on your dreams that you’ve not even worked on yet or doubting them, do it and keep doing it again and again and again and again.

The success I have experienced didn’t magically appear, it came from taking repeated action. I had to do the work, there’s absolutely no other way around it than to do it.

Humour me, the next thing your mind thinks of doing, use the immediate 5 minutes that follows to put something into action. Its harder to stop something you have already started…right?

Xo