6 New Steps To My Personal Happiness

Hi all!

I hope everyone is having a nice week leading up to Thanksgiving (for those of us in the USA)!  I love having a nice short week and looking forward to seeing my family and friends.

So I thought I would write a post about what I plan on doing to change my mind set  because I feel like I have been in bit of a rut and I sure others can relate.  Its strange that when you have nothing but time on your hands you do not seem to accomplish as much as you set up for yourself to do (maybe not everyone but I am speaking from my own personal struggles).  Let me explain what I mean.

My husband and I purchased our first home in July which meant moving to a new city where he already had an established job but I did not.  Our plan was to make the move, get us all settled in, unpacked, etc. and then I would begin the job searching process.  Well, I did just that.  Spent the first couple of months like a crazy person cleaning, prepping and getting us out of boxes and finding a new home for everything.  Since that has ended I have nothing but time on my hands (aside from the days I am non stop job hunting).  So I thought I would be growing my blog, getting into an amazing work out routine, eating healthier then ever and all these other goals.  I just feel like with time on my hands I am not nearly as productive as I am when I am crazy busy.  Can anyone else relate to this?!  I mean here I am not working a job and you would think that I would have 20+ new posts on here!  I am kind of frustrated with myself that I have not taken advantage of this.  I love being able to clear my head on here, write about new trends that I love, outfit ideas and our travels.  So why is it that its like pulling teeth to get me to write on here regularly or get into a good overall routine?! Ugh, well I need this to change.

So here are some things I have brain stormed to try and kick my butt into gear.

  1. Make lists each night on what I would like to accomplish the next day.  I feel that writing out goals for myself to achieve each given day will keep me in a better mindset with having a “work” schedule.
  2. First thing I do when I wake up, stretch.  I know that sounds weird but I have started doing this.  I wake up and I do some stretches in bed, then get up and continue to do some floor stretches.  It wakes me up and gets me feeling less achy.
  3. Plan out a schedule for my blog posts.  If I want to continue this blog I need to put some love and attention towards it.  Its not going to grow on its own without me putting effort forth.  So I plan on writing out each week what my content will be and what I plan on covering in each post.  I am going to aim for 4 posts a week to start, which I feel is attainable with the right mindset.
  4. Plan out other activities that I have been putting on the back burner.  I joined the YMCA near us.  Its nice because it has a gym, you can swim, take classes etc and I need variety when I work out.  So I have been wanting to check out some of the classes they offer and you guessed it, still have not done it.  I can see each week what time the classes start and I plan on adding these into my daily goals.  I also LOVE to craft and I plan on setting aside certain time slots for that as well.
  5. Say out loud what you are grateful for each day.  This probably sounds silly but I feel that sometimes we get in ruts that are just so not worth being upset over.  When we step back and look at what we have its amazing.  Your health, your family, a roof over your head, the means to put food on the table each day.  These are things that people all over the world take for granted.  I am depressed to be in my situation but if I take a step back and look at the big picture I am actually blessed beyond words.  I have a husband who can provide for the both of us until I can get back on my feet with a new job, we have an amazing new house that we will grow into and have so many memories in, we have our health, we have the love for one another, amazing families and friends, I could go on and on.  These are the things we take for granted and do not say enough.  I feel personally if I say what I am grateful for each day it will just be one more positive mood booster to start the day.
  6. Finally, setting long term goals for myself.  I am sometimes terrible at sticking to things but on the flip when I really put something into my head that I want to do I will do it.  I just need to be a bit more organized with my goals.  I would love to be a bit more active and be outside more.  I also want my overall health physically and mentally to improve.  I would love to have a meditation routine as well as a work out one.  All these things are so doable its just sometimes putting your mind to it to make it happen.  I feel that with my situation I have been getting a bit stir crazy and putting myself down a bit.  I used to work in the fashion industry in NYC and when we made the move I decided to not continue on with the crazy commute, which was definitely the right choice.  But that puts me in a spot where I now need to go out and explore new industries and find new passions which I am having trouble seeing.  Its easy to dream but hard to put things into reality at times.  I know if I stay positive and keep busy that the time will come for me to figure out what my new purpose will be and what new path I am meant to take.  I need to think real hard about what some of my long term goals will be but I think it could also be a nice mental exercise for myself.

So these are the new steps I am going to try and incorporate into my life.  Do you do something similar?  How do you stay organized and positive?

There is no better place then social media to really reach out to all corners of the world and get different opinions.

I would love to hear your thoughts and things you do, please comment and share 🙂

xoLauren

Starting the New Year Out Right!

How was everyone’s Christmas and New Years?!  NYE was a ton of fun for us.  Tom and I got to spend it upstate with a bunch of our friends.  Nothing better then bringing in the New Year with your loves!

I always get super excited about a New Year.  Something about it feeling like a fresh start seems to get me in such a good mood.  I know each year presents its own challenges but I love being able to start out with a clear head and new goals for the year ahead. 2015 was a tough one for us.  My father-in-law, Fred, passed away just a few weeks shy of our 1 year wedding anniversary.  It was a very emotional time, full with lots of changes as well.  My mother-in-law, Birgit, passed away 4 years ago so Fred’s passing was sort of the end of a lot of different things, or the positive flip on that is the beginning of so many new things.  We had to say goodbye to his parents house, in the town that all of his friends family still live.  It was a very eye opening experience.  Although 2015 was a sad year for us, we cannot say that the entire year was awful.  We got to take our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, which was so amazing! We also got to see the Met’s go to the world series and even got to see a game at Citi Field! We also got to spend a lot of time with family and loved ones, something that you can never put a price tag on! I like to think that each year has ups and downs, some worse than others, but its what molds us and makes us who we are.

I know we have some changes ahead, not sure what they are yet since we are still working things out, but I know whatever path we end up going down it will be super exciting!

Did any of you make a New Years resolution??!  I did, aside from the usual, getting my butt back into shape and living a healthier life, Tom and I plan to make the most of this year.  We want to start crossing things off our big bucket list, travel around the area we live more and once the weather gets nice try to do as many fun outdoor activities as we can!

I wish all of you a wonderful 2016, full of positive changes and love!

I would love to hear what you plan on doing this New Year, please do share!

xoLauren