QUOTE OF TRUTH: “THERE’S A SOLUTION. JUST PUT ALL YOUR HEART AND SOUL INTO IT AND WE CAN ALL FIX THE PROBLEMS TOGETHER.” – L.O.A.S.H (A.K.A MEEEEE!)
Yes, there is a solution, always.
Today’s society has the majority of people getting negatively impacted by social media. It isn’t just the youth going through the influence but everyone is victims of the unrealistic expectations social media gives which often leads to disappointment which later on can develop into something more serious.
Phones and devices are normally easy to access along with social media. There’s a tendency to constantly check the news feeds across multiple social media platforms. This often leads to addiction. Due to the lack of guidance and awareness, this addiction, which takes up hours and hours constantly per day, then disrupts the person’s life from school, work, studies, and other productive routines in which life goes haywire.
Aside from the significant amount of time going to social media, studies have shown that it has bad effects on the mental health of people and kids today.
Okay, so it’s out there: in today’s age, social media is used by so many and is also the blame for so many problems. However, in my opinion, the root problem isn’t social media per se. I would infer that the root problems would be cyberbullying, decreased face-to-face interactions with other people, contents by people to influence in a bad way, and (a big contribution goes to) social comparisons. These are the problems we need to properly address not just pointing fingers at social media. We can’t just be like:
“hey, stop using your social media it’s such a distraction. Just like stop using it. yeah?”
No, this route isn’t going to work. We are living in a digital age. Social media is what helps connections and communications for people around the world. It strengthens the professional connections, spread news, allow people to express themselves creatively (with their music, art, skits, photography, and more), aids social movements (Feminist Movements, World Cleanup Day, Black Lives Matter, and so much more), spread awareness, and the list goes on…..
What we should be doing is making those, especially the youth, know their self-worth and to motivate & inspire growth and one’s improvement. Encouraging those to go out and socialize, do some volunteering and helping out in the community. Even to use those social media skills to spread the awareness of the environment and what’s going on around. Another important thing to do is to strengthen the youth’s values and mindset to avoid those negative and bad influences that appear on their screens. If some kind of social media patrol thing could be put out to casually check every now and then the audience and the content displayed to keep it appropriate would be good too. And, since social media is going everywhere a class about cyberbullying and awareness for how to understand its specs should also be implemented.
Those are just a few ideas that could change the course of how people look at social media and to even make it a positive outlet. So, we have to take this system of social media that has been misused, break it, look at the more important problems, and then we can finally go to fixing it. If we really put our minds to fixing a problem, we can do it. This isn’t a lost cause we just need implementation. And, as I said earlier there’s a solution.
Quote of AWESOMENESS: “New year- a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.” – Alex Morritt
This year flew by pretty quickly, huh. LIKE it’s almost 2020. Like, 2019 is nearly done. Whhhaaatttt? Okay, this year was definitely something. It was tough, surprising, and interesting. Today’s blog is comprised of a few things to do before 2020 to get it together. You need to understand that in order for 2020 to better and change from how 2019 went, you can’t keep doing the same things. So, let us continue:
1: Removing Negative Talk from Our Vocabulary
What is with all this negative talk anyway? When someone makes a mistake on a test or accidentally does something, we try and cheer them up and tell them positive things. Yet, when it comes to ourselves we can get so angry. We can get so angry at the smallest mistakes that we do. It’s so easy for us to look in the mirror and negatively talk ourselves down. Stop. This isn’t good for you or anyone. At all. Listen here pal, I know it’s a tough world out there and we make mistakes. But, the only thing to do is owning up to our mistakes and moving on. From there, that’s where you learn to grow from your mistakes and improve your actions. Words are important too. Sometimes we talk to ourselves badly too often as a joke we don’t even notice it. You need to catch yourself and stop the cycle.
2: Leave the Toxic Relationships
They exist. Toxic people. Toxic relationships. They zap the life out of you. They drain emotionally and nothing about brings anything good to your life. You might not even notice that you’re in a relationship with a toxic friend or group. So, how do you distinguish a toxic relationship? When you are with the person, they don’t bring out the best in you. Yes, there are friends who make mistakes, miss out on plans sometimes, but if it’s too constant, maybe reevaluating your relationship with that person is needed. There are many signs, although sometimes subtle, when it comes to dealing with someone toxic. It might be a bit difficult but it will be best for you. Distance yourself from your toxic relationships and healing will take place. This also means online! Like, are you following anyone on Instagram (or something) and everything you see a post by a certain someone you don’t feel good. ever. Unfollow them in real life and in person. Follow those who inspire you, pump you up, and make you smile.
3: Clear the Bad Vibeys
Maybe it was a small petty fight. Maybe it was something bigger than that. Nonetheless, you stopped talking to someone because of some unresolved matter. It sucks. Maybe that person was your best friend or maybe someone you became close with. Now awkwardness takes the air as you guys make eye contact. It’s the bad vibe series. You both feel the tensions, both want it to stop, but both do nothing. This is your sign, by the way, if you were looking for one. It might be a little hard, but take the first step to cease fire on the ongoing silent battle. Say sorry, or talk to the person about how you want to “clear the bad vibes” or tell them that you forgive them. This will help you enter 2020 with a clear mentality and heavyweight lifted from your shoulders.
4: Declutter, declutter, DECLUTTER
Before 2020, declutter the things in your life that no longer serve any use to you. Keep those of value, but learn to let go of that long-time shirt that you no longer use that has about three rips in it and sleeps at the bottom of your cabinet (we all have something like this lying around, right?) Decluttteeeeeerrrr. Take time out of your day, or week, and remove one thing (or more!!) to declutter your house. Your house will then be only filled with the things that bring you happiness and clarity.
5: Envision the Vision
Dudes, vision boards are way awesome. Trust me. Like they are basically magic boards or coolness. And, that’s just barely describing them. I would say that I am a big believer in the power of manifestation and attraction. I’ve made vision boards before and I cannot tell you how amazing it was too look at them a couple years later and realize that I’ve accomplished or got everything I put into them. Start making your vision board: fill it up with things you want, things you want to achieve, powerful quotes, and motivation. Put it up on your wall and watch the manifestation take place.
6: Grab your tools
Tools in life will help you. I mean that’s why they exist. To help you. Trust me, it’ll work. To get your whole shebang together, two tools that will be extremely helpful to you is as simple as this: a notebook and a pen. Write. WRITE. Write down your schedules, notes, and deadlines. Write it down. Look at it and use it. When I started making my bullet journal, my schedule and productivity noticeably improved! You can do that too! Taking a mental note on everything you need to do doesn’t work. I’ve tried it way too many times. So remember: write it down.
7: Mini habits to implement before 2020!
Do small things every day and eventually, the results will become so big. Small things do matter. The mini habits to start implementing:
Make your bed: First thing in the morning make your bed! I know it’s such a small task we sometimes just move past it. But, do it! It gives you a sense of accomplishment in the morning, keeps your room tidy, and encourages you to keep going your day tackling more to-dos. Also, it stops you from jumping straight back to bed when you wake up!
Night to-do lists: We may have planned things throughout the day that we may have forgotten or decided to do another time. Before you sleep, make sure you have a to-do list beside your bed. Any things that you weren’t able to accomplish or things that pop in your head that you want to do —> write it down.
Always set aside time for “me” time: You are important. Yes, you are. YOU ARE. So, make sure that in your day and week you always set aside time to take care of yourself. Meditate, listen to music, or do something that you love for your “me” time. Take care of yourself. You need time to recharge.
Dress for action: When you wake up, make your bed, hydrate, the next thing to do is dress up and prepare yourself for the day. If you stay in your pajamas the whole day, your brain can’t tell the difference between what mode they should be in. Sleeping mode? Or working boss mode? When you prepare for the day and dress up like it, your brain helps you to go into boss mode.
8: Start (like literally) Right Now
There is no “perfect time”. It just doesn’t exist. Whether it’s Monday or the start of the month, the best time to start is now. NOW. You know what’s so awesome about starting now? It’s a head start before 2020. Yup, a head start. Remember that nothing changes overnight and the process for what you want takes time. Starting working out now, start organizing now, start NOW.
Thank you for reading peoples! It means so much to me 🙂 I hope that the rest of 2019 turns out awesome. Remember: 2020 is YOUR YEAR.
The majority of schools follow the same requirements of taking math, english, and all those other subjects. It has been this way for years. The same cycle for every student. But, why? We ask kids what they want to be when they grow up and fuel them with excitement as we put on a facade of “you can be what you want to be”. Why did I say we put a facade? It’s because as they get older our expectations we share them truly reveal themselves and we try to mold their minds to a 9-5 job. We shake their realities of life making them believe that those dreams they once had isn’t the priority and might not even come true.
I’ve asked countless people: “why are you going to college”
And, the answers are usually the same: “to get a good job”
But, why are we programming our generation that after kindergarten to preschool to middle school to high school to college their priority is finding a 9-5 job till retirement. That’s no life to live. And, I’m not trying to say don’t go to school, because I truly believe that somewhere that the intention is to teach. And, those who give their time to teach others are true heroes. What I’m saying is that their implementation for their intention is faulty. What’s the use of trying to force students to take subjects they don’t want to day after day. This just leads to cheating in class and the destruction of motivation.
Every child and every person is different. They learn differently. They take in information differently. Some people have shorter attention spans. Some people learn better when they do hands on activities. Some people learn better by watching. With all our data researchers and statistics we should know that putting everyone in the same process and expecting them to learn and grow the same way is just a big no-no. Wouldn’t it be crazy though if we did that? If we hundreds of different people into a box and teach them all the same way and expect good soaring results? Oh, wait, that is what we do.
It’s kind of like getting a bunch of cactuses and a bunch of daisies, watering them with the same amount of water then expecting both of them to grow equally healthy and to it’s full potential.
Students should be given classes that is directed towards what they want to be in life. Yes, there should be some mandatory classes. But they should ones that would really benefit the student when they go out there in the real world. To name a few classes that students should have to take: Financial, leadership, cooking classes, first aid.
Life skills are what need to be taught. They expect graduated students to suddenly be on their own and know how to do their bills and budgeting when all they taught at school was you had to run at least a mile to have a good grade in PE and that the square root of 64 is 8.
To sum everything I’m saying, learning life skills is way more important than trying to memorize the values of the unit circle. Everything around us is evolving, changing, and improving. It’s time that the educational system do that as well and make school a place of growth, ambitious.
“Positivity always wins… always.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
Remember that your grades do not define you and that what matters is what you make of yourself and how you rise up against the hardships in life and give back to those around you and the planet at the end of the day.
whew.
Okay, now let’s do this. 🙂 You got it. Here’s a video I made on GETTING THOSE GOOD GRADES. I hope it really helps you and you enjoy!!
Important tips to doing good at school:
Your MINDSET is your magic power. I am a strong believer that what you put your mind to and what you honestly and genuinely believe you can do, YOU CAN DO. What you can do right now to just bring yourself a step closer to your goal is to fully BELIEVE that you got this, that you’re capable, and that YOU’RE AWESOME.
Going off of mindset, you also need to surround yourself with like-minded people who aim to reach success along with keeping a positive and kind attitude. You tend to imitate the actions and thoughts of the people you spend most of your time with. It was studied by social psychologists which showed that the people you most associate with had a very high percentage in the influence of your life.
You want that A? You want to do well in school? Here’s one of the secrets: you have to make SCHOOL and those GRADES top PRIORITY.
You need to defeat the enemy: procrastination
You have your calendar, your MOTIVATION, and some other tips by your side. YOU GOT THIS. As soon as you get home, grab your homework or project out and finish it. Give yourself an hour of full concentration and DO IT. If you realize that there’s a couple of homework stashed in the deep end of your backpack right now, pause from reading this awesomeness (here’s a free permission slip), and complete that. DON’T LET THE ENEMY WIN.
Another helpful way to know which direction to take when studying is to find out your learning style. If you know it already, feel free to skip forward to the next tip! Everyone learns differently and that’s completely fine. The good news about understanding this is we can find out what is the best way to learn to optimize our study time. You can click hereto take the learning style assessment! What I love about the assessment is that at the end of the test, it will tell you a list of the best ways and ideas you can do to study your best. Take the test! 🙂
The next thing on the agenda is raising your hand. RAISE. YOUR. HAND. First off, it’s good for arm exercise. Second off, if you need help to understand whatever the teacher is talking about in class raise your hand and ask them to explain it. I know all the eyes in the classroom might seem kind of intimidating at first but raising your hand to understand better is really worth it and helpful in passing in class.
I’ll end you with this: Find your WHY. It is highly important to find your why because it will work as your motivation. When things get tough, your why will help you. YOU GOT THIS. I really hope this helps you keep a positive mindset while proving to yourself that you’re 100% capable of doing this.
Might have turned 16 a couple months ago but it’s never too late to do something. So here goes this blog on 16 lessons I learned at 16. It gets a Lil deep and some of the lessons are pretty awesome: so, grab your blankets & tea and let’s get this going.
LESSON 1:
– messy Room = messy mind –
Yup, you get the idea. The state that I leave my room in usually equates to the state of my mind. It doesn’t help with thinking when your environment isn’t tidy. Have you ever tried doing your homework, or tried finishing a project but distraction just keeps seeping in from all the silent noise which we call mess? I know, very annoying. Set aside time to give your base (a.k.a ur room) some appreciation and CLEAN. IT. UP. Also, just a heads up, this does not mean stuffing everything under your bed, in your closet, a backpack- you know what I’m talking about. Apart from being a good habit, cleaning up your room helps with mental clarity, too.
LESSON 2:
– if it takes 5 minutes to do it, DO IT –
AND I ACTUALLY MEAN DO IT. This is a lifesaver and applying this helped me so much with putting on my armor and defeating procrastination. You know you have that homework that would just take 5 minutes or less of your time if you really just put your mind to it? DO IT. Do you see that small pile of dishes that would take barely a smidge of your time? DO IT. You’re going to thank yourself later. Think about it, if you just keep pushing off all the small tasks aside for “later”, they’re going to add up to an overwhelming amount. So, just to remind you: tackle that task, get it done, & just DO IT (now).
LESSON 3:
– fleeting pleasure < long-lasting happiness –
It was kind of funny how I got to say that this lesson reached the list. There was just a random morning when I was walking with my sisters when this truth got knocked into me. This is what hit me: when we try reaching our goals, as innocent as it may seem, fleeting pleasures pop up luring us over to miss the opportunities we get for long-lasting happiness.
I repeated to my sisters saying “we keep choosing FLEETING PLEASURES OVER LONG-LASTING HAPPINESS, we. MUST. end. this.” Yes, I was very dramatic as I came to my conclusion.
Fast forward a couple days later: I was walking around the supermarket when my sisters and I reached the chips aisle. Yumma, Chipppps! I jumped in the air throwing some punches into the vastness as I waltzed my way to the Cheetos. I can confirm that my sisters shared my enthusiasm, however, as I attempted to grab a bag, my sisters, in unison, shouted in repeat: “FLEETING PLEASURES OVER LONG-LASTING HAPPINESS”. Ooooh, sweet mother of apple crumble pie. I continued to grab the chips anyway, looking at it intensely. I took a breath in, placed the chips back, and waltzed my way out. I muttered under my breath, “hahaha, you shall not win this time, fleeting pleasures…”
MY LONG-LASTING HAPPINESS: Improving my eating habits, and keeping my body healthy
(One of the) fleeting pleasures (that discreetly pop up): Chips
Okay, I know that this might not seem like such a big deal. But, IT IS. It represents fleeting pleasures that people choose which sabotage their plans for something more awesome. I learned that when you find yourself grabbing that bag of chips (this can be that drink, that slice of cake, that misdeed), take a breath and say to yourself “I want long-lasting happiness over this (silly) fleeting pleasure” and walk away. When you start this with the small stuff, you’ll be able to do it with bigger things in life that you face.
LESSON 4:
– don’t take it personally if they don’t know you personally –
There will be many times in your life when people choose to judge you without even thinking. They might say hurtful things that don’t make any sense to you, some people are just like that. You know yourself, and you are worth so much. So, don’t let what someone says about your bring you down and stay strong warrior.
LESSON 5:
– guard your heart –
“Above all else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.” ~ Proverbs 4:23
Going off from the previous lesson it is so important to guard your heart. Your heart matters most of all. When we guard things (like a cute puppy we just adopted, for example) we protect it. Why? Because it is valuable. We guard things that are valuable. Your heart is the essence of who you are. Make it your top priority to guard your heart. What does guarding your heart mean? It means knowing your worth and believing it so much that whatever somebody else might say, YOU KNOW YOUR VALUE.
LESSON 6:
– good music is good for the soul –
Music is amazing. Music is goooood. Good music = good vibes = happy soul. Sing out loud and dance, dance, DANCE.
LESSON 7:
– don’t become the person who hurt you –
Be you, and be mind. I know it hurts. Don’t change who you are but learn from it. Please, remember, you are not the person who hurt you, you are a million times better than that. Not everyone has the same heart as you, so choose kindness no matter what others may show. The way someone acts is a reflection of themselves and not you. It’s okay to not be okay, but show the good human that you are.
LESSON 8:
– you are who you surround yourself with –
Surround yourself with people who will be a positive influence in your life. Be around those who are kind, who support you, and bring out the best in you. Surround yourself with people who keep you smiling and that keeps you laughing until your tummy hurts.
LESSON 9:
– saying “no” doesn’t mean you aren’t kind –
You have to learn how to say “No”. I know how hard it is. There might be someone asking for a favor from you but you really can’t or you don’t want to. I will tell you this, it’s okay to say “no”. The problem is, sometimes, when people know that you are kind, they try to take advantage of that. Saying “no” just means that you care about your own boundaries and limits, it does not make you a bad person.
LESSON 10:
– you aren’t missing out if you decide to stay home and fix your life –
You need time for yourself. You need time to heal and get your life together. You’re not missing out if you decide to stay home, wear a face mask, play your favorite music, and skip the football game. One of my favorite self-care remedies is mixing together my peppermint and lemon oils and smelling them. It helps with distressing the stresses that life has.
LESSON 11:
– smile & give back –
Everyone has their story. Everyone is going through something. Sharing your smile with someone can go a long way. Giving back is so important. It’s your way of helping out in the community, making an impact, and so much more. Giving doesn’t always mean money donations, but it can also mean by your time. Volunteering and helping out around. Volunteering just brings me great joy as I help in any way I can to those who need it, and I’ve met some of the most amazing people, too.
LESSON 12:
– a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor –
I know it’s a tough season that you might be going through. You will get through this. There is a reason for these things that happen and it can help us to grow, to grow in our experience, faith, maturity, and even relationships with other people. The tough seas will help as more adventures, seasons, and storms come at us.
LESSON 13:
– we are a team –
What happens when you’re in a team? You look out for each other. When someone is falling behind or needs a chance at shooting a shot, we help them, we cheer for them, we motivate them. When one of our team members makes a mistake we stand beside them and show them they’re not alone. That’s how a real team roles. They with each other and for each other.
In reality, though, we are all in a team. Whether it’s that group of people you were placed with during your math class or a bunch of people you decided to have lunch with one afternoon. We are all in this together (yes, as famously quoted by High school musicallllll), it’s true. So, love what you are doing and love who you are doing it with. Help one another when one is struggling. Be the team player with everyone, and don’t give up on anyone.
LESSON 14:
– character > reputation –
I learned this year that you need to stop investing so much time and effort into controlling other people’s opinions. It’s not possible. Be fully and unashamedly who you are.
LESSON 15:
– you might not be able to control what others do, but you can control how you react –
You can watch every step you do but there’s just going to be someone out there trying to make things unreasonably hard. Although we can’t control how others treat us, we can control our reaction to it. You can choose to pop like popcorn and scream your anger out like a kettle, or, you can take a walk, collect your thoughts, think about the reasons why that person might be acting that way, and respond kindly and move on.
LESSON 16:
– family, always & forever –
Family, it’s so important. Whether it’s your birth family, your blended family, your chosen family, the health of your relationship with your family is important. Family isn’t always about being biologically connected. Family is so much more than just bloodlines or last names. Family doesn’t see race, color, differences. Family sees heart. Family are those people in our life who commit to love and support despite your shortcomings or mistakes. It’s secure, like roots, that help us through tough weather and is there holding us up. Family, keep them close and don’t let anyone make you feel bad for choosing them over others.
I’m still learning every day, and, I know some days may be tougher than others, but keeping these lessons in mind helps me to keep moving forward knowing that there’s a reason and that I will become stronger because of the storms.
Quote of today’s blog: “A boss has a title, a leader has the people.” – Simon Sinek
(just an FYI but there were just so many quotes that I had a tough time choosing, phooey)
This may be a tad bit long but rest assured that it’s definitely worth reading!
Joining the M.A.P Leadership Academy was honestly an AWESOME idea (which, btw, creds go to my mom who told me to go). Oh, and, in case you were wondering, M.A.P is A.K.A Monrovia Partnership Area. It is about a 7-week academy (but only on Wednesdays every week) where we learn so much about leadership, volunteering, helping in the community, and more. Today we’ll be talking about how the first day went by. It gets a little emotional at the end (so brace yourselves).
Okay, so the first Wednesday we met, we had introductions to everyone and some ice breakers. Did you know that the person who facilitated the academy made an inspirational speech to us? Did you know that that same person was there when they held their very first M.A.P Academy for adults? Yup, he was. Very cool, I know. His name is *ahem, drum roll, please* Ed Nicholls. He shared with us about leadership, and I will be telling you what I learned from him.
I’M VERY EXCITED I MIGHT PEE.
Okay, I’ll chill now. Soooo, let me start by saying you are a leader. Whether you are doing something good or not, your actions which people see is still leading them. When you step outside your door, when you are buying milk from your local milk shop (is this a thing? a milk shop? oh well..), and when you go on with your life as you do, you are leading. So, wouldn’t you want to increase your capacity of leadership and improve the skills which you already have? I’m taking that as a yes. Let’s do this.
What you need to start building in your life would be a team. Your team. This team will be there during those tough times and those happy times. This team will be there as you go through the struggles and rough times of life. This team works as your motivator. Those in your team are those you look up to, those who inspire you to GET BACK UP AGAIN. Some people to add to your team could be:
Martin Luther King
Abraham Lincoln
Mother Teresa
Hellen Keller
Your parents
Nick Vujicic
You might be saying right now: “wait, wait, hold up…”
Your team consists of anyone that inspires you. ANYONE. Feel like you don’t think you can get back up again? You feel like the odds are against you and everyone’s just out to get you? Think about your team. Those people you put together in your heart and mind. Let Hellen Keller’s will to strive despite the challenges and hardships in her life keep you going when the going gets tough and you prove to yourself that the tough (a.k.a you) can get going. Let Nick Vujicic motivate you to keep fighting, believing, and keep pushing forward when you start doubting what you’re capable of. As you face your next challenge in life, close your eyes, think about how that person (whether it be your mom, dad, sibling, best friend, cousin, etc.) or people you have in your life have shown such strength and kindness and use that to KEEP. MOVING. FORWARD. to LEAD. WITH. HEART. to GET. BACK. UP.
Feeling fired up? Yeah, we’re just getting started…
Here comes more of the good stuff. The 8 leadership qualities that will help you on your awesome journey to awesomeness:
Purpose
You need to be living your life on purpose. Put your heart into giving back and helping others who need help.
Attitude
I cannot (and I mean CANNOT) stress enough how important one’s attitude is. Your attitude is your weapon, it’s your greatest friend. YOU (and only you) choose the reaction you give to certain people and certain situations. Think of it like this:
Example: You walk into the kitchen humming your favorite song when you decide to open the fridge. Your eyes narrow down to the bottom shelf where you target the slice of cake you left the other day to eat. To your dismay, there’s a vacant spot which totally baffles you. You walk to the dining table, scratching your head with slight annoyance. Then there right on the table is YOUR SLICE OF CAKE. Your little sister has chocolate all over her face as she takes another bite into YOUR CAKE, despite having a fork in her hand.
So what would be your reaction?:
Start shouting and expressing all your boiled up anger which may have also built up from other things that may have happened during the day and dump that on your sister
Grab the plate, eat whatever is left, and walk away (in anger)
Laugh at how you would have done the same thing, sat beside your sister, ask if she would like to share the remaining, and talk about unicorns (or smthg, I mean idk about you but this is usually what I’d talk about to spark a convo)
I’ll be referring to situations when you feel the need get mad as -> CAKE situation
At times we tend to answer 1 or 2. We all sometimes overreact during situations then, later on, look back and regret it. It happens.
You might say “uhuh, yeah easy for you to say… it’s just cake…. my situation was different, I needed to get angry”.
LOOK I just used cake as my example but we know we’ve had some situations like this. And, no, you didn’t have to get angry that one time at that person. When you are faced with a CAKE situation, think of it as a fork in the road and you can choose either to take a deep breathe and act with kindness or do the opposite. Choose kindness. We react so quickly without thinking twice it becomes a habit that we don’t even realize because we convince ourself that that small outburst was just nothing and didn’t really mean much. If we keep a negative attitude during small CAKE situations, we will bring that same negative attitude to big CAKE situations. In other words, choose positivity, inspire others with your smile, be friendly. You might not think much about it but a smile is a powerful tool and can go a long way for many people. There are many dark places in our world, people who need repair, be that light, be kind 🙂
Character
Ooooh, this is a good one. Build your character. This is your foundation. You need a solid foundation. When you do something, do your very best (every day). To strengthen your character you will need dedication. Have impeccable honestly. INTEGRITY! Our character goes down to what we do, not what we think, not what we say, but what we DO. And, honesty is what a person with character has as the cores of their foundation. Being a person with character also means to be kind, to be an encourager.
“an encourager?,” YES an encourager.
Don’t give up on others.
Believe in them and don’t ever quit.
Balance
Balance is important in keeping your life together. You need to prioritize and organize. Each area of your life you have to find a balance. Think about the 6 Fs:
Faith
Family
Friends
Finance
Fitness
Fun
Keep balance in your mind, body, and soul. Something that has really helped me would be keeping a journal. In my journal, I would design something that would be helpful to me to keep the balances in life as well as doodle and creatively express myself on paper every now and then. It’s good healing to just write down what you’re feeling at times.
Forgiveness
It’s hard. I know. Sometimes you feel like someone has done you so wrong, like someone has disrespected you, like someone has just acted like a total DOUCH and all you want to do is punch them to the OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE AND THEN GIVE THEM ~THE~ STARE- I know, but we are all capable of forgiveness. It will make you feel so much better if you just forgive rather than hold in all that anger and carry that weight. People are generally good but it’s their environment that they’ve grown up in that may have them acting in a certain “mean” way. People have good intentions, the problem may be the way that they implement. So, when you just start building that tower of hatred or annoyance towards someone for some reason, think about how they just may be badly implementing their good intentions rather than jumping to conclusions and being mad. Forgiveness is a gift and people do struggle with it. But, great leaders make peace and not war, they forgive and work on what has caused the problem.
Perseverance
I’ll leave you with this on perseverance:
BE ALL IN- never quit.
Team-Spirit
Are you in a team? Are you? Yes, you are. In your family, you’re in a team. Doing a group project with some classmates? That’s a team. We are all in a team. We are all in this together whether we like to be or not. So, love what you do and love who you do it with. When you’re in a team, you help one another. When one of your team members is having trouble with something, you don’t just stare at them blankly with hints of disappointment, you run up to them, smile, and show them they’re not alone and that they’ve got this. When one of your team members struggle to shoot the ball in, give them the chance to keep doing it, keep practicing, believe in them to shoot in the ball (whether that be hypothetically or even physically if you are in a sport). You are in a team. And, when you’re in a team you make everyone around you better. Your home, your family, your friends, your team. Don’t leave anyone out and walk away just because you don’t like their attitude or something they’ve done. Remember, keep that team-spirit up.
Legacy
This wraps up the 8 qualities of being a leader. Your legacy. This is your story. Start building it now. How? Oh, I’ll tell you how. Invest in others, encourage others, help people, KEEP caring. Don’t leave anyone out. Everyone is fighting their own battles, don’t judge and assume what and why someone does something. Remember what I said at the beginning? Live with a purpose, help others. Keep that in your heart and use it.
Being a leader is having a purpose, keeping a good attitude, holding your character firmly in place, keeping balance in life, having the ability to forgive, never quitting and persevering, letting everyone play the game and showing team-spirit, and building your legacy. Never give up on yourself, never give up on others, and above all stay kind and good and encouraging. Finally, I want to end with a short film which they showed us at the end of Day 1. This really moved me and inspires. Here you go:
Quote of (true) AWESOMENESS: “You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine” – John C. Maxwell
Hey, remember, it’s 2019. Here’s to new beginnings. You with me? Don’t let those grades you got last semester or year, the messed up sleeping schedule from last week, and the bad habits you weren’t so proud of stop you from growing and improving and changing for the better. Those are in the past, to dwell on it now won’t have any positive outcomes. Shift your mind from the negative moments you can’t change because all it’s doing is attracting more of it.
Some things you’ll need:
Consistency
Perseverance
Willpower
Patience
Now, focus on today, focus on right now. Close your eyes for a few seconds and take a breath. You can only improve from here, you got this. Before we begin, we need to remember a very important word, gratefulness. First, be thankful for everything you have and things you have accomplished so far.
– time to proceed –
Before we start, what exactly is a habit?:
“a particular act or way of acting that you tend to do regularly”- Cambridge Dictionary
“a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance”- Merriam-Webster
Basically, a habit is this behavior that we have that we tend to repeat again and again, often subconsciously. They say that humans, me and you and everyone else, are creatures of habit. We have our good habits which help us to improve and positively affect us, and we have our bad habits which do the opposite and negatively affect us.
Replacing bad habits with good habits:
Sleeping late often? Eating after midnight constantly? Procrastinating all the time? What is the habit you want to focus on changing? The first part of changing a habit is to be honest with yourself as you identify what it is you want to change. Write down in a place where you will always read it, what you are exactly trying to accomplish.
Start small. Complete your small goals then build up to bigger goals. As you do this, keep in mind the end result. As you have the habit you want to form, visualize it. Rehearse yourself doing it in your mind. And, remember to celebrate the small and the large successes.
*btw: psst… did you know you can’t smile & breath at the same time?
Keep practicing the habit. You’re going to be inconstant in the beginning, don’t be upset with yourself if you forgot to act on your intention. You’re just starting. Be patient and if something doesn’t seem to be working, be willing to revise it. We are not stuck with the habits that we currently have, we can change it and make better habits. You have to believe that you can and you also need have consistency and perseverance.
Quote of (true) AWESOMENESS: “If you set goals and go after them will all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.” – Les Brown
Hope your holidays are going well!
Goal setting is essential when you are building your path to the creation of your awesome new life. We all try to set goals here and there but sometimes we don’t properly know how or what exactly to write down. Then, we often end up not executing any of it. We need to break this vicious cycle. You with me? Great. Let’s do it.
This blog, if you aren’t yet aware, is going to be your guide to create your game plan, sprinkled with awesomeness. Yup, basically, that’s it.
First things first, to make a clearer image of what you are exactly planning for, here is a list of some of the areas of your life in which you may want to improve in and grow:
Education
Career
Home Life
Financial
Social Life
Community
Spiritual
Health
Use this list as your guide. Once you have your goals for these areas in your life, it’s a good idea to break them into the next week, next month, end of the year, the next 2 years, and even in the next 5 years. Before organizing it further, just jot down all the goals that pop into your mind at first that you want to accomplish. It might be a bit messy but it’s okay just keep writing everything first.
Once you complete jotting down everything, rewrite each of your goals but this time add a specific time frame and details of the goal. Here’s an example:
You’d start with something like a vague goal, saying: Get a good education
Then you’d change it into a better goal, saying: Graduate (with a specific degree) in (a specific course in college), with honors by 2028
Take a breath, you’re doing amazing!
Here are the ways you can separate your goals by the time:
Short term goals: accomplishments done in less than a year
Midterm goals: accomplishments done in 1-5 years
Long-term goals: accomplishments done in 5-10 years
Remember: Time frames are very important
OKAY, now that you’ve gotten your goals written down and organized with its time frame and extra details, the work is not yet done! You need to always remember to check in regularly with yourself. Reflect on your goals. Check in with your feelings and values. Ask yourself, “Do these goals align with your passions?”.
When you are faced with an obstacle, take a step back, process everything, and then plan the next steps to take. Don’t linger on with your solutions. When you find what you are going to do, take action immediately. Make the changes right then and there. Make sure to rewrite goals in order for it to align with your deeds.
ＩＭＰＯＲＴＡＮＴ: time management
Fortunately, I have a whole blog dedicated to guiding you to kick ass and help you with time management. Yay!!!
As you are on your journey remember that you should focus on what matters. Focus on your values and on the outcomes. Do less. Buy less. Slow Down. Handle it now, stop waiting for the perfect time, place, or saying next time. Remember people.
It’s soon to be New Years! New beginnings! You got this.
Quote of (true) AWESOMENESS: “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Althshuler
Here’s yet another blog to getting your life together.
Yay!!!
We will be focusing on time management this time 🙂
Ugh, procrastination, a sworn enemy for sure.
We’ve all been down this road of wasting time and getting none of our tasks done on time. It happens. But, the problem is when we get used to this happening and we spiral down this rabbit hole of continuing on with this cycle. It becomes a real struggle as all our responsibilities get piled on top of one another as we keep holding ourselves back from doing them. I’m here to help! This will help as your rope to climb from the rabbit hole we keep falling in and continue on with your journey to awesomeness.
The first three things are to:
Discovery: Find what you want do
Before beginning, you need to know exactly what you want to do. These would include the things you want to accomplish, try, and learn. Once you find these goals that you want to do, write them down.
Determination: Persevere towards your goals
To get what you want, you have to know how to get it. You have to have the determination to be sure you get it in the future. This would include your strategies and steps you’re going to take. Basically, this is the game plan for your success.
Pursuing: Follow through
You have your goals. You have your plan. Now, this would be the follow-up, meaning you do what you intended to. And, you complete your tasks daily.
Time is very valuable.
Here are some pro tips to use it wisely and effectively manage your time:
STOP multitasking. STOP.
Okay, so basically, multitasking doesn’t work. IT DOESN’T. It’s a productivity killer. Meaning, your productivity level when multitasking is in the negative spectrum!!! Your brain isn’t wired to do many things at once but one thing at a time. When you multitask your brain is quickly switching between all the tasks that you are doing which is very ineffective. Cut out the multitasking. Do your tasks one at a time with your full attention.
Unplug from technology
I know that people nowadays have a difficult time putting their phones down. However, so much time is consumed going on your devices doing nothing productive. There are times when we grab our phones for a bit ( or a least we think it would just be for a bit ), and we end up wasting hours getting distracted with social media, games, movies, and more. I know that sometimes when we put our phones or devices away we tend to keep getting back to it just because. Setting a timer for not looking at your device for any distraction purposes helps. Or, temporarily deleting the apps that take your time away for awhile works too. Concentrating on your goals and getting your priorities done first may require you to unplug for a bit from technology.
List it!
Our list of things to do may crowd up in our brain and we may forget some of them. So, grab a piece of paper or a notecard and list all the things you need to accomplish. When you finish something, you can tick it off. Target one thing at a time with all your concentration powers and perseverance and you might even surprise yourself with how much you can get done!
Handling interruptions
Interruptions are bound to happen but sometimes they may make you lose your train of thought. For example, when a situation requires your immediate attention, jot down a few important keywords as notes of where you were when interrupted.
Set a time
Yup, setting a time for each activity or task you do is crucial. We might get lost in one task spending hours on it because we believe we’ve got so much time. But, then we lose time for the other things we want to accomplish. So, for each goal in your checklist, set time like 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or depending on what it is and time it. This will keep you on your toes and aware that you’re on a timer and that you need to stay on task.
I hope you’re enjoying this series of getting your life together so far! We all have busy lives. We have school, work, spending time with friends and family, and other things we want to squish into our day. With proper time management, you can do all of these, you can create a balance to finish your tasks and do what you want.
Time is truly important and we can’t take it back. It can’t be bought. It can’t be sold. Living in the now and getting your priorities done to do what you want to do requires you to work for it and to create strategies are the purpose of this series.
Quote of (true) AWESOMENESS: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
Hiiii!!!! I hope your Thanksgiving was amazing!
I’m super excited to share with you guys all these tips and techniques! This will definitely be worth your time to follow along on this new series. Love you alll!!
Getting your life together isn’t usually something that happens overnight. It takes the will, motivation, perseverance, and much more to reach those goals of keeping yourself healthy, joyful, and in the present. Most problems that people face that are found to be quite the handful would be procrastination and the never-ending cycle of telling yourself “I’ll do it in five minutes”, “I’m going to cut all the junk food out right now!”, “I’m going to fix my life after this tv show”, and way more. We tend to keep giving ourselves excuses after excuses. But, here’s the good news you still have a chance to get your life, schedule, and yourself together. This is going to be a series where we will be discussing (oooh big word 😉 ) various ways and techniques to keep yourself positive, awesome, and to improve yourself and your lifestyle. So, let’s get this going!
In this blog, we shall talk about the first steps to take on our journey to greatness. In everything you do, it always starts with you taking your first steps. I know that sometimes when we try to do things or we tell ourselves we want to start doing something (like good habits, an exercise routine, etc.) we give before we even start because the beginning is a struggle at times. These include:
~telling the truth~
Ask yourself… Who is the one person that you are most dishonest
with? Does it ever cross mind that you are the person you lie to the
most? You tell yourself all these great promises of starting a better diet
or exercising tomorrow but it never really comes? You need to start
changing this mindset to improve and make yourself grow as a person.
Telling the truth means that you are honest with yourself and others. You strive to live with integrity. You keep commitments. You don’t lie to make yourself look better.
~judgment free~
Since the beginning of time, people tend to judge others
by the cover of their book (hypothetically speaking). The moment they
walk into a room and look at someone, thoughts of who the person is,
their lifestyle, and judgements cloud their head. This kind of
habit is something to get rid of. Something that shouldn’t be part
of meeting someone new or looking around the room.
To be judgment-free is to STOP judging others and to STOP judging yourself. You need to self-evaluate and catch yourself from judging others. And, the truth is, as Wayne Dyer puts it, “When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.”. This won’t be the simplest task but start by catching yourself and interrupting these thoughts. Stop the old mentality. I know that at times we also judge those we aren’t most fond of but judging isn’t healthy for you, so, next time just keep your mind off of it. Listen to something, do a silly dance, sing, tell yourself STOP, recall a funny scene from a movie, and live your life judge free. 🙂
~action time~
STOP THAT! STOP telling yourself you can’t. STOP making excuses for
why you can’t accomplish that task. STOP saying you’ll do it later or
next time. You are more than capable. Don’t let others or yourself
drag you down.
Turn your “I can’t”s to “I will”. Use all that energy that you use to deny your problems, overthink, and redirect it to positivity and realigning your actions with your values. Change your victim language to creator language. Others may bombard you with negative reasons like, “oh you always say that”, “you know you won’t or you can’t” but don’t let this affect you. You can’t let your laziness and mistakes, from before, stop you from being a better person and taking action.
~strengths & weaknesses~
We all have our strengths and our weaknesses.
This step involves finding what you are good at, focusing on it, and understanding it. When you find your strengths that’s what you use to your advantage. Then, you find your weaknesses and start working on them.
~plan. plan. plan~
In order to find where you are headed, planning is essential.
Another importance to planning are the specifics to it.
Create a specific (when I say ‘specific’ I mean specific!!) plan towards your improvement goals. The things that you would include here are WHAT you want to accomplish and WHEN. Repeat after me… WHAT & WHEN.
And, there you are! Remember this is just the beginning, these are just the first steps. And, as long as we take it one step at a time we can reach our goals. We got this. You got this 🙃 I know you do.
Life of a Secret Homeschooler | A.K.A | L.O.A.S.H 
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