Things to do before 2020 to get your whole shebang together.

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. 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

Guide to GOOD GRADES (yeahhss)

“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 here to 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. 

❤

Love,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

 

 

BABY STEPS TO GET YOUR LIFE TOGETHER (a surprise)

Hey, my peoples! I did a video version of the blog I wrote on the first steps to GETTING YOUR LIFE TOGETHER. I hope this helps and I hope you enjoyyy! 🙂

 

 

❤

Love,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

· 16 lessons I learned at 16 ·

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. 

 

hope your monday was filled with endless laughs 🙂

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

 

 

(Magic) Essential Ointment (to keep skin clear)

Quote of AWESOMENESSS: “Essential oils, the awesomeness it holds is absolutely amazing.” – me (psst… it’s aka L.O.A.S.H)

Doesn’t it just kinda annoy you when all the stressful events in life just like to show up on your face. You know what I’m talking about. Your skin is important and taking care of it is important. I can’t say how many times my face gets irritated and stressed from just, you know, life. But, I have a secret! This is what I use to keep my skin under control and happy. Essential oils! However, one specific product that I use that has worked absolute miracles is called: CORRECT X. This ointment helps keep my skin clean and moisturized at the same time it helps my skin recover from irritation. 

Magic Ointment a.k.a Correct X

Just click the name above, order, and have your magic delivered to your door! It’s worth an investment because of its gentle formula which calms irritation, nourishes the skin (really well, I may add), moisturizes, and helps protect against additional damage. The best part is, it’s chemical-free!

 

Magic Ingredients in Correct X:

#1, Frankincense: This oil was used since ancient eras. Along with many other uses, it helps with beautifying (in a natural way) your skin.

#2, Helichrysum: This precious oil is known for its healing, fusing, and regenerating power. It helps with reducing blemishes and aids with that healthy, happy skin.

#3, Melaleuca: Helps with cleansing and resolving. This oil is A.K.A tea tree and is great for soothing skin.

#4, Cedarwood: Native Americans have been using this oil for hundreds of years. It has a sweet and woody aroma to it. It works as a facial toner and promotes healthy skin.

#5, Lavender: Mmmmm, I love lavender. It gives off a fresh and flowery smell that absolutely lightens my mood. This oil is good to calm the mind as well as soothing occasional skin irritation.

You earn a 25% discount when you become a member!

 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

You are a leader (yes, I’m talking to you….)

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:

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 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?:

1. 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
2. Grab the plate, eat whatever is left, and walk away (in anger)
3. 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

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 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:

1. Faith
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Finance
5. Fitness
6. 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:

 

Keep leading, leader :,)

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

 

Essential Oils: DigestZen

Quote of TRUTH: “What you do today can improve all of your tomorrows.” – Ralph Marston

DigestZen is an essential oil supplement. Want to take the next step and get your very one? Click HERE. This blend is well known for its role in aiding for digestion, soothing occasional stomachaches, and also maintaining overall digestive health when taken internally. It has a very sweet, minty, and spicy aroma to it. I’ve used this oil countless times along with my family whenever a stomach ache occurs and I’d say it works miracles. 

 

USES & DIRECTIONS:

• Add a few drops to water or tea to take internally and maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract
• Rub on the stomach before flying or taking a road trip for a calming aroma.
• When diffusing, use three or four drops in your diffuser
• When taking internally, dilute one drop in 4 fl. oz. of liquid
• For topical use, apply one or two drops to desired area
• Just a heads up: to minimize any skin sensitivity, dilute the oil, before putting onto skin, with doTERRA Fractionated Coconut Oil

 

CAUTIONS:

Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, nursing, or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Avoid contact with eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

Lucid Dreaming, Time Well Spent ☁️

Quote of TRUTH: “If you must sleep through a third of your life, why should you sleep through your dreams too?” ~ Stephen LaBerge

An average human spends about 33 years of their life in bed; 26 years of the 33 will be spent sleeping while the rest is used up in trying to get oneself to sleep. The average life expectancy ranges from 75 to 80 years. During the time of sleep, the average person normally experiences around 4 to 8 dreams per night. Looking at the numbers, a person undergoes roughly more than 100,000 dreams in their lifetime. Dreams, where the dreamer is aware and conscious that they are dreaming, is known as lucid dreaming. Although being able to control the dream is sometimes not attainable at the start, this can be achieved in the future with more exercise. There are many benefits that the dreamer may get when they lucid dream. With this practice, one would be able to add to the list of experiences they’ve had in their life, overcome fears, discover new things, and so much more. I believe that if more people were to practice lucid dreaming they would be benefitting themselves more in every way.

 

Lucid dreaming is a gateway to opportunity. And, because of this reason, many get drawn to the idea of lucid dreaming. It allows you to do what you couldn’t or wouldn’t normally do when you are awake. Flying, tasting the clouds, planet hopping, running with lions, and the list goes on. Your mind is a powerful tool; the things it may imagine are endless. Many have practiced this and had the ability to walk when they couldn’t walk and so much more. Lucid dreaming is truly beneficial. For my experiment, I got 10 different people, half of the group boys and half of the group girls. The ages are ranging from 14-18. For a whole two weeks, after explaining to them what lucid dreaming is, I asked to practice and achieve lucid dreaming. Then, I recorded what they had experienced and if they thought it to be beneficial to them as well.

 

For the first week of the experiment, a majority of the group had a difficult time getting to lucid dream. It does take some practice so I had told them to keep trying until they had done it. The experiment took a week or so longer than I had anticipated because lucid dreaming was only properly achieved during the end of the second week and the beginning of the third week. Although not always possible, more than half of my dreamers were able to achieve lucid dreaming in less than 4 weeks, fortunately. During the third week of the experiment, this is when I started to record the results. After lucid dreaming, the group had reported feeling they had more determination as they fell asleep with their new discovery with sleeping. They also said lucid dreaming was really entertaining and had benefited with some things they had always wanted to do. One example, Chloe, age 15 and one of my volunteers in this experiment, has done modeling before but still had the lingering stage and people fright as she walked the stage. During lucid dreaming, she practiced repeatedly going up and down the stage for her modeling. When Chloe had another modeling session, she said that her confidence was noticeably better and she didn’t seem to have much problem anymore with her stage fright. This is only one of the examples from the whole group and I think it really helps prove that lucid dreaming can be really helpful when trying to solve these problems, like different fears.

 

I didn’t know the proper advice to give, at the start, to let my dreamers acknowledge they were in a dream and start lucid dreaming. However, I was able to gain good insight eventually on ideas to give my dreamers as I read a study that was done. This study was conducted by a group of researchers at Stanford who was helping their subjects they were testing to remember they were dreaming. One of the writers of the book had claimed, along with the backing of “thousands of other lucid dreamers” that lucid dreams are truly a wonderful, vivid, exhilarating, extraordinary, and intense experience. With their study, they were able to aid a few dreamers on how to achieve this. The experiment was using cues to remind the dreamer that they are dreaming. The first thing that they did was cue the dreamer as they slept with a tape-recorded message that repeatedly said: “This is a dream”. The results of this first test gave feedback on the proficiency of the tape-recorded message as a cue. Some of their subjects were able to lucid dream with this, however, the first few attempts showed the problems: it awoke the dreamer with the sound or the dreamer completely ignored the message. The next test was using vibrators strapped to the subject’s ankles. Throughout the day, as the dreamers were awake, they would practice telling themselves that they were in a dream whenever they felt the vibration. The results showed that the 11 out of 18 dreamers were able to lucid dream with the vibration cue. However, they tried another kind of cue as the vibrations “…posed a number of technical difficulties”. Finally, they tested a cue using lights. There were more results to their subjects who hadn’t even yet got to lucid dream. This research resulted in the fact that using sensory cues are useful and effective when helping to lucid dream and that the dreamers may really benefit from it. (LaBerge, S., & Rheingold, H., 1991)

 

The health benefits of lucid dreaming are also included in these lucid dreams. It is proven that those who frequently lucid dream are higher on the LOC scale (Blagrove, M., & Hartnell, S. J., 2000). LOC stands for the Locus of Control. In the 1950s, Julian Rotter brought up LOC to the surface. It is said that one with an internal locus of control believes that he or she is the one in control and have the influence to their outcomes and goals. However, those with an external locus of control believe that everything that happens to them is by fate or nature, and the only thing to blame for an inconvenience would be the outside forces. This means that with more practice of lucid dreaming, the person doing this would have a higher standard of being and have more positivity, which is good.

 

In another study conducted in Vienna by Doll, Gittler, and Holzinger (2009), they had a total of eighty-nine subjects. There were 42 women and 47 men who volunteered to be in the study, the mean age of the group was 36.25 ± 10.42 years. The purpose of the study was to see the health benefits that lucid dreaming had to those who practiced it. As the study went on, they were able to prove that the frequent lucid dreamers were able to show better mental health than those who were non-lucid dreamers. These researchers were able to make known that truly just by lucid dreaming, the mental state one is in, has the ability to become better and more improved.

In conclusion, lucid dreaming is possible to achieve and when it is achieved there are so many ways that it benefits. Although it may take some time, practice, and patience to reach that goal, it’s still out there possible to do. There are already thousands that practice it for pleasure and health benefits. I would say that my hypothesis is proven to be true as lucid dreaming is truly beneficial in so many ways and that it’s time well spent once you do master it. And, as time goes on, hopefully, lucid dreaming will be practiced by more and more people and use all their time sleeping in a better more efficient way.

 

Do you agree?

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

Lemon Water

Quote of AWESOMENESS: “Drink warm water with lemon first thing in the morning. It’s a good way to detox and alkalize your body.” – Valentina Zelyaeva 

Lemon oil is an uplifting and energizing essential oil. The benefits of Lemon Essential Oil would include: mood booster, skin care, refreshing scent, and so much more. Today, I shall share you the secret to starting off your morning with a refreshing & awesome start. Ready? Yeah, so am I.

Here we go!

Secret Ingredients (shhhh) you need to collect:

• Water
• Lemon Oil

Grab your pitcher or glass of water and put 1-2 drops of lemon in it. Mix it in and enjoy! Drinking a tall glass of water when you wake up and before you sleep is a good habit to add to your schedule, the lemon just makes it more magical and beneficial for you. You can get lemon oil here.

Before you go: there is an amazing book that you can buy called “I Am Fabulous” which have the “blends for emotional well-being” and I believe is a great investment for yourself. 

~ choose joy, smile 🙂 ~

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

 

 

L.O.A.S.H’S GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR LIFE TOGETHER: Habits 🖊️

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. 

 

*jk, I just wanted to make you smile 🙂

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria