It's Christmas time!

I am NOT a Christmas fanatic. I do not run around all year scooping up next year's presents, and decorations. I don't really look forward to the snow and cold. I do not shiver in anticipation for the first time I'll hear a Christmas song. I especially hate how commercial the holiday is (many years working retail will do that to a lady).

I do, however, love the lights, and most of all the comfort of Christmas. I woke up on December 1st snuggled up in my flannel sheets, a fresh dusting of snow covering my backyard, and I just felt cheerful. I felt like putting up my tree and decorating my house, and singing Christmas songs.

So I did.

I combed my parent's backyard (which is all wooded) for some short pine and fir saplings and dug out a few of the decorations my Mother-in-law has gifted me and put together what I think is a pretty delightful little display.

My centerpiece on the dining room table is my

favorite part. It greets everyone who walks in, and it is simple and festive. I'm searching for either a candlestick to go in the silver holder, or a different item to put there. The candle is called Autumn Harvest, I picked it up from Target, and it's a warm mix of apples, leaves, and pumpkin.

 I have a few favorite ornaments. This one is a glass ornament filled with milkweed seeds, or "wishes" as I call them. I found this at a local craft fair last year and had to have it. It makes me think of being hopeful and having a year full of wishes. I love imagining that if I had to, I could pull one out and make a wish on it, if I ever needed a little help.

One of my projects while I was away

Though I was taking a break from blogging, I was not bored or lazy! I said in an earlier post that I was studying for my personal training certification, and while I was doing that I fulfilled my need to be creative by working on a design project for a high school classmate of mine, Whitney, and her business Farm to Reception. Farm to Reception got it's start when Whitney and her husband, Matt, were planning their own wedding. Their vision included beautiful farm tables that they had a hard time actually finding for rent in New England. So they built their own and now rent out these lovely pieces of furniture to couples looking to add a rustic and elegant feel to their own New England wedding.
Whitney was looking for some help with designing a coupon that she could hand out at a wedding expo she was attending. She was looking to have coupons printed on plantable coasters (which are the coolest things I have ever seen!). I offered to help, thinking I could use a challenging creative project, and she took me up on it!

I mocked up a few different ideas and sent them to her, and after a very brief back-and-forth we narrowed it down to one design, and I had a short list of tweaks to make to it.
After a couple weeks (and tweaks), I landed on the finished design! It was really simple, and lovely.
Whitney was so thoughtful in sending me a finished product; I can't tell you how incredible it is to hold a physical version of something I created in Photoshop!


It really is a dainty little thing to hold, and I love the feel of the wildflower seeds in the paper.
Whitney had the brilliant idea of including instructions for planting the coaster on the back of it.
It made for a nice easy way to include all of her contact information without crowding the front of the coaster, and leaving a completely empty space on the back.




Whitney sent a gorgeous thank you card along with the coaster.

If you live in New England and you're looking for beautiful, hand-made farm tables, please visit Farm to Reception. Whitney and Matt have also begun their foray into renting accessories as well, including centerpieces, table runners, and dishes. They're a beautiful addition to an elegant and rustic wedding.

Taking a break

One of the forgotten pieces of the success puzzle is taking rest when you need it. Its important not only in the physical sense, but also for your mental state.
When you're working out regularly, your body needs a break from all of the stress to heal itself, build muscle and repair the damage that exercise causes. The same can be said for when you're working hard mentally. A streak of inspiration, a stressful week at work, or even getting sick can wear you out, sometimes so much that it forces you to take a break when it might be inconvenient.

So taking a break when you have fewer projects to complete, or you're not bursting with new ideas for your blog, or you're noticing you're more tired during your workouts can be beneficial in keeping your motivation in the long-term. There are ups and down, ebbs and flows, in all of life and it's important to relax into them; let them lead the way, and take the break when life tells you to.

How long do you take a break for, and how do you restart once you've gotten that burst of inspiration and motivation? It's not suggested that you break for too long, in most cases a few days is plenty. Breaking for too long from a regular schedule can be detrimental to your long-term goals. A shorter break also makes it much easier to restart; when you have only been off-schedule for a few days it doesn't feel like much of a challenge to begin your routine again, and you bear less of a risk of losing your momentum and progress.

Don't wait for your body or mind to break down on you; take a break before you need it! Regular rest will lengthen your drive and focus. Schedule in rest days every month if you must, just make sure you take the time to unwind and regroup!

Better Late Than Never

Also, better any time than never!
I've been thinking a lot about why people do things, and also about why they don't do things. Motivation, willpower, and self-control seem like commodities these days, with everyone's stash running low. Most people look outside themselves to find it all, but I think for long-term success you need to find that well inside yourself.
I'm a personal trainer, and part of my job is motivation and encouragement. I love this part of my job! It's the easiest part! I am sincerely thrilled for someone who is reaching toward and achieving their goal. But unless you want to pay someone for the rest of your life you have to find a way to motivate yourself to your goals.
So how does one do that?
Well, you can't go from 0 to 100; you have to take baby steps! Small changes are a hell of a lot easier to implement and maintain than whole-hog lifestyle upheaval. It's also a lot harder to quit doing *everything* when you started it all at different times. Quitting something takes a big toll on our egos, and can make it even harder to attempt the same thing at a later date. So why not set yourself up for success and takes steps towards your goal (instead of one giant leap), and be more forgiving when we have to take a step or two backward.
Speaking of baby steps, how do you motivate kids? You reward them! You praise their effort, their success, and you reward them with something. So, it makes total sense to reward yourself along the way to reaching your goal. The tricky part is, you have to reward yourself like a parent rewards a child. If a kid got pick their own reward, we'd all be in trouble. The same goes for adults! Dieters rewarding themselves with junk food, exercisers rewarding themselves with too many days off, procrastinators rewarding themselves with... too many days off. It makes no sense. Pick a reward that doesn't undermine all your hard work!
You don't have to think long-term if it's keeping you from taking the first step. I have been hearing a lot of "I'll start my diet after the holidays," lately. The problem here is that after the holidays, there are only 11 months until the holidays, and we all know they come quicker every year. So many people choose not to start any diet change at all because they can't see the end of "forever" but they can see the upcoming event at which they would rather not be on a diet. Think in terms of days, or weeks, instead of weeks and months. Start with today. I love the quote "a year from now, you will wish you had started today." So start today; stop putting it off.
Find your own motivation. When you set a goal, how clear is it? It is specific? Is there a time frame? Do you know what you need to do to reach it? If you have answered yes to those 3 questions then you are *choosing* not to reach your goal. Is there an emotional reason you're choosing to put off reaching your goal? Are you scared to reach it? Why are you scared? Success is nothing to be scared of! And believe me, once you reach your goal you will have a new one soon after! If there is a question you answered no to, fix it! Clarify your goal, set a length of time, and figure out what action you need to take.

I believe that achieving our goals is made a lot easier when we are truthful with ourselves. Do I have an attainable goal, is it reachable in the amount of time I have, do I know what I need to do to achieve it?

There is no reason why you shouldn't be striving for something for yourself RIGHT NOW.

What a month!

I was doing well with posting every week and then I just disappeared! I really neglected my Twitter and YouTube channel, too.
Well, at least I was really productive! I helped a friend design a really cute coupon for her business, for starters. She wanted a drink coaster to use at a wedding expo she's attending this month, and it's really cool because it's plantable paper with wildflower seeds embedded in it! I plan on doing a full post about that when she gets the coasters in.
I also completed my CPT through NASM! That's a lot of acronyms, I know. Basically, on the 1st I took my exam to become a certified personal trainer (CPT)! I am so incredibly excited to start training! Fitness and nutrition are two of my passions, and I'm really excited to help people reach their fitness goals as my job. I work at a women's gym, so my focus with my CPT will be women's fitness.
I've also been taking a weekly course called Weight Loss Fundamentals. It's really interesting to learn about the different obstacles people have that keep them from losing weight. I also think it's really interesting that most people already "know" this information, it's just that they haven't implemented it!

This is essentially my "I'm back!" post! I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things!

Do it anyway

That's my theme for today's Motivation Monday.

We spend a lot of time dreaming for things to be different. We browse Pinterest imagining how great it would be to live in a model home. We read blogs about other people's lives and envy how perfect they seem. We watch haul videos on YouTube and wish we could have a closet filled with designer accessories. We spend a lot of time imagining and planning how these things might look and feel in our own lives, but somehow we get stuck in that first phase and never move forward with making these dreams a reality.

When we turn our eye self-ward we are much too critical. Our hopes and dreams seem meant for someone better prepared, and more experienced. Phrases like "I'm not organized enough," and "I'm not interesting enough," echo through our heads. These self-defeating words keep us from taking even small steps toward realizing our goals.

I have three words for you.

Do it anyway.
Just do it anyway.

What is the worst that will happen?

You are capable enough. When you take that first step, sure, you'll be scared, but you'll also be excited when you see yourself being propelled towards your goal. You'll be thrilled when you reach it. And you'll feel a little more prepared for the next goal you set.

So: Do it anyway!

You'll be glad you did.

Motivation Monday!

Ever since I started working my dream job, I've had Mondays off. I used to work a lot (I mean *a lot*), so whenever I had a day off I would slouch around all day doing absolutely nothing. No cleaning, no shopping. I didn't even put pants on.
It's a different story now.
I use Mondays as my recharge day, but instead of being a slug I like to recharge by getting done all of the chores that fall to the wayside on the days I work. I play catch up on my blog-reading. I study. I prep my blog posts.
Most of all, I search for motivation.
Motivation for not one thing in particular, but for my life in general. I've done a lot of soul-searching in the past 6 months, and through that I've come to cement my goals in my mind. I want to be happy, healthy, knowledgeable, and most of all I want to be a source of light for the people around me.
What do I mean by "source of light?" Let me explain.

A year ago I was miserable. I hated my job, my friends were not very good at being my friend, and I was just generally stressed out and grumpy. In turn, I made everyone around me feel the same way. Not intentionally, mind you, I just complained a lot and my awful mood oozed out of my every pore. When I left my stressful job, I decided to change everything, including my terrible mood. I wanted my interactions with everyone to be a pleasure for them, and I wanted people to look forward to spending time with me, instead of bracing themselves for the inevitable barrage of negativity. I want to be a source of light.

What is motivating me today is this awesome book my mom gave me. She knows that I love art books and that I've been trying to become more positive and thankful, and this book is quickly becoming my Holy Grail for finding inspiration every day.

This is the passage that I read today that is truly perfect for this post.

I spend every Monday doing the things I need to do (chores and running errands) and the things I love to do (blogging, and watching YouTube videos). I feel refreshed and renewed for the rest of my week, and I don't feel like I've wasted my day off.


Getting motivated is easy, it's staying motivated that's hard. How do you motivate yourself?