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?

Embracing the changes

I've been doing a lot of thinking back on 2013 lately, and how much my life has changed since January. Or rather, how much I have changed my life.
I've made some BIG, scary, exciting changes this year. I left my job managing a shoe store to find my passion and chase it, without even knowing what that was. I "lost" many of my friendships when I left that job, and have developed and deepened the relationships that survived. I've settled into married life a bit more. I got my dream job!
All of these changes were stressful, even the good ones. I look back at January and realize I basically tore myself down to rebuild.
I didn't just make external changes though. When I left my job I decided to change my way of thinking and my behavior, because I realized I was holding myself back with my thought process and how I reacted to things around me.

I started thinking in a positive manner, and tried to be aware of and limit the amount of complaining I did. I started giving more, and expecting less. I started listening more. And I embraced the changes.

I'm the first person to say that in order to change something, you have to go through a period of being uncomfortable, sometimes even miserable, to end up where you want to be. But somehow I had forgotten that. I saw the opportunity I had to make big changes all at once, and I took it. I made a decision to improve myself and my life, and then I took the steps I needed to take get there.

Change is inevitable, and I think the longer we avoid it, the scarier it looks, and the more miserable we are without it. It takes a lot of courage to take the first step, but once you do, each step comes easier and sooner than the last. I think we can all do something to change and improve our lives; no matter how small or big that change is. From now on, I'm not going to avoid change. I'm going to embrace it.

Here's the YouTube video I did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ_kZrSAftM

                                                                                                                                                                  

Read this awesome Huffington Post article about habits for happiness. 

And a little quote from the Brave Girls Club: