The chic toolkit

A reader wrote to me the other day and asked where she could access my ‘chic toolkit’:

Can you direct me to where you refer to setting up a 'chic toolbox' in your books?

I have quickly scanned them but cannot find it.

I know I have read this and cannot understand why I cannot find it!

Thank you for your help and advice and support.  Your books have given me the incentive and encouragement to really sort my life out.

I did a quick scan through the content of each book and realised that I do talk about having a chic toolkit a lot.

I love the concept of a chic toolkit and it is this: gathering up all the little tips and tricks that work for you; that motivate and inspire you to be your best and most magical self.  Ideas and brainsparks that illuminate your everyday life so that you are having fun, doing great things, being happy, making others happy with your happiness… that’s what a chic toolkit is to me.

And the simple answer to this question is that each of my books is my own chic toolkit in which I share with you what works for me to both inspire and spark off your own ideas.  I write about how I live my life in a luxurious and inspiring way, and on a budget of course.  I am not about spending money to get a good result.  Naturally things will cost money, but my first port of call is not to go shopping.

If I feel a little hum-drum on any given day, my first step is to raise my vibration so that I feel better.  I’ll tidy up my environment, groom and dress myself to suit what I am doing that day and inspire myself with some reading or journaling.  I write my own inspiration all the time, and it often starts off with ‘What feels exciting to me right now?’  I note down ten things that feel buzzy and that sets me off on a better tangent than simply feeling like today is just another day to plod along.

Some of my books tackle specific topics, for example, in A Chic and Simple Christmas, I talk about setting up a chic toolkit to help me get through the holiday season feeling serene and happy.  Each chapter and idea are the things that are in my toolkit.

How you could set up your own chic toolkit is similar to this: you would go through a particular occasion such as Christmas, or focus on something you want to achieve such as weight loss as in Thirty Slim Days, then note down all the obstacles, things that get you down, what doesn’t work well etc, and brainstorm ways (with the help of my books if you wish) to turn them around so that you can make things easier and more fun.  You will look forward to these times or situations because you feel more in control instead of dreading them and feeling helpless to change anything.

Even though I have come a long way with my slim mindset, it’s still something I have to work on – it is probably my toughest lesson, therefore there is a decent amount of weight-related content in Thirty More Chic Days too.  Even in a chapter such as the one entitled ‘Be a chic success’, the concept could easily apply to weight loss. (I love to read a non-weight-related book and apply the concepts to my weight and eating, it works well!)

My reader went on to say:

I am setting up a 'chic toolbox' in relation to losing weight and finding it really helpful to focus and create a mindset that helps to make it more enjoyable and doable!!  Congratulations on your new book ...your books and blogs have helped to give me a confidence in myself and a definite 'chicness'!  I have not had before! Thank you!!

That’s exactly it! Creating a mindset around something you wish to change that makes that change fun and easy, not a miserable deprivation.

I hope this post inspires you to set up a chic toolkit for yourself, whether it is a general ‘love your life’ toolkit or one to focus on something you know you are settling on at the moment.  An area that if you got that one spot mastered, you know it would make the rest of your life better.  Why not brainstorm a chic toolkit for that?

Write down the good things and the bad things, then take all the bad things and take the opposite, adding them to your good things list.  For me right now, my writing desk is messy, with bits of cat hair scattered around.  Not chic!  It would take probably fifteen minutes to clear everything onto the ground, spray’n’wipe the surface with my deliciously scented Mrs Meyers geranium spray and put back only what belongs on my desk, filing and distributing the remaining few items.

That’s just one thing I could do next that will raise my vibration and contribute to me feeling good.  Imagine finding all those little areas in your life and doing them one at a time.  It cannot help but make you feel happier, which will make you a nicer person to be around and you will have energy to be the person you wish to be without a cat-hair desk to drag you down :)

Bonne weekend to you and please let me know what is going to be the focus of your next chic toolkit!  (You can have as many as you like!  Yay!)

xxx Fiona

PS. Who else thinks my new silk peonies are gorgeous? I am in love with them! $12.95 well spent for me :)  (At least I think they are peonies!)

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NEW BOOK OUT NOW!

Last week I released the sequel to my most popular book, and it’s called ‘Thirty More Chic Days’.  In this book I write about my newest inspiration and simple ways to uplevel your mindset to create your most fun way of living, in whatever chic flavour inspires you the most.  I hope you check it out on Amazon and take a ‘Look Inside’ to see if it speaks to you!  You can read the first couple of chapters that way.