The end of year countdown

  

 

Have you achieved the goals you set yourself at the beginning of the year?  Feeling discouraged because we are well into the fourth quarter?  Please don’t be!  Last month I was pondering this, and decided I could still achieve the goals I’d set myself in January.

All I had to do was re-enthuse myself and put my foot on the accelerator.  Why not?  What did I have to lose?  I had written down:

1.    Goals to be fitter and healthier
2.    Books I wanted to write
3.    To set up a fitness space in our home
4.    Tidy up my office and make it more feminine and pretty
5.    Dress more intentionally in my own self-flavoured French Chic way

I started journaling every day, giving myself pep talks and revisiting my goals morning and night.  It is amazing how much this helped.  It started to become addictive!

And even if I don’t get exactly to the place I wanted to with each of these five goals, I’d still go far further than if I hadn’t tried at all.

With the twice-daily drawing of my attention back to my goals, it reminded me of what I wanted.  In the past I would write down goals but then wander off and forget about them.  By asking myself what I really, really want to achieve with the remainder of this year and then re-focusing on those fun goals, I truly found out the power of focusing all your efforts on a few things that could really make a difference to my life.

It raised everything around me too.  My admin got up to date effortlessly.  The laundry baskets are empty more than they are full.  And I haven’t wanted to eat for fun as much, or do mindless online shopping.

So, even though there are only a couple of months until the end of the year, what is something that you would be thrilled to achieve by New Year’s Eve?  Name it and become excited about it.  Write it down every night, and in the morning too.  State it as if it has already happened.  List all the fantastic things about achieving that goal and how you will feel.

You can do it!

xx Fiona

PS.  All of my books are focused on living a great life, in your own chic style.  Take a look on Amazon with my affiliate link here and see what you think!

Filter your life

I bought myself a fun pair of sunglasses recently, and even though they were extremely inexpensive, the lenses are great quality.  I was walking with the dogs in our paddock and the colour of the grass, trees, sky etc was beautiful.  Taking the sunglasses off, I saw that everything seemed less vibrant by comparison.

That’s when I had the thought to apply that same filter to my life.  Well, I already do to a certain extent, such as looking for the positive as much as possible (I’m only human and definitely have my grumpy days too), choosing beauty to surround myself with, and trying to be a bright ray of sunshine every day.

But why not amp it up even more?  Why not apply a golden-rose filter over everything?  There are many ways that this could be done, both with mindset and also with the things you have around you.

Setting up your environment for success is such a fun thing to do.  On a day when I feel like elevating myself, I’ll dress in my nicest clothes, wear perfume, spend extra time making my hair look good, and paint my nails.  I’ll tidy up around me, light a candle, turn on soft background music and switch on table lamps.  Even if it’s just me at home.

A flavour of mindset is fab fun too.  I’ll channel a feeling ('sparkle', 'peacefulness' or 'elegance'), a person (Aerin Lauder, a character in a favourite movie, or Martha Stewart), or a place (Paris, California or a tropical resort), and let it guide me.  It’s much better than having a to-do list, and less effort too.  I seem to get all the things done that I need to without thinking about it too much.

When you have a filter, whether it’s for a day, a project, or your whole year (like the word-of-the-year idea), it suddenly becomes clear just what your priorities and necessary actions are, without you having to dream them up.

I am playing around with a new word to take me through to the end of the year, and the right one hasn’t quite appeared yet.  But I know it will bubble up when I least expect it, and in the meantime I am enjoying gathering inspiring words in my journal.

Please let me know your word if you have one!  Or even if you don’t, what might you choose as an effervescent filter to illuminate yourself with right now?
xx Fiona

PS.  For more inspiration, go and visit my books here on Amazon.  They’d be thrilled to see you, and please let them know I say hi!