9 EASY WAYS TO BE A HEALTHIER (AND HAPPIER) PERSON

I believe that being happy and being healthy are two things that go hand in hand. There are habits we carry with us day in and day out – some of them are good for us yet some of them are really bad for us.

The way we see the world is merely a reflection of what is happening in our minds and bodies. While we cannot control what happens out there in this great big world we can choose to find the good in it. But, in order to be somewhat successful at that we must first start with taking care of ourselves mentally and physically.

The list below is things you incorporate into your life that will bring more wellness and happiness into your life.

Have a glass of water

Start your day with a glass of water. This simple act will re-invigorate and energize you’re your body from the inside out. You will feel better almost instantly and have the energy to start your day off on a positive note.

Go outside

Make it a point to intentionally breathe in some fresh at least once a day (weather permitting, of course!). Taking in fresh air can be done by taking a walk in a park or a trail or maybe even just sitting in a park – that is the easy part.

The most important part is to do it intentionally, meaning, that you are fully present with your surroundings and that you cherish every breath you take.

Reduce stress

Find your stress reliever a do it whenever you need to reduce stress. I have two stress relievers – cleaning and yoga.  Yes, cleaning. Whenever I am feeling somewhat stressed or feel my mind cluttering up with all sorts of things I need to do I turn to cleaning. There is just something about a freshly cleaned home and good smelling candle that give me the space and clarity that I need.

The second is yoga, I do yoga at home from time to time but if I am ever really feeling stressed I do like to go in to a yoga studio. The calming environment and soothing music does the trick for me.

Get some sleep

Make sleep a priority and always strive to get the amount of sleep your body needs. Some people only need 5-6 hours while other need 8-9 hours of solid sleep – I fall right in the middle of that and need somewhere in between of 7-8 hours a solid and good quality sleep every night. Making sleep a priority means that you back track the start of your day.

For example, let’s say you need to be at work by 8AM and it takes you 30 minutes to get to work – that means you need to need to leave your house by 7:30AM. Now, let’s suppose it takes you an hour to get ready – that means you need to get up at 6:30AM. This means that you need to be in bed and ready to sleep by 10:30PM at the latest.

Which means you need to have everything on your to-do list checked off for the next morning by 10PM. This will allow you 30 minutes to wind down and get mentally ready for bed.

Exercise

Getting your body moving (aside from eating healthy) is probably the most obvious way to be a healthier person. There are many benefits to exercise and one of them is getting your blood flow moving which helps your internal organs do their jobs. 

Eat mindfully

Eating mindfully is one thing I am working on. While I know the importance of focusing on JUST your food while you are eating I can sometimes find it difficult to put my phone away to not be distracted by YouTube videos, shows or podcasts. Eating mindfully is about relaxing yourself while you are eating and savoring whatever you are feeding your body.

Stand more often

For those of us who sit for long periods of time at work it is very important to stand up and walk around throughout the day – I find this especially important after eating lunch.

Relax

Taking a few minutes here and there to relax your mind and body will only have great benefits. I do this by sitting down and reading a book for 20 minutes or so and I know that relaxes me and gives me that little break I need on a busy errand filled day.

Choose happy thoughts

Think happy thoughts – I know, easier said than done. But your mind is a muscle you need to work on a train and over time the not-so-positive thoughts will become very few and far between. 

What healthy habits do you have now? And which are you working on incorporating into your life? Do share below!

HOW TO KEEP YOUR BATHROOM CLEAN AND ORGANIZED

I like to think that I am a pretty organized person and tend to keep my home organized and clean as much as possible. Although sometimes things get out of hand if I have had a very busy week but for the most part I give myself kudos in that department. However, the one place in my home that tends to suffer the most is my bathroom. If you are a female reader or if you live with a female you can probably attest to the amount of things we have to use in order to get ready – lotion, make-up, hair tools and the list goes on.  Sometimes when I am in a rush to get out of the house I tend to leave my blow dryer and hair brushes on the counter which then drives me CRAZY to see them sitting there when I get back home. So below, I will share with you guys a few changes I have incorporated into my day to day management of my bathroom and I must say that they have made a world of a difference!

Purge

The very first step in maintaining a clean and organized bathroom is going through EVERYTHING in there and placing them in one of three piles:

1.       Use every day

2.       Use occasionally

3.       Haven’t used in six months

For example, the items in my use every day are products I actually use every day – my moisturizer, eye cream, mascara, eye lash curler, deodorant. If a product does not fall into the everyday category but you do use it quite often then it belongs in the use occasionally category – for me those are my hair masks and face masks things I use every other week or so. Then there is everything else, items I have purchased and later regretted but felt bad in throwing them away. Well friends, you are going to have to cut that umbilical cord and just get rid of it – one product that made into my have not used in six months was a body lotion I purchased from Origins (side note: I really love their products). The scent from that particular lotion is amazing and I absolutely fell for it in store but the thing is that I am very sensitive when it comes to scents and if a scent is the slightest bit strong instantly makes me nauseous and gives me a headache that can last hours. That’s what that scent did to me and I finally worked up the courage to put it in the purge pile.

Once you have placed every single product in your bathroom into one of the three above mentioned categories you have completed the most important step in this process.  The hardest part of this process for me is letting go of those items I have not used in a really long time but I have to remind myself that if I am not regularly using them then they are simply taking us space and creating clutter.

Organize

The next step in this process is to find a way to organize these products in a way that makes sense to your lifestyle. I get ready in my bathroom in the morning, meaning that is where I change, apply my makeup and style my hair. So, for me it makes sense to keep my skincare and makeup products and hair tools in my bathroom. For example, in my bathroom cabinet, I have two drawers that are exclusively dedicated to me every day items – one is for only my skincare and makeup products and the other is only for my hair brushes and hot tools (blow dryer and curling iron). Then, under my sink, I have a space that I use to store my occasional items (this is where the bulk of my items are). To be fair, I used to be subscribed to Glossybox and Birchbox which is how I ended up accumulating so many products. So with the use of some mesh stacking bins I got from The Container Store and some (many!) makeup bags I organized my occasional pile into eye, lips, hair, skin products. Then I found a way to neatly organize them in the mesh bins.

Maintain

Now that you have gone through and organized and re-arranged the products you use (which is by far the hardest part!) all you need to do is maintain the organization. But, I know, that is easier said than done. So I have one rule and one rule only when it comes to my bathroom: when I walk out of the bathroom it has to look exactly as it did when I walked in. This means if I need to use the blow dryer and round hair brush I have to put them back in their place as soon as I am done with them. That rule applies to everything in there, now that every item has a home it NEEDS to stay there. No exceptions.

Remember that it takes 21 days to form a new habit and I am a firm believer that coming home to a clean and organized home makes a huge and positive impact on your overall lifestyle and outlook on life. When you have less physical clutter then you have less mental clutter which allows you to see life and make decisions with a clearer state of mind.

Try the steps above to clean and maintain an organized bathroom and share how it goes below! 

3 REASONS PROCRASTINATION CAN ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR YOU

Sometimes big life decisions need to be made and they need to be made very quickly or on a less dramatic note sometimes there are smaller decisions that need to be made on a day to day basis. And sometimes we really do not know what the best decision is and simply do not want to think of it much. Any way you slice it there will always be decisions that will have to be made and things we will have to do and a lot of the times we will encounter some form of procrastination. Before I delve in to the reasons procrastination can be good thing, I first want to define what it means. The best way I can define procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing something. I have to admit that I am a self-diagnosed procrastinator – even when I know a certain task HAS to get done I can sometimes procrastinate a bit. However, once my procrastination phase is over I always give the task 110% of my attention and effort. But, I digress; my point is that there is good procrastination and bad procrastination. As long as you can tell which type of procrastination you are encountering you will be able to know how to best manage it.

Here are the reasons I feel procrastination is actually a good thing:

Listen to your intuition

Sometimes you are not exactly sure why you are dragging your feet on something. This is a great time to sit back and do your best to put your finger on the reason you may be putting the thing off. Maybe it is your gut telling you that you should probably not move forward with the task or idea. In this instance, procrastination is actually a very good thing because your mind and your gut know what is best for you before you logically know it. If you give yourself some time to mull it over you’ll soon know what the best option for you is.

It’s not your thing

Other times you may procrastinate on doing something because you truly do not like to do it. Now don’t confuse that with laziness, if you’re lazy about doing something you know you will eventually get to it. But I am talking about a task that has just really never been for you. As an example, let’s say you absolutely do not like to do laundry, like seriously despise everything about it – well you can then consider to hiring someone to do your laundry (if you can afford it, of course) on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. If outsourcing a chore you really do not enjoy then you can use that time in a much more productive and enjoyable manner.  

Gives you time

The beauty of procrastination is that it buys you time. And if you ever need to make a hard decision the best thing that can happen to you is have a little more time to think about it in order to arrive to the best decision. Giving yourself time to make a decision is a good thing as long as you don’t go crazy with the amount of time you give yourself – my suggestion is to allow yourself 1-3 nights to sleep on it – this will give you some clarity and breathing room to arrive at a good decision.

Are you a procrastinator? Have you gotten better at managing your procrastination habits? Share your tips below!

IMPORTANT REASONS TO BE HAPPY AND KEEP YOU GROUNDED RIGHT NOW

If there is one feeling that connects all human beings my wild guess would be that it is the aspiration to find happiness. This topic has been top of mind the past few days after a very interesting and inspiring conversation I had with my brother. After that conversation, we came to the conclusion that it is our duty to find happiness within our current situation. Sure, we can aspire to have more – more money, a better job, more vacations, more houses and that’s fine. In fact, I think it’s great to have those aspirations because they keep us intrinsically motivated to keep pushing our own envelopes and do bigger and better things. But they key is to let those aspirations be just that – aspirations – and be thankful, grateful and humble for that you DO have today. 

While there are many, many reasons to be happy at any given moment – I have boiled it down to my top two reasons: the people around you and your health. These are the two things that are the highest on my priority list and they are the things that really propel and motivate me whenever I am having a doubtful or not-so-happy moment.

People

The people you have in your life and the people who love you unconditionally are the people who truly want to see you happy. So be happy and grateful to have them in your life. Be present when you are talking to them and cherish those moments because as much as we want them to be around forever they will not always be there. When you are around these people who love you, be sure to consistently engage in meaningful conversations with them. And that means you get to put your phone down, shut off the TV and focus on them and your conversation, yes, you read that correctly, as difficult as it is giving undivided attention nowadays you need to do it. You will be surprised and how much you will learn from them and how much more you will learn about yourself.

Health

Be grateful for your health and your well-being. Sure, you may have those few stubborn pounds you want to drop but that is small potatoes compared to the challenging lives people all over the world lead due to some type of illness or unforeseen accident. So, be grateful for the body you have and treat it well. Feed it quality food and get your body moving to keep your blood circulating. Drink lots of water and stay far, FAR away from soda and processed foods. Trust me, your body will thank you immensely for that.

What are the things that keep you grounded and happy? Share below!