bullet journaling

This isn't your average journal ;)

You know at the beginning of each new year, when you have all these great & grand plans to make your life better? To become better? Be debt free? Healthier? Happier? You write out all your "2016 Goals" in a nice little journal, you make all the arrangements & then... all of sudden...  it's almost April & you're like... 

:|

we're a quarter of the way through the year.

Have you even looked at your goals since you wrote them down? Did you ever do that little thing everyday that you said you would? Did you do it longer than a week? Have you been able to cross anything off that list?

Yup. I've been there.  Year after years I've been there... no closer to my accomplishing my goals.

It wasn't until 2015 that I really took a closer look at my life goals & started working on actually accomplishing them. I read Chalene Johnson's book PUSH, which helped me in so many ways when it came to making plans, having goals, to do lists, etc. I accomplished a lot of them actually. Not all of them, but a good chunk of my goals were crossed off.

And then 2016 hit & I was introduced to something that has truly helped me even more. I can actively work towards my goals DAILY, so that when December 2016 hits, I won't feel that all too well known feeling of "WHY DIDN"T I JUST DO THE THING I SET OUT TO DO?!?"

What's that thing I was introduced to? 

The BULLET JOURNAL

Now, I'm the "organized chaos" type of girl. I like to have to do lists, journals, etc... but I could never figure out how to have it all in one place so that it was organized, but not so organized that it wouldn't work for me. I don't LOVE phone to do lists, because I enjoy actually writing things out. This journal now goes everywhere with me, because I can keep almost anything in there. From monthly to do lists, blog ideas, grocery lists, recipes, daily to do's, books I want to read, thoughts, feelings, moments & even YEARLY GOALS. This journal works for me & I just wanted to share with you how it has seriously changed my life & can maybe change yours!

Now, I'm sure you have some big goals along with some little ones in there. Maybe you were wanting to read a book a month. Or you were wanting to exercise everyday for at least 30 minutes. Maybe you wanted to eat healthier or pray every morning or practice daily gratefulness. Or even pay off that car? Setting up a bullet journal can really honestly help you with working at these goals DAILY. The reason? Because you are looking at it everyday & like they explain on the site I linked above... "The Bullet Journal is a customizable & forgiving organization system." You get to set it up in a way that meets your specific needs.

Check it out & give it a try. Get a nice little journal you can take with you that isn't too small or too big. Get a nice pen too. Tweak it to meet your needs & don't stress if it takes a bit of time figuring out what works for you & what doesn't. Need help setting it up? Contact me & I can help!

Happy Bullet Journaling!

And just fyi... this post was not sponsored in any way... I simply wanted to share something that I've found works wonderfully for my life. If you have any other tricks or tips on how you stay organized & keep track of your goals, feel free to share! :)

xo

Liz

personal development (aka... a guide to happiness)

I get it... personal development doesn't sound that fun. But when you realize how much it can help with guiding you to more happiness & fulfillment in your life, then why not start, right?! I would have to say, it's something you should be doing everyday! Yes, there. I said it. E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y!

Personal development could be a bunch of things. Is it time spent reading your faith devotional book? Or maybe it's listening to a webinar or reading about goal setting or how to live a successful and happy life.  Whatever it is, it should happen daily.

It's a healthy habit to do this small little thing every day and make it a non negotiable. It may seem like a small and insignificant thing, but over time... wow.

If you've ever read The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, you know about how important it is to do those small (seemingly insignificant) things every day to create a more fulfilling life. Such an EASY thing to do right? Well, apparently also a really easy thing NOT to do.

Do you already do Personal Development every day? If so, what do you do? Do you try to aim for 20 minutes a day? What about 30 minutes a day? Or maybe 1 hour?! Why not try it? Maybe instead of listening to music in the car, you can listen to an inspirational talk or an audio book? You've already scrolled that facebook and instagram newsfeed for 20 minutes and you could have instead read a chapter of an insightful book. (don't worry, I've done it before too... working on it). We all have the same 24 hours in a day, you can make the time.

(I'm allowed to give tough love here, right?)

I should be clear though... personal development should NOT replace your time of prayer, reflection & gratitude or take away from your faith. If anything it should enlighten you more and should help you grow more in it and become more disciplined with the time you've been given in this life.

Email me : stilwell.e@gmail.com if you're needing help getting started with personal development or if you have any good books or tips you'd recommend. I would love to hear from you!

Some of my favy-favs thus far:

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
#Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso
Superlife by Darin Olien

heart of a minimalist

I've been working on some projects as of late, which has sadly kept me from my blog. But, let's stop that now shall we?

My intention for this blog is to be a space where you can find lots of things. Things about fitness & health. Things about work, personal development, random stories, adventures, house stuff, gardening stuff... all the stuff. With so many blogs these days being more and more about nothing, I wanted to make sure this blog doesn't become that. I hope that each blog post will be intentional, relatable, give value and/or at least brighten your day.

( View from the back yard )

So, as I had mentioned... I've been working on some projects. One big one being what I will dub "Project Home". I'm not a big DIY - girl... I try, but a lot of the time I lack patience to get things done, so I just don't start. But anyways, for those of you that don't know... we live in a pretty small house. About 745 square feet. And we actually only get to live in the upstairs as we have tenants in the basement suite. So, it's not a lot of space. Which means we have to be creative. Very creative. But I love the challenge & actually love the opportunity to learn more about how much our society wants us to have so many things in order to bring us happiness, however all these things we have do the opposite. So, I enjoy the task of practicing being minimal & not always buying things that don't benefit me & my family.

Last year I counted the number of times we went through our closet to get rid of clothes and we hit a total of 6 times! This year already, I still feel like we have too much and I have already gone through the closet/house twice. I'm not sure if this is a healthy thing or just an addiction of mine to toss things, but it's one of the greatest feelings. We are becoming more and more free of having things in our life that take up our space. Things we don't care about, things we never wear... just too many things. One day I'll post a before & after of our closet/house when I'm satisfied with where we are, and you'll see what I've done. To some people it may be drastic and perhaps our house looks plain to most people, but I like plain, clean & simple. I like open space, no clutter & a minimal amount of "stuff" in my nice calm space. And besides, not having a tv has it's perks... encourages us to go outside more, right?!

So, part of this years Project Home:

- be satisfied with the clothes & items we currently have
- organize closet so that we have the basic clothes we need, while not looking like garbage at the same time
- practice letting go of things both physical & spiritual.... often
- make some bigger purchases to allow for more storage to create cleanliness & no clutter
- finish painting!!
- have more of nature inside

If you're reading this and thinking "yup... I could lose a few things/clothes in my house" I encourage you to listen to that & do something about it! Take an afternoon to go through your house and ask yourself "Do I need this/use this?" "Will I miss this if I give it away?" If you answered "NO!" then toss it! :)


Any other minimalists out there? Any tips for us?