End Of THe Year Clean Up

Did you do your 'end of the year clean up' already? Or is all that mess just staring at you.
There is nothing better than to start your year with a fresh & clean house without any clutter.

Don't start the new year with the mess of the old year, so make a date with yourself to get rid of all the old garbage, you can even try to get your family involve to help you clean up, what's a part of  their mess also.
It's important to have a house that is clean and organized, not only for your health but also for you to have a peace of mind. A lot of people don't realize that the more mess you have in your house, the more mess you have in your mind. You will not have a peace of mind living in a pigsty, so just start clean up your house and don't complain about it.

Now that you are about to start you need some kind of system to go about it. My advice to you is that you start in one room, and if you finish that room you go on to the next room until you are completely done.

Once you know what you don't want anymore, you can make the decision to either throw things away, give it away to the Army Salvation or sell it online or at a garage sale.

Merry Christmas 2019

I want to wish to all my readers a very Merry Christmas, I hope you enjoy your day with your family and loved ones, with lot's of food & fun.
Be in the moment, be present and give your love & attention to the people around you.
Create lovely memories for you and those around you.

The Last Month Of 2019

It has become a habit to say that this year went by even faster than the year before, but it's true.
Another year went by so fast and I hope that this year you've accomplished a lot more than you have started out with, and if you haven't accomplished a lot don't worry, we're going to start fresh & all over again.
But before we do that, I think it is good to look back on what this year has done for you & what you have done for yourself.

I want you to reflect on this past year but I want you to do it when you have your 'quiet time' & I want you to really be honest to yourself. Take at least an hour or more out of your day so you can really sit down and take a moment to really digest what you have been through this year. It's nice to clear your mind out of everything that still may be suppressed inside you.

Here we go again with this writing down things, but hey, it's good for your brains! So sit back and just relax.

Looking Back On 2019

• First thing first, it's good to look back on the goals and things that you did accomplish this year, you might even realize that you've achieved more than you thought you did.

• Also write down the goals and the things you didn't accomplish and add why you did not achieve it, what you can do better next time and if it's a goal that you want to bring into the next year and still try to achieve it. 

• Remember the good times you had and also the bad times, how did you dealt with these situations, is there anything different you can do the next time and did you learn something of it.

And as I stated at the beginning it's really important to be honest to yourself, it is the only way you can grow and become a better version of yourself. No matter how ugly the truth is, it's better to face it than to hide from it.

Looking Forward On 2020

After you've reflected on this past year, now it's time to look forward on what you want 2020 to bring you. And you may have to do this another day because it will be time-consuming.

Now that 2020 is at our doorstep it's time to think about what direction you want to go, like every other year, everyone is writing down the goals they want to achieve. Most people don't look at their 'list of goals' after maybe a month or two, and that's why they don't believe in writing down goals to achieve them.

Their problem is that they think that by writing down their goals, they automatically accomplish them, but this is further from the truth.
My advice for you is, before you start with your list to write down the things you are actually ready to work hard for in order to achieve them, if not, don't bother to write them down or even waste your time thinking about them.

I advise you to categorize your goals in segments, for each segment you write down a minimum of 3 goals you know you are ready to achieve in 2020, and every goal you break down into smaller goals so it's easier for you to stay committed to it & eventually to reach them.
Categorize your goals in these segments.

• Spiritual
• Health
• Family
• Business/Work
• Social

Just remember, you will only reach your goals if you are really ready to make some changes in your life, if not, it's just a note with written dreams on it.

Only You Can Work On Your Succes

Everybody wants to be successful in life, but not everybody wants to work on being successful.
When we speak about success in life the majority of people think that success is being rich, famous or having a high ranking position in a job, but being successful in life has a different meaning for every person.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            We all have a dream for how we want to live our life, but few of us really live that dream. What I've realized is that a lot of people settle in what success is for them,  they either do this because they don't want to work hard and take that risk in order to achieve that burning desire in them, or they have failed at it and are afraid to try again. So, they come up with a lot of excuses why they can't do what they really want to do and defend what they don't want to do.

Today you have to make a promise to yourself that you will never end up like this, no matter what the circumstances may be, you will do everything in your power to reach the success you want in your life. For some of you, life have sucked you up and beat you down, that you don't even know what makes you happy in life, don't worry my goal is to help you find that passion that you want to turn into a success in life. It's time for you to reach your highest potential or at least start moving forward to this point.

Basic Steps on reaching success in your life

Notebook

Every idea starts out with a thought, whatever you think about write it down. Buy you a little notebook, it doesn't have to be an expensive one, you can find you a cute one at any dollar store.

Carry this notebook on you and write down your ideas and your goals in it, what you think you need to do to get there. Write down what's holding you back and what you can do to change this.

Another thing you should do is write down your daily goals you need to do to achieve your main goal. Once you have your goals planned out for the day, you will get more done in a day.

Change your mindset

You need to change your mindset in order to be successful. You can't fool anybody that you have the right mindset the way you're living, the fact that you're not successful says a lot about your mindset. Not only changing your mindset is important but also moving yourself away from toxic people. Life is too short to beat yourself down with negative thoughts, wasting time on things that don't matter & having people around you that are toxic. You know exactly who you need to separate yourself from in order to go to the next level in life.

Invest into yourself

Many people are lying to themselves why they are the way they are. You didn't want to invest in yourself to better yourself and that is why your life is the way it is. Stop being lazy & always stay complaining! Stop blaming everything that occurs in your life on somebody else. You are the way you are because you don't want to do more to become the person you ought to be in life.  So challenge yourself and give yourself 120% every day. Start sticking to your goals and do the work you need to do to get there.

Do the things others won't do

It's time for you to walk that extra mile if you want to be successful in life. You have to put in the work to change your life, that means to do the things others won't do. If you want to Change your life around for success, you need to change your daily routine. If you are used to sitting in front of your TV in your relaxing time, or browsing around on your 'social media' than it's time to quit this habit immediately and use this time to work on your goals. Before you know it your dreams starts to become a reality and isn't a fantasy anymore.

Start with these 4 steps and you will see how your life will change around, and if one day you have not accomplished your goals just start again, but whatever you do never give up.

28 Day Challenge

It's officially summer, and you have done nothing to get your body in shape or summer-ready.
Don't worry you are not the first nor the last who kept procrastinating on getting in shape, but instead kept chewing on your 'guilty pleasures'. You had all these months to get ready, but you didn't do a thing! No problem, you are at the right place, maybe a little too late, but we still gonna say, at the right time. Let's do this, and if you're not ready to have your body ready for this summer, there is always a next summer. So start with it today and just don't give up.

Having a healthy and fit body is actually not a must have for the summer, but it's a must have for your health, for your life and for you to do the things that you want to do, without an unhealthy lifestyle holding you back.
If you want to lose some weight or have a healthy and fit body, it's important that you work for it. I'm not here for the 'quick fix', if you want to that, do you boo! But it's just not my cup of tea. I am a firm believer that if you want to be healthy and have a fit body, you have to start from the inside, so whatever you put into your body will eventually show, either in your weight, skin or health.                                So my advice to you is, don't follow trends when it comes to your body and health, but treat your body with the up most respect, love & care, and really be careful about what you put in or on your body.

The Summer Body Challenge

I've noticed that as people we like to challenge ourselves, so I decided to baptize this 28 day challenge into 'The Summer Body Challenge'.
First off I want to say, that everybody can do this challenge, young and old, because I want you to this challenge in your pace and I want to you to work on the area's that bothers you the most.

Exercise

Without some exercise you won't get there, or you have to visualize it and mentally get there, but that is not what I want you to do here, I need you to physically train your body & not only your brains. It's important to exercise not only for your body but it has its effects on many things. When you exercise your body will release endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and adrenaline, all these chemicals work together to make you feel good, and when you release high level of these chemicals you feel less pain and get fewer negative side effects of stress. Exercise is not only important for your physical health but also for your mental health.


The plan for this Challenge is for you to set out a work out plan that works for you,  yes you get to put to work here.
So for example, the first week you start working out for 30 minutes a day, rest day's not included, you decide for yourself what kind of work out you will do, you can choose to jog, exercise along with YouTube videos or go to the gym. Whatever you decide to do, you have to put your all into it and more. The next week you do it for 45 minutes and so on.

Meal Plan

If you have a healthy diet, don't  change it, but if you're not eating healthy at all, it's time to start doing so.
Write down a diet plan you know you can stick to, start by adding healthy foods into your daily eating habit and cut out foods that you know are not good for you.
For this challenge I want you to set a goal that changes your eating habit, so every week you insert more healthy foods and less processed foods into your diet.
If you don't know how to create a healthy diet plan for yourself or where to start when it comes to changing your diet here are some recipes you can check out.

Water

Water is the main component of the human body, for women it's 50% -- 55%, for men it's slightly higher. Water helps you to regulate your body temperature, it gets rid of toxins through sweat & urination it helps to regulate your bowel movements and so much more, drinking water is important for every cell, tissue and organ in your body.
There are a lot of benefit to drinking water, so don't forget to include this into your daily diet plan.
Drink at least 1 liter to 1,5 liter a day.

Relaxing

It is important to balance your schedule out and insert some time for yourself, taking some time out for yourself to relax is good for your mental, physical and spiritual health.
Whatever you consider as relaxation do it.


To follow 'The Summer Body Challenge'  I recommend you to print out these free pages, you can fill them out and keep track with your goals.
Have Fun with this challenge & don't forget to enjoy this summer.

Life is an Adventure

As most of you know I started this blog with the purpose to share my journey to quit smoking with others, not only that, I also wanted to inform others on how dangerous smoking is and how bad  the side effects really are.
I have realized along the way that smoking and the danger of it is not the only thing we should focus on, but that every aspect in our lives need some work on to improve ourselves, because before we know it in just one smoke our life is over,
This life- journey we are living is an adventure, and every one has its own path to travel.


A quote that I've read a couple of days ago is this one,

`Life is not about finding yourself,  Life is about creating yourself'


If you really think about it, this quote is telling you the truth.
You can not go search somewhere to find yourself if you were never here before.
It wasn't like you had already existed and once you were born, suddenly you have lost yourself and now your life purpose is to find yourself.
The quote 'Life is about finding yourself' is really a quote that keeps you stuck in life, because now all of a sudden you think that you were hidden somewhere and you have to do particular steps to find the real you, the only problem is you don't know where to start or what steps to take because you were never here.

Life is really about creating yourself so don't hold back, let this adventure called 'life' be one that you will appreciate, make your own decisions and be bold about them because this is one adventure that you can't do over.

Create your life the way you want it to be, do the things you want to do and be you! As this is life, you will go through some hardships and setbacks, because life isn't fair. But never let that be a reason for you to stop creating your life the way you want, just remember that these are life lessons you get along the way of your adventure and you need them to learn how to go through them. It's up to you if you will let hardship and setbacks break you or make something for the better out of it.


Ooh, and one  more thing this is your journey, it's your adventure, don't let others tell you, how to fill in the blank sheets of your 'book'. Don't compare your walk in your journey and the pace of it to other's.
The less you worry about what other people think of you, or how 'successful' they are and you're not, the happier you will be and not only that, now you can create your life, live your life and really enjoy it.
Please don't try to impress other people who may be in the same or worse position in life as you are.

Let That be your focus this week and the rest of your life, start today with creating the life you want and make sure whatever you decide to do it's legal.

Time To Quit Smoking, Again

I've quit smoking before, started again, quit smoking again & started all over again for I don't know how many times by now. Cigarettes are still something I struggle with till this day, after every effort to quit smoking sadly enough after a while I've started smoking again.
This time I've made a decision to quit smoking again, and this time forever. I really want to leave this bad habit behind me & never to pick up again.


After a while of me being a non-smoker, there comes a moment of weakness and I fall into the trap to 'just take one hit of a cigarette and then turn away from it'. The only problem is it won't stay with just one puff, there will be many more puffs after that. And even though I know that it won't stay with just one puff or one cigarette, I still smoke it because at this point I've reassured myself that I know how the illusion of addiction works. Also, after a while of me not smoking I realize that I'm way stronger than the cigarettes and that it's all a mind game, so even if I smoke one I know I can quit whenever I want... Wrong!!

So, now I have to start all over again with my journey to quit this nasty habit, but I will quit for sure!
Stick around and I will keep you updated on how it goes.

Beat The Cravings

Many people who smoke would describe a craving as a heavy urge in your body that can only go away once you take a hit from a cigarette or whatever you smoke or chew on.
To crave a cigarette is the worst feeling for a smoker, to give in to that urge is the most wonderful feeling for that smoker, that is the illusion you have painted for yourself all these years of smoking.

In the end of the day that's exactly what these companies want, for you to come to a point of craving these nasty nicotine-stick so you would continue to buy them.
Because once you know that the only thing that can relieve you from these urges are cigarettes or whatever you are smoking, you will always keep buying them, and this will always secure their pockets.   

Nicotine is a very addictive substance, if you smoke it, it will reach its final destination within 8 seconds, faster than when you inject it into your veins, in this case its final destination is the cranial nerve. In the beginning when you first started to smoke cigarettes the nicotine would increase the level of dopamine in the brain, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is responsible for feelings of pleasure and well-being.  That's the reason why most people think smoking gives them pleasure, but after a couple of weeks to months that 'feeling' will disappear, and only the memory of pleasure will stick around and this will keep you smoking.



It started out as a pleasurable thing and now it has become a hassle because now you need it to go through your day.

When you want to quit smoking, the first thing you notice that makes it hard for you are the cravings that hits you once you go a couple of hours without smoking. Craving a cigarette is what keeps you moving your quit date forward. When you go through this process its like you cannot think of anything else but to take a hit of a cigarette to calm your urges, now you know for sure that you need that cigarette because that's the only thing that can make these cravings disappear.


In actuality these feelings of craving cigarettes are nothing other than a withdrawal of your addiction, your body became addicted to it and now it wants it so called 'medicine' to keep it calm.
Now that you've realized what a craving really is and that this is what's keeping you addicted to these nasty cigarette, you can change your hole mindset about how to perceive this very bad habit.

The only way to beat these bad cravings, that feeling, that urge you get when you want a smoke is to face the reality of what they really are.
First of all, they are not something that you want because you like it, or because it relieves stress or make you concentrate better on your work, or give you a feeling of happiness, it's none of these things. The only thing these cravings has done to you is make you a slave to nicotine, and as long as you will give in to these cravings you will keep being addicted to smoking and it will always be a part of your life, maybe even the thing that will kill you in the end.

Don't Be Fooled By Smoking

When you're a smoker and still looking good & 'healthy', for so far you know, you don't think about the bad side effect smoking has on your health and that is better for you if you just quit smoking once and for all.


Also, you see other smokers looking good, having fun or living a ``healthy´ lifestyle, so why would you even suggest or think about the bad side effects smoking has on your body & your health.
As a smoker you think you are invincible and nothing can happen to you, most likely it will happen to others but it won't happen to you. Even those horrific warning pictures on these pack of cigarettes are being ignored by smokers, many of them just don't believe it's true, but it is sadly to say that they are very much real.


Don't be fooled by the appearance of a smoker that looks good and or healthy on the outside because they are literally dying on the inside. And beside that, there are e lot of things and products you can use to enhance your beauty such as whitening your teeth, Botox to hide your wrinkles and lots more. Just know that smoking is a deceiving game and the game you're playing with is your life!
What a lot of smokers don't realize is that once a smoker gets hit with a horrible disease you won't see them spending much time outside anymore, they spend their days sick inside their homes or in a hospital. That's why you don't see what smoking really does to someone.


Try everything in your power to quit smoking, don't believe the delusion smoking gives you because you don't need to smoke, you don't like it & it certainly ain't your best friend.

This is what smoking really does to you.

I want you to watch these videos and hear the stories of people who got sick due to smoking and see what smoking really does to you, most of them have passed away.

Terrie Hall

Christine

Debi Austin

Barb Tarbox

Don't Give Up On Yourself

I want to encourage anyone out there who needs it, to don't give up!!
Life is a journey that's full of lessons that you will learn either by falling down or rising up. When you go through hardship in life it's up to you to see what the lesson is, learn from it and to do it different the next time. Whatever it is you're going trough, just don't give up.

Sometimes it's hard to keep having faith and believe that one day your situation will turn around for the better, when everything around you is falling apart.
There is one thing you must know, once you keep having fear and doubt about a situation, it will not get better but it will only get worse. It's true that once you only keep thinking negative or having fear for bad things to happen that eventually they will.

When your mind is occupied with fear and a negative thinking, you will not progress on moving forward on the good things in life. Opportunity's will pass you by, without you even knowing that it was one.  When you start turning your mind around you will see the effects of it in your life, and this need some time & a lot of training, so don't pressure yourself.

If you are in a situation that seems so hopeless, you will have to keep motivate yourself to strive for whatever it is that will push you forward. Don't give up on yourself!
Start to love yourself first, get to know yourself and begin to see your own worth as a person, it is really important to these things for yourself so you can go forward in life. In an earlier post  I wrote about self-love and what you can do for yourself to get there.

Motivate yourself, make a planning for the day and stick to it. Keep working forward, because the future really depends on what you do today.
One day you will look back on a bad situation you were in, and you will be glad that you've overcome it and came out and being a greater person. And if you are a suicidal person, please don't give up on yourself by making an eternal decision for a temporary feeling,
Seek the help that you need and get it, don't be ashamed to ask for help.

Dreams Do Have A Meaning

This is a different kind of article but I think it is important to talk about this kind of subject.

Many nights we dream, but we don't know the meaning of our dreams or that dreams even have a meaning to them. We are so oblivious to the spiritual world that we don't even know that dreams are revealing to us what is happening in our life or what is going to happen in our future.

You may struggle with something in your physical life right now, without even knowing that your dreams in the past were warning and revealing to you about what was going to happen in your future. Some dreams are a warning for you that something good or bad is about to happen to you or to your loved ones, and if you don't know the meaning of your dreams you don't know how to protect yourself from it, or how to prevent it.

Even in the bible you can find a lot of stories where dreams were revealing to people what was coming.
A great example from the bible;

GENESIS 41:25 -32 

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The [two] dreams are one [and the same and have one interpretation]; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the [two] dreams are one [and the same].27 The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years; and also the seven thin ears, dried up and scorched by the east wind, they are seven years of famine and hunger.28 This is the message just as I have told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.29Listen very carefully: seven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of Egypt;30 but afterward seven years of famine and hunger will come, and [there will be such desperate need that] all the great abundance [of the previous years] will be forgotten in the land of Egypt [as if it never happened], and famine and destitution will ravage and destroy the land.31 So the great abundance will become forgotten in the land because of that subsequent famine, for it will be very severe.32 That the dream was repeated twice to Pharaoh [and in two different ways] indicates that this matter is fully determined and established by God, and God will bring it to pass very quickly

You may not believe that the spiritual world is real, but it is very real. It's because you are spiritually blind to it, that you can't even imagine it being real. Did you have a dream that seemed so real, that when you woke up you almost believe that you were really there. Or you're dreaming that you are running away from people and/or animals that are following you around, that when you wake up you are so tired and exhausted, as if you really was running away from these things. In actuality, your spirit really was running away.

Dreams really do have meanings to them, and they are revealing things about your life to you.
There is a man with a lot of knowledge about dreams and their meanings,
I recommend you to visit the YouTube channel of Kevin L.A Ewing, there are a lot of videos where he teaches about dreams and so much more. For example in this video he teaches about the language of dream symbols. He also has a blog for those who prefer to read, even if you are not a reader I recommend you to check it out.

21 Day Challenge

 We are fresh in 2019 and already half-way through January. At the looks at how time is passing us by, it can only mean one thing! Don't lie around and be lazy but start today and grind towards your goals.

Let the end of 2019 be better than how you entered it, and the only way you can achieve this is for you to work hard to get closer to your goals, and the sooner you start the sooner you'll get there. So start today & don't let 3 months pass you by because you need to recover from last year.

To keep you focused and motivated on your goals it's a good idea to start a 21-day challenge. 

With this challenge I need you to do the little things that are required for you to reach your bigger goals.

So for example; You want to quit smoking but you have a hard time doing it, instead of quitting for 21 days you do the steps that will eventually get you to quit smoking. So for 21 days instead of starting your morning with a cigarette, you smoke your first cigarette 2 hours after you wake up, you don't smoke right after your meal but you wait 1 hour. You'll keep adding little things to the list to remove yourself from smoking.

Another example, you love to drink soda and that's the only thing you drink, but you want to drink more water. Instead of quit drinking soda & only drink water for 21 days, you drink a cup of water after every cup of soda.

21 DAY CHALLENGE

Before you start writing down your list of goals you want to challenge yourself with, I want you to answer these three questions below & keep the answers somewhere you can read it every day. This way you'll remind yourself on why you need to keep going forward.

How do you want to see yourself after the challenge is over?    

Your imaginary is very important if you want to accomplish your dreams, you may think it's not, but it is. The bigger your imaginary the bigger your dreams. Your visions & imaginary will drive you subconsciously to work harder towards your goals. So never shutdown your dreams & visions but work on them to one day make them a reality.

                  

Why do you want to challenge yourself?

Why is it so important to you to challenge yourself for 21 days or more? What do you want to accomplish in your life that is so important that you need to do this. You need to know for yourself why you want to challenge yourself for 21 days, so that the will to give up will be smaller and the will to keep moving forward will be greater.

What is your reason that you need to stick to the 21-day challenge?

There will come days that you will talk yourself into getting out of all the 'little' things you need to do to reach your bigger goal. Those small task will seem unimportant to do and at a point in time you'll think you are crazy to even keep doing it. In this time you really need to know what your biggest reason is, for you not to give up. So you need to print this in your mind. 

To keep your mind focused it is important for you to submit your mind & your body to the things you want it to do or to think so you can achieve your dreams.

Don't Procrastinate, But Activate

The first week of 2019 has already passed. How is your mindset doing, are you still feeling motivated & excited to go after the goals you set out to do, or are you already procrastinating.
Don't let procrastination be the start of your year.
We already declared that this year will be better than the year before, so if you didn't have perseverance already, you need a lot of it this year. No matter what you do, keep persevere, work hard & keep going at it. Let perseverance be the keyword for you this year.


Just make a promise to yourself that you will keep working towards your goals, no matter what obstacles may appear in front of you, just keep going.
Don't have a mindset like, 'its just another day' because this can be your downfall, once you think like this you will stay stuck in life, a decade will pass you by with you in the same position and the same life style as you had at the beginning of that decade.

Let this post be a booster for you to get up and go do the things you need to do to get a step closer towards your goals. Don't let this year pass you by and you are not taking any effort to better yourself & your environment.
If you want to lose weight or have a more healthy lifestyle, you want to quit smoking or start your own business start today and keep going even when it gets hard and you don't want to do it anymore or you don't see any benefit at that moment.