Amanda checking "Go to Ireland" off her Life List.
In the blogosphere it would seem as if everyone and their mom (including myself) has a life list. You know, a written out list of the things you want to accomplish in your life that many times comes off as on cheesy or self absorbed.
Well, I’m here to tell you that these life lists are neither and that in fact EVERYONE, internet realm or not, has a life list. Sure, you may not want to admit to this for fear of retribution or ridicule for some of the things on your list, but I can guarantee that even you have a set idea of goals you want to accomplish. Maybe you want to run a marathon. Maybe you dream of having a big family. Maybe you want to quit your day job and start a business. Maybe you just want to be the next big circus act, live in an ashram, or be the next Britney Spears. Whatever it is, you have to know that they are YOUR dreams and YOUR life so there’s nothing wrong with writing it down, sharing, or actually checking some of it off.
With me so far? Okay, now find a pen and pencil and answer the following: what are your dreams, goals, aspirations? Don’t let this like fear or cost get in the way of your brainstorming and just write. Afterwards, assess your list and get to work.
If you need some help with motivation or ideas check out these great articles:
Lifelist.org – Great social networking tool that allows you to share and get ideas from others.
Stopping Your Inner Critic – Learn how to tell that nagging voice in your head to shut up.
SuperViva - Another great site for finding life list ideas.
Mighty Girl, Mighty Life List – A fun list from the blogosphere.
A Brief Guide to World Domination – The manifesto that was an internet sensation.
Personal Goal Setting: Find Direction, Live Life Your Way – A wonderful guide from MindTools to get you started.
SMART Goal Setting: A Sure Fire Way to Achieve Your Goals - Figure out how to organize your goals in a timely manner so you can actually achieve them.
7 Ways to Be the Best that You Can Possibly Be – A list of helpful questions to ask yourself when making your life list.
Living the life you always dreamed of doesn’t have to be so difficult. A wise priest once gave me the best advice I have ever heard, “Perseverance is omnipotent.” And you know what? He is right. With a little ambition, relentless perseverance, and some elbow grease you can go a long way in this one life that you’ve got.
Image via rosswebsdale
Today marks the beginning of Week 3 of my 8 Week Fitness Challenge. I greeted Week 3 with a blissful hips class from Yoga Today. I also took advantage of the BEAUTIFUL weather we have been having in South Florida and practiced outside.
While I would love to say that I have been this enthusiastic about exercising all along, I would be lying. I would also be lying if I said I always find time to do an hour long yoga class everyday, because let’s face it, sometimes life gets in the way. Ok, so I’m going to be completely honest here: sometimes I absolutely hate getting up early just to exercise, or sometimes I keep putting it off because I have work to do, or sometimes I just don’t feel like it. Raise your hand if you find as many excuses as I do in order avoid exercising. Pretty sure about 90% of you should have had your hand raised. As for the other 10%, I envy you.
I really don’t know why people make excuses when it comes to fitness. I mean, do we or do we not feel better after we exercise? I for one know that as soon as a cut the bullshit and get my ass on a yoga mat that I almost instantly feel better. Ok, there I go lying again. It’s definitely not instant self gratification, but I have noticed that beginning my day with yoga definitely makes me feel better, and dare I say it, makes me more productive. The bottom line is that I feel a tremendous difference after an hour long class of yoga than if I just don’t do any physical activity at all, and that is what I have to remember the next time I want to press snooze on the alarm.
For the 90% of you who should have raised your hand earlier, I have compiled a list of articles and resources so that maybe you can stop the excuses and stick to some sort of semblance of a fitness routine. For lack of a better term, let’s just call this compilation Amanda’s Fitness Bible.
Amanda’s Fitness Bible: Resources for the Fitness Challenged (Like Me)
Zen to Fitness – Getting Started With a Healthy Lifestyle: Zen to Fitness is like a little gem of healthy living. You could easily spend an entire day just looking through this awesome blog for pearls of fitness wisdom.
YogaToday: I know, I know. I just don’t shut up about Yoga Today. What can I say? After spending months sifting through online yoga classes these were the most beautiful, down to earth, effective and calming videos I could find. Not only do they have a free class available every week, but a membership costs about as much as that Netflix account you have. So instead of spending 10 bucks a month sitting on your ass watching movies, spend it on your health (it’s a better investment in the long run anyway). If you don’t believe me then you can try a 2 week free trial and gain access to over 200 classes.
WebMD Health and Fitness – How to Start an Exercise Program: WebMD offers helpful tips on how to start your own exercise routine. Everyone has to start somewhere right?
Gaiam Blog – Five Ways to Stay Motivated and Exercise Regularly: This is much more than the usual “think about your body in a bathing suit” post. These tips are actually practical and not depressing.
6 Ways to Hold Yourself Accountable to a Fitness Routine: Accountability is key.
Fitness Spotlight -The Biggest Workout Mistakes People Make: Definitely worth a read before you end up swearing off exercise because of injury.
Is Your Workout Getting You Results or Just Making You Tired? Some tips for getting the most out your routine.
Image via Archman8
You are probably wondering why there is a picture of Katt Williams on this blog. The answer is simple: the subject today is haters.
(Don’t worry this will make sense soon.)
Criticism can be rough. Believe me I know, I write for a living and have no reservations about sharing my opinions. I have well thought out opinions, big ideas, and good intentions only to get slammed by people I’ve never met for just having the guts to admit it? I mean, you work really hard on something, it’s your passion, your baby. You put your heart and soul into something just to get criticized? Yeah, that doesn’t sound like fun.
I’m sure everyone has dealt with this at some point, whether it has been at work or your personal life. However, people have to accept criticism as a fact of life and embrace it. To quote the hilarious comedian Katt Williams “you need haters.” Of course, he says this in a much more explicit manner. If you made a drinking game out how many times Katt Williams drops an f-bomb or the n-word you’d be hammered in no time. But that is beside the point, the point is that Katt Williams is SPOT ON with his opinion on haters. Now, watch this clip of his stand up (not around small children, please) and ingrain that wisdom into the hard drive called your brain.
On a more serious note, all you writers, entrepreneurs, and all around kick ass people should feel grateful for criticism. In some countries you don’t even have the right to express an opinion period. Again, I know this on a personal level because my parents are Cuban. The fact that we are allowed open debate is exactly why this country is great. Someone may not agree with you, they may even be somewhat below your level of civilized debate, but at least you are both free to express yourselves. This of course doesn’t mean that civility, proper etiquette, and fact checking should be thrown at the window, it just means that you should feel grateful that you CAN openly have an opinion.
So the next time you feel down in the dumps because someone doesn’t like you or what you are doing keep some of the following articles in mind:
How to Deal With Criticism Well – 25 Reasons Why You Should Ebrace It – This is a good one!
8 Ways to Be More Confident and Live the Life of Your Dreams
Lifehack: Seven Effective Ways to Deal with Criticism
Christine Kane: How to deal with criticism
Zen Habits: How to Accept Criticism with Grace and Appreciation
Image via anne.oeldorfhirsch
In light of last week’s riots in the UK over college tuition, I decided to write a post on how to pay off student loans. I was fortunate enough to have had my college education paid for (and for the $100,000 that it cost it better be worth it), however I have many friends, that, due to high tuition costs and interest rates, are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt…for a bachelors. Mix that with a not so great economy, and some of my friend’s already have the credit bureau knocking at their door. Granted this was for a private school education; but even still, students who attended public institutions are finding themselves in debt too.
Note that I will refrain from the controversial topic of how ridiculous the cost of higher education is. If you are interested in that subject you can read Measuring the Rise of College Tuition in the Last 33 Years. Or, you can watch some crazy videos from the riots in London. Instead, I will attempt to provide some helpful resources for paying off your student loans.
Broke Grad Student:25 Tips, Ideas, Resources, for Paying Back Student Loans – This is the blog of a post-graduate figuring out inventive ways to pay back $22,000 dollars of debt by making money online. The particular entry I have linked is a mothe rload of resources, blogs, and inspiration to help you kiss those loans goodbye. Definitely worth a read!
Mint.com Blog: Pay Off Student Loans – Mint.com is a free online resource for keeping your financials in order. I even use it myself as a tool for budgeting my money efficiently. They have great tracking features for paying off those loans (or debt of any kind), as well as useful information and resources. They also have a great blog that answers your financial questions, Mint Life.
Get Rich Slowly: A Rough Guide to Repaying Student Loans - What the heck is consolidation? How quickly should I pay back my loans? Give this blog entry a good read, and while you are at it check out the rest of the financial savvy website.
Student Loan Guru - Helpful articles for students and parents about student loans including consolidation, how to know your loan maximum, the difference between graduate and undergraduate loans, and how the recent healthcare bill will affect your loans.
The Project on Student Debt: 10 Student Loan Tips for Recent Graduates – Simple and practical advice for paying off those loans.
Keep a look out for a post on how to get out of credit card debt!
Edit:
Found another great article in The Washington Post dedicated to managing student loans.
Image via lrargerich
After a few days of hard work that really paid off I decided to take it easy today. The only things on my to-do list for the day were yoga, cook, and curl up with a couple of good reads. This was all going smoothly until I suddenly felt guilty for not working. I kept thinking, “I have so much to do!,” “I need to write x article for y publication!”, or “If I stop now I’ll never reach my monthly goal!”
Sound familiar?
For some reason, we humans tend to feel kind of guilty when we decide to take a break on a Tuesday instead of Sunday. Even if we are ahead of our goals, we always feel like we have to do MORE, which is fine, except when we forget to take a few minutes to breathe. Humans are not robots, we are living breathing things that need to recharge. So if you feel the need to just take a step back and breathe, feel free to do so and use these tips to make the best of your break time.
Tips for Taking Guilt Free Breaks
1. Schedule some time off into your calendar.
Just like with sickness, the best treatment for being worn out is preventing it from happening in the first place. Set some time off from your work. This of course may vary by preference, if you work better by taking little breaks throughout the day then schedule them in. If you are anything like me, then you can’t be disrupted when you are in the zone, so instead of scheduling little breaks schedule entire days off.
2. Know when you have had enough.
If you are reaching your breaking point, you need to take a step back. If you are feeling yourself getting worn down, stop what you are doing and relax. If you wear yourself out completely you will end up sick, depressed, and frustrated all of which serve no purpose in terms of productivity anyway.
2. Enjoy some alone time and do something for yourself.
Taking a break from your work does not mean cooking for your kids, cleaning the bathroom, paying the bills, or doing whatever tasks you have been putting off for weeks. Taking a break means doing absolutely nothing and enjoying sometime to yourself. I know this concept may be a little hard to grasp but repeat after me: you deserve some time for yourself.
Sit outside, take a bath, read a book, write in a journal, meditate, exercise, do whatever it is that relaxes you for just a little while. Just make sure to avoid technology as it usually just keeps your brain going at about 100 mph.
The Benefits of Taking a Break
1. Recharge
The brain and body need to rest. Allowing your batteries to recharge makes way for some serious productivity when you get back to work.
2. New perspective.
Sometimes when you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed it seems like everything is going to cave in on you. By taking a few minutes just to breathe you can gain some new perspective which you can use to tackle your challenges head on.
3. You learn to enjoy yourself.
Taking some time for yourself allows for reflection and paves the way for getting to know yourself better. Eventually you will be able to let it all hang out without worrying about what other people may think.
4. You now have time to try new things.
Taking a break period may be a new concept to you, but you’d be surprised at what new things you have the opportunity to experience just from taking some time off.
Whether you decide to take a little breaks or one big one, always remember that is okay to take time to recharge. In fact, it is more than okay, it’s necessary. In no time you will start to notice the difference taking a little time off makes in your work, your mood, and overall wellbeing.
More Resources on Taking Breaks:
Good Life Zen – The Power of Solitude
Zen Habits – 6 Seconds to Relax
Web Worker Daily – The Importance of Breaks and Time Off
Lifehack- The Not-Do-List: 9 Things You Need to Stop Doing
The Real Adventure Starts After College
Ok, so you made it through college in one piece. Now what? Life is full of endless opportunities, you just have to be open to them. Find helpful tips and resources for finances, health, personal development, emotional growth, and anything in between.
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