A New Month; New Resolutions & Motivation!

Hello! So a little personal post from me as I haven't done one in quite some time. You all know how much I love personal posts! I really wanted to take a look back at New Years Resolutions in general and see how I'm doing with them/talk about general motivation and I guess just get things back on track now it's a new month! I also think that now we're into March (my favourite month, it's such a bright, fresh month with new things growing and everyone seems to have lifted spirits - plus the weather is better!) it's time to have a look at how the first two months of 2015 have been and hey, if we've broken our new years resolutions, it's not too late to make some new ones...

When Zalando contacted me about their New Years Resolution page  I did wonder why they were only discussing New Years Resolutions in February, but actually,  it completely makes sense. A New Years resolution is something that should last for a year and I guess we should keep checking back on them. But also, why not use the New Year (and a new month) as a way to have a new goal or motivation anyway? Something struck a chord with me recently when I was talking about New Years Resolutions and they said 'resolutions are made to be broken' but actually, I don't think so! I know people don't really take them that seriously so actually, I think we should see New Years Resolutions as more of a way to get them motivated to get up more, do something different or live life a bit differently, use it as a way to set new goals, not even just in January but on a monthly basis. So actually, instead of them being a set list of resolutions I think they should be called motivators for the year ahead or even the month ahead.

My 'resolutions' - which you may remember from my personal reflection post;

My resolutions were basically not to eat McDonalds for a full year - I've stuck to this one so far and actually very proud. I love McDonalds but everyone knows how bad it is. I love to eat pizza and chocolate and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't obsessed with crisps too - a little bit of badness is okay but I saw something on Facebook about a McDonalds burger and it just made me feel sick so I thought I'd try go a full year without it - Still going strong!

I wanted to take up yoga - I still want to do this I just haven't had time at all. I will become amazing at yoga or try surfing this year!

I wanted to read more - I've done a bit of reading but more in the form of magazines - I guess it doesn't count as proper reading so instead of reading rubbish magazines I've just subscribed to health magazines as I feel like I actually learn something from them. Better than nothing I suppose and it's just the only thing I can fit in at the moment!

I wanted to drink more - I am getting better at this! London Fashion Week made me fall in love with coconut water too which is super hydrating.

I promised to take more time to relax and have really failed here - 2015 has been crazy from day 1 but I wouldn't change that for the world. I love being busy and will take any opportunity but I guess I just need to take at least one day off a week and do something fun.

I promised to stop trying to please everyone and honestly, I haven't looked back.

I promised to really focus on YouTube - which actually, I have been doing (new video coming this evening!) I had one week off and that was last week because my footage wasn't ready, my laptop broke and I didn't want to put rubbish content out! I would love it if you could look at my channel here.

I promised to take more time when taking photographs and make my blog higher quality. I feel as though in some ways I've done this as I'm not just going to blog for the sake of blogging. I will blog about things I love and things I feel my readers will like, as I say all the time, your blog is your little space on the internet, be yourself - there are no rules.

So they're my resolutions and contrary to popular belief, I haven't actually broken them all. I know most of them are oh-so cliche and typical resolutions but I'm not anti-resolution, if making a resolution is going to motivate you then do it. Small changes can make a big difference. I guess I haven't fully finished them all yet but I'm quite happy with how that's going and I will take them into March with me and maybe actually start some new resolutions this month to make March brighter and better!

So now, let's quickly chat about motivation (then I'll let you get on with your Sunday!)

To stick to a resolution, whatever it is (it may seem small to others but to you it could be huge - I have friends who do yoga all the time but for me to be able to fit it in is a huge ask! Even though I would love to!). You basically need motivation to stick to a resolution and whilst I've done a few posts about feeling under pressure and how to stay motivated, I just wanted to quickly write down a few of my top tips for staying motivated to make sure you are the best version of yourself seen as it's a new month!

- Stay Active - For me, I can be in the biggest stressy mood ever but as soon as I go to the gym I feel amazing - it gives me an active mind and just makes me feel amazing and after a workout I always work so much better. Read my top health and fitness tips to find out more about this!

- Stay hydrated - Being hydrated keeps me motivated, it makes me feel better inside and outside and it makes my brain keep going! If I eat rubbish food it just kills my motivation - healthy fresh food = happy brain and a productive me!

- Set yourself goals - Obviously don't be too harsh on yourself but set yourself goals and targets - this is the same for anything; fitness, work... ask yourself where you want to be in 10 years time? Make sure you have a plan. Yeh your friends might be going out every night and not writing their dissertations but put the hours in now and you'll benefit later down the line. I am all for living for the present but in some cases, we've just gotta smash the workload to see results in the future!

- Listen to music - Music is an amazing thing, it can change your mood instantly, put your favourite feel good song on whether you're working out or writing an essay.

- Declutter - organise your life - Before I start any major work I make sure I clear my work space, my office is my bedroom and trust me, I cannot work in there when it's messy. I need a clear space, clear space = clear mind. I am so much more productive when I've had fresh air and I'm working in a neat space.

- Don't compare yourself to others - Fair enough have people as your inspiration or motivation even, but if you start comparing yourself that's when you just beat yourself up (I do anyway) be realistic!

- Don't be too hard on yourself! - I know I am way too hard on myself and it's counter productive - push yourself but not too much.

- Sleep! - It's hard to work hard and put your body through it's paces when your body doesn't have enough energy, set aside some time to sleep or to relax. My top pampering products post might help you out if you need a relaxing night in! I am a workaholic and cannot sleep before 3am - that's really bad. I try to make myself a list on my phone or laptop before I go to sleep with what I need to get done the next day and then I can tick things off that are done today and actually rest. It stops my mind being overactive when I am trying to rest. I guess different people just have different coping mechanisms but a good nights sleep certainly helps.

So there we have it, thank you to Zalando and their New Years Resolutions page for inspiring this blog post. I love writing personal posts, I hope it helps at least one of you!

If you liked this post then I elaborated a lot more on feeling under pressure and how to cope with stress as well as discussing body image issues and more on my personal blog post here. If you missed my 2014 reflection post then you can read that here too!

Lots of love, Em x

*I collaborated with Zalando on this but it is 100% all my opinions :) 

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