A New Approach

Each year I look forward to the start of a new year I feel like it’s the time when the slate gets wiped clean and possibilities are endless. I’m especially looking forward to this year because the passed year has been one of  the hardest years of my life. I received a major life altering surgery and recently had to have an emergency surgery. My body, mind and spirit have been challenged and pushed more this year than ever. As a result, I’ve decided I’m not going to refer to my goals and resolutions for this new year as such instead, I would prefer to call them mindset changes and habit forming. Classifying them this way seems more approachable and achievable to me. I feel that whenever anybody sets out to accomplish something new it’s at great motivation to have like a mindset, mantra or even a symbol in mind. A vision board might be something to help aid this. I appropriately have chosen to use “rise of the Phoenix.” I think the Phoenix being a mythical bird that rises out of its own ashes and is renewed in freshness and youth aptly portrays where I am (recovering) and where I want to be (thriving).

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My mindset and habit forming agenda for this year is focused around thriving in all aspects of life. Personally the biggest obstacle I face is how I use my time. I want to optimize my time by multi-tasking more (i.e. working out while watching Netflix) and eliminate wasted time habits (watching Netflix and not accomplishing anything). I also, want to compartmentalize my time with things that are really important but don’t necessarily take precedent when I’m busy like working out, meal prepping or doing something creative. These things need to be a higher priority for me in my daily life because they feed my mind, body and spirit. I’ve decided to carve out 1hr. – 30 minute daily blocks for these. The mindset and habit forming here is to be consistent no matter how I feel or if I don’t think I have time I’m taking time to move, prep and create. I feel like efficient time management is such a big task and can affect so many aspects of my life positively that I’m not focusing on anything else.

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Please comment below about what you’re hoping to accomplish this new year or if you have any tips about what works for you. Let’s support each other!

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Cheers to 2018!

I don’t know about you but the stillness of winter, the holidays and the start of a new year make me super nostalgic and contemplative. In light of everything that’s happened this year in the United States I realized, that I’m just grateful. Grateful that my family, friends and I didn’t have to live through a major natural disaster or endure a terrorist attack etc… I’m grateful that as a woman I’m able to speak my mind, be educated and hold a job of my choosing. As a result, my resolutions, goals, dreams whatever you want to call them have become simplified. As far as I’m concerned, as long as my family and friends are healthy and happy everything else is just icing on the cake. I hope and pray this coming year is a year of good health, blessings and happiness for you and yours. I’m genuinely thankful for each and every one of you. Cheers to 2018!

– Nicole

Come-on Get Happy

Recently I’ve been seeing and meeting a lot of people who are truly discouraged and just down in the dumps. In our current world 🌎 there are a lot of tragic, devastating things happening but there is also, a lot of good taking place. For some, the onset of bad news leads to an instant funk that’s hard to shake. I personally have a lot of experience dealing with discouragement living with a chronic illness (Crohn’s). I’ve had many set backs and my share of disappointments and I’ve learned one very important thing – it comes down to making a choice/a mentality change to focus on the positive and believe there is hope and a good future. Over the years I’ve learned to strengthen/encourage myself by thinking this way paired with various actions. I by no means am an expert but here are a couple of my “go to” strategies for dealing with the blues, a funk, depression etc..

1)Realize you’re not alone and it’s ok to be 😭 sad or discouraged it happens to everyone. You’re allowed to feel sad just don’t dwell there. Limited time only!

2) Take care of yourself. Get enough R & R. Drink water, eat well and exercise. The better you feel physically the easier it will be to think positively.

3) Use your hands!Plant something.Paint something.Bake something.The act of creating something positive is healing. It allows you to feel useful by putting something positive back into the universe. As a result, sadness gets replaced by the energy and the joy of creating.

4) Help someone else! Volunteer.Help someone you encounter on a daily basis. This stops the navel gazing and allows you to focus on someone else’s needs. In the end, this brings things back into perspective.

5) Surround yourself with positive vibes!!!Positive decor sayings.Positive people.Positive music/podcasts. If ain’t positive toss it or shut it off!!!

I would love to hear how you strengthen/encourage yourself when you feel low. Feel free to write in the comments below.

A Summer of Firsts

This summer has been very memorable full of a lot of firsts for me. I made it through my first busy season in the real estate business and survived. I worked harder than I’ve ever worked and feel a great sense of accomplishment. As a result, I haven’t been able to post as frequently as I would have liked to. So, I wanted to in a sense catch up and share some highlights of my wonderful summer.

I was blessed enough to purchase my first new, new car! Beep! Beep! I got to see one of my childhood heroes Edgar Martinez receive the highest honor a club can give a baseball player (retirement of his number). It was super cool!

I got to see one of my favorite artists Bruno Mars perform live. He’s amazing!!I totally recommend seeing him anytime you can.

I went to Emerald Downs racetrack for the first time and bet on some horses. It was super fun!

Amongst the hustle and bustle of work and the inviting playful days of summer I’ve become somewhat of a procrastinator! I always feel with the ending of summer and the beginning of fall things just fall back in line! Speaking of fall, it’s my favorite season! I’m super excited especially for this fall. I have lots of changes and new things planned for the blog so stay tuned. I hope you, your family and friends have a blast this Labor Day weekend! Remember to keep those affected by Hurricane Harvey in prayer.