My goals for October – Part 2

Here we are a week later and I am STILL celebrating my 30th birthday! I have been showered with Lorna Jane vouchers, gorgeous jewellery and beautiful (purple!) flowers, not to mention the gluten free cakes (yum!).

The past week has really reminded me how lucky I am to be surrounded by amazing family and friends who know me so well. My motivation to achieve great things here at Gorgeous Presence to inspire you on your health and wellness journey is at an all time high. I am so excited to be here and I want to help you in every way possible.

The ability to help others has to begin with helping ourselves. If we don’t look after ourselves, we will never have the energy and heart to spread the love. With that in mind, here are my remaining five goals for the year ahead…

1. Plan my weekly meals and try new recipes // I really do love cooking! It is a form of meditation for me. However it can be hard to find the time to cook meals during the week when I spend long hours at work. To overcome this, I am going to make a conscious effort to plan meals for the week on Sundays, which is normally the calmest day of the week. It doesn’t have to be a strict plan, but more of a guide to assist with the grocery shopping and when my husband and I are lacking inspiration.

Most importantly, cooking doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming! I am currently exploring recipes from cookbooks created by Alice Nicholls, Pete Evans and Dr Libby, which are paleo based and very easy to make. I am also taking inspiration from beautiful websites such as Lisa’s Downshiftology and Dearna’s To Her Core. Make sure you check these cookbooks and sites out and I would love to hear from you about where you take inspiration from to cook!

2. Stick to my gluten free diet // Honestly I feel AH-MAZING. Going gluten free these past three months has changed my life. No bloating. My pants fit all day. My skin, hair and nails are stronger. I can even see my stomach muscles. Enough said…

3. Don’t take things personally // I am the first person to admit that I am highly sensitive. I take things to heart and it can really distract me from the overall picture. This has to stop as it is a waste of time and energy! So I am going to give myself daily reminders to stop letting my mean girl get carried away with the story. It is not all about me…

4. Learn to say “no” and mean it // I love to help others and do the “right” thing, which results in me saying “yes” to a lot of things that I really don’t have the energy to do.

I recently listened to a talk by Dr Libby and she made an excellent point about why we should be more confident about saying “no”. To paraphrase, she said that we are doing ourselves and others a disservice if we say “yes” with resentment, because our heart won’t be in it. And who wants someone to help them when they truly don’t want to? We all need to say “no” more often without the guilt. Dr Libby says “if it’s not a hell yes, it is a no!”. I totally agree.

5. Write down what I am grateful for every night // To be grateful really puts things into perspective. There is always something to be grateful for despite the perceived stresses in our lives.

I was given a beautiful gratitude journal from my mentor earlier this year and it always makes me smile to write down three things I am grateful for. I also love to look back on what I have written in the past and reflect on how far I have come. If you haven’t tried it before, grab yourself a diary or notepad and start today! You won’t be disappointed.

I truly hope my goals in this post and the previous post have inspired you to set your own goals and start the lead up to Christmas with happiness and energy! I would love to hear from you in the comments below!