Get your sh*t together

I used to stress, thinking I never had enough time. I always felt like I was running out of time and needed to get moving right away with what I was “supposed to do” with my life. I had everything planned out and thought I had to follow that exact path. We often get caught up thinking that it’s too late to chase your dreams, too late to get in shape, too late to fall in love, etc. But that’s false. You should never use time as an excuse with anything you want to do in life. It took me a while to realize this too, trust me.

Today I just thought I’d share with you, some of my struggles and how I am working on overcoming them. I decided to make a list of things that help me focus on my goals and helping me overcome my greatest obstacles. For me, these little things make all the difference in my productivity. I hope this can help you as well!

Don’t give up

The number 1 rule of success!!! I used to get discouraged quickly if I didn’t right away succeed at something. I would just think “maybe this just isn’t for me”. In life, you will always be faced with challenges. And sometimes you won’t be expecting them at all.

It's important to persevere and not get discouraged on the little things. You have complete control of your life – keep pushing. You can literally do anything you set your mind to.

Writing in a journal

Believe it or not, verbalizing my feelings is a big struggle of mine. Writing things down help me to have a clearer mind set when approaching difficult situations. It just puts everything into perspective for me and help clear my thoughts. I find it a lot easier to approach sensitive discussions or situations once I have sat down to think it through. This way I am much more productive in other areas of my life and able to focus better at work as well.

Make a list

This has been a life saver for me. I've had great mentors throughout my journey to a healthy lifestyle and honestly - this is probably the best advise they ever gave me. For those of you that know me, you know that organization is not my specialty.

Making a list helps me to organize my thoughts, my work, my personal life, my events, etc. I make lists for EVERYTHING. This will not only help you to get organized, but it will also relieve stress because you will see that you are getting things done. There’s no better feeling than drawing a check mark beside your tasks and goals.

Smile

I try to smile as much as possible. Even though my day is off to a bad start – there is always a way to turn it around. A simple smile can go a long way – I have noticed that people around me (whether it’s at work or at a social event) will be a lot more friendly and approachable if I am too. Facing obstacles isn't always fun, but keeping a positive mind set makes all the difference and you'll find resolutions to problems a lot faster as well.

“Kill them with kindness”

This is one of my favorite quotes and one that I’ve been putting to practice as much as possible. Keeping a good connection with the people I meet is very important to me. I’m a very friendly and outgoing person. But there's always going to be people you may butt heads with. I try to not let this get to me and always try to approach the situation with a positive mind set. Getting mad won’t make you feel any better in the end – the feeling of regret or hate just isn’t worth it.

Just do it

I am probably the queen of procrastination (hence the lack of organization). But once I have a list of things to do - I prioritize each task and just do them. I don't second guess the task I just get it done as soon as I have the chance to. Believe me, this can take a lot of practice - but the sooner you start, the better it gets with time.

Bottom line, find what motivates you. I hope this was somewhat of a help to you - I know that this works really well for me. I'm sure there are plenty other ways to help with productivity and motivation, but these are definitely my top suggestions.