Take 5 #3 – These Inspiring Ideas

June is already here which means almost half of the year has already passed by! This month’s Take 5 topic is focused on useful strategies and inspiring ideas that I discovered through various sources. I found some through fellow bloggers here on WordPress some time ago (but hadn’t bookmarked the original posts unfortunately) so I’m just sharing their amazing finds. You may or may not have heard of these ideas already.

1. The One-Day Contract – I found this through a fellow blogger’s post. This is a great tool for all of us who think we’ll work on achieving our goals someday, just not right now. The book The One-Day Contract: How To Add Value To Every Minute Of Your Life was written by Rick Pitino (with Eric Crawford), a famous basketball coach who led his team to the NCCA basketball championship in 2013. The basic idea is to draw up a contract with yourself in the morning highlighting all the tasks you have to achieve during the day and to sign it at the bottom. The key is to honor that commitment with yourself throughout the day.

2. One Second Every Day – I found this through a fellow blogger’s post. How many of us look back at the year that just went by and don’t remember what good memories we had created in that year except for what we have in pictures? The simple but brilliant idea is to simply capture a one second clip every single day and chronologically compile all the videos together to create a beautiful montage. The man behind this idea is Cesar Kuriyama who talked about it at a TED event. His app 1 Second Everyday is available on iPhone App Store and Google Play.

3. Bullet Journaling – I found this through a fellow blogger’s post. I really like this concept because it’s very simple and can be very effective for anyone who struggles with writing To-Do lists and making separate sections for each task, note, idea or event. The whole idea behind a Bullet Journal is to simplify and organize your thoughts using short bullet points marked by a few special symbols that signify what each bullet point represents.

4. The “Seinfeld Strategy”: This amazing strategy created by famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld is great for those of us who need constant visual reminders to stop procrastinating and keep on going with our goals. The idea is to take a yearly calendar and place it where you can see it everyday. Then mark a big red X over that day when you accomplish your daily task and to keep doing it until you see a big chain of X’s over a period of a few days or weeks. The point is not to break that chain. I read about this great idea here.

5. Morning Pages: This idea is by no means new but I think few people might know about it or do it everyday. Julia Cameron in her famous book, The Artist’s Way talks about using morning pages as a way to let out all those odd jumble of thoughts that jump around in your brain first thing in the morning. Every morning immediately on waking up, take your journal or a dedicated notebook, your favourite pen and your favourite morning drink and simply write your continuous stream-of-consciousness in longhand on three pages (three sides of paper). It doesn’t have to be about anything in particular. Just write down whatever comes to mind even if it seems like nonsense. It’s a brain dumping exercise to clear out all unorganized thoughts and to make way for creativity to flow throughout the day. Over time this has proven to be a powerful tool for productivity and inspiration for many people. I tried this exercise for a few days last year and just started doing it again today. You can watch Julia talking about morning pages here and might want to watch Janet Mock’s testimonial on Oprah and read this fellow blogger’s experience.

I do not own this image. All credit goes to the artist. Click picture to go to source.

Are you familiar with any of these ideas or have any other inspiring ideas to share? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you! 🙂

You can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com
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Take 5 #2 – These Inspiring Celebs

Celebrities – we either love them or love to hate them. We’re either appalled by their behaviour or completely inspired. Unconsciously (or consciously!) many of us try to find a role model in our favourite public figures. Some celebs handle the constant public scrutiny with grace and poise while some are not quite so classy. Of course, at the end of the day, we all know they’re just as much human as we are and they each have a different way of handling public pressure.

This post is about those celebrities who I personally find inspiring because they are eager participants of everything about life and they each have something incredible to teach everyone:

1. Tom Hiddleston – Who would have guessed that behind Loki’s green leather suit, there beats the heart of a true Shakespeare lover? Tom is like a breath of fresh air in an industry driven by mostly looks and physique. He is the epitome of a perfect gentleman who has put the faith back in the hearts of many women that the qualities of chivalry, kindness and gentleness are still out there and that good guys are super sexy. Tom seems to be so enthusiastic about life and very genuinely loves giving out free warm hugs to everyone he meets (especially his fans!) and spending time talking to them. If the internet is anything to go by, the menacing villain is more famous than his heroic brother because of who Tom is as a person. He loves playing along with whatever the media want him to do, is an active philanthropist and has a knack for giving out wonderful inspirational advice! Tom’s face radiates happiness which is evident from his wide grin and adorable laugh. It doesn’t hurt that he is such a handsome man and that he leaves no opportunity to shake a leg. If you haven’t guessed already, yes, I am a little more than obsessed with him.

2. Hugh Jackman – I love Hugh. I always have. Hugh can do anything he puts his mind to. He can act, sing, dance and host a mean Oscar. I love that he is so incredibly nice to everyone. He is such an enthusiastic person in general. His eagerness can be seen on his personal Instagram where he posts pictures of his family, two adorable dogs, him working out at the gym and his genuinely infectious laugh.

3. Drew Barrymore – This former wild child is so effervescent about life and is always expressing her gratitude and talking about how incredibly blessed she is, especially after the birth of her two adorable daughters. You’ll always find her happy and her vivacious energy tends to rub off on you even from the screen. She is a cute adorable goofball and she knows it.

4. Ellen Degeneres – What can I say about Ellen except she really is ‘Ellen The Generous’. A woman without an ounce of self-consciousness about herself, Ellen can not only laugh at herself but also make others laugh too with her unique sense of humour. Age has not slowed her down at all. If anything, it has made her more appreciative of life. Ellen can shake a mean leg, prank famous people, give out generous gifts and help those who are in need, live vegan and basically show everyone how to have a bloody good time. Her parting words on the show are words to live by daily, “Be kind to one another.”

5. Michelle Obama – The First Lady is a recent addition to my list but I am very impressed with the way she and her very powerful husband have not been afraid to show their fun side. In fact, the Obamas seem to be quite approachable to everyone they meet. As part of her Let’s Move campaign and the #GimmeFive challenge to get the nation of America physically moving, Michelle has shown off her amazing dancing skills on several instances including hip hop, the dougie and even the Indian bhangra. She has also shown her athletic side on Ellen by doing push ups with her and in another show, she went on to show her professional jump rope skills too! I think Michelle is a lovely internet celebrity and a true lady.

Which celebrities inspire you the most and why? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. 🙂

You can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com
You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’

 

 

Take 5 #1 – These Inspiring Blogs

Starting today, on the first day of every month,  I’ll be sharing a theme-based round up of 5 interesting things I love or have come across in a brand new series I call Take 5. This month’s focus is on Inspiring Blogs.

Since I started the Take-A-Step Thursday event, I’ve been actively looking for inspiring bloggers who have their own wisdom to share or are in the pursuit of extraordinary things and who motivate me to become a better version of myself too. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I love going back to these blogs from time to time to seek something that lights up the fire again in my belly.

1. Sly Speaks – I love reading this blog. The author of this blog writes about #MindfulMondays, Life Lessons, Simple Living, Health and Wellness and other inspirational topics. Recently she has started a blog post series which talks about dealing with unemployment in your twenties.

2. Confetti and Curves – Karen’s enthusiasm and love for what she does is so infectious, I cannot help but feel really happy and enthusiastic too after reading her blog posts. The main focus of her blog is on beauty, fashion and weddings and she also gives some useful blogging advice which I love reading.

3. Let’s Reach Success – To be honest, I just discovered this blog recently, but I already like what I see. This blog focuses on setting goals, productivity and creating good habits among other things and has a lot of great advice and tips that are simple to follow.

4. Malavika Suresh – Malavika has a treasure trove of wisdom to share on her blog where she talks about happiness – happiness in the self, in relationships, and with the universe. Her spiritual journey is all about finding the knowledge to tap your inner strength and power.

5. The Diary of a Bibliophile – I love Emily’s mission to promote literacy by inspiring everyone to read. She posts a lot of different book recommendations based on themes like inspiration, female runners, photography, yoga and many other things.

Have you been inspired by any blogs and fellow bloggers? Please share your views and suggestions in the comments below. I would love to hear from you. 🙂

You can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com
You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’