Journal

MY 1000th BLOG POST: WELLBEING

. PMA & WELLBEING .
Todays blog post happens to be my 1000th blog. Which is pretty insane to say the least, and also means i’ve been blogging for 1000 days, seeing as I’ve blogged daily since 30th October 2011. In honour of this monumental moment, I thought I would share a slightly different post today, something a little more lifestyle and maybe inspirational. I hope you enjoy …
Positive mental attitude. A mantra I try and live by daily, because after all if we all try and keep a more positive outlook on life, life itself becomes more positive, happy and enjoyable & we become more able to cope with negative situations because we’re in a more stable and positive position in our lives. Whether you’re in college or whether you’re starting a new job, I hope this post will benefit you. It’s absolutely something that is easier said than done, that’s for sure, but keeping positive is one thing I think we all need to be doing in our lives, as Arriana Huffington would tell us, it’s this positive outlook which helps boost & build our wellbeing. And wellbeing is critical to life success.
Now i’m no preacher, i’ve not studied this nor read a ton of self help books, i’ve just listened to a couple of inspiring industry speakers – Arianna Huffinton & Susie Pearl most recently, plus practiced & discussed with friends frequently so I wanted to share my favourite tips for keeping things positive in what can be a rather overwhelming, tiring, exhausting and somewhat challenging life. Given my work situation, my daily blog, family, friends and boyfriend juggling act, I find myself frequently getting run down, stressed and even ill from it all … so looking after my own wellbeing has become my number 1 agenda lately.

FIVE THINGS: Perhaps the easiest way to start your day with a positive attitude is to wake up and think about five things you really appreciate in your life, or just this day. It could range from having your morning coffee to appreciating the sunshine beaming through the window, or having a family there who love and support you. Whatever it is, big or small, just think about five things you feel grateful for. Even spending 10 seconds doing this has already filled your brain with positive and happy thoughts, kicking your day off to a pretty good start from the outset. Having a positive wellbeing not only will make your day more enjoyable and happy, but also helps productivity & general efficiency, plus generally helps you deal with whatever life throws at you this day.
BE OUTSIDE: Being outside is something that really works for me, a tiny thing to add to your day, but by gosh taking a moment to pop outside reboots me like no coffee could ever do. I love the outside, the seaside and most of all the sunshine, and even though I can’t pop to the beach every day to unwind, even just taking a walk to get my lunch every day helps me chill out a bit, plus catch some sun rays on route. When the sun is out I urge you all to take your lunch outside, pop to the park and have a picnic with work friends, or even sit in the garden to have your morning coffee. Being outside, people watching, taking some fresh air, and absorbing some vitamin D is hard to not make you feel content and relaxed.
APPRECIATE THE LITTLE THINGS: I think this is something us bloggers are particularly good at doing, after all we spend most our days seeking out instagram worthy experiences or locations to document on our social media channels. Pretty streets, blossoming flowers, a good looking and well presented lunch, an iced coffee walking to work, your outfit for the day, the sun shining through the clouds or even the view from the bus. All these little things, which we forever take for advantage, can bring a little happiness or content to our day. I urge you to picture 5 things each day which you like, love, or feel inspired by. Documenting these happy moments and spending a few seconds to admire the little things can really help :)
PLAN THINGS WITH LOVED ONES: Spending time with friends, family, boyfriends, your dog, or even yourself can be the most difficult thing in the world. After all we all have incredible busy and demanding days – i’m at work until 8pm most days, spend my evenings writing blog posts & spend 2 hours commuting on the tube each day. But it’s spending time with loved ones, or even alone doing things that make you happy that makes life itself, and it’s these people that make you laugh and feel happy. We must spend more time enjoying life and the people in it. So make sure you schedule time in your busy old days to do this, even though you may be feeling exhausted or have a to – do list as long as the bible … spending time doing and seeing the things & people you love is far more important. I try and schedule a couple of post work dinners in during the week to hang with my friends, unwind after work and ensure i leave work at a reasonable time, Jase and I try and nip out for brunch or a coffee at the weekends to spend some time out together, and spending weekends getting out of london to see family & ‘home friends’ is always on our agenda. It’s easy to be ‘too busy’ but even 20 minutes between other plans is enough to grab a cup of tea with a loved one. Don’t sacrifice your life because work is demanding … if you don’t keep this work life balance in order you’ll just wear yourself out & naturally feel less happy.
LOOK AFTER YOU: The thing i’m absolutely the worst at. But something i’m working really hard to rectify. Looking after yourself is of the utmost importance and can be so easy to neglect. I read a really good quote a while back which said treat yourself as you would your children … basically give yourself the love, care and attention that you would other people. That means watering yourself, treating yourself, exercising & monitoring your health, putting yourself to bed on time, listening to your body, feeding yourself properly & most importantly giving yourself a little love and attention. A 30 minute evening pamper would be an absolute treat, so why not do it every so often. I am forever forgetting to drink water, i’m forever eating gluten even though i’m intolerant and it makes me ill, I’m always letting myself get stressed which brings on crippling migraines, and I can often forget to treat myself to a little time out. So i’ve made a pact with myself to sort this out … a bottle of water in my bag in the morning, squeezing some pilates time in my diary (not succeeded yet), playing netball again (next on the to-do list), cutting out gluten (making a world of difference for me) and reading books on my commute to work (seriously chills me out and makes my commute far more enjoyable). I’ve also been treating myself to a few new purchases, as retail therapy genuinely works for me, and buying my favourite magazines to read over a cup of tea. My blog is another thing which really makes me happy and relaxed, so I love to spend an hour each evening working on new posts or even reading my favourite posts from the day, this little bit of time out takes me out of work mode, into down time. And boring or not, hitting the hay at 1030pm in the week so I get a good amount of sleep each night … it really makes the world of difference.
All these things combined really help me keep a positive, de-stressed, and happy attitude to life, they’re not ground breaking, nor are they exclusive tips, they’re just a couple of things that work for me (and I know they work for a few others too). I should also point out they’re far easier said than done, and I of course still find myself eating naughty treats or getting stressed due to moronic work requests … but it’s all part of life, the point is more about having a good well being, so they don’t get too much for you to manage.
There’s no point over thinking all the things you’re going to do to improve your wellbeing, nor adding so many things that it becomes overwhelming to even try and achieve, that would be totally counter intuitive. It’s really about picking a couple of things you love & making sure you give yourself some time to enjoy them, stop being so hard on yourself & taking the time to appreciate the little things.
It’s fair to say that a positive outlook does make things better, so I think it’s about time we all give ourselves a little T&C & make sure we pay attention to our own well being.
Have you enjoyed reading this sort of post? Do you look after yourself? What are your tips for keeping positive and happy?

Reader Interactions

11 Comments

  1. dollypiee says

    Loved this post so much!! I’m really into having a positive mindset and one thing which helps for me is a book called the secret, reading it will be the best thing you ever do!! x

  2. Sarah says

    Such a fantastic post, with lots of inspirational tips! I’m determined to spend more time planning my days better as well as looking after myself

  4. Laura Shopaholic says

    Congratulations on your 1000th post Mel! Here’s to the next 1000! I live my life by mind over matter – it’s always better to look on the bright side of life after all. Well done again for such a fab achievement! Laura x

  6. Anna Sorokina says

    Great post! Congrats with your anniversary and btw the tips are really great. I think that enoying your life is the best thing you can do to yourself. By that I mean loving your surroundings, family, work and yourself. When you manage to find harmony in yourself and in the world around you you will inderstand how great live is and all the problems will just blow away.

    smtpants.blogspot.com

  10. Miglė says

    This was a fantastic post, I agree with all of the tips. It’s so important to take care of yourself and I forget this too often. By the way, congrats on your 1000th post, it’s amazing that you’ve been posting daily the whole time since you’ve started, I admire people like you so much and I have no idea how you do work and daily blogging and still haven’t lost your mind, haha.

    Miglė x | Meet Me On The Balcony

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