The Life Pursuit: San Smith

Ideas and Inspiration - Stay active, happy and motivated

I've had some questions lately asking what inspires me and I decided to answer it in a new Ideas and Inspiration post... Enjoy!

Fun Ideas to help keep you inspired, happy and motivated:

Make a desktop of favorite photos with mosaic maker - think of it as a digital mood board. I have one on my desktop made with my flickr favorites and I *love* looking at it - the colors, textures and photos make me feel so happy and excited. (please be mindful if you do this, not to redistribute your desktops for other's use - it could upset the original photographers to have their photos shared in that manner!) Below is mine - if you are interested in locating the photos, they are in my flickr favorites.

     

  And speaking of Mood Boards...

Make a Mood Board - What is a Mood Board? As mentioned above, its a collective of images, pieces of things, textures, patterns, objects, etc. that create the kind of mood you wish to visualize. I keep one in my office to look at daily that projects the kind of person I want to be/become/continue to be and the things I value, love and admire. It is a little personal so you'll have to excuse me for not sharing images - but! I really think it inspires me daily, and recommend to everyone to try to make one. My friend Anna Denise wrote a blog post recently on making Mood Boards and linked to a great article that explains Mood Boards further. Check it out! 

Put inspirational notes to yourself all over your home - I like to hang these by my desk, or next to the mirror that I pick out my outfits at... My current notes are "Not without a fight!" to inspire me not to give up on my dreams, and "You are amazing", to remind me to believe in myself. Feel free to print out the above image I drew for this purpose or this older one, "What you believe = What is possible to manifest" :) 

Try a new exercise to have fun outdoors - such as bike riding, roller skating or hula hooping! You can take classes in your area if you don't already know how to do something, or look up youtube videos tutorials so you can learn on your own!

Finally check out something you've been wanting to try - such as a new book, a kind of tea, type of food, etc. I just recently have started drinking Rooibos tea, finally read a Harry Potter book, and tried out Tofu Steaks! Guess what - I loved it all - and now have new things I'm interested in! Trying new things = awesome. 

For those on a budget: Sign up for the Republic of Tea's catalog. It doesn't come often, but when it does it talks about interesting tea AND comes with a free tea sample! (The link to request a catalog is at the bottom right under the recently viewed items section) I love trying out the tea sample while reading about other kinds of teas, and marking the catalog for teas I want to try someday.

Make something - Sometimes working with your hands can be very relaxing and rewarding... I know a lot of people have told me they aren't "crafty", but I think the knack for making things can be learned with time and patience. Here are some fun things to try: Make clothing out of old T-Shirts, Upcycle your own tote, and Fold a paper fortune cookie. 

Watch inspiring and cute youtube videos - Here are some of my favorites at the moment: 

 

Memoryhouse — Lately
 This one is a little sad, but the visuals are lovely. 

 

Jessica's "Daily Affirmation" 
 Cute and funny... this little girl is pretty darn inspiring for her age.

 

   

U900 -Walk Don't Run (Isogabamaware) 
 Ridiculously cute.

 

Hope these suggestions help inspire you and get your mind going on new ideas!

As for myself... I get my inspiration from a lot of things - music, people watching, tumblr, blog reading, comics, local happenings, friends... I always try to keep my eyes open and camera ready to document anything that seems interesting. I also try to keep a journal (outside of my blog) to document my interests and feelings... I find doing all these things keeps my mind active and helps me continue to learn about myself. 

One of my early memories of being truly inspired was the first time I saw Björk's "Oh so quiet" video. I was captivated by it as teenager - I had never seen or heard anything like Björk before... she was so imaginative and unique compared to most of the music I had been exposed to at that age. To this day it still motivates me to do a little dance and be creative. Here is the "Oh so quiet" video to watch:

Always keep your eyes, ears and hearts open. You never know what will inspire you and change your life for the better! Happy Wednesday <3

Making visual goals for 2010: part 2

Lets make some visual goals!

Welcome to part 2 of making visual goals! (Click here to see part 1.) In this post I will walk you through the steps I take when planning my goals for the upcoming year.

Step 1: To start off, I try to review what I've done through out the year and make a list of 10 things I am proud to have accomplished. I do this to feel a little more confident about setting new goals since it helps me see that I've gotten some neat stuff done! Then I write a brief summary on what direction I'd like to move towards in the new year. I chose to put 3 items down for the moment: Improve quality of life, work towards being self employed, and make more arts and crafts.

Step 2: Now that I can see some of my accomplishments and dreams, I start to move toward the meatier part of the goal planning. Evaluating who I am, who I want to be, what exactly my goals are, and how the heck am I going to get there. That is a lot of information to tackle, so lets first start with, Who do I want to be? I typically have a pretty good idea of who I am, but I feel like my interests change a little bit every year due to growing older, learning more, etc. When I'm trying to figure out where I'm heading as a person, I make a list of people I'm admiring or that inspire me on a sheet of paper separate from my notebook.

Step 3: After I finish the list of inspirational people, I write a number next to each person's name. On a second sheet of paper I write only the numbers for the names and then write a few reasons why that person is inspiring next to each number. Once I've completed my list of reasons, I stash the first list of names in a mini envelope, or tape it under a piece of cardboard so it can't easily be viewed.

The second list is the important one - read over it and see how many repeated factors you wrote down. Those repeated items are likely things that you aspire to be or do! I typically take that information and pair it with the 3 loose goals I wrote down earlier to build my final list of what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year.

Step 4: On two blank pages in your notebook make a calendar to cover the amount of time you will be working towards your goals. My original goals covered a span from August 2008 to January 2010, so I made 18 boxes (one for each month). As each month passed I wrote down things I accomplished that I found noteworthy. A few examples from my first month: Came up with new goals, increased site traffic, had freelance work coming in, visited with friends, etc. It doesn't have to be life changing stuff - just write things you are excited about or proud of! By doing this, you can keep track of the progress you make and it will help you see that you are moving forward.

And thats it! You now have your goals, a personal review and a goal tracker to document progress. I like to keep my notebook with me at all times so I can look at it when I'm feeling down or frustrated. I find it can be very motivating to see the progress on the goal tracker, or review the notes I took about who I'm working to become! Also - I recommend half way through the year you re-evaluate where you are going with your goals to refresh your view and re-motivate yourself to move forward. You can see below the different versions of my goal evaluations over the past two years.

Hopefully this is helpful and has inspired you to try to make your own visual list of goals. :)
Click here for Part #3!

Making visual goals for 2010: part 1

For the past 2 years, I've been making visual lists for my life goals. I wrote a blog post in 2008 on how to do this, but I thought I'd go over it again in a three part post to help you guys make your own lists and also share how this has helped me accomplish my dreams.

If you don't know what a visual list is, I cover the subject in my old post. I think visual lists work well with creative types because not only does it display all the information in front of you that you are trying to capture, but it allows you to use your imagination while working through building that list! Each piece put together symbolizes something to you and helps you connect deeper with your goals.

My visual list of goals to accomplish by January 1, 2010 -

#1

and #2

Why do I have two lists? Half way through the year, I re-visited the goals I made to see if they were still working well with the direction I was heading in life. Luckily they were, so it only required a little bit of tweaking... I found the consistent things I wanted to focus the most on were working towards being self-employed, putting bright color back in my wardrobe (and hair!), becoming more content with myself/finding a spiritual side to life (yoga, meditation, and fortunes/good luck even if its silly!) and being a positive hard worker. They aren't perfect little lists - but I find whats most important is that I work fast while inspired and get my ideas down with out over thinking things!

So - are you interested in making your own visual list for 2010? Got some goals you want to accomplish?

What you will need:

• An empty notebook/sketch book you can work in. I prefer the Moleskine pocket sketch notebook.
• Markers, pens, pencils, crayons, highlighters, etc. Whatever you feel most comfortable writing and doodling in.
• Tape or glue
• A small envelope or a small piece of card stock paper
• Optional: Inspirational photos, magazine clippings, interesting papers or scraps, quotes, fortune cookie papers, stickers, etc. to motivate you!

Ready? Click here for Part #2!

A little positive note

I just wanted to write a post today about staying positive... I've kinda had a stressful week - feeling a little anxious and overwhelmed about some things I need to do in the next month and half. Blech.

But it will be ok - and things will get done! I just have to believe in myself. Doing so is key. Really - I think the two most important things you must do to move forward and accomplish goals are: 1. work hard and 2. stay positive/see the positive side of things. You can't do just one, its important to make time for both. And if its not possible, then it might be time for a break... ;)

I keep a little note at my desk for when I'm having a stressful day or need a positive reminder:

I truly believe you can accomplish great things if you put your mind to it and work hard. If there is something you want to do, go for it! Make a plan - work towards a goal - figure out how to make your dreams happen! Once you believe in yourself, you can work towards doing just about anything.

If any of you are having a hard time, maybe print out the picture above and place somewhere for you to see often. <3 I hope you are all doing well and don't find this post too cheese/serious!

Stay awesome and have a lovely weekend!

Ideas and Inspiration

1. Heart bokeh on you, 2. Untitled, 3. You can break love, but it won't die,
4. Never Say Never, 5. Untitled, 6. .,
7. Untitled, 8. <3, 9. To all

It has been a while since I did an "Ideas and Inspiration" post... I've been sorting through some of my favorite inspirational articles as of late for an upcoming goal-setting post... And I wanted to share some good ones that I wont be including in that post, but are still worth reading. Plus a few personal tips that have brightened my life lately, and might lift up yours too!

Inspiring articles:

Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn
"My research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good."

How to Overcome Your Worries: 5 Timeless Thoughts from the Last 2500 Years
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
Elbert Hubbard

How to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”
Brian Tracy

Little personal tips:

Smile at and/or compliment others, even better = people you don't know!(But with good judgment of course - ha!) I've had a lot of kindness shown to me lately from strangers, which makes me want to pass it on even more. I love when someone I don't know is friendly or smiles at me, it really lifts my day!

Go to bed on time. No really! The proper amount of sleep for your body can make a world of a difference on your outlook for the upcoming day. I know I always feel 10x more happy and positive if I'm well rested :)

Make large positive notes to yourself and place them all over your house and/or your office! I have one on my mirror that says "You are AMAZING!" that I see every morning, and "Every day is a new beginning" on my monitor at my office. Yes yes, its kinda dorky, but some days I really need to read stuff like that! Another good one: "What you believe = What is possible to manifest"

Hope you all have a great weekend! <3 More soon!