5 Lessons I’ve Learned In 2019

Happy New Year everyone, I hope you celebrated the start of the new year and the start of a new decade 🙂

My husband is sick so we didn’t celebrate much but we did grab some yummy take out with wine and enjoyed each other’s company and celebrate the new year at home.

I wanted to publish this at the start of the new year because I wanted to go through what I’ve learned in 2019 before I go after the things I want to accomplish in 2020. It’s like a small review of the year 🙂

Setting the right goals

Now I know this sounds weird, as I’ve always was a person of goals and to-dos and I review my goals every day, week, month and year. So why this is even in this list you might ask? Well, it’s because this year and more so in the last quarter of the year, life slapped me in the face and made me learned once and for all, lol. The universe (or God, whatever you believe in) tends to show us what we need to learn and sometimes if we don’t pay much attention it shows us more harshly.

This last quarter I’ve learned to put my priorities first but also set smart goals and not just goals but I’ve set the right objectives and tasks that go along with my big goal (vision). Something so small, but I never broke down my goals to such small bites, I always thought that my small tasks would be enough but they weren’t, for me at least.

I am explaining this in great detail, in my upcoming episode of Writer’s Life Club Podcast, on Jan 6th (Due to a small delay, I’ve pushed the episode to Jan, 8th – Sorry), so be sure to listen to it if you want to learn more about setting the right goals for your success.

Letting go

I have a hard time letting go, especially of the people I love if they are friends or family, letting go is very hard for me. These past two months I was struggling with this a lot, as again the universe didn’t like it that I didn’t learn from the first time, I needed to let go but this year when the moment came and I was confronted with the same bad attitude and the same struggle. This year I could breathe through this and slowly I am letting go of the things and the people in my life that are no longer good for me.
I still love them and will love them forever, but I guess that our journey is coming to the end, and even though I am sad that this even happened I am now ready to let those things and people go and be free from the guilt of holding on so tightly on things I no longer need.

See my needs

This goes well with my first point, but this is also something I’ve learned how important is to put my needs and my wants on the list as well next to all my other important to do. Like having a well-cooked meal and not just takeouts, meditating to calm me down when life is too overwhelming and all the things that my body needs and my soul.
This was a very hard lesson for me to learn but I am slowly getting better at it, so I guess it’s a working progress. Basically do more self-care and enjoy the quiet time more.

Learning from my failures

Failure is not the enemy as I thought of it all these years, failure is a way for us to get better, stronger and smarter. Failure the universe’s way to make us confront our fears and push through them, like a racking ball. With the understanding failure that it isn’t an enemy but a friend is a great lesson, I’ve learned in 2019. I learned to see my daily wins but also to see what I didn’t do and do even just a bit better tomorrow, or the next day.
I can try and do a bit better, in baby steps and try to work more in smaller sprints, or on smaller tasks.
I can always do a bit better than the day before and this brings me to the last lesson I’ve learned in 2019 and that is having the right tools and this goes well with setting the right goals.

Having the right tools

I love planners, notebooks, bullet journals, apps, and everything that can help me schedule my time and see my goals. Over the years I tried too many tools, some helped more, some helped less, but none of them helped me as much as this one did so far, and that is a program/app/site called Notion. I am not using it for very long, only a few months but I am loving it so far. I learned that with the right tools I can do things better and faster, I can organize my life better, even when my life goes crazy, and most importantly I can see my goals, my objectives all the time and that helps a lot when I plan my day and I am reminded daily of my big goals, and my monthly and weekly tasks take I set to work towards that bigger goal.

If you want you can try Notion for yourself and for your own needs. Build great habits, daily smart goals, and powerful tasks… And it’s free 😉

The right tool can give you a great start on your projects and tasks and can give you the push you need to not give up on your goals, as most people do after a while. Find the tool that works best for you and using it daily, by reminding yourself about your big goals and why you do them and how you will achieve them. If you would like to see my Notion setup and how I see my goals daily, I can do a video on it or show you here in pics ❤

That is it for 2019 and I am so excited for this year. I know that 2020 will be amazing, hard as always, lol, but I know that I am learning so much, which will help me do more and achieve my goals.

What did you learn in 2019? What is your #1 goal for 2020

As always, thank you so much for reading ❤

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Writer’s Life Club Podcast

Hey everyone, I hope you are all having a good week and you are not too stressful by the holidays ❤

Btw, I’ve posted on my patreon some great way to destress during the holidays, tips I use and seem to work well. Go check them out, don’t let the stress get to you anymore.

Yesterday I did something I feared for a long time and that is to make a podcast. I’ve launched the first-ever podcast and I am so excited but still fearful, haha I guess this will take lots of time to learn how to this right and practice talking right as well.

But I am still so proud of myself for trying to do this new thing and now wait for the new year to start, even though the new year is just around the corner, lol.

The podcast is called Writer’s Life Club and there I will talk about writing, books, life, tips and hacks, motivation and productivity and everything in between.

For now, the podcast will be on its site and on Spotify but in a few days, I hope it will be available in all the podcasting apps, especially on Itunes and Google. But for now, I will see you there and if you have any requests for topics and ideas feel free to leave them in the comments and if I will use your idea, I will definitely give you a shoutout 😉

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah to you all and a wonderful Happy New Year ❤

The Writer’s Life Club trailer is already up for you to get an idea what I will talk about, and the first episode will be up later on today ❤

See you there,

As always, thank you so much for reading ❤

Let’s chat on:

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Writer’s Log: Eating. PET scan. And more eating.

Happy Monday to you all ❤

It was a long weekend but overall went well. My mom PET scan took extremely long, we waited for almost 5 hours and there was a problem there with a woman and so the scan took even longer than it should… It was a long day. I hope that the PET scan came out okay.
On the way home, we stopped at a pancake house and I got a gluten-free and vegan pancake which was amazing and I was so happy to see my mom finally eating something, and it seems like she truly enjoyed herself ❤

Other than that I kept decluttering and cleaning the house. From the mountain of dishes, hehe and I finally decluttered my makeup which I’ve been trying to declutter for a long time. I still got to declutter my makeup more but for now, I did okay 😀

Today with all the waking up late, cleaning and decluttering I was also been able to sit down and write for a bit and eventually I wrote about 980+ words. I will not win Camp Nanowrimo, but I am happy to just sit down an write again.

In another note, My husband and I are sooo excited to see End Game OMG, only 2 more days (WOW!). I can’t believe that 24.4.19 is only 2 more days away and we are trying to guess how and what will happen, and trying to ignore all spoilers that run around the social media. OMG!!! Can’t wait.

Are you excited about End Game?

That is all for today’s post and I will see you again tomorrow.

As always, thank you so much for reading ❤

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Writer’s Log: Inspiration

Hey everyone, hope you are having a good Wednesday ❤

Writer’s log, Today is the third day posting and so far, it’s a bit challenging but I love it. Today, I went to my doctor and see what can be done with this illness and she told me that I am sick, lol and gave me more antibiotics. I am so sick of these meds, I think that’s enough 😀 Anyways, not going to take them that easy, I want to try some herbal options and see if I get better without more antibiotics.

Today I am writing to you about my recent inspiration that came from a new ebook I’ve read called Steal Like An Artist. This book doesn’t tell you a lot that you may not already know, but it tells it from another pov and that made the change. But in order to something truly stick you need to make it a habit of repeating the same things over and over until you are in control of that habit. For me, it was to read this book again and this time, I’ve highlighted different things (how cool is that) and it just sparked my imagination again. I would give it more than 5 stars on Goodreads if I could ❤ Should give it a go if you haven’t read it yet.

I also did some decluttering with the Konmari method of all my clothes and it felt amazing to let go of things that no longer have a purpose in my life. Sadly I still own tons of clothes, hehe so maybe in my next decluttering I will be able to let go of more items, but for now… I did okay 😀

I managed to meditate today for 25 minutes (the longest meditating I did recently) and it felt so good and energized me for the upcoming day.

I wrote a bit for Camp Nanowrimo (about 600 words) and I even though I feel worst than the morning, I am so happy I got to do these things today, as they keep me connected to what I want and where I want to be.

That is all for this post, overall it was a good day, hope your day was great and I will see you all tomorrow 🙂

As always, thank you so much for reading ❤

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Writer’s Log: Another Minimalism Challenge

Good evening everyone, hope you are doing well ❤

While back I’ve written a post about minimalism and how I want to declutter our home 😉 The Minimalism Challenge (Game). I did this “game or challenge” twice and I decluttered almost 1000 items from our home, small and big. To some, this may seem like too much and to others, it’s a very small number but to us, it wasn’t enough, lol.

So I thought that I will do it again. Last time I decluttered about 50 books and this time I want to try and declutter more. I love books and I love to hoard them, but some of the books are just props in our home, I will never read them again so it’s time for them to find a new home and so our other items that will be leaving 😀

I know for a fact that while I love the stuff in our home and they do make me happy they still overcrowd me in my every day and I feel trapped by our stuff. I don’t like that feeling and I know I can change this feeling.

So… Everyday from yesterday I will take an item, 2, 3 and so on, and let them go ❤ and I will let you know how it goes.

Now to other updates…

As part of my de-stressing, I’ve started doing meditations twice a day, every day… Well, this was only my second day of doing it, hehe but I do intend on keeping this habit. I feel much better every time I meditate, I think that by the act of taking a moment to myself, breathe and just listen to the silence really makes me think of what I truly want and try to find some answers and ideas… You know, like when you are in the shower and suddenly a wonderful idea comes to your mind that is how these meditation are to me (so far).

Now about the most important thing, being creative 😀

Yesterday I did some blackouts on a writer magazine and I loved that. This small act just let my mind run through the pages I’ve printed and found random words that by the end of it just made me smile and happy, how amazing is that. I love the part that starts with the word writers and ends with the words what if. (click on the image to enlarge it if you want)

“Writers create their story often fail, the trick quirky ideas, brainstorming what if.”

This weird meshed-up line is so inspiring to me and while I mediated today it lit up my thoughts and the images that ran through my mind while I was in deep meditation.

About my own writing…

I also wrote a bit after I got home from my mom’s doctor appointment and it felt almost addictive to just sit there and write… Wow, how I missed this feeling.
Overall it was a creative day which I am very happy about and I declutter two things today, yey 😀 so I am doing good with the challenge 😉

See you tomorrow but for now,

As always, thank you so much for reading ❤

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Writing Ritual Tag

Hello everyone, I hope you are feeling well and having a wonderful day 😀 For me, this month is already full of doctors appointments (for my mom), long holiday and almost no time for myself and to write. However, from next week things will change a lot when my husband starts his school, and I will have 3 whole days to myself… to write, edit and put a little dent in my projects, lol.

More than a month ago I watched the lovely author Kim Chance on her YouTube channel and I saw this cute tag and I knew that I have to do this tag 🙂 Btw if you don’t know Kim Chance or her upcoming book – Keeper, then go visit her channel and say hello ❤

Questions for the Writing Rituals Tag

When do you write? (time of day, day of week)

Well, I mostly love to write at night but life won’t have it. So… I write in the morning when I am all alone in the house up until the sun is high up in the sky. I don’t have a specific day to write, every day or time that I get to write is a gift for me ❤

How do you seclude yourself from the outside world?

That is so easy. I love listening to the Rainy Mood app (and site) ❤ I’ve been using it for years now. I also try to write when I am alone in the house, that way I can write tons of words without any stress or interruptions.

How do you review what you wrote the previous day?

I usually use two ways: I select everything and let my Windows or Chrom speak what I wrote out loud and take notes. I also love reading what I wrote out loud with the right emotion (if I read a dialog), like actors going through their script.

What song is your go-to when you’re feeling uninspired?

Hmm… This one is hard, as I don’t listen to music while writing, but when I hear rain outside or just rain on that site, It puts me in the right mood for writing, lol, always!

What do you always do (i.e. listen to music, read, watch youtube, etc.) when you find yourself struggling with writer’s block?

Writing block is hard at times, but what works best for me is to write little poems, watch youtube on writing and on books, trying to write new ideas and new characters that maybe will inspire me more and free me of whatever stopped me from writing before.

I love going back to my favorite books and re-read them again to get the energies back.

I also take a look at my outline and try to find what made me feel stuck. Maybe there are things that aren’t working for my story and I will need to change them.

What tools do you use when you’re writing?

This is easy. I use my computer (word document) if I can. Sometimes, and sadly this happened a lot lately, lol, I use my phone (google keep), I use Rainy Mood app or site, pen, and paper (I mean a huge white paper that covers a huge part of my desk, I love it).

What’s the one thing you can’t live without during a writing session?

Pen and paper. I love my huge white papers (the kind that kids use to paint on, lol). If I am out and I am using my phone, then I must use the rainy mood with headphones.

How do you fuel yourself during your writing session?

Coffee, tea, snacks and more coffee. Wait… Did I say coffee already?

How do you know when you’re done writing?

Well… Here I really agree with Kim on that, I try to ask myself if I feel good with what I wrote and if there was good progress. If the answer is yes then I know I am ready to finish for today. But, from time to time if I must I will use a word count, page or chapter goal, but I try not to do that a lot.

That is all for this tag, this was such a fun tag to do 😀

I will tag a few people, but if you wish to do it yourself, consider yourself – Tagged!  (don’t forget to link your tag in my comments so I will see your answers).

Heena Rathore P.

Kate M. Colby

Rachel Poli

E.E. Rawls

As always, thank you so much for reading ❤

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The Writer’s Life Tag

Happy Wednesday everyone  ❤ I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

If you have noticed I’ve changed the theme of my blog, I needed a little change and tweaked it a bit (go spot the changes  ;)). I am so happy with how it came out and I would love to read your thoughts, so don’t be shy to comment below  ❤

For this tag… I saw The Writer’s Life Tag at Kim from Kim Chance on YouTube and I loved it and really wanted to give it a try. So without further ado, let’s start with the tag  😀

Questions

Write-fuel: What do you eat or drink while writing?
Coffee (decaf) and water. I mostly don’t eat anything while writing.

Write-sounds: What do you listen to while writing?
I think I’ve said it here and there, I love (LOVE) the Rainy Mood website. I use it a lot in my writing, but when I write fight scenes, I love listening to heavy metal (yep), gaming music and Kpop 🙂

Write-vice: What is your biggest writing distraction?
Life. When My mom needs me, or something happens to her, my sweet hubby and all the things I need to do around the house, to keep it not looking like a pigsty.

Write-horror: What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you while writing?
As most of you know, I’ve lost 10 years of work (3 books) and I never found it (didn’t back it up and cry so much). Don’t forget to back up your work.

Write-joy: What’s the best thing that ever happened to you while writing?
The best ever for me is to be able to sit down and write. But if I don’t count that, then the best feeling I had with writing is typing the words The End. It is the best feeling ever! I also had a wonderful moment when I was all alone in the house, not much to worry about and I wrote 10K a day (it was amazing, just heaven).

Write-crew: Who you communicate with or not communicate with while writing?
Sadly, I don’t have any writing buddies (wish I had). I have a few people I can talk to but I can’t call them writing buddies. One of the goals I have for the next quarter is to find some nice and good writing buddies  ❤

Write-secret: What your secret to success and your biggest writing flaw?
The #1 “secret” for writing, I think it’s determination. I know that things are going slow for me, but never in my life, I wanted to give up. I write when I’m sick, when I’m tired and when I don’t feel like writing. I am left with so little time, that when I finally have the time to write, I just write. I also love planning my work. If I outline the novel or even a scene, I know I will not get lost. Outlining really helps me a lot.
My writing flaw is that I can’t leave a scene or a page if it’s not written the way I want it to be. That is why I edit a lot more than “normal”, lol.

Write-spiration: What inspires you? Or what makes you productive?
I don’t have any special thing that makes me productive. I love to write so much and I barely have a moment to write, so when I do… I just write like a maniac, lol. I try to compensate for days of not writing and write until my fingers are numb.
An inspiration for me is, everywhere. From what I see, a book, a moment that something happens, a voice, you… everything  ❤ However it mostly comes from my weird mind, my dreams and from my over-imaginative mind, lol.

Write-peeve: What is one thing you do or other writers do that’s annoying?
The only thing I can think about is that my mood is related to my writing. If I did well and wrote a lot I am happy, relaxed and almost high, lol. But if I haven’t written anything or the scene I’ve written didn’t go as I wanted, I am very restless and annoyed.
About other writers? I really can’t think of anything. Each writer does what is best for him/her and his/her community  🙂

Write-words: Are you willing to share something you’ve written?
Yes. In the newsletter I’ve sent out yesterday, I added a little teaser of the book I am editing right now ELE and I hope you liked it.

There you have it, a look into my writer’s life  😀

This was such a fun tag to do and I hope you enjoyed reading it  ❤ I will not tag anyone to do this tag, but if you feel like give it try, go for it (you are considered tagged by me) and don’t forget to send a link of your tag my way  🙂

Thank you so much for reading  ❤

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20 Fab Writing Tips From 20 Author Interviews #Writingtips #WeekendBlogShare

Great tips for writers 🙂

Quarterly Goals

Hello my to all my wonderful readers, I hope you are all having a great Saturday ❤

Quarterly Goals, is a new feature that I will be posting once in every three months. I saw this feature at a YouTuber Author, Jenna Moreci. I loved it so much, so I thought it would be a great idea to try it out.

So far, it’s amazing.

I’ve already accomplished a few of my goals and I just started writing these goals. Usually, I write my monthly goals and even weekly/daily goals and with all that is going on in my life right now, I always feel overwhelmed and stressed.

Making these goals makes me feel that I have more control of the chaos around me and be able to do the things I want without being too stressed out or guilt. I still use daily/weekly goals but as a broken down of these goals I have below 🙂

So, this is how it works (as she said in her Vlog)… You need to write 10 to 20 goals and you need to accomplish at least half of those goals by the end of the quarter.

If I accomplish half or more, than it is “well done” for me 😀

If I fail, then it is “public failure” for me (Yay) 😦

Here are my Quarterly goals (Jan-Mar)

1. Buy new boxes.
2. Organize things in the boxes.
3. Finish with the revising.
4. Have a date night with hubby once a week (already doing this <3).
5. Organize my Mom’s things.
6. Organize writing room.
7. Outline the new project.
8. Write 150 pages.
9. Find my F* lost book.
10. Write at least 8 blog posts a month.
11. Post more on my social media.
12. Clean up my Twitter.
13. Change Covers/Banners/Themes (for social media & blog).
14. Clean & organize my blog.
15. Eat healthier (2-3 veggies/fruits a day).
16. Drink more water (1.5-3 liters a day).
17. Walk more.
18. Cook at least 3 healthy meals a week.
19. Reconnect with friends IRL (so hard for me).
20. Take some pictures of hubby and me and print them out.
21. Buy new simple frames and put those picture in them.
22. Follow blog/social media stats.
23. Reach 700 followers on Twitter (would love some help in this) 😀
24. Research some things for an awesome giveaway (started).

 

Okay, so I have a bit more than 20 goals, lol but some are smaller than others (so that’s okay). Wish me luck with all these goals and I do hope I will be able to accomplish at least half and not fail here in front of all you, lol.

I do like that in this goal setting approach, I still hold myself accountable but not without the massive stress I usually feel 😀

Are you a goal-setting kind of a person? If you are, how do you go about that?

As always, thank you so much for reading ❤

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