How To Make A Plan For Your Future

 While living in the present moment is really important for your happiness, it is equally as important to make a plan for your future. Making a plan for your future will enable you to take steps and reach goals and dreams that you have for yourself. Many people will make the mistake of thinking about their dreams and how they wish their life to unfold, but not take any action towards reaching them. This means that many people get older and live with regrets. It also results in not having the career you wished for, and reaching retirement without any plans or finances in place for yourself. 

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To prevent this from happening, you can take steps to prepare yourself. When you make a plan, you will live with more clarity and happiness, and you can rest knowing that your life will unfold the way you want it to. Of course, you can update your goals and plans at any point in your life, but it is a great way to get thinking about what you want so you don’t miss out on any opportunities, it will keep you motivated and moving forward, help you to have more control over your life, and you can live and retire with peace. A plan is also extremely helpful in helping you to think ahead with your finances so you are able to do the things that you want to do. Here are some steps to help you get started.

Think about your goals

The first and most important thing that you need to do, is to think about your goals. This might take some time. There might be some goals that you know you want to achieve in life, but there may also be some that you need to think about and discover. Make sure you think about all kinds of goals. There are going to be serious ones you must think about, like your finances, your investments, your career, whether you want to get married and have children, etc. Some of these serious goals may also include your retirement, your wills, and what happens after your passing. You can find helpful information online to help you craft goals and plans at www.Memorials.com and other sites online.  You also want to include some fun goals in there, like adventures that you want to go on. 

Think about what steps you need to take to get there

The next part of the plan making process is to think about what steps you need to get there. Be realistic and consider the small actions, as well as the big ones you need to achieve your goals. SMART goal setting is a good framework to follow, as it will ensure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound. 

Think about how you can finance it 

Make sure you consider your finances when planning your goals. There is nothing worse than wanting to achieve your goals but not having the means to do it. A plan will help you pull all this together. Think about the costs related to your goals, and how you can save towards being in a position to make it happen. 

Write it out 

The last step you should take when it comes to making a plan, is writing it out. This makes it more permanent and holds you accountable. When you write it down, you will also be able to remind yourself what you need to do to get to your goals. Make a tracker, schedule reviews and reminders, and make sure you go after those goals. 

Making a plan for your future is a great way to ensure you can look back at your life and accomplish everything you wanted to. 

One Down, Eight To Go

 A little over a year ago, I experienced a devastating loss in my life and really did not think I would be able to overcome it. I thought about it day and night, night and day, and it sometimes overwhelmed me so much I didn't think I would be able to breathe. I worked very hard on not completely losing it, although I don't think I did as well as I could but I tried. 

One night as I was wailing to The Void as per usual, it sent me a creature of the night right to my window. He was scruffy, had a goopy eye, and was sneezing long snot ropes all over the place but he was starving for love more than I was at the moment and I completely and totally melted.

Hello, Laaadieeesss...

I had a little bit of eye ointment left over from my other cat, Pete, so I was able to get the goopiness out of his eye a bit but by morning he was doing so poorly that we had to rush him to the emergency vet. He had crawled underneath a bed in the guest room and it looked like he had picked his final place to sleep forever. He was drooling and feverish and I was terrified that this cat I hadn't even given a name to yet was absolutely going to pass away in my house. 

We got him to the vet and they stabilized him. He needed a lot of fluids and had infection in his entire head and lungs. We were given a lot of medicines to give him and made an appointment with our regular vet to find out just what exactly was wrong with him because it was definitely more than just a cat cold with infection. 

It is hard enough to try to get medicine in a cat that knows you, ask me how hard it is to get medicine into a cat that doesn't know you. THAT was fun (no, it was not). 

This is the face of rage.

We eventually found out that the cause of the infection was he had an oronasal fistula that needed to be repaired and had to have almost all of his teeth removed. It was going to be (and was) a very expensive surgery but I will thank Banfield at Petsmart until the end of my days because with their Wellness Program, we were able to cut the cost of his surgery down from $2,800 to $1,300! No, this is not a sponsored post for Banfield, like I said, I am just thankful that they were able to work with us and get the cost down so I could actually give him all the help he desperately needed.  He had to take some pretty heavy duty antibiotics for a month and gain quite a bit of weight to prepare for that surgery, but after about a week he got used to the routine (and I discovered Pill Pockets!) and took the medicine and gained all of the weight and then some and had his surgery. He actually does have all of 4 teeth left after the surgery and has not had any trouble in the health area since.

That first week was probably the scariest for me because I just wasn't sure if he would pull through. I kept him in my bedroom away from my other cat (who was weirdly overjoyed to have another cat in the house which I did not expect at all) and dog and just spent all of the time I could with him. He was grumpy and hissy and bitey but thankfully realized that I was trying to help him. Once he got to the point that he was up and alert, I slowly introduced him to the rest of the house and everyone in it. He settled in and to my surprise, did not even try to go back outside at all. I did not realize at the time that it was only the beginning of an entire year and then some of saving both of our lives. I was so focused on trying to save this cat that I didn't have time to wallow in that dark depression hole I like to crawl into and hide when terrible things happen. I had a goal, a mission if you will, and I was determined to save a life after losing another.

Mission Accomplished

However, it seemed that getting him physically healthy was just the beginning. The vet was able to determine his age as only 8 months old at the time and in just those short eight months, he had been through incredible trauma. I had seen him around the neighborhood around August and had assumed it was someone's outside cat. I did not realize until he showed up at my window in February that he actually was either abandoned or feral. I live in a college town and people come and go in my neighborhood constantly so while I don't like to guess, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where he came from. He was fixed already so clearly he had been someone's cat at one point so what happened? If I tried to tell you all of the theories that I ran through in my brain about his origin, we would be here all year. Shortly after he was physically well, though, I started to realize that my work was only halfway done. He got overstimulated very easily and would lash out. One minute he would be loving and want your attention and the next he would be growling and trying to bite me or my husband with his whole 4 teeth. When I say bite, I mean, viciously bite and scratch us and leave scars. We made a little place on a cat tower that we called the "spicy spot" that we would put him when we had trouble calming him down and got him some toys to bite on and would let him expend that energy in a better way than trying to murder us. 

This fish has been murdered one million times

I was at a loss as I knew very little about helping a cat like Huxley, but again, I was determined to help him, anyway. I read every book, scoured the internet, and talked with the vet on what I could do. I was able to find a lot of helpful information and start putting it to work. I found that so far I had been dealing with it pretty well by removing him from the overstimulation and being patient. I also learned all about what trauma can do to a cat and it opened my mind to new ways of dealing with my own trauma that I had encountered in my past. Slowly but surely, I think we both got better. He still has his moments, so do I when it comes to trauma, but learning all of the different ways to help really put into perspective how important it is to recognize trauma so you can heal trauma. Also, patience...so much patience.

I thought I had worked through a lot of things in my life, but helping him made me realize that while you can get better after trauma, it never really goes away. You will carry those wounds and they show up in surprising ways, sometimes when you least expect it. What it made me realize the most, though, is that if you can stay committed to healing, you will be rewarded with the calm life you always wanted and needed...with quite a few treats here and there!

Huxley The Void 

I like to tell people that he won the cat lottery by showing up at our retired, empty nester house window but most days, I think we all won in our own way. 

Bonus photo of my other cat Sweet Pete just because

Life Update: It Got Worse

I don't know about you but I am done with the year 2023. 

Thank you to all of you who have stuck around during this monster of a year! There has been a lot of unexpected tragedy in my personal life that has affected my posting here but I took a bit of a break and hope to go back to posting regularly in the new year. I had to take a breather and reprioritize a lot of different things and it was a good reminder that it is ok to slow down and appreciate the truly good things in life. 

Available Here

Speaking of good things, I couldn't let the ten year anniversary of my first book go by without saying anything! I still can't believe I actually did it, but I am so glad I did. I hope to have another collection of poems available in the new year as well and will keep you updated on that! If you have someone in your life who likes poetry, you can purchase it right here.

As terrible as this year has been, I am still looking forward to the next and what it will bring. I hope you are surrounded by love this holiday season!

The First Roles You Should Fill In Your Company

 When you are starting out with a new business, there are a few absolutely essential steps that you first need to take in order to ensure that you can get going in as strong a way as possible. One is to ensure you are hiring the right people. And an important concern there is figuring out which roles you should actually fill first, if you are to get the right people on board and start your team off strong. Let’s take a look at which specific roles you should fill first in any new company.

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Manager

You can’t expect your teams to be successful if you don’t have the appropriate managerial roles in place, so this is one of the first things that you should make sure you are looking into here. Filling managerial roles is really important, and you will need to choose carefully if you want to make it work as well as possible. It could be someone that you know or are even partnered with in other ventures, or you might just like to headhunt. In any case, finding a good manager is a really worthwhile thing to do as early on as possible.

Marketer

Having a good means of marketing your business is likewise always going to be important, and it’s something that you will need to make sure that you are doing as well as you can. In order to ensure that, you need to have an individual within your team who knows all there is to know about effective marketing. Hiring a good marketer early on is definitely one of the best things you can ever do for your business, so it is something that you might want to think about for sure as soon as possible.

Developer

There are very few businesses these days which will not have a use for a developer. Even if you just have a website or a platform, you will need a developer - or a team of them - to do it for you. And of course, if you want to have an app or anything like that, again you are going to need developers in place to do the legwork. When you hire developers for startup enterprises, you need to make sure you are hiring experience and passion above all. That is going to serve your business very well.

Project Leader

Slightly different to a manager, but just as essential, is the project leader. This is the person who is actually going to be in charge of the specific projects, and they need to have their head screwed on and be a really trustworthy individual. If you can make sure of that, it’s going to mean that you have a much stronger team and a stronger start to your business. All in all, that is really going to make a difference. And it’s something that you are going to be glad you thought about later on in the business’ life.

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Get Up And Dance!: Encourage Your Children to Love Music With These Tips

 One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to encourage your child to get involved in a hobby, especially if you know your child isn’t particularly interested. However, as parents it is our job to ensure that the kids have a well-rounded education and that means doing what you can to foster a love of music and potentially turn it into a hobby.

Image source: Pexels

Music is something we are all familiar with. It’s like a language that we can all speak, even through dance and movement. Getting the kids interested in music is easier if you are a lover of music yourself, and you can learn how to get Spotify cheaper so that you can play it through your home and access music at any time. Children who love to move will often love to dance, and music is going to help to encourage that. With that in mind, here are some of the ways you can ensure that your kids fall in love with music:

• Encourage them to listen. If you think about it, children respond to everything around them and that includes music. Getting children to fall in love with types of music is much easier when you are the one in control of the speakers. Having Spotify attached to an Alexa in your home allows you to play music and get it piped around the house, so children are always exposed to different music types. Pick a piece to play and create conversation around it.
• Play along. Not every parent is happy with the idea of buying loud instruments into their home but it’s a good way to get children recognizing rhythm and beat. If you are able to get some instruments, you can encourage the kids to play along to music in the home and create their own music.
• Explore different music styles. Not all styles are suited to everyone, and children need to learn to explore different music types so that they can figure out what they like the most. Try different activities and games and if they enjoy a specific instrument, you could even set up lessons.
• Take them to see it live. Concerts, shows, opera and more are all music and movement centered. Taking your children to see shows can help them to find a love in the music they’re listening to, and they can expand their creative and artistic horizons at the same time.
• Get up and dance! Lastly, make it fun and move to the music - you won’t regret the fun you’ll have with the kids when you have a dance party in the middle of the afternoon! Tempo, rhythm, beats and more are all more exciting when you’re dancing and moving in different ways, and inviting your children to move while they listen to the music is a good way to see how they respond to it. 

Music is a language we can all speak, we just need to be taught how to do it.

How To Harness Your Child's Musical Interests

 Music is beautiful, simply put. Music has a way of getting people to express their emotions in a beautiful way; it’s ideal for conveying and getting others to feel that exact feeling. Without any words whatsoever, you can still convey the exact feeling you want. Whether it’s love, sorrow, melancholy, or beyond, music has a way of bringing out this feeling. 

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But music goes further than this; it’s a beautiful form of art. It gets the body moving, it sets the atmosphere in the space, and it’s a great hobby that brings so much fulfillment. As you can see, the influence of music plays a massive role in everyone. So how can you get your little one to fall in love with this interest? 

Start With Exposing Them To Music

One of the best ways to foster a love for music in your child is to expose them to music of all kinds. This can be as simple as playing the radio in your car or playing music from other cultures at home. When kids are exposed to different rhythms, meters, and tonalities from around the world, it expands their musical vocabulary. Even infants recognize the melody of songs long before they understand the words. Singing to them or playing quiet background music at nap and bedtime can connect your little ones to their musical heritage.

As children get older, they will learn from the music they listen to and their parents' tastes. Exposing them to a variety of music can help them shape their opinions on what music should sound like and where their interests will lie. Then, they can find a way to incorporate music into their lives throughout adulthood. This can include anything from watching a concert to dancing to singing along to their favorite song.

Make Music With Them

From fond memories to having fun, why not make some noise with them? These can even include playing some ukulele songs for them or getting them to learn together. Playing simple songs, like "Wheels on the Bus" or "Twinkle, Twinkle," with your child is a great way to introduce children to music. The repetition of lyrics and melody helps children learn and memorize words, and simple tunes have a happy feeling that can easily complement any theme. When they get older, just play some music for them, or let them just explore. Overall, exposure and these positive nudges will help a lot.

Take Them To Music Events

Whether they play the drums, guitar, piano, or violin, kids who are exposed to live music have an easier time sustaining their interest. It's a big part of what makes them feel like they're not alone in their passion and that someone else believes in them, too. Taking them to see their favorite musicians in concert is a powerful way of showing that you support their musical pursuits. Often, they'll be even more motivated to play at home after having experienced the live performance firsthand. There are plenty of music events from orchestras, rock music, or even small-scale music festivals for the community. 

The Influence Of Music On Mood And Mental Health

 Have you ever wondered why music is so universal among human cultures? You can go to uncontacted tribes in the Amazon, Africa, and the Arctic, and they will still have music traditions of their own. 

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The answer is how it affects our mood. The moment someone discovered that tapping a stick and bobbing their head felt good, everyone started doing it, perhaps fifty thousand years ago. 

In this post, we explore the unique role of music on mood and mental health. We talk about how it can energize, help you cope with stress, and improve your mood over time. 

Music Can Improve Cognitive Performance

Children have to sit in exams in silence. But there is evidence that music can enhance cognitive performance substantially. The reasons for this are complex, but researchers believe it might have something to do with how musical sounds silence some parts of the brain and activate others. 

For instance, science reveals that listening to background music while doing another task can improve your processing speed and memory, especially if you are an older adult. That might be one of the reasons so many office workers use headphones. It helps them concentrate on documents and spreadsheets. 

It could also be why some people listen to music while meditating. Again, it may assist with concentration and focus. 

With that said, not all music is equally beneficial. If it’s too loud or fast, it can actually hamper concentration. 

Music Can Reduce Stress

Another way music influences health is in its ability to reduce stress. Stress is a common problem that many people face in their daily lives and it can wind up becoming quite negative, leading to anxiety and depression. 

Things like playing the piano help to combat this by providing an outlet to let the mind relax. Research shows that playing or listening to soothing music can lower your blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels, a powerful stress-related hormone that can age you faster if you have too much of it. 

The best music to listen to calm down is certain types of classical music, meditative music, and ambient sounds. While they might not have an immediate effect, you should notice a change in your psychology after 30 minutes or so. 

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Music Can Lift Your Mood

Related to this last point is music’s ability to elevate your mood. If you’re feeling down, putting on the Stone Roses or Tiana Green music can help you feel better. 

But why is this? It comes down to music’s ability to help people deal with negative emotions, such as sadness or anger. Music appears to switch off these parts of the brain while also offering support, catharsis, and validation for your feelings.

Music Can Improve Sleep Quality

Lastly, there’s some evidence that music may enhance sleep quality, improving your immune system and ability to function during the day. Some people listen to ambient sounds before they sleep to block out other noises in their environment, helping them drift off peacefully instead of cars or other people waking them up.

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What kind of influence does music have on your mood and mental health? 

Rest In Peace, Skye Huskey

 My niece has unexpectedly passed away in a car accident. My entire family is devastated and we are doing everything we can to love through this. Please send all of your love and strength to my sister in law. 

We love you and will miss you forever, Skye 💔

Sometimes

 It sits in your gut

sometimes

rumbling

and rolling as rough 

as the sea

It sits in your chest

sometimes

throbbing

beating your blood 

right through your veins

It sits in your throat

sometimes

scratching your itchy

vocal chords

until you scream 

its song

It sits in your tongue

sometimes

strong

yet 

always trapped  

It sits in your head

all the time

dancing  

an apocalypse party

that never

ever

ends.

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How To Select A New Hobby

  Starting a new hobby can be very rewarding and can help you relax. Have you been thinking about starting a new hobby?

If you're having trouble deciding which hobby is right for you, you may need some help in making the right choice. The good news is that there are several ways you can go about selecting a great hobby that will bring you a lot of joy and excitement. 

Here's a look at some of the best ways to choose a hobby that is right for you.

Photo by David Bartus

What Do You Enjoy?

One of the easiest ways to find out what will make a good hobby for you is to take a look at what you enjoy. The things that you currently enjoy may be just what you need to provide you with some insight into what you should be doing in your free time. 

For example, if you enjoy eating you could take a cooking class and learn how to cook new dishes in your spare time. If you enjoy writing poetry that could easily be turned into a new songwriting hobby by putting music to your words. If you are serious about it you can get a Singular sound studio to help you mix and loop songs.

The bottom line is that the things you love will provide you with clues as to what your hobby should be.

Go Back In Time

If you want to figure out which hobby would be best for you, go back in time and think about your childhood. Think about the things that you enjoyed as a child until you had to abandon them as an adult. They may be just what you need to start up again to have a hobby you enjoy. 

For example, if you enjoyed playing with dolls you might want to start collecting Barbies as a hobby. Whatever it is that you found interesting and still find yourself fascinated with as an adult,  may be what you need to focus on and start as a new hobby.

Find Your Personality Type

There are several tests you can take to find out your personality type. When you are aware of the type of personality that you have. You will be better able to access what type of hobbies will be right for you. 

Many personality tests will often suggestions hobbies you may enjoy based on your score. You can use these suggestions as a starting point for selecting your next hobby.

Start Your New Hobby

Finding a new hobby that you like is something that can bring you years of enjoyment. However, finding the right hobby can sometimes be challenging. 

You want to make sure that you have a hobby that will bring you joy and relaxation. This is why you need to take all the things discussed here into consideration when selecting your next hobby.

Remember to take a look at your childhood activities and even ask your parents about something that you enjoyed if you can't remember everything. It may trigger a memory that will lead to your next hobby.

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5 Alternative Easter Gift Ideas

 Another holiday is here and I am not afraid to admit that it has been a different holiday experience during this pandemic!

It has forced me to be creative, however, and that is always a positive in my opinion. I have thought of 5 alternative gift ideas for Easter 2022 and I am excited to now share them with you:

An Open Air Picnic And Easter Egg Hunt

The great thing about a spring holiday is that everyone is ready to get out into the fresh air and sunshine so a picnic in a park (or even your own backyard) is definitely a gift for everyone! Pack a light lunch or snacks and get out there! You can hide your easter eggs around and watch as the kids try to find all of them. A lovely day together is a gift everyone will remember.

A Child's Gardening And Bug Catching Guide

Since you will already be outside, keep that energy going and gift your child with the knowledge of everything around them. A guide to the different bugs you will see outside can take away the fear or misunderstanding of insects and teach your child about what they see in their environment. Have a little competition to see who can name the most insects correctly and maybe you can learn a little something, too. If your child prefers to learn about the different plants and flowers they see, a gardening and/or botany guide would be another great pick. There is also bird watching and animal guides in case they prefer that. There is lots to learn about out here and having a guide makes it fun!

A Memorable Piece Of Jewelry 

I know jewelry seems like a simple go-to gift for any holiday, but hear me out. Every memorable piece of jewelry I have received on a holiday has always been on a holiday that I was not expecting jewelry. 

    "Oh, you thought you were getting chocolate bunnies or a stuffed duck this Easter? WRONG. Here's a gorgeous gold rabbit brooch by AC Silver!"

Is this more of a gift idea for mom for Easter? Yes, yes it is.

A Disposable Camera And Trip Scrapbook

While I am sure that most older kids today already have a cellphone with a camera attached, a fun thing for little ones who do not is a disposable camera. They can take their own pictures, print them out, and then add them to their very own trip scrapbook. It helps kids open up their creative mind while giving them the satisfaction of seeing their creative work turn into a fun memory they get to keep. They could even start with your fun Easter Egg Hunt picnic I mentioned above!

Tickets To An Open Air Community Theater Event

With tours and shows being opened and then shut back down again, entertainment has been in a sort of limbo. Luckily, there are always community theaters in your town that perform in open air parks! Ask your gift recipient what type of show they would be interested in seeing and then grab some tickets if you can to surprise them with! It's a gift for Easter and it's a gift for in the future. A win all around if you ask me!

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Holidays have been different lately but we can always find a way to give gifts to the people we love. I hope these tips help you find the perfect gift this Easter holiday!

Finding New Goals For Your Hobbies

 Hobbies are good for our mental health and can help to build our personality. For a hobby to stay interesting, you need to keep finding new goals. If you’ve found yourself losing interest in a hobby or you simply feel your hobby doesn’t satisfy you as much, you should consider whether it’s time to set a new goal. Below are just 5 examples of goals for your hobbies.

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Learn New Skills/Techniques

Consider whether it’s time to go out of your comfort zone and learn new skills related to your hobby. There are always niche skills that can be learned. A few examples include:

• Expanding your piano skills by trying new genres like jazz or classical
• Improving your knitting skills by learning new stitches
• Learning how to grow new vegetables in your backyard

You can learn new skills by looking up tutorials online, getting paid lessons or reading handbooks. Work out what is the best form of learning for you.

Master How To Use New Equipment

There could be new equipment that you could buy to get more out of your hobby. Challenge yourself to master this equipment. Examples could include:

• Buying new camera lenses and learning to integrate them into your photography
• Buying new cake modelling tools to build your cake-making skills
• Buying a new effects pedal to use in your guitar-playing

Saving up for equipment could be a goal in itself. Make sure to research into equipment so that you buy the best equipment and keep it well maintained.

Build An Online Fanbase

Find an audience for your hobby by sharing videos, images or blog posts online. You can then challenge yourself to build followers by consistently posting engaging content. Examples of this include:

• Sharing images of sketches and paintings on Instagram and building followers
• Posting video reviews of great books you’ve read
• Writing educational/informational travel blog posts of places you’ve been to and amassing lots of loyal readers

Becoming an influencer could allow you to gain appreciation for your hobby, pass on knowledge and connect with fellow hobbyists. You could even monetize this following through options like sponsorships and ad revenue, which leads onto the next goal…

Monetize Your Hobby

Almost any hobby can be monetized. This could be a chance to earn an income - even if it’s just some money on the side - while doing something you love. A few examples include:

• Selling handmade jewelry online
• Becoming a paid soccer coach
• Making money from a beauty vlog via ad revenue and sponsorships

Monetizing your hobby requires understanding how to market yourself. You’ll likely need to build social media pages and launch a website using a platform like WooCommerce hosting. In other cases, it may benefit you to attend events such as craft fairs or paid competitions. Speaking of competitions…

Get Competitive

You may be able to compete with other hobbyists to win events or break records. Competition can be a great way to take your hobby to the next level. Examples could include:

• Playing video games in an online tournament
• Taking part in a chilli-eating competition
• Downloading a running app like Strava and competing with the performance stats of other users

Make sure that you understand the rules of competing. Set realistic competition goals so that you stay motivated - know your own ability. 

I hope these tips will help you find new goals for your hobbies. Add your own in the comments below!

Ambivalence

 uncertainty is

swallowing me

and I will

drown

in these words

unsaid

gasping as

I wonder

if I ever

knew 

how to swim

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How To Stay Active During The Winter Months

 As January comes to a close, you may be thinking of those New Year’s Resolutions you set at the beginning of the year and how sustainable they are. For many, trying to be more active in your day-to-day life is on the list of things to do this year. A big obstacle to overcome while staying active is finding motivation during the winter season. Those snowy and chilly days make it hard to want to go outside at all, let alone go outside to exercise, so here are three ways to help make staying active in the winter a bit easier: 

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Make Goals With A Partner

Enlisting the help of a workout buddy can help make staying active more exciting. It is easy to skip out on reaching your daily goals if you are on this journey alone, but having another person you are reaching these goals with will add a layer of accountability. Find someone that motivates you and makes going out in the snow worthwhile. It could be your work-best-friend and you go to the gym every day after work together, or it could be your neighbor and you take a long walk together in the mornings. Whoever it is and whatever you do, finding someone to make these activity goals with will have you looking forward to your workout plans. 

If you can’t meet up for every workout, use an app to connect with your fitness partner. Logging your workouts and stats can keep both of you motivated to continue exercising together and apart. If you are both competitive people, having a routine together can help keep you eager to reach your goals, especially on those solo days when you want to reach them first. A healthy competition with a workout partner is a great way to push you to reach your goals and keep each other accountable.

Create An At-Home Space

Not only does the snowy season impact your motivation to stay active, but the ongoing pandemic also takes a toll on your comfortability with working out in communal spaces. Creating a space at home for you to exercise safely and conveniently can help retain your motivation for working out all year long. Having a dedicated area, like a spare room, garage, or a place in your basement, can help you stay focused on your fitness goals regardless of the weather.

Dedicating an area to your own workout space can get pricey depending on what you want to do for exercise. Focusing on cardio or building muscle means having equipment like a treadmill or a set of weights, all of which can be expensive. Consider selling the furniture in the room you are transforming into your gym. That money you earn can buy the equipment you need. Selling that furniture will also help increase your motivation for working out in the room you specifically designed for your gym. Declutter any other dust collectors and items you no longer use to make some extra cash. If you are a homeowner, you may consider looking into how to refinance a mortgage to help put some money towards equipment for your fitness space. Finding ways to save gives you the opportunity to purchase the gym equipment that will help you stay excited about working out from home. However, not all plans work out perfectly. 

Have a Backup Plan

When creating a home gym is not an option for you, it’s time to get creative. If the roads are too snowy to hit your local gym, or your workout buddy isn’t available for your daily routine, getting inventive on how you can stay active can help you keep your momentum going. You can also find workout routines online that you can do from your home, with or without a home gym setup. By searching through thousands of home workouts, there is a good chance you will find some you like. 

Another way you can facilitate a workout without leaving your home is by making your chores an opportunity to exercise. In the winter, that can be especially easy to do on those snowy days you need to shovel. Shoveling is a great source of a cardio workout. You can even make doing your laundry a time for exercise by leaving a trail of the clothes you need to wash and making yourself go up and down the stairs to retrieve them until your washing machine is full. Adding extra steps to each of your chores that requires you to use your stairs or just gets you moving, in general, can be your workout on those lighter days. 

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There are many ways you can stay focused on your fitness goals even in the iciest of weather conditions. Finding what motivates you best will be the start to making exercise habits that can last a lifetime. 

4 Things You Must Do Before Starting Any Workout Plan

 You’ve decided to start a new workout plan, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. Some of you are starting your very first workout plan, which is a big step for you. Others are switching up workouts and going for something different. Either way, there are four essential things you need to do before you begin this journey:

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Get A Physical Examination From Your Doctor

This is one of those things that’s always recommended, yet most people avoid it for one reason or another. A lot of the time, you avoid it because you can’t be bothered and don’t think you need one. However, it is important to get a physical examination because you will learn of any underlying health conditions that might cause problems while you exercise. Also, if you have a physical and are given the all-clear, then suffer from a health problem and are later diagnosed with an issue that should’ve been picked up in your physical exam, you can use a medical malpractice attorney to gain compensation. So, it’s a good thing to do just in case the worst happens as you can take action to recover money for any medical bills. 

Set Your Personal Goals

What do you want to achieve from your fitness plan? Are you trying to lose weight, or do you want to gain muscle? Is there a more specific goal you have in mind, like being able to run a marathon? Do you want to get physically stronger, in which case you need to set strength goals? Having goals will help you feel motivated to carry on your workout routine and keep at it until you reach your goals. It can also help you plan your workout routine - if you want to lose weight, your workouts will look a lot different from someone that wants to get stronger. 

Make Sure You Know What You’re Doing

If you’re a complete fitness beginner, you need to ensure that you know what you’re doing when you work out. This might mean getting an induction in the gym, so you’re shown all the equipment, weights, and how to use everything. As a result, you can exercise with proper form, avoiding injuries. The same goes for anyone, no matter how experienced you are, you need to be sure that you know what you’re doing. If you have new exercises to do, practice them first, watch tutorial videos, and get comfortable doing them. It’s all about feeling safe and in control when you exercise, so take the time to get to know what you’re doing. 

Set A Healthy Eating Plan

Before you start your workout plan, you need to set a healthy eating plan as well. There’s no point working out if you have a terrible diet as the two will cancel each other out. Eating healthily will help you fuel your ambitions and see better results from your plan, keeping you as fit and healthy as can be. 

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Preparation is key when working out and getting fit. You need to prepare for your new workout plan to get the most out of it. Ensure you’re physically capable of handling the plan, be sure you know how to do all the exercises, set goals, and keep your diet healthy. From here, you can see the best results!