WAYS TO IMPROVE YOURSELF THIS SUMMER!

I have people from all over the world reading my blog!! and everything I write generally applies to everyone around the world but in todays post I will be talking about the seasons! yep!! SUMMER IS COMING!!! for us people in Australia and New Zealand but just because I’m writing about summer doesn’t mean you can’t apply these little tricks and tips to yourself!

So, without further adu

BRACE YOURSELVES PEOPLE!!! SUMMER IS COMING!! MY FAVOURITE TIME OF THE YEAR!

I get it..everyone is expected to turn off netflix, and go outside

“Wait…you mean, I’m meant to go OUTSIDE?! What is this world, how do I go outside? What am I supposed to do?”

Well…well…well… You have found yourself in the right place my friend!

Try to plan summer around bettering YOURSELF! and for those of you who read my blog and are from America, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you – you don’t need to have the sun to come out in order to better yourself!

HERE ARE MY TOP TIPS TO HAVE AN AMAZING SUMMER (or any season) AND BETTER YOURSELF!!

1. TRAVEL

Travelling to unknown places is fun…and sometimes scary but hey i’m all about getting out of your comfort zone. And no, I don’t mean flee the country and go overseas (but if you want to do that, i’m not stopping you) Go somewhere you wouldn’t usually go! Go to a waterfall, go for a random drive somewhere, go to another state and experience something new. You will learn so much and make a memorable experience

2. LEARN A NEW SKILL

I don’t need to know you personally to know that in free time your watching youtube videos on jerry springer and pretty little thing hauls or get ready with me or my fitness routine…you get the picture. Instead of doing that youtube ‘how to surf’ or ‘how to do KA RA TE’ or ‘how to learn spanish’ The world is your oyster.

3. SERIOUSLY…GET OFF YOUR PHONE

Go to the beach…or if your in another country and experiencing winter…build a snowman or read a new book!

4. WORK OUT

Yep…we all knew this one was coming, BUT instead of going to the gym to workout, go to the beach and workout! Go to the park and workout! try some yoga! or some hot yoga!

5. GO ON A HEALTH KICK

Yep!! Summer is the time where Mangos, Watermelon, plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines…you get the picture. Go on a juice cleanse! Literally nothing is better than a fresh, healthy, cold drink on a 40 degree day and you’re insides are also thanking you for it!

Summer for us Australians and New Zealanders is the perfect time to re charge! It’s the end of the year, christmas is coming, new years is coming! what better time to relax and try something new!!

Lots of people set expectations for summer, let it go! just enjoy the beautiful sun!!

It’s burning your thighs on your leather car seat season!!

HOW TO CREATE A LIFE OF SIGNFICANCE

“What must I achieve in life so that when I am old, I can look back on my life and be completely satisfied”

Deep question, right?

We ALL at some point ask ourselves this question.

We all do everything that we can so that we are satisfied but we are always left with the feeling that we are longing for something more, but we don’t know what that is? You’re probably nodding at the screen right now, right?!

Well my friend! Get a piece of paper and a pen and begin writing your 5 most fundamental values that you aim incorporate into your daily life

My 5 core values:

Love
Growth
Family
Passion
Excitement

These are the values that I try my very best to use to guide me to achieve my goals and keep me on track. I believe we all have a different set of unique values that we aim to use daily. However, these unique set of values you are not born with, nor to they appear overnight – they are built slowly through your experiences and choices.

We all want to leave our mark on the world and in order to have a meaningful life we have to master psychological wellbeing – but then the question comes up…what defines meaningful? Well..I can’t answer that for you BUT what I can do is type up this quote and you can figure it out for yourself…

“Define your priorities, know your values, and believe in your purpose”

I know that when I am old and grey and I look back at my life – I will find satisfaction in my life knowing that I lived with love, achieved my goals, provided an amazing life for my family, enjoyed all of the simple things, and didn’t get caught up in the bullshit of everyone else – only focusing on those important to me.

Some people may find satisfaction in making all of the money, and completing all of the degrees and driving all the flashy cars and living in the huge mansions

but hey, thats your story to figure out…not mine.

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count – it’s the life in your years”

COMFORT ZONE CHALLENGES

This year for me, has been one to test me! I have moved out of my comfort zone on many occasions where I have been shit scared and hey! I’m alive and well today and going through those experiences has built character for me.

Getting out of your comfort zone is an awesome thing even though it may be hard – but we all put that idea into our head! It’s all in the mind people!

Here I have found some comfort zone challenges that I want YOU to try – and believe me, I will be trying them too, cause, why not?

Drive around – turn your music UP and have a dance at the traffic lights – this will make other people laugh!
Take a really cold shower
Jump into a pool / ocean with your clothes on
Dress up in your nicest outfit, walk into a huge mansion and pretend to be rich
Unplug from socials for 24 hours
Make a fool of yourself on a night out on the dancefloor
Go to a wedding your not invited to
Go to the movies by yourself
Say yes to something you don’t like doing
Go to the airport and book the next flight out
Next time you make eye contact with a stranger – keep the eye contact until they look away
Wear an outfit that is different to your daily look
Enrol in that fitness class or that dancing class that you’ve always wanted to do
Take a selfie or a video in public
Face rejection – have that conversation you’ve been putting off
Eat by yourself at a fancy restaurant
Go to a karaoke bar and sing like your the best singer

Once you have read the list – pick 5 that scare you and do them! and after you’ve done the first 5 that scare you, finish off the list.

Getting out of your comfort zone can help you

♥ Deal with fear a lot better

♥ Learn new things about yourself

♥ Be able to enjoy the silliest things and laugh

♥ Become more disciplined

♥ Meet new people

♥ Helps you become mentally tough

In the past week, i’ve started to take up boxing at the gym and even though i’ve never done it before and I was scared people at the gym would be looking at me cause im (probably) doing it wrong! I went to the gym and did it and I don’t care if people look at me!!

So get out there and give it a shot! have some fun and let loose! For most of these challenges, you will probably never see the other people again!!

Be sure to send me your results and thoughts!!

GUIDE TO CONQUERING FEAR

I will be the one to admit that quite often I let fear control me and my attitude, I have never been mindful about that until this year when my oh so sweet partner made me aware of it.

Experiencing fear and being scared is great! It means you’re a human (congratulations!)

However, accepting fear and moving on with your life without any comprehension or reasoning can be seen by many people as you just being a ‘scaredy cat’.

Letting ridiculous fear paralyse you can be seen as you just living in your perfect bubble where nothing goes wrong but then again, I mean, swimming in an open ocean surrounded by sharks is far different from telling your crush that you like them!

The point is, in this day and age most fears are irrational and senseless, don’t get me wrong – yes we have fears of losing a loved one, or fears of something important going wrong in our life, but that’s not the kind of fear i’m talking about.

I’m talking about the fear to approach your annoying manager, the fear follow your passion because you won’t have the security your 9-5 job gives you, the fear to start something new because you don’t know what the outcome will be, or the fear to go to the gym alone because you ‘think’ people will be staring at you. At the end of the day, most of us are just staying still because we are scared about what will happen or what won’t happen.

Trust me, I experienced this literally last week – I got offered an internship but I didn’t take it because I would have to take 2 days off my day job and i’m not financially secure enough to be able to do that – I have bills to pay and a house to save for!

I also experienced this in Greece – I was so scared to jump off this huge cliff into the ocean but then I thought “what the hell Elissa!! why are you letting this stupid rock control you” I took the jump and it was so much fun!!!

You tell me which one of those fears I just mentioned is reasonable and which one is unreasonable.

HERE ARE MY TOP TIPS TO CONQUERING YOUR FEAR!

Understand your fear: Is it a reasonable fear? or is it an unreasonable fear? If it is reasonable – then well, take appropriate action on that, but if it is unreasonable – get rid of it! it’s dragging you down!
Let it play out: you will (hopefully) realise that sometimes, your emotions stress you out and hype you up more than the fear itself, it’s easy to get attached to all your thoughts and feelings that you think exist! You are not your fear
Learn to control it: Change your physiology, start with your breathing then change your stance – Stand up confidently and follow through with positive thoughts, focus on excellent achievements and the ‘what if?’ question.
Visualise it: visualise the success of overcoming your fear. One thing I always grew up hearing was ‘visualisation’, when I was competing as a gymnast, I would visualise myself doing a perfect routine over and over and over again! Mental visualisation ensures positive body movement!
Turn fear conquering into a deep rooted habit until it becomes your instinct: Change the concept of your fear the second you feel it coming on! It won’t happen overnight but with practice makes perfect

It’s mind blowing that something so imaginary can control a persons life and have a real, long lasting impact. Unreasonable fear holds you back from growing and achieving success!

THE IMPORTANCE OF SLOWING DOWN

Last week, Will and I had a conversation about slowing down.

Lately, we have just been going going going and expecting so much from ourselves and each other.

Expecting to be in a better position in life

Expecting to have more savings

Expecting to have assets

Expecting to go to the gym and workout

Expecting to have a better job

Expecting to be fulfilled in every aspect of life

I am 21 and Will is 23 – at the age it’s only normal to expect yourself and your partner to be in so and so position.

We expect TOO much for ourselves

We work too hard, we stress too much, and we are not enjoying life.

I always talk about how to be present and in the moment and in all honesty – it’s hard! I have to make a conscious effort to be in the present moment because theres always expectations in the back of our mind

But how can we be fulfilled in life when we spend 50+ hours working?

Our priorities are SCREWED sometimes.

There is not such thing as perfection. When you think everything is perfect something comes up and screws you right up the butt. It’s up to you to find the perfection in what you do.

Relationships are not perfect – but it’s up to you to find and create the perfection in your relationship

Work is not perfect – but it’s up to you to create perfection by doing what you love

Life is not perfect! – but it’s up to you to create your own perfection in life

We live our lives thinking that nothing is wrong with the generic system of life – we think that the natural progression of humankind is to maximise efficiency, but if there is nothing wrong why are SO many people unhappy and filled with anxiety.

We are at a day and age where we burn with fury if our internet doesn’t load within 2 seconds, we are checking social media 25 times a day, we lose sleep over upcoming things.

We put pressure on ourselves because we have a certain expectation – get rid of the expectation and just live through it.

Our lives feels like a race because we compare ourselves to others, we look at others who are married, own a house or two, have kids, they are fit, they have their dream job.

Who says that’s what perfection is? Who says those people are happy? Who says this is security?

We are running a race that doesn’t exist.

What I learnt on the weekend is that certainty doesn’t exist – anything could happen at any point and we have to be prepared for pain to strike at anytime and if we are not prepared – we are going to fall flat on our ass.

By slowing down, quitting the race and lower our expectations – we are open to possibility, we are open to whatever gets thrown at us and we are prepared to deal with the seasons of life.