This is Part 2 of how I accidentally started my personal development journey. If you haven’t read Part 1, check it out here, How a Law of Attraction Planner Led to my Personal Development Journey
In Part 1, I discussed how buying a new planner led me to start my path of self-improvement. In the beginning, I wasn’t brave enough to dive into my “psyche” to learn “who I was” and I honestly didn’t have enough self-esteem to start creating goals. I seriously didn’t feel like I was “good enough” to create goals.
One day I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw an infographic with a list of self-help books. *LIGHT BULB* I realized I could make a goal of reading the list of books. It was a small goal (a SUPER small goal)… but it was a goal! On one of my handy-dandy bullet journal sheets in my semi-new planner, I pulled out my pretty pens and copied the list in bright colors, with little doodles, and a couple of stickers. I wrote down my goal in the “goals” section. Man, I was on a roll!
Where did I go from there? As I explored my planner, I discovered the power of gratitude and the impact of positivity on my mindset. I realized the importance of continuous learning, building a supportive community, and deepening my spiritual connection. Each step brought me closer to a more fulfilling, intentional life.
Be Grateful!
One of the very first concepts I learned about through the Law of Attraction and Manifestation was to be grateful for everything in your life. Be grateful for your house, your car, your clothes, your shoes. Be grateful for your family, your friends, your job, you co-workers. Be grateful you have access to electricity, running water, air conditioning, clean air. Be grateful the sun is shining, the weather is beautiful, the lizards are running around playfully, the wind is gently blowing, the plants are all green, the person in front of you smiled and said hello. Be grateful for life! Be grateful for your health, your positive attitude, or just the fact you have it better than other people. Be grateful for every single second in your life… you have so many more blessings in your life than you think.
Surround Yourself with Positivity!
I have always been a pretty positive, optimistic person, but during my research, I learned just how important it was to be positive. I started to work really hard to avoid any negativity. Unfortunately, social media is ridiculously overrun by negativity. People were attacking each other about vaccines and masks, political affiliations, religious differences, racial differences, etc. It was really depressing! One day, I’d had enough! I went to Instagram and typed “positivity” into the search bar and followed every positive-thinking person/entity I could find. If they had a positive message, I followed them. I filled my feed with positivity, motivation, and inspiration. I loved some of the quotes so much that I started writing them in different colors in my planner.
When I ran out of room on my daily sheets, I turned to the bullet journal sections. Eventually, I bought a bullet journal notebook just for my positive quotes. It was a total game-changer! Being surrounded by so much positivity put me in SUCH a better mood. The negativity I couldn’t get away from started to not bother me as much. If I felt down, I would reread the messages. The more positive I felt, the stronger and more resilient I became. Resilience! It’s a beautiful thing.
Find Books or Videos That Inspire You!
I started reading the books on the list (check out this blog article on the First Five Self-Help Books I Ever Read). The more I researched, the more books I found to add to my list. My “Books to Read” list is HUGE now! As luck would have it, the first two books I read were “The Alchemist” by Paola Coehlo and “The 5 am Club” by Robin Sharma. If you ever meet me in person, you will laugh because somehow every conversation I start with people always circle to these two books. They should be on everyone’s mandatory reading list. I learned that we should always be pursuing our “Personal Legend” and one of the ways to do that is waking up early.
The 5 am Club is my all-time favorite book and I get really, really excited when I start talking about it. A very short summary… wake up an hour earlier than you do now and spend 20 minutes of intense exercise, 20 minutes of meditation or journaling, and 20 minutes of reading/learning about something. This morning routine leads to greater productivity, health, and happiness. It is a GREAT book! Unfortunately, I already woke up at 5 am, so I had to make it the 4 am club. I truly thought it was impossible until I started doing it… I still wake up at 4 am, to this day… even on weekends.
Build Your Tribe!
Another thing I did was start making friends. I used to have a really hard time talking to people. I had a severe inferiority complex. There was a group of moms at my sons’ school that I thought were so amazing. They were always involved and always seemed so close and so happy. I was TERRIFIED of approaching them. One day I told myself that I was just as good as they were, and I slowly started talking to them. They are now my very best friends in the whole world. Our kids are in the same events and sports, and we all help each other out. I could not imagine my life without them. Build your tribe!
Discover Your High Power
I was never a super-religious person. I always wanted really badly to believe in God and be a good person… but I could never “connect” with anything spiritual. When I was researching the law of attraction, and manifestation, and following every positivity profile on Instagram and Facebook, I kept getting led to Wicca. All of a sudden everything made sense. It was like the music started playing, the lights started glowing, and the Goddesses started singing.
You will obviously find your own path but keep looking until you do. When I realized I’d found a spiritual practice that allowed me to indulge in my love of nature and animals (I won’t tell you how many plants I now have), that I could follow something that promoted “do no harm”, and I could play with candles and incense… all of a sudden, my life made sense and I found God. There are so many religious/spiritual paths, keep looking until you find one that makes sense for you.
Find Things That Make You Happy
I have always loved nature. My husband and I used to live really close to a large park with a 3-mile nature trail. I LOVED walking the trail. I loved the trees, the animals, and the peace. I always felt completely amazing (yes, a little sore… but amazing) afterward. We don’t live as close to the trail now, and since we have super busy lives it’s harder to drive there… but I bought a plant for my bedroom to remind me of the peaceful feeling of the forest. One turned into around 200+. I honestly stopped counting a while ago. My bedroom and living room closely resemble jungles. I love it!
Make Goals
Setting goals was one of the hardest parts of my journey. Seriously—it took me forever to make even the tiniest ones (other than reading that self-help book list). But eventually, I pushed myself to start small. I found a 30-day push-up challenge on Pinterest and thought, “Why not?” I started it—and crushed it! Then I moved on to a 30-day “Glow-Up Challenge” with squats, planks, Russian twists, crunches, lunges, knee pull-ins, and butt kicks. (Look, I’ve had six kids, so I had to skip the jumping jacks—my fellow mamas will understand.) But I totally rocked that one too!
Then, believe it or not, I signed up for a mud run. And yes—this girl who was terrified of heights actually scaled a rope wall. Wild, right? Every time I hit a goal, my confidence grew. I started stepping way outside my comfort zone and had some amazing wins—like making incredible friends, dropping 40 pounds, and even starting an online boutique. I also had a few flops—like when that boutique didn’t go anywhere. But through it all, I’ve had a blast and learned SO much.
Stay tuned for Part 3 to hear about the changes that resulted from transforming my mindset from someone with low self-esteem to someone who took charge and made BIG, BIG goals.