How To: Self-Motivation And Decision-Making

Photo Credit: Prince Meyson

"Adorn yourself, not with silver nor gold, but with strength and dignity." - Unknown

Am I the only one who talks to herself? No? Great!
I have found myself to be a strong source of motivation to myself. When I'm going through stuff that I can not properly explain to someone, I assess things myself and talk some sense into myself. Sometime, I'll be like "You can do this Rae, stop whining." Then I'll turn around and catch my mum looking at me like "Are you okay?" Hahahaha...the struggle.

Self-motivation is simply the way we(individually) motivate ourselves without any help from some other person. Although the upside of motivating yourself is that you have some level of privacy as you alone know what you are going through, and you can get that 'refill' of motivation whenever you are running low on it, the downside is that you have to be strong, determined, and sure that you can do it by, and for, yourself.

You have to be strong because it gets lonely handling everything on your own: going through life, living through all those emotions, and having to be objective when it comes to making some tough decisions. You have to be strong enough to be truthful to yourself on every level and concerning every matter or else, you will only end up getting yourself more worried than you were in the beginning.

You have to be determined to the extent of being ready to do it despite the negative thoughts that might creep into your head sometimes. You are the one going through everything so you will have all these emotions flowing inside. Make up your mind that you will do what will be best for you in the long run. If you don't, you will end up making decisions that work in the short run, but will make things difficult for you in the long run.

Having decided on all that, you have to find what works for you. Mine ranges from sorting through my emotions over a cup(or 2) of ice cream to preparing myself to make big decisions by doing chores around the house(doing chores calms me.) You have to find what calms you because you need a clear head to help you motivate yourself and make the best decisions.

Here are things you can try to prepare yourself to motivate yourself and make decisions:
• Take a walk, long or short, to clear your head.
• Go for an exercise.
• Write motivational quotes and hang them around your house.
• Try something new, you will be inspired to make that tough decision after.
• Sleep.(One of my favorites.) You will have a clear head once you wake up.

I hope this post is as helpful as I wanted it to be. If you have any more tips to add or you have problems motivating yourself, do use the comments section below or the 'Quick Message' section on the right👉🏾(if you are viewing this on the web version.)
Have a great weekend!
With love...


- The Lady

P/s: Thanks to those who have been sending in questions and suggestions. You have all been very helpful.

“Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”

2 Corinthians 9:15

That Thing Called Low Self-Esteem

Photo Credit: Author's

"You have a future and a hope." - Paul Oon

So, I met someone this week and we had one of those conversations that get you thinking about life. You see, we met while at an event and got talking about makeup at first, but somehow, the conversation moved to the subject of personal growth.(I can't help it, I always find myself trying to talk people into consciously working on making themselves better.)🙈

Anyway, while talking with her, she kept saying "I'm not that type of person..", "I'm not good at...", "I'm okay with the way I am", and all that. But some minutes earlier, she had said "I wish I can make enough money to dress like her" while admiring a lady who had just come into the event venue.

One of the biggest setbacks that people face is their lack of belief in themselves and low self-esteem. You can't expect to move forward if you don't believe that you can. You can't expect to be the best if you don't believe that you are or that you can be the best. If you have even the tiniest of low self-esteem, there are some habits you can adopt to get yourself on the right path.

• Adopt the habit of thinking positively about yourself. One of the best ways of doing this is reading books on building self-esteem and living a positive life. You can study the habits of people who don't have self-esteem issues and adopt some of them that fit your life.

• Surround yourself with the kind of people you want to be like and be honest with them about what you are going through. Yes, this might take a lot of courage and a beating on your already low self-esteem if they don't give you the response you want. But what have you got to lose?

• Accept your 'flaws' and try to find ways to keep improving yourself and your self-esteem. Enjoy the process no matter how hard it is, be gentle with yourself if you don't see immediate results, but never stop trying to get better.

No personal growth journey began and ended in a day. The beauty of it is in the struggle...they make for the best stories.

Did you at any point suffer low self-esteem? How did you or anyone around you conquer low self-esteem? Please drop your comments in the section below, someone needs the knowledge you have.
With love...


- The Lady

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

Philippians 2:3-4

Protect Your Happiness

Photo Credit: Hair God

"In a world full of trends, I want to remain a classic." - Iman

The situation of things in the world, especially the economic and political climate, has put a cloud over people's lives to the point of frustrating a lot of people. I can't begin to count the number of times I have heard "Hmmm, this life don taya me"(I am tired of this life.)

That type of resignation is enough to push people to the extremes. And I am tired of seeing people that way. That leads me to the purpose of this post which is to try to remind people of, and inspire people to, give happiness a chance to rule their lives and get them excited about living. These could help:

• It lies in your hands to create your happiness. I keep telling people this, you run your life, not the government nor any other person. Even if some of the government's policies are not favourable to the ordinary man, nothing stops you from creating the life you want for yourself. And in turn, creating your own happiness. It is all in your hands.

• Stop being around negative people and surround yourself with positive-minded people. The longer you hang around negative people, the more their energies, thoughts and opinions will cloud your own and pull you deeper down that awful road. But being around positive people will inspire you to make the best of the life you live.

• Daily remind yourself of things that make you happy and inspire you to live. Doing this will help give you a reason to keep going. You really should not give up on yourself, your happiness, and your life when you have reasons to be happy and to live for.

• Live in, and enjoy the present as much as you can. The past and all its bleakness is gone. Live in the moments and enjoy the present. This will give you the necessary excitement to prepare for the future and all its possibilities.

• Still unhappy? Start laughing! Yes, people might think you have gone crazy, but darling, the opinion of the world doesn't matter until you are happy and satisfied with your opinion and outlook on life. So go on, be happy and excited about life. It's yours after all!

I hope this post helps you get through today and every other day. Got any tips to share? Do drop them in the comments section below.
Have an awesome weekend!


- The Lady

“O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.”

Psalms 95:1-2

Health Is Life(And Wealth)

Photo Credit: Author's

"It is not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It's necessary." - Mandy Hale

Some days ago, on Thursday to be exact, I fell ill. I refused to accept that I was ill.*rolls eyes* I just went on with my plans for the day like one superhero. By Friday morning though, I had to pause as I could not hide the symptoms anymore. You can only ignore an illness for some time, it won't magically disappear(as science shows).

Left to me, I would have gone on with my plans for Friday as I had a job to go to, but my mum did not listen. We fought about it, with me wanting to go to work and begin taking medications during the weekend, and her wanting me to stay home, rest, and take care of myself. Long story short, we both compromised. I ended up going to work, after I had begun taking medications and resting a little.

At the time I was trying to convince my mum about how I did not want to fail my client by calling in sick 'just because of a simple illness', that sensible part of me was giving me a serious side eye and giving me reasons why I had to keep quiet and do what my mum said. But, for where?! Stubborn me?

I gave in though, long enough for the Nurse to check on me and prescribe medications for me. As soon as I had taken the medications and rested for a while, I ran off to work. Yes, I showed up at work. Yes, I executed my duties. But, was I at my best? No. I did not give it my all as I was trying to do my job to the best of my ability while hiding my illness from everyone.

Now, I know that there are some people like me(and worse than I am) out there who would choose to finish up with work before they begin taking care of themselves rather than stay in and call in sick. But, is that really necessary? Is your life not important or is the work worth more than your life?

Nature has a way of humbling us. No matter how much we want to be superhuman, we can only do so much when we are ill. All the work we do would mean nothing if we exert ourselves to the point of death. At that point, we would have ended up failing ourselves, our families, and every one who cares about us.

Though it did not get really bad, I have learnt not to ignore the needs of my body for the sake of some job. I got that job because of my client's confidence in my ability to perform. But while ill, that ability is diminished to some extent. Thankfully, the job went well. But, for my sake, the sake of my family and loved ones, I will do better at taking care of myself.


- The Lady

“O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.”

Psalms 95:1-2

7 Ways To Optimize The Last Months Of 2016

Photo Credit: Author's

"Don't settle. Don't finish crappy books. If you don't like the menu, leave the restaurant. If you're not on the right path, get off it." - Chris Brogan

November is here!!!
Yes, the year is almost over. For some, it's almost time for another holiday. But really, it's time to reflect on the ending year. Taking stock, some of us might feel like we have 'wasted' one year(again!). But don't fret. It's not over yet. With a little determination and hard work, we can make good use of the last 2 months. Here's how:

• Set your goals for the time left of the year. Be realistic about your expectations for the next 2 months. Set achievable goals. This not the time for making 'wishful goals'. Write down all those goal, including strategies for achieving each goal. 

• Write a to-do list for each day based on your strategy for each goal. Before bed each day, go back to your goals and plans your to-do list for the next day. This way, you can be focused and make good use of each day.

• Put a plan in place to get back on course in case you slip or get distracted. We are human, so there's a possibility of us getting distracted. It's best to plan ahead taking into consideration any event of distraction. That said, put plans in place to help you check, once or twice daily, if you are still on track with your goals.

• As part of your to-do list, put a 10-15minutes challenge that will motivate you to continue with your plan. This I 'borrowed' from one of the members of Forbes list of billionaires class of 2016. It is almost impossible to stay motivated through the day. So when you are preparing your to-do list for the day, set out time to reflect on what motivates you or your daily affirmation. This helps inject some fresh motivation into your day to keep you going. This also means that when you feel low on motivation, even before the time you have set, take a break and motivate yourself.

• Get an 'execution buddy'. This is someone you trust to realise those goals with you, or get you back on course when you start getting distracted. The purpose of this is to keep you accountable to someone other than yourself. This is one of the best things you can do to optimise the remaining 2 months.

• Network! Okay. This may not be necessary for everyone based on our goals. But don't let the year end without you meeting someone new. A strong network is as valuable, if not more valuable, than cash. So get to meet people. Join business networks such as WIMBIZ(they have a conference coming up!) or any other network community that fits with your goals. Don't dull on this one o!

• Go out to relax with friends and try to speak to at least one stranger. Take some time off to relax, and while at it, strike a conversation with a stranger. You may not see again, but you would have enjoyed an interesting conversation. From personal experience, I have learnt that spontaneous conversations with strangers has helped give me a different perspective on things. So why not learn from someone you don't know and won't see again?

Got anymore tips on how we can make great use of the remaining months of 2016? Do drop it in the comments section below. We would love to get more.
Love...


- The Lady

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”

Psalms 18:2