We all go through moments in life when we face an existential crisis; the moments when we question the meaning of life, our purpose, and everything involved. We become so uninspired or tired that we miss that zing in our lives; that flame of passion, that spark. Everything loses color and becomes dull and monotonous.
We might be going through the motions of our life, but we wonder each day, ‘Are we really living our best life?’ And we know the answer to that. But we don’t know what is wrong and how to fix it. We don’t know how to reignite that spark inside us, in our lives. This past year has been a difficult one for many, and you may be wanting to get back the spark you misplaced during the last year.
When you are feeling low and lost, here are some effective ways to help you reignite the flame of passion within you.
How to re-ignite the spark inside you
1) Create and unleash the hidden spark
Everyone has a creative soul inside. There’s no such thing as not creative. We all have different forms of creative expression, and it is when we start suppressing those expressions we start to suffer.
So, the first step to reigniting that spark is to create. Start a new hobby, or maybe start journaling. That’s because journaling your thoughts out really helps in nurturing the creative part of your brain.
2) Connect and get inspired
When we fall into a monotone in life, we often withdraw ourselves from people around us. In other words, we stop connecting and developing bonds, which ends up starving our souls.
Connecting with others is food for the soul. So, get out of the house and go and meet people. Go to a café and talk to some of your friends, or if you are the outgoing type, start a conversation with someone you don’t know. Share your emotions with your closest ones and you will feel light and free.
3) Contribute
Charity begins at home. When you are feeling lost or stuck in a rut, or depressed for any other reason, get out of your house and do something for others. Something that is not focused around you.
When you contribute to the greater good of society, you immediately feel better because there is joy in connecting and contributing to the welfare of others. You don’t have to go and donate your entire salary; it can be something as simple as helping a blind man cross the road, or feeding the stray dogs. Anything that makes you feel useful and important.
4) Clear
It’s important to continually check in with yourself and cut out anything that is no longer favoring you. When you get stuck in the same negative mindset, or with the same toxic people, you automatically start feeling down.
It’s time to do a spring cleaning in life. Get rid of the objects, people, ideologies that wear you out instead of lifting you up. Bring about a change in your mindset, and eliminate all those things that contribute negatively to your aura.
5) Dream
It’s so easy for us to settle in life while trying to be content with what we have. It’s good to be grateful for what you have, but it’s also your right to dream and chase them. Once in a while, it’s okay to let your thoughts run wild and dream of something better than what you have right now.
Every great idea was initially but a dream. When you dream, you let yourself want things that are beyond your reach, and when you work hard for it, you improve yourself. Not all dreams come true, but the growth you attain in the process of fulfilling your dreams is always a positive factor in your life. Dreaming is essential for personal growth and development as well as personal fulfillment.
To conclude
So, the next time you are stuck or tired of life, or feel like something is amiss but don’t know what, follow these steps to create, connect, contribute, clear, and dream! They are sure to get you out of your blues and reignite that lost spark within you. All you have to do is be proactive and take action to get rid of your blues.
What are your thoughts on the same? Do you have something to add? Drop your views and suggestions in the comments below.
Everyone has an inner child, the more vulnerable yet carefree part of your being. However, often, with the arrival of adulthood, we feel that we need to suppress this childlike part of ourselves in the efforts of being more mature. The concept of the inner child is one most people don’t even think about after they sometimes hit school age. Growing up does not necessarily mean forgetting how to live freely.
You should never fail to honor your heart’s desires. Your inner child is meant to reflect in your personality. If you spend time with your inner child, you can often achieve your desires much quicker and easier.
I’ve been told quite often I wear my inner child energy on my sleeve, and sometimes it’s hard to reign it in!
Wondering how you can do that? Read on!
7 effective ways to let your inner child out
Here are 7 ways you can nurture and heal your inner child back to health
1)Stop bottling your emotions
As adults, we often tend to swallow our feelings and act all tough and mighty in order to portray our strength. But, bottling up our emotions tends to make them even stronger, leading to a violent outburst. Sometimes we do have painful experiences we try to bury and its actually important to create a safe space to make the connection with your inner child and let them know it’s ok.
Growing up has nothing to do with suppressing our emotions, and everything to do with how we acknowledge them. The way we act on emotions changes the outcomes. Emotions are meant to be felt and expressed freely. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
When we push our emotions down, we are going against the natural principle and hence preventing forward motion, thus choking any or all emotional growth. When we push the emotions down, this can have a negative impact on our mental health.
This is something I’ve had to work very hard to learn as we didn’t show and express our emotions growing up. As an adult, I have worked very hard to ensure my girls know how to express their emotions and understand how to let them out.
2)Open up conversations with yourself
There are several ways to do this. But, here’s the recommended one –
Write a letter to your inner child, sparking up an honest dialogue with your own self. Dig deep within to find any issues you need to heal; acknowledge certain times of hardships and make peace with yourself. You often must try parenting your inner child because when we do, we can help it understand and create an environment that feels safe for reconnection.
When you start addressing the feelings you have been suppressing, you will realize you are now on the way to emotional growth. Having self-talks is one of the most important steps on the road to positive change.
3)Practice being honest
As children, we were always taught not to lie. However, as we grew up, we were taught something new – that it’s sometimes better to lie than to divulge the ugly truth.
So, which is it? When we don’t speak our mind and lie, we are shushing up our inner child which only knows honesty. Of course, that doesn’t mean we should state unpleasant things to our boss about their attire. As a grown-up, we know the difference between being mean and being tactful. When needed, we should be honest yet tactful, building transparency and healthy communication in our interpersonal relationships.
4)Bring back your childhood glow
You must be wondering, “How can I bring back my childhood glow?”
Well, it’s easy. When we were children, lives used to be much simpler and happier. As we grew up, responsibilities burdened us, slowly robbing us of our happiness. But these are not responsibilities to be shirked off. We also may have childhood memories we didn’t let affect us as children, but sometimes come back to haunt us when we grow older. It’s important to recognize and acknowledge these feelings and memories to move forward.
Solution?
Make time in your daily routine for the small joys of life, like playing games with your children, treating yourself to ice cream on a Sunday, and so on. Relaxation and happiness are essential for your mental well-being, and by allocating enough time for small but fun activities, you slowly bring back your childhood glow.
5)Make the effort to be more spontaneous
Our childhood was happier because it was marked by spontaneity, that excitement of not knowing what’s next.
As adults, we now pre-plan and pre-pre-plan every day, even weeks. When I talk of bringing back spontaneity, I’m not asking you to be irresponsible. There are ways you can be both spontaneous and responsible, and the perfect balance is what really lets your inner child thrive.
For instance, you can go on a trip on a weekend to discover hidden gems in your city, without much planning. Having a spontaneous day out exploring new things will surely lead to great little adventures of your own. Life is more fun when you are spontaneous and a little wild.
6)Journaling to get in touch with your inner child
Journaling is a terrific way to think through and sort out problems. When you journal to get to know your inner child better, you are opening up an imaginary door to your soul. If your childhood harbors some sort of negative experience, journaling can be a great way to make your peace with it and to be more in touch with your inner child in general.
The most important thing to remember when you are journaling is to keep an open mind and not judge. Sometimes, what comes out on paper may not make any sense or seem crazy, but trust that it’s correct and necessary. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.
7)Practice self-care
Learning to put yourself first is the very essence of letting your inner child thrive. You deserve to be treated with the same love and compassion with which you treat others. Practice self-care and make yourself your #1 priority.
For example, you don’t have to feel guilty about not attending a meeting because you were tired and overwhelmed. Cut yourself some slack and loosen up. There’s a reason when you are on an airplane they tell you to put your oxygen mask on first before helping others. If you don’t care for yourself first, you can’t give anything to anyone else, this includes your inner child.
To conclude
The child within you needs love and attention, and when your inner child thrives, you find true happiness. So, go on, use these tips to work on nurturing your inner child in every aspect of life, and bring back that spark within you.
That’s all from my side. What are your thoughts on the same? Feel free to drop your views and suggestions in the comments below.
We all want to achieve our targets, we all want to be productive and kill the day. You know as well as I we all have the same 24 hours. But what really stops us are some little things that waste plenty of our time.
But before getting down to action, we need to open our eyes to recognize them.
Well, let me help you understand some of those things you might be doing to waste your precious time during the day.
20 things that waste your time during the day
Scrolling social media
Well. How can it not be on our list when it’s the #1 culprit? Sometimes it’s good to unplug and relax, but not at the expense of everything on your list!
Watching TV
It’s good if it is to refresh yourself after a hectic day, but if you are doing it all day, you know it is highly concerning. This goes for having the tv on in the background on a low volume as well. It can distract your attention and keep your train of thought from actually fully forming.
Not having a meal plan
When you don’t know what you are going to cook, you would not only be wasting your time thinking but also getting the ingredients ready. This applies to all meals of the day and even snacks! I found when I implemented this into my home, I didn’t need to struggle and think every night. I also didn’t waste extra time at the grocery store.
Neglecting the importance of a to-do list
A to-do list can save your day by keeping a tab of the tasks you are supposed to do. And also keep you away from the tasks which aren’t nearly as important or necessary. It also helps to keep you from getting distracted when the task gets hard! I always refer back to my list when I don’t want to do the hard things, and try to do them first.
Procrastinating
We’re all pro at this but let us face the fact here. When you procrastinate things for tomorrow out of indolence, you are only adding more to your schedule.
Not getting all groceries in one go
It’s easy, multiple visits mean more wastage of time. This goes hand in hand with the meal plan, if you have it, you will know what you need when you visit the grocery, and be able to grab everything you need at once. This one is super hard for me as our plans and needs for how many people will be over changes every day. Sometimes my husband is traveling and sometimes he has late meetings that involve dinner. Most of these things I don’t know but a few days before they happen.
Refusing to adopt new technologies
Bearing our love for old-school things, we forget that advanced technologies make our work easy. So, if you can afford it, go for it. This also includes hiring help to do the things you could learn, but would take much longer than letting someone else do them.
Multitasking
When you shift your focus on multiple things, you won’t only be compromising with the quality, but also run the risk of doing it all over again if something goes wrong. I find when I multitask, as simple as trying to respond to a text while typing something else, I lose my train of thought and waste more time.
Being unorganized
It does nothing more than making a mess of things. A little organizing can help here. When I’m unorganized I feel my brain is also unorganized. If things are too cluttered, I can’t think and can only focus on getting organized before doing anything else.
Delegating
Delegation is an important managerial tool. You get to focus on more key issues rather than wasting your time on trivial ones. Delegating also allows you to have the time and space to do things you want and are good doing, versus trying to do all the things, all the time.
Doing things in variation
Doing tasks of different nature would only direct your mind to readjust, therefore, it is good if you do tasks first that are similar in nature. This could be the reason why some people are great work from home people and why others can’t let the laundry or dishes sit while they have a mini break thinking they can accomplish more.
Not focussing on actions
As easy as ABC, we can ponder over a million things without getting into action. Forbid yourself from that and save time.
Succumbing to distractions
Phones are not only the greatest distractions, but casual munching or even an unnecessary conversation can take up much of your valuable time when you are short of it. I sometimes delegate specific times of the day, especially the afternoons, to have conversations I know will take my attention. If I try to have them during the morning, my most productive time, I will have so much distraction for the rest of the day.
Uncherished relationships
We tend to waste our time and energy on people who have no regard for us, just because we are scared of being alone. In this regard, please spare yourself the time and toxicity, please. This also applies to family members and friendships as well as business relationships. I learned the hard way last year, and honestly feel so much better and lighter emotionally now that I’ve released some of these.
Mindless working
There’s no use in working if you can’t give your attention to it. Devote yourself, otherwise, you either won’t witness good results or would have to go through it again. If you can’t do the mindless work, and give your attention, find someone who can, and outsource it!
Overwhelming yourself with tasks
You have to be realistic when you are setting targets. You can’t overburden yourself and end up doing almost nothing due to the stress and load of it.
Not being intentional
Being intentional is to know why you are doing what you are doing. If you are clueless, you rather not waste your energy doing the task. If you need help with learning how to be intentional, check out this post here.
Not knowing the hacks
There are simpler and convenient ways of doing things – whether it is cleaning or something else. Become a Mr-know-it- all here. Look for some hacks, swear by them and save time.
Always saying yes
Trust me, saying yes to everyone can be the death of you. Learn to say a no when you know you have so much on your plate.
Operating without a plan
Having a plan means, less thinking and more actions, and as we said before, actions matter more than thoughts.
Last but not least
We do not need to tell you time is precious. Do not waste it away. However, at the same time, allow us to tell you this – do not operate like a robot. Do not forget yourself in the middle of it.
Phone calls, long runs, and time management are just a few of the things that can waste huge amounts of time during the day. In fact, studies have shown that we spend an average of 30 minutes each day on activities that are considered to be time wasters. This includes checking our emails, answering our phones, and planning our meals. While some of these activities may seem innocuous, they can quickly add up and take away from our free time. So, if you’re looking to make better use of your time, be aware of these potential time wasters and try to limit your exposure to them. By doing so, you’ll find that you have a lot more time to enjoy the things you love.
We ditched traditionalism to embrace digitalism, and it seems the world has changed.
But what still remains the same is the clutter and the dire need for organization. That is to say, our documents may have moved from our cabinets to our computer folders, but they still need organization. Otherwise, we’ll all be staring at a thousand emails, or images only to struggle with storage issues, not to mention focus and productivity as well.
Therefore, here’s how you can master the skill of digital decluttering. Just sit back and read along.
How to organize digital clutter
1. Unsubscribe
How to Organize Digital Clutter
We are all in the same boat in this regard; our mail app finds itself clogged by a thousand unwanted mails. Wondering how such emails reach your mail id in the first place?
Well, thank yourself, because mostly you are the one to subscribe to them unconsciously every time you visit a website and register yourself on it.
But don’t worry, here’s how you can undo it.
You just have to hit the unsubscribe button. Every mail carries an unsubscribe button along with it. Most commonly, it is at the bottom of the mail. However, you can also find it at the top sometimes.
2. Images
Our galleries are stuffed with unnecessary images. Be it old screenshots or just hundreds of pictures in the same pose.
But, if you want to be free of digital clutter, you have to get rid of them.
Here are a few tips for you.
Organize your images. Sort them, and add them to the folders they belong in.
You can start by deleting images that look more or less the same.
Go from folder to folder. Head to screenshots first. Look closely, and delete the unnecessary ones.
Switch off auto-download for images and videos.
Make it a habit that every time you receive an important image, you add it to your favorites or at least mark them. It will help you retain important images and get rid of the useless ones easily.
Use cloud storage services like google drive or iCloud.
3. Applications
Our phones provide shelter to a lot of apps that we never used or do not use anymore. It’s time to bid our goodbyes to them.
Start by getting rid of apps you do not ever use. Then head to those which you seldom use.
Furthermore, if you happen to be an IOS user, there’s an offload feature that allows you to get rid of an app you seldom use and automatically store its data when you reinstall it.
4. Organize your desktop
Our desktops are usually filled with gazillion apps and icons. It’s time to organize them for your own convenience.
It will involve lots of sorting, creating folders, and storing the data in them for an efficient organization.
5. Music library detox
I don’t know about you, but hundreds of songs consume significant space on both my phone and laptop. And I guess, you too must not be a stranger to the crowd.
Therefore, start by deleting songs you don’t listen to anymore. You can also go for music streaming apps like Spotify and Apple Music and stream music instead of downloading them to spare your phone from potential storage issues.
6. Clear junk/temporary files
How to Organize Digital Clutter
Every time you visit a website, you end up storing cookies and caches. They are nothing but a burden on storage. Therefore, do not think twice before deleting them.
For laptops – Open the Run app by searching it in the taskbar. Type in %temp% and delete everything.
For iPhone- Delete website data for safari, and clear app cache from apps individually. PS. Only some apps, say Amazon, allows you to clear cache in the app itself.
For android – You just have to head to your storage and file settings.
Last but not least
It might be a tedious task to de-clutter, might even take a whole day or more than that. But it’s just one time, then you’ll be mess-free and stress-free.
Hey, feel you have some tips to share? We’re all ears. Feel free to head to the comment section.
If it takes a minute to earn money, it can take less than 30 seconds to lose all of it. In simpler words, it is difficult to earn money but easier to lose all of it.
But this is when financial management comes to your rescue. In a nutshell, financial management is to manage the finances of a firm. And in this case, you are the firm. You are the CEO, who must excel in the skill of financial management to be the guardian of your own money.
But the question still remains, how do you do that? How do you manage money like a CEO? Well, here’s how.
How to manage your money like a CEO
1. Take responsibility
You are the proprietor of your own money. You get to decide where to spend it and how much of it to spend.
That being said, you are the shareholder in benefit when the firm earns profit, and you are the one that incurs losses if things go south.
In simpler words, you have to accept that when you are the CEO of your money; you’re the one accountable for everything.
2. Define roles
A household is not just operated by one single person, much like an organization. There are other key professionals equally sharing the workload and responsibilities. In the context of a firm, it is the CEO, COO, and CFO.
A CEO might be the highest authority, but in a household, they can simply be the person who takes the charge of everything and directs others for a profitable and manageable household.
Much like A COO of the company, a COO of the house can be the one who takes care of the day to day operations.
A CFO, lastly, can act as a consultant to the finances of the house.
3. Creating a management system
It all comes down to management. Bearing a close resemblance to the management of a firm, a household can simply function like this.
Strategic management – It involves formulating strategies, analyzing the risk involved, monitoring them post-implementation to your household.
Operation management – It involves operating with an approach that yields profits, but most importantly, induces a systematic efficiency across all the levels of management of the household.
Financial management – It is backed by an objective to earn profits. It requires analysis of finances, including analysis of ROI, risk determination, and consistent monitoring.
Human Capital management – It involves boosting both the productivity and morale of the persons concerned in the household for greater optimization.
4. Budgeting and Savings
An efficient budget planning is the one that results in higher savings. In simpler terms,
An efficient budget produces, S (Savings) = I (Income) – E( Expenditure)
Apart from that, it also involves the decision and strategy that involve retaining and investing. That is, when you know you are saving money, you can simply retain it or invest it in assets (for your household) that directly or indirectly provide you a higher ROI.
5. Projecting
A plan can induce smooth functioning only until things are in your favor and the market is soaring. However, they are both susceptible to change.
That being said, projecting is much like speculation, only this time you are prepared and mindful of future expenditure, contingencies, and losses while creating a plan. Furthermore, it is imperative that you make moderations to the plan while adapting to the market changes when the hard times come.
In the context of the household, it is projecting future expenditures and contingencies to make greater adjustments to your budget for bigger savings.
6. Allocating resources
How to manage your money like a CEO
You now have the plan, you know where to invest being cognizant of the risk and changes, it is time to finally put the plan in action, i.e. Allocate your funds.
And if you have some money still left, you can put it in your savings or create an emergency reserve.
Last but not least
Financial management can be perceived as a very complicated affair, but it’s not. You just have to be mindful and speculative at the same time.
Hey, what are your thoughts on money management? How do you do that? Do you think there might be some tips you can share? We welcome you to our comment section.
Everyone dreams of being successful. However, only some of those dreams turn into realities. All because success isn’t a fruit that you can simply pluck out of a tree. It takes hard work, dedication, motivation, and whatnot.
But what brings all of these pillars of success together is a routine. Following a routine can help you to be systematic and organized, thereby bringing you much closer to your dream.
Therefore, if you are looking forward to creating an effective routine for yourself, here’s everything you should know.
How to Establish a Routine for Success
Identify your goals and your WHY
When we are talking of success, then there’s no way we can skip talking about goals. Precisely because they drive you towards success.
Setting goals is easy, but before that, you have to identify them. But, how do you identify them? By asking yourself what it is that you want.
Furthermore, asking yourself, do you want it bad enough? Are you ready to reach the end of the earth for it?
If yes, then comes, why do you want it?
When you have answered all these questions, and come to a conclusion. My friend, that is your goal. That is something you have to work for.
Start small
It is good to be enthusiastic at the beginning. However, starting with greater and challenging tasks in the zeal isn’t a good idea.
That is to say, you have to be realistic, and you have to be slow at least in the beginning. If you do otherwise, you’ll be exhausted and lose motivation in a short period of time. Which I bet, is something you do not want.
Therefore be patient, start small, if you think you have conquered easy and small tasks, head to the next level of difficulty.
Break down your goals
Having one long term goal is good, but breaking down this one big goal into smaller ones is an even better option.
Wondering how? Here are all the reasons why.
It won’t feel like a decade to you.
You will be focussing on the present, rather than living in the future.
You’ll be motivated throughout. You might be losing motivation, but also gaining it on the fulfillment of a short goal.
Weekly, monthly, or yearly, that’s your call to make. However, our recommendation is that you go monthly.
Make every day contribute
A day might seem just a day. However, it can still be of significant contribution to your short term goals.
That is to say, doing even little every day can make it all easier in the end. You would not only be avoiding the last-minute rush, but you would also be practicing consistency. Ensure everyone is on board with your plan to make sure the day does work in your favor.
Focus on sustainability, not perfection
Well, perfection is good, but it is not feasible in the long run. In other words, if you’ll be wanting perfection every time, you’ll be losing motivation soon. And god forbid, if you do anything imperfectly, you’ll be blaming and exhausting yourself mentally.
This is something you would not want. Therefore, be sustainable. Cut yourself some slack if you feel like it.
Be realistic, but most importantly be a human – A human who can make mistakes, but also bags the courage to start again with the routine instead of feeling guilty and giving it all up.
Enjoy the plan
When you start to enjoy something, you do not only do it better, but you feel content. This is what you have to do here. You do not have to follow the plan out of self-obligations but because you enjoy them.
And, how do you do that?
Try to make the plan more fun.
Bring your friends together in your plan if you can.
Take time for yourself and your loved ones.
Try to be calm and relaxed.
Be flexible.
Last but not least
Having a plan doesn’t mean functioning like a robot. It means being systematic and organized while not getting pressured by it at the same time. And when you have the plan, remember it’s likely sometimes that plan will change, but try to stay on it for best results.
Hey there, now it’s your turn. Do you have a routine as well? Feel free to share your opinions with us in the comment section.
of creative expression, and it is when we start suppressing those expressions we start to suffer.
get out of your house and do something for others. Something that is not focused around you.
for what you have, but it’s also your right to dream and chase them. Once in a while, it’s okay to let your thoughts run wild and dream of something better than what you have right now.
order to portray our strength. But, bottling up our emotions tends to make them even stronger, leading to a violent outburst. Sometimes we do have painful experiences we try to bury and its actually important to create a safe space to make the connection with your inner child and let them know it’s ok. 
were taught something new – that it’s sometimes better to lie than to divulge the ugly truth.
excitement of not knowing what’s next.
to unplug and relax, but not at the expense of everything on your list!
with the quality, but also run the risk of doing it all over again if something goes wrong. I find when I multitask, as simple as trying to respond to a text while typing something else, I lose my train of thought and waste more time. 
unnecessary conversation can take up much of your valuable time when you are short of it. I sometimes delegate specific times of the day, especially the afternoons, to have conversations I know will take my attention. If I try to have them during the morning, my most productive time, I will have so much distraction for the rest of the day. 
goodbyes to them.
can simply function like this.
they drive you towards success.
courage to start again with the routine instead of feeling guilty and giving it all up.
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