Inspired Forward

Cut Through the Confusion and Chaos to Live a Well-Organized Life

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The Journey to Magnificence: Week Forty-Four

Welcome to The Journey to Magnificence! This is week forty-four: December 9-15, 2018.

It’s hard to believe Christmas is almost here! My company had our annual holiday party on Saturday night and it was fun to see everyone dressed up and looking sharp. That, though, was the weekend highlight after practically destroying our office to declutter.

What I Said I’d Do

  • Write 2500 words for The Seventh Sorceress
  • Start filling out the Slay Your Goals Planner
  • Be present and active in Davina Faust’s Resolved program for this month 🙂

What I Actually Worked On

  • Wrote 2229 words out of 2500! I’ll count that as a win.
  • Got back into the SYG Planner and started thinking about my big goals for 2019.
  • Davina’s Resolved group is awesome!

[Read more…]

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How to Deal With These 5 Common Holiday Stressors

With the Christmas holidays right around the corner, it’s that time of year again for those stressful situations some of us dread like clockwork. Despite the spirit of Christmas and the reason for the season, many people have to deal with some common holiday stressors that only come around once or twice a year (depending on what you celebrate, and with whom).

How much time do you spend worrying about these 5 common holiday stressors? Learn tips and tactics to maintain your sanity and stay calm during Christmas.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Water of the Womb, AKA Family

When families get together, it can be chaotic. Viewpoints clash, one side’s liberal while the other is conservative, politics and religion are debated fiercely over the Christmas ham.

Siblings might be holding grudges against each other that make opening presents a little awkward.

I have relations who insist upon arguing about everything, even if they’re objectively wrong on where they stand.

One of the solutions we have implemented is that, at family get-togethers, talk about politics, religion, and other controversial topics (like marijuana) are off the table. If it comes up, we gently remind the instigator that we have asked to avoid that topic.

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The Journey to Magnificence: Week Forty-Three

Welcome to The Journey to Magnificence! This is week forty-three: December 2-8, 2018.

Oh boy. I didn’t give myself enough time for all the things on my list for this week, but that’s okay. I have all the time in the world, and just need to plan things out a little better.

On the bright side, I got a few things done and learned something new! The most exciting thing this week? We found out my dad had an older brother who was adopted out before my grandparents even married—so my family has just welcomed a new cousin. Unfortunately, my long-lost uncle passed back in 2001, so we’re unable to meet him.

What I Said I’d Do

  • December’s 30-day challenge is to downsize, declutter, minimize—whatever you want to call it. We (I) have too much stuff taking up space in our apartment, and the time has come to do a thorough dig-through of my closets and finally make my desk an organized haven of knowing exactly what I have and where it is.
  • Continue writing my book, but not at such a breakneck pace as 1667 words a day!
  • Start filling out my Slay Your Goals Planner for 2019.
  • Reach out to potential VA clients!

What I Actually Worked On

  • Decluttering
  • Reached out to potential VA clients 🙂
  • Module 1 of Project Management for Virtual Assistants
  • Applied for a business license!

[Read more…]

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December’s Challenge: Decluttering

It’s almost insane how fast this year of 30-day challenges is flying by. Let’s recap so far.

  • In August, I wrote 1000 words a day.
  • In September, I read 12 books, and started a 13th. (The goal was to read ten or more.)
  • In October, I hand-copied the book of Acts (28 chapters) in 28 days.
  • In November, I wrote a grand total of 52,126 words for NaNoWriMo.

I'm up to December's challenge, which is all about decluttering, downsizing, embracing our version of minimalism--and making each morning a miracle morning.

Biggest Lesson Learned?

Noveling is both insanely hard, and ridiculously easy—for me. I’ve known for years that I have books inside of me. In fact, the book I started for NaNoWriMo is the mash-up of two books I wrote when I was in junior high and high school.

I took it in a completely different direction, fleshed out characters that were previously flatter than my old pillow, and finally got to explore a collection of people that have, in some way or another, been living inside my head for more than a decade.

And there are no multiple personalities involved.

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The Journey to Magnificence: Week Forty-Two

Welcome to The Journey to Magnificence! This is week forty-two: November 25 – December 1, 2018.

Goodbye NaNoWriMo, hello decluttering! I feel really good going into December. I’ve started thinking about 2019 goals, had an awesome call with Davina Faust about accountability and mindset, and am just straight up excited to keep making progress in this fantastic life of mine.

What I Said I’d Do

  • Launch “Work With Me” virtual assistant page & solicit feedback from Facebook groups and friends
  • Finish modules 1 & 2 of Project Management for Virtual Assistants
  • Outline December posts

What I Actually Worked On

  • NaNoWriMo! I am one of the 2018 winners—52,126 words in 30 days is both insane to think about, and also not nearly enough to tell the story I’m writing.
  • Launched “Work With Me” Virtual Assistant page! Check it out here!
  • Got my content calendar for December filled out. Now I’ve just got to write everything 😀
  • The Miracle Morning

[Read more…]