The Writer's Lifestyle

Your 10-Day Gratitude Meter Look deep into yourself before you answer. This is a serious question to ask someone. And plenty of people will not easily be able to answer or be honest about their answer. Isn’t that a wonder? It’s like asking people whether or not they’re happy. The answer almost always will be relative. Happiness is relative for people, that’s true but what makes us say that we’re happy and what makes us say the opposite? Does a happiness meter exist? The same is true for gratitude, in this context. We think that what makes us grateful now, will probably change in the day to day. Gratitude, in this case, relies on something you will do or have done. It’s not dependent on a formula which has to be solved. It only takes a realization that something can be done to make us aware of it. Let’s help you out. What are you grateful for today? There exists a Gratitude meter. We created one in order to pinpoint exactly what we could be or already are grateful for each day. Why do we do this? We believe that gratitude changes everything. We do, honestly. And it’s important for each one of us to live by it. This idea can be taught easily too. If we can simply start our days off believing that we’re grateful for something, we can move forward with a positive attitude. We become friendlier, less prone to stress and improve our overall psychological health. Among the many benefits of always being grateful, it’s the improvement to oneself and relationships to other people which we emphasize. If you practice this Gratitude Meter daily, 10 days at a time, we’d have encouraged an improvement within yourself. We really do believe it. Let’s get started. What do you need? We recommend writing each day in your planner. Jot this down one day at a time and then reflect on them. By reflection, we mean noting each thought in your journal. What makes you thankful you have them in your life right now? This is what we need you to keep in mind: Day 1 -Who are you most grateful knowing today? Name a person you know that you think has the most positive influence in your life. Do you know someone like that? Day 2 -What part of your job are you grateful for today? Every job is a blessing. If you don’t like it, simply think that someone out there is desperate enough to have it. Erase that negative thought in your head. Surely there’s something in it you liked in the first place. Day 3 -What skill are you grateful having? Are you a writer, a baker, a technology wizard or something like that? You could possess a skill no one else can easily do. Or, perhaps you’ve decided to learn a new skill, finally. Day 4 -What purchase are you grateful to make today? Don’t think big here. It could be something you buy every day like coffee or lunch. Nourishment will always be a blessing, as you know. What else did you buy and why decide to buy them? Day 5 -What part of your body are you grateful for? Sounds too self-absorbed but listen. A lot of self-esteem issues could stem from your insecurities about self image. This is a process for you to closely examine what you like or don’t like, physically, about yourself. Day 6 -What weakness do you have? But why be grateful for having a weakness? Acceptance. We’re not perfect. However, if you acknowledge you have a weakness (whatever it is), you’d be willing to work hard at improving it. Day 7 -What moment this week are you grateful for? It doesn’t matter if that moment is fleeting. For as long as you genuinely are thankful it happened. Day 8 -What food are you grateful to have today? Simple, right? This brings us back to Day 4 when you always have to be thankful for each and every little nourishment you give your body. It’s a MUST to always consider having food, even having little to eat, a blessing in itself. Day 9 -What part of nature are you thankful to see today? A tree in your backyard or a lake nearby, could be an example. Some people are even grateful they live close to nature. It doesn’t matter where you live now, if you see nature everyday, include it. Day 10 -What experience are you most grateful to have? It could have happened today or years ago. Name one and narrate why that experience mattered so much to you. It could be anything. Think hard on this part. After all, life’s full of potentially wonderful experiences to be thankful for. Repeat the process for another 10 days. At the very least, for a few minutes of each day, you’re able to open up your heart to the magic that is Gratitude. Having this in your mind and heart will benefit you in the long term - we guarantee you become a better person at the end of each day. Are you ready to begin?

How Planners Can Help You What can you accomplish within a 24-hour day? A lot, you might say. But even if you did, can you say you've accomplished "everything" you've set out to do? We hope your answer is YES. But if you ever find yourself still wondering for the best answer to this question, you've already succumbed to poor planning practices. That's a bit of bad news right there. You haven't managed your time well enough to complete tasks you've wanted to do even if you're up to the brim with them. It's a typical issue but one with a solution. Time Management Woes No one starts out in life a planning genius. Why? Keeping organized is something we typically figure out how to do ourselves. Some people become good at it and some don't. We struggle from day one because we lack the help we need. We're not born with great time management skills, you see. And so the question remains, how can we become organized in a way that would guarantee productivity every day of our lives? And to that we say, use a planner and surprise yourself how easily you can be transformed. Prioritizing, organizing schedules and keeping track of your time will be a breeze once you have an idea how to get started. Let's help you out. Having a planner is going to change your life. It'll improve it with positive changes. And it will help you stay focused on what's important- even systematize levels of it subject to your needs. Believe it or not, this is more complicated than you think. Living in the digital age is one big distraction and we know that perfectly well. It's not easy to keep your life together when you're constantly distracted. Sound familiar? It should. Are you holding your phone right now? Then distracted is what you are. If you have a checklist of things to do each day, you're already on track in this adventure. However, planners should contain much more than just a daily to-do list. It should be more personal and made-for-you and your life's milestones. Planners also act as a coach and a guide for you. You grow as your pages progress. And this personal development is prompted by how well you create your steps - at your own pace. True enough, there are planners that offer that kind of flexibility. How To Manage A Planner One thing we know for sure is that life's unexpected. How about making that the main backdrop of your planner. You begin simply by defining a goal. Make it clear and measurable. Write it down at the beginning of the pages so you'd know where it is as you go forward. Page one in your planner should be about you and your dreams. You list them out should you have plenty of them. There's no limit. Building a planner is a map towards achieving your goals. First of all, you're in charge of it. Yes, YOU. Simply write each goal down - what is it you want to do? What needs to be done? For example, if you want to become a singer, write down "learn one song (step one)" and "record your own voice singing it (step two)." And then you progress from there. Next,tool up! Find the materials you need to get started on this journaling roadmap. Bear in mind that keeping a journal or planner is something you must commit to doing - meaning you should be contributing to the pages day in and day out. It follows that you get the tools you need like getting a notebook or a planner that contains monthly, weekly or daily pages with spaces for you to write on. And then get a reliable pen to write those pages with. These two are the basics. You'd need more later on. Get started. Do not limit yourself to a single idea. You have a lifetime of experience to draw inspiration from. Also, note that keeping a planner should not pressure you into writing something, anything. Otherwise, you'd end up with random thoughts on your pages that don't make sense. Actually, planners help you get organized - both in thoughts and actions. In so doing, how you think and what you do will be carefully structured and mapped out. And YOU did that at the end of the day. Yey! Keep at it. Don't stop. The more you progress in charting your planner, you'll realize that you'd have improved your ability to keep your day to day tasks on track. You'd become more efficient at managing your time. Your own efforts will lead you to your goals. One day, you may flip through page one again to read back on your goals and find yourself already there.