Coffee & A Good Book

Market Lane Coffee was my choice this morning for a relaxing start to the day. Sipping my strong cappuccino I indulged in my latest book by Eckhart Tolle, New Earth. I have only just started but it already has me intrigued and wanting to learn more. He speaks on how to let go of your ego and the need to constantly identify yourself with the things you own. The ego is your mind telling you who you are and what your suppose to do. Eckhart explains that we must learn to observe our thoughts and realise that we are not what goes on in our mind all day. You are not what your mind tells you.

The chapter I am currently on speaks about how constant complaining is your ego believing the story inside your head. For the next week try and catch yourself complaining or thinking negative thoughts; which is the first step in becoming a more concious person. For those who find themselves attached to material items, try and think about what they actually do for you. If you didn’t have them would you be any less of a person?

I am going to leave you there with some food for thought…   Carly Jensen xo

Social Media – The Love/Hate Relationship

Addictions come in all shapes and sizes, often times in the traditional form of drugs, alcohol and gambling. However we’re now seeing new addictions in the form of social media and selfies, also spiking the endorphins in our brain. I have a severe addiction to my phone, like many people do. When I wake up I like to check my Instagram feed to see what has happened during the 8 hours I had been asleep. I call this post the love/hate relationship because it truly is something I love to do and at other times need to learn to switch off.

There are plenty of critics out there that will say our generation doesn’t understand the true meaning of face to face relationships anymore. I will even admit, when I walk to the train in the morning before work I am looking at my phone, and when I look up, everyone else is too. I believe the power of social media and the internet has created a virtual life for each and every one of us that makes us feel like we are right inside our phones. When I look at the photos from a dinner I had the other night it makes me feel like I am experiencing it all again. We have a need to stay connected and I don’t believe it is necessarily a bad thing, I think we just need to learn to switch off at times as well.

The reason I know social media isn’t a terrible thing is because most of my career success has been launched from it. Whether it be writing my blog, posting photos for people to see or learning new things to further my potential, social media has enabled me to do so. For that I am ever so grateful and thankful. The only time it gets in the way is when I stare at my phone for too long looking at absolutely nothing. There comes a point of addiction where I will keeping trying to scroll through Instagram hoping a new photo will be there to feed my brain. I am sitting there waiting for a new delicious coffee photo, a new beach picture, just to keep my brain buzzing. This is what we do to ourselves when it becomes too much. We wait for new pictures, new gossip and new stories in order to keep ourselves entertained. We are in a day and age where we constantly need to be stimulated.

My tips to switching off from time to time:

1) Separate yourself from your phone for at least 1 hour a day – Whether you are going to the gym, going to grocery shop or whatever it might be…leave your phone at home and talk to the person you are with. If you are not with anyone, try to look around, there’s a lot to see right in front of you.

2) Go outside! – Go for a walk, a run, or play a sport.. It is hard to hold your phone while you are doing something active!

3) Let go of needing to know every detail – If you can’t make it to the bottom of the Instagram scroll… ITS OKAY! You are still alive, you didn’t miss anything, life is still happening.

Carly Jensen xo

Photo credit: guardianlv.com, Banksy

Sleep Your Way to Success?

 

Do you ever feel like there are not enough hours in a day? I struggled with this for a long time until I realised that in order to get everything you want done, sometimes you have to stick it out and stay up late. You may have heard the saying “successful people don’t sleep,” well they definitely do but probably not as much as you and I. Did you know that the average person can live a healthy life off just 6-7 hours of sleep a night! Successful individuals understand the meaning of hard work and understand that if you work a full time job and have a lot of other objectives you want to achieve, then waking up at 5 am is a must. I am writing this a 12am and that is late for me.  And while I find it hard to stay up late sometimes, especially when the easy way out is to jump in my cozy bed and get some rest, I know it’s what i have to do to achieve my goals.

I believe it is important if you are working towards other goals in life to make sure you hustle your ass off either late at night or early in the morning. Believe me I know how important sleep is but I also know how important fulfilling your dreams are. Blogging for instance is something I can only get done at night because I have my full time life going on around that. I have two choices, either stay up late and focus on my two blogs I’m currently running or go to bed and get nothing done.

I am encouraging you in this post to find what works for you, be it either late at nights or early mornings to work on your passions. I know sleep is nice, but imagine how empowering it will feel after you reach your goal. On the other hand, reflect on what it feels like waking up and knowing that you haven’t achieved everything you could. Hustle, hustle, hustle so that one day you can sleep easily.

Carly Jensen xo

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit:http://studentlife.umich.edu