Awesome October Challenge

It's officially Autumn. Summer is over and the daylight hours are getting shorter and darker. There are 3 months of 2017 left. What do you have planned for the rest of the year? Are you planning to make some changes or are you waiting until the new year?

Why start new things or decide to change your life in January, the coldest and darkest and most miserable month of the year? You have 3 months to make a great start and be ahead of all those people attempting to make and keep resolutions in January 2018. October is the perfect time for new beginnings and projects before Winter hibernation and the most unmotivating month of the year. Let's make October awesome :)

I have put together a fun and easy challenge to make you think, change your daily routine a little and maybe step outside your comfort zone and try new things, whether you have major changes you want to make in your life or just want to have more fun or be more creative.

You can sign up for the Awesome October Challenge here !

I will be emailing daily prompts with positive quotes, short 5 minute tasks and the occasional major life change suggestion.  There is no pressure. If it's something that doesn't feel like you, miss it out, or if you miss a few days because life is super busy, you can either catch up and have a super productive fun weekend with it or skip those days.  If you don't join until the 2nd or last week of October you'll still get 30 tasks. It will be a 30 day or 30 task challenge and you'll have the email prompts to keep forever. (The challenge starts on 2nd October)

I want to make this an inspiring community and to encourage yourself and others taking part, please use the hashtag #AwesomeOctober .  I'll be using this hashtag as well throughout October to tweet inspirational and motivational things and to share and celebrate all our achievements. I have also set up a Facebook group so we can all chat about the great things you're achieving and the fun time you're having! You can share any unexpected results or epiphanies you have. You can join the Facebook group here

Are you excited to see what October and the rest of the year will bring?  What do you already have planned?

~ Katie aka Word Scribbler ~

Awesome October sign up form

Awesome October Facebook Group  

How To Stay Motivated And Reach Your Goals

Are your dreams always in the back of your mind but you're not moving towards achieving them? Feeling unmotivated or uninspired?

Here are five tips for keeping yourself motivated and reaching your goals, that I use and work for me. 

1. Set a goal date.

It's great to have big dreams and life goals. Some future goals are so far in the future right now there's no action you can take towards them, but for others there are tangible actions and steps that will help you move closer to your long term and short term goals.

It's totally normal when you want things to change that the timescale you think of is 'tomorrow' or 'as soon as possible', but without a set date to aim for, the steps you take towards that goal can actually end up being aimless or too slow or not useful. Start planning from the goal date backwards. If something is genuinely urgent, give yourself 1 or 2 weeks or 1 month. For bigger goals, think what do you want to have achieved or where do you want to be in 6 months or 1 years time? For big life goals you can even write a 5 year plan, and then plan for the first 6 months. Break up the time into weeks or months and working backwards, write down all the steps you need to take to achieve it. You want to achieve Z? What do you need to do to achieve this? Do Y. What do you need to do to achieve Y? Do X. And so on, A being the first action you take in your first week. (Obviously you may not have 26 steps, as per the alphabet, in total if it's a short term smaller goal)

2. Be realistic

What can you realistically achieve in a day or a week? You're not superhuman and super productive every single day. Be realistic with your timescale and don't over plan or over aim, you're likely to fail, get behind and feel overwhelmed. You're not going to complete 10 tasks every day for weeks. Doing something daily is really difficult to maintain and your productivity and motivation can weaken. Aim to complete 1,3 or 5 tasks a week (depending on the size of the goal, date you're aiming for and how many different goals, with different end dates, you're aiming for at once). Write them on your calendar or in your diary. Colour code them if more than 1 goal. Keep progress with a tracker in your notebook or bullet journal.

3. Have visual reminders

Having a constant or regular visual reminder of your goal is great for inspiration and motivation. One of my goals is to book my dream holiday, an Indian Ocean island paradise trip. My 2017 calendar (that hangs on my wall and I see every single day) is a 'Paradise Beaches' calendar, of beaches and crystal clear water in the Indian Ocean, South Pacific and Caribbean. My laptop wallpaper image is of a hotel in the Seychelles. I also have a secret Pinterest board of images representing my goals, that I see regularly when I am online, and some of my public Pinterest pinboards reflect my goals too, such as 'Paradise' 'Dream Houses' and 'Writing Inspiration'. 

Do you have images of your goals in your bedroom, work or writing space? 

4. Celebrate your achievements

A good motivational tool is to focus on what you have achieved so far, not just thinking of all the tasks you still have to complete or goals not yet accomplished. I have a separate notebook, in addition to my diary and to do list, that is my achievement journal. I write down what I have achieved that day. Sometimes these can be really small things (but small things add up to big achievements!) or big tasks completed and ticked off the goal tracker. By having to sit and think and actually write these down brings a real sense of accomplishment and moving forward.

I also have an achievement tin. I use an old instant coffee grounds container with a fun and bright pattern on for this! You could use an empty glass jar and decorate it or you can buy a pot with a removable lid especially for this purpose if you wish. Using small pieces of paper, write down the things you have achieved so far, 1 achievement per piece of paper, adding as you achieve goals, and keep them in the tin. Opening the tin regularly and reading one of the great things you have achieved keeps you feeling positive and motivated to keep going.

In a similar way, I have a dream tin, with my big dreams and the goals I'm actively working towards.

I have a secret 'goals achieved' pinboard on Pinterest. I have visual reminders of goals I've achieved around my room too, such as postcards and souvenirs from my favourite places I've solo travelled to, and the penguin I adopted :)

Goals achieved!

5. Re evaluate

At the start of every week or month, depending on your goal date, re evaluate your goal(s) and your progress. How many tasks are you completing? Have you planned to do too much or too little? Set aside 1 or 2 days a week to not work to recharge your body and your brain. Keep an eye on your goals but also make sure you schedule time off, whether it's 1 day a week or 1 week a month, when you don't plan any tasks and you'll come back to it feeling refreshed and positive. Reward yourself for achieving your goal(s) for that week.

The weekly to do list you originally planned is subject to change and not set in stone. If you really need a weeks break, because of other priorities or life just getting in the way, then that's totally fine, and this can be beneficial as gives your thoughts a break and when you think up new ideas. Whilst it's good to push yourself to reach deadlines you've set for yourself, also keep your workload realistic and if your 1 year goal becomes a 1 year and 2 month goal, that's ok!

Remember - Slow is better than standing still. Late is better than never. If you get behind, if you take a few more months to reach your goals, you still achieved them! Better than never starting or giving up.

What do you do to motivate yourself? Do you have visual inspiration around you? How do you track your progress? Do you celebrate what you've already achieved?

~ Katie aka Word Scribbler ~ 

My Personal Goals And Plans For 2017 / 2018

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** Update . Due to my dad becoming terminally ill and sadly dying in March 2017 my blog was on hiatus for 6 months after this blog post and sporadic before this **

A new year. The time to re evaluate and to plan new adventures!

This time last year I was moving out of my London flat and about to go to Italy for 8 weeks :)

What were your goals last year and what are they this year?  'Travel more' is on my list every year!

There are some one off goals here and some than require major input and time and life changes. I have also set myself some business and financial goals (I am self employed) but I'm keeping these between myself and my notebook :)

Move into my own flat (again)

I've been living back in my hometown (Norwich) at my parents house and working part time. This year I want to take on more freelance work and be working full time, and therefore also have my own space to live and work. Maybe not the apartment in the photo just yet! But I'm working on it ;)

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Blog more

I re started this blog in October and managed only 3 blog posts in October and none since. Life has been really unpredictable (a close family member became seriously ill) and although I had the best intentions when I wrote this in October, my personal blog had to be put to one side again. I want to take my blogging more seriously and really get somewhere with this blog and incorporate it into my work a little. I'm aiming for a minimum of 1 blog post a week/52 blog posts this year. I'd love to collaborate with other bloggers, creative people, and possibly some brands.

Adopt a penguin

This is a random goal I know ha ha, but I LOVE penguins and would love to donate to a conservation charity and get updates about my penguin :)

One of the things on my bucket list is to see penguins in the wild but this will have to wait another few years!

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Finish the first draft of my debut novel

This has been on my 'New Year Goals' list for the last 2 years. My intention this year is that once I'm living in my own place again, I'll be more relaxed and have some free time to focus and write. I will mention my writing on this blog and on Twitter but more on my author Twitter which you can follow at @ktjarviswriter .

Write/ direct / produce a short film or music video

I went to Cannes in the South of France in 2014 during Cannes Film Festival week, and wrote first drafts of 2 short film scripts the year before as part of my degree. Visiting Cannes was such a life long dream come true and that trip continues to inspire me so much with my life goals. Since then my writing (novel and screen) has been put on hold but this year I intend to complete the scripts (maybe write some new ideas too!) and make at least 1 into a film that everyone can watch.

Go to a cat cafe

This is also something I've wanted to do for while. Years ago I used to have a cat and so did my parents, and currently neither of us do. As there's no way I can have a cat in the near future the next best thing, other than be a professional cat sitter, is to visit a cat cafe! I know there are a few in London and it will involve some forward planning when I know I'm in London for a few days.

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Buy a ring (or 2) from Pandora

I love Pandora's jewellery designs. This is more a reward I've promised myself when I reach one of my financial goals with my business but I'm including it here to motivate myself :)

Go to a Formula One Grand Prix

or go to a testing weekend, or just see a Formula One car on a track somewhere. I went to the Monaco Grand Prix practice day in 2014 and it was sooo good and I want to experience that again (several times a year for the rest of my life would be great!).

Go on a beach holiday

I want a real desert island, crystal clear water, white sand type of beach holiday. Mauritius or Seychelles or Madagascar. I've never gone to somewhere like this, most of my holidays as an adult have been city breaks, and this is a dream holiday and big goal for me this year. I aim to at least book this holiday before the end of 2017.

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What are your goals / plans for 2017 ? 

~ Katie ~