DON'T Make a Resolution to Lose Weight

Just don't do it. Don't do that to yourself.

There is so much negativity tied up in that one declaration.

1. You're telling yourself you're not good enough now.
2. You're purposely setting yourself up to fail.
3. It makes you feel bad about yourself.

All great indicators not to make that damn resolution.

Instead, make a resolution to work on your thoughts, to better how you feel and do all the fun and exciting things you would do if you were already thin. Stop waiting on the weight. Go to the root of the problem, not the cause.

Believe it or not, those three examples lead to weight loss. Say whaaat? You didn't see anything about weight loss in there!

Yup, training your mind and not your ass and doing before getting is a more healthy way to lose weight but also the fastest way to lose weight..

How do I figure that?

As Marianne Williamson and Tony Robbins both say.. "Your body is a response to your thoughts, not the other way around."

Read that again; Your body is a response to your thoughts.

Your thoughts are the cause of your wanting to lose weight (or gain it), your body isn't!! Poor thing is just responding to what you're thinking.

So my friend, if your resolution is to lose the weight or get fit..

Intend to work on the mind because until you start making changes to your psychology you'll yo-yo around diets and exercise. You'll lose the weight only to gain it back because you didn't work on the foundation.

AND

Give yourself permission to do the things you wanna do when you're thin, right now. That's actually the real secret to weight loss, letting yourself be who you truly are. So stop waiting on the weight and go out and buy that hot dress, become self employed, pursue your dancing dreams and LIVE. The point of life is to LIVE, not wait till everything is perfectly lined up.

Be kind to yourself over these holidays, use my favourite affirmation "I am perfect the way I am as I am"

Don't beat yourself up for not sticking to your daily practice/exercise routine/diet over this period. This time is about relaxation, recuperation and being with loved ones.

Your worth is not tied up in your size, your weight or body image. You are perfect now.

Let's make 2013 the year we stop punishing ourselves. I'm with you on this one too buddy.


Elise xo

The Good Girl's Guide to Dealing With Jealousy

Jealousy & envy can hit the best of us at the most inconvenient times.

Have you ever been on a really good streak and then all of a sudden you see someone doing it harder, better and faster and you're like "Wtf!? What about me!?", or worse, "That fucking bitch, who does she think she is?!? I can do SO MUCH BETTER. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".

Wow have we all been there.

I can tell you about a few occasions I've had where I've been slapped in the face with the green eyed monster. It sucked balls. Big hairy balls.

In the early days when I was new to the acting industry, I made a new friend who was also an actress. She was bubbly and funny just like me and we hit it off straight away. We looked NOTHING alike and we totally supported each other through our journey.

Over time I noticed that she was getting a lot of auditions, there just seemed to be more work for her type. In the beginning I thought nothing of it and that my time would come. But after a while I started getting impatient wondering when my auditions were gonna come.

I started mentally noting down all the auditions she had and how many she got, it was my way of calculating how much self loathing I was gonna take into the shower that day. I became obsessed with comparing myself to her and what she was doing. 

I was driving myself nuts! Instead of concentrating on myself and my journey, I had a 24/7 subscription to what she was doing! And worst of all I made myself think that I wasn't good enough and that there wasn't anything special about me.

BIG NO NO.

Are you currently eyeing up someone else's life and all their goodies? Do you find yourself obsessing over what they're doing and achieving? Just between you and me, are you secretly jealous of their success?

This is totes normal and you should not be beating yourself up for it! Plus, I've got a few tips that'll clear this all up and get you back onto the path of YOUR awesome life!

Feel it out

We can tend to have the habit of going into serious denial when we're jealous. The funny thing is by trying to convince yourself you're not jealous, you feel more jealous. Ah frustrating!

Feelings are there for a reason, they are indicators of your awareness. Stifling them away makes them worse but going into them however, changes things up!

Allow yourself to feel the jealousy. Just feel it out. Doing this makes the feeling go away, it's crazy but it's true. You have to allow yourself to feel that part of you and once you do it's like this crazy instant shift happens and the feeling dimishes.

What are you jealous about?

So you know you're having jealousy issues and you need help. Try asking yourself what it is you're actually jealous of?

What is it about this person that's making you feel insecure and threatened? What are you scared you gonna lose? What is it about them that you feel you're missing out on? What do you want?

Understanding this about yourself helps you to think about your needs and how you can go about achieving them. You have every single thing you need, now it's time to start using those tools and resources.

Get journalling!

I LOVE my journals! And your journal is the place where you can map out your comeback plan. You answered the questions in the previous step, now's the time to create a strategy to get to where you want to be.

You should also write down your thoughts, how you feel, ideas and insight. You know the best way to work your way through this, allow yourself to do it.

What makes you awesome?

Another important thingy to do in your journal is to list out your strengths and write about what makes you so freakin' awesome!

It could be your ability to belch the alphabet or your incredible strength when it comes to athletics. Whatever it is, write it down. You are crazy talented at something, you have the beauty of the victoria's secret angels and you have the capacity to love the world - so show it to us and write it down!!

Re-focus your focus

Turn your focus all back around on to you. You're playing the role of YOU, not the audience member of someone else's life!

When you get centered back in on yourself, you forget about everyone else and your path becomes clearer. This is what being present does. So get zoned in on you in THIS moment because that's all you can take care of right now.

Potential role-model?

So, this is an extra tid-bit, some may like it, some may loathe it.

Have you ever thought about making the person you're jealous of your role-model? Have they got everything you want so much that you actually wanna wind up where they are? Why not include them in your journey? Turn it around completely  and infuse more power into your journey.

I did this with a few people I had envious feelings of and wound up becoming great friends with them AND they became a part of my journey and we both inspired each other to keep going! There seriously power in numbers.

If you start doing even one of these steps you will definitely notice a shift happening and a weight lifting and you will start getting yourself back on track!


Elise xo

The Ultimate Self Love Technique (or, Affirmations & Gratitude & Positivity Oh My!)

Affirmations are well known as a form of self-therapy to dramatically changing your psychological way of thinking about yourself. Hundreds of thousands of people recite them every day (including myself).

Gratitude has recently been scientifically proven to change your outlook on life. People who kept a gratitude journal for 3 weeks measured 25% higher on life satisfaction. They exercised more, they drank less alcohol and their family and friends noticed they were nicer to be around. The effects lasted for months from the initial 3 week period. (Stats from Marie Forleo)

Positive Energy sometimes seems like a very woo-woo concept. But in actual fact positive energy is created in specific forms of movement such as dancing, running and exercising. It's a natural release of endorphins in your body that creates a 'high'.

Now you're probably thinking 'Why the hell are you telling me about these three things?' and that is a great question!

It is because these three precious things are the main ingredients to The Ultimate Self Love Technique!

It combines affirmations with gratitude, positive energy and mirror work (which is the last ingredient + a fantastic form of self love therapy) because let's face it. Sometimes it can get really confusing (and time consuming) trying to say your affirmations, think positive thoughts then write in a gratitude journal when you've got shit to do.

That's why this Ultimate Self Love Technique is the perfect combination of the three, it's quick and easy to do!

Here's an example..



Are you in love?

Right, now your challenge is to get in front of the mirror and try exactly what young Jessica did here.

RIGHT NOW.

This is to gauge how you feel when you look at yourself in the mirror, how quick you can think of things you love about yourself and your life and how revved up you can get your energy.

After this, put it on a scale of 1 - 100, where do you think you're at right now?

We all know the goal is at 150%.

Next it's time to get out your self love journal: Write down affirmations you would like to use and things that make you insanely happy and that you really appreciate already. Make it HUGE. You can have awesome serious things as well as funny and silly things too. This is the starting list you're gonna use for the next week.

Rev yourself up with some movement: Before you begin The Ultimate Self Love Technique, you're gonna rev yourself up with some movement. Pop on your fave upbeat song *coughjustinbiebercough* and get moving. Remember the dorky dance moves I was talking about way back? Yup, use those. This is about bringing your energy up so that you can get maximum benefits from the Ultimate Self Love Technique.

Stare yourself down in the mirror: This will probably be the most confronting part of the exercise for you and that's okay. We all gotta start somewhere! Spend some time looking into your eyes in the mirror. This is an exercise that Louise Hay believes wholeheartedly in and I do as well. You are able to see through the mirror how you gauge yourself, it takes practice and this technique is going to be the perfect avenue. This is the ultimate self love secret sauce. If you can look at yourself in the mirror with love and appreciation (like this exercise is gonna give you) you're gonna be a vibrant self loving goddess!

Make it a ritual & practice everyday: Yup, if you want your life to change you gotta do it every day. You don't go to the gym once and become a pumped up body builder do you? It's making the muscle stronger. This is the key to making your life a magical 'on-purpose' event. You can do it hun!

When I started doing The Ultimate Self Love Technique I found it hard to think of stuff non stop. It wasn't until after a week of constant practice I started finding my groove!

Over time I noticed things started changing, my days were a lot more positive and little magic moments were happening all the time. My relationships became waaaay better and everything just improved. But most importantly I had a stronger sense of self.

And now? It's one of my FAVOURITE things to do each day! I literally can't wait to get out of bed to do my lil dance and incantation. It's incredibly liberating and I know you will find it seriously helpful to your self love practice.


Elise xo

Blog Post Removed

(or, The Inner Vibrance Secrets eBook FREE Introduction Snippet)

[SIDENOTE: This is a snippet from The Inner Vibrance Secrets eBook that is being released next month (Dec). You get to read  the introduction - for free! I hope you enjoy and it speaks to you and if you want to be in the loop about when the eBook is released so you can get your hands on a copy + the goodies that are coming with it, make sure you sign up to The IVP List if you haven't already!]

There's something you don't know about me...

Something that would probably shock you if you knew because it's something I haven't allowed myself to expose until now. It's something very personal and close to my heart and it's only been until recently that the wounds have finally started to heal.

Vulnerable doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how I'm feeling right now. But I truly believe that you need to know this and that it will help you even more on this journey to inner vibrance that you're about to begin.

I want you to know that whatever you're going through, whether it's average, bad, shit or life threatening - you have the power to turn it all around for the better. It will get better, I promise you.

The last two years of my life have been somewhat challenging. I haven't really been able to talk about them with anyone until now because it took this much time to work through the baggage I'd been hauling.

A year prior, I was at an all time low in life. I had reached the end of my fling of miserable relationships, I was directionless chasing a dream that was slowly becoming a burden and my life was pure chaos with little peaks of happiness during weekends of binge drinking.

Around the same time, my stunningly gorgeous mother had planned a trip to Europe for my 21st (How amazing is my mother? Seriously). It was here in Europe that my inner vibrance journey started.

When I returned home I had gained something that couldn't be explained, it just was. Things were different, life was incredible and one night a woman changed my life when she waltzed up to me on a dance floor and complimented me on my 'vibrance'.

What you don't know is that after a while that vibrancy changed.

Getting course corrected by the universe..

It all started when I met my AMAZING man. However, I thought he was an absolute douche on our first meeting. He was loud, obnoxious and totally into me so OF COURSE I didn't like him.

I was an independent girl with her finger on the world and I could do whatever I wanted when I wanted because I didn't have to listen to nobody!

Although I was vibrant and independent I had become selfish and careless when it came to men.

The universe was about to shake things up! (I've learned that when you've been 'off-course' for too long - the universe will course correct you whether you want it or not.)

He challenged me in SO MANY ways that I literally became a stroppy tantrum throwing teenager once again. He called me out on my shit, he confronted me when I didn't wanna talk and he loved me even when I didn't deserve it.

Vibrant or not, I still had maaany demons I had to deal with.

Hitting bottom..

Shoot to mid year, me and my bestie had planned a trip to Melbourne with our newly acquired boyfriends. (But secretly the trip was actually just for me and my bestie because we wanted to go away together).

That all changed through miscommunication. Dates were changed and she was heading off to Melbourne with just her bf. I was angry and pissed (like a stroppy teenager once again) that she didn't tell me. But the real truth is that I was pissed that I had been replaced by a guy.

From that day I was too stubborn to admit anything or talk things through. I ignored her and wouldn't reply to any of her messages, so that was our friendship over.

Shoot to a few months later my amazing job wasn't all that amazing anymore. New management had taken over and I started getting harassed and bullied by people who were over 30 years older than me.

I was called a whore, a bitch and I was pushed over a couple of times. And worst of all I had to take them to court for it all (which I DO NOT recommend to anyone, it is not worth the damage of your spirit!)

I was so hurt, damaged and broken. And to seal the deal I isolated myself, I didn't see my friends for months and I turned to food for comfort. (Wow, can I pack on some weight or what!?!)

What started out as an amazing year turned to absolute shit.

This was bottom.

Sometimes the only way to light is through darkness..

The new year had arrived and although my spirit, my mind and my body was wounded, something else was guiding me to change things (kind of like how something guided you to read this.)

I quit (my last ever) job in retail. I decided to never go back to shit pay, stressful work conditions and no recognition. I decided to partially move back home with mum. (I live half a week with her in my home town and half a week with my bf in the city). I made myself buy books that would help improve my life, I tried and tested the exercises and techniques and I made a promise to myself that I would commit to this and keep at it no matter what happens.

Well, all I can say is that 2012 has been a very colourful year of contrast. Inner battles raged on and became more violent as I shone light on them. Repressed feelings, emotions and memories attacked at my most vulnerable moments. I laughed, I cried, I grieved for my best friend. I let guilt run me for a while and then anger took over for a bit there as well.

I went to hell and back several times.

But all through that I kept my promise to myself, no matter how painful it got, and now I am strong (really strong) mentally, emotionally and physically. I know my worth & I OWN it and most importantly I 100% love myself exactly the way that I am right now.

I can talk about this now because I have healed, I have done the work and it no longer defines me. I'm not ruled by these experiences and they no longer have a hold over me.

I want you to know that no matter where you are in life, whether you're in a mindset of scarcity, you're heartbroken, you're lost, you're low on self esteem & self sabotaging. Whether you're being bullied, dealing with depression, blaming yourself, feeling guilty or on the verge of breaking down. Or even if you just want a change - YOU CAN DO IT.

You can change your life and become the most positive, loving and vibrant version of yourself. You can heal your pain, overcome your demons and make peace with your inner battles. You can be happy, really happy, you can live with passion and aliveness and you create a life that you never even imagined was possible. It all starts with YOU.

In this eBook, we will get raw and strip down. You will learn everything I have gone through and the steps I took to work through my shit, my inner-battles and demons. You will have your own set of tasks to complete in each section, some will resonate with you, others won't so much. Do what works for you and discard the rest.

You will be challenged, you will want to give it up at some point because it seems like too much effort. Remember, this is the ego trying everything it can to bring you back to feeling worthless. Keep on it. You only live once and now that you've got this ebook things are gonna start changing.

If I can do it I sure as hell know you can too.

Let's make it ridonkulous shall we?

Elise xo

How I Listen to My Inner Guidance (& How You Can Connect With Yours)

When I was about 15, I got my first taste of spirituality in the form of psychic, magic, tarot and spirit guides. I still have a couple of tarot decks to prove it!

[Rider Waite > can't go wrong with traditional, Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot Cards > perfect for beginners and Thoth Tarot Deck > better for the advanced, these have quite a dark energy.]

I loved that shit. I even learned how to do tarot readings. I think I read for two people and I got a lot of stuff 'right' but it was a lot of work and to be honest it kinda scared the shit outta me.

I was on the search for guidance and wisdom. I wanted to find my place in the world and I wanted to be a part of something more meaningful than maths homework and who hooked up with who at a random party I wasn't invited to over the weekend.

In my studies, I was taught a lot about spirit guides and how you have maaaaany different ones + extras come and go over time. Like around that time till I was about 18 I had a beautiful woman who had the most mesmerizing green eyes and the longest, shinest brunette hair I'd ever seen. She was always around when I went through challenges (and let me tell you... there were A LOT of challenges).

Well, she's gone now, and now there's this dude called... well I can let you know how our little convo went the other day. This is how my inner guidance likes to work...

Picture this: I'm sitting on a concrete park bench in what seems like wine country overlooking a large paddock with about 5 auburn coloured horses. It's sunset and I can hear the birds singing goodnight to other birdy friends in trees nearby. There's distant voices of children playing outside before their parents call them in for dinner, a low rumble of the 5 o'clock traffic on their way home and the air has a calm almost zen-like sound whizzing through the air.

I just had an argument with my man, I feel like shit and I have every right to because it was my fault. I look out over the paddock and quietly ask myself in the back of my mind... "What do I do?"

Suddenly this voice comes out of nowhere, "You talk to me."

"What do I call you?"

"Elmo."

"Elmo......"

"Trust me, you're gonna remember me."

"Okay..."

"How do you feel?"

"Awful. I just sabotaged that whole experience."

"Oh right, so you're only human after all."

"But I should have known better, I do this every single time."

"And what do you do every single time you do this?"

"...Run away......"

"Okay, so maybe it's time to try a new angle?"

"How?"

"Well, getting out to clear your head and breathe some fresh air is always good for the soul. You get so cooped up on that computer of yours you forget to come here and smell the scent on the air and listen to the stillness. Running away from your problems is the quick fix to a deeper problem. It takes courage and perseverance to go back into the fire and communicate. But you know that that's the only way for you because you have built so much trust and respect into this relationship you would be letting yourself down. You know you can do this, you know you will."

"Yeah, you're right."

Boom!

This is how my inner guidance works and I love it this way. Because the truth is, I believe that the wisdom and messages I receive are from deep within myself. Everything there is to know, I know already. It just so happens that my way of delivering those messages to myself are in the form of putting a name and face to the message. I like the idea of 'something else' out there that's got my back. Whatever it is be it the universe, higher self, inner guidance or spirit guides. It's all the same.

So whether you're thinking "Holy shit, this girl is a nutbar." or "That is so cool! I wanna learn how to do that!" here are a couple of ways you can start connecting with your inner guidance.

+ Find a Peaceful Place

When I used to actively seek guidance, I would always head to one of my favourite parks in all of Auckland and find a lovely park bench situated among a beautiful rose garden. Listening to the birds and the water fountain was so peaceful and I felt I could easily connect with myself there. Do you have a peaceful place? If so where is it? Search for a peaceful place that suits you.

+ Calm Your Mind & Listen

Guidance can't come to you if your stressing about something or your too busy facebooking. Take time to rest your thoughts and just listen to the silence. Try not to think about anything, just get lost in the moment of silence and see what happens.

+ Ask a Question

While you're listening to the silence, send out a wee question to test the waters. Sometimes the answer is immediate, sometimes it takes a while and sometimes it doesn't come until a few days later. I always tend to get immediate answers, as if I'm talking to a friend. But if I desperately want a response, I have to wait until I am calm and connected.

+ Look for Signs

This is another fun thing I like to do when I'm driving. I'll be like "Yo Universe! Can you give me a sign about this." And I won't actively look but something will stand out to me more than usual. I might have seen it a million times but this time in particular there's something on it I need to see and I get my answer.


When I was first starting out, it took a little practice but very quickly it becomes second nature and you can do it whenever you want. Just another muscle to work out :P

Elise xo

Girl, Stop Hating Yourself Right Now!

Over the weekend I had the most delicious + heated conversation with a new friend about self love and body image. My new friend was telling me how much she wanted to work with younger females and help them with their body image issues.

I was telling her about an experience I had a few months ago. I was browsing (stalking) around on facebook and I noticed an update from my younger sister. She's in her tweens and at that total awkward transition stage that we all go through when going from child to teen.

She was fb-covo-bombing her own picture with another friend. All I remember was:

"You're so pretty but I'm ugly."
"No way, you're prettier and I'm super ugly. I can't even get a boyfriend."
"Whatever! You are gorgeous. I'm dumb, fat and ugly.."

It literally went like this for a good 20 minutes and as you could imagine it frustrated the FUCK crap out of me.

Not because of the unknown psychological damage these two girls are doing to themselves on a daily basis, not because of the hateful words they're poisoning their minds with and not even because of their backward attention seeking methods but because I used to have this exact same conversation with my friends when I was in high school!!!! 

So that means in the space of 10 years with apple dominating technology, fashion changing rapidly, more option, foods, animals, businesses, money and whatever - there still hasn't been much of a change in educating our younger women about personal empowerment.

That to me is fucking disgraceful.

We take that awful self hatred into our late teens (and we know this is the worst place to feel like this), then it comes with us into our 20's and if we didn't sort it out there, into our 30's and so on..

I don't know about you, but to my new friend and I - this is a HUGE concern!

This has to change. But how the hell do we stop this pattern?

One step at a fucking time, that's how.

Girl, listen to me.

No more will you say, think, write or feel another loathing word to yourself.

No more will you buy into the bullshit of poisoned self-hating mediocrity.

No more will you look into a mirror filled with shame and hatred.

No more will take on other peoples hurtful projections.

No more will you cry yourself to sleep alone in despair.

No more will you look for love, approval & yourself in somebody else.

No more will you put your happiness last!

You are a star, a goddess, an angel.

You are a motherfucking diva!!!

You are powerful.

You are unique.

You are loved.

You can DO this!

You can change your life.

You can forgive the past.

You can create a brand new future..

It starts with the first step

Say it:

I. LOVE. YOU.

21 Ways to Give Selflessly (Without Feeling Crap & Going Broke)

The joy of giving is really just that - joy. But some of us can get so hung up on 'I don't have enough to give!!!' part and turn it into an awful process.

We can get SO attached to our time, our emotions and our dollars we just don't wanna give any of it up! And then when we do we feel shittier than a toddler who just had his toy truck taken off him.

Which if you didn't know this, DEFEATS THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF GIVING.

Remember having only $20 in your bank account and you meet your bestie for coffee and she accidentally forgets her wallet so you have to fork out for a second coffee and rather than feeling awesome and saying "No probs!", you feel shite, it ruins your mood and now you're stressing how your gonna last the next 4 days on $10?

Why, oh why the hell do we feel like this? Well that I can answer because I have tooootes been there!

It's fear. Fear that we won't have enough, fear that we'll run out and fear that it's a big waste.

Well my friend, you need to know these are just limiting/negative beliefs because we all know that when you give from a place of love and selflessness (not lack and scarcity) it comes back to us a BILLIONFOLD!!!

For example, a long time ago I wanted to donate to my first charity and I was stressing that I wouldn't have enough afterwards but I had a chat to myself and decided to give love (however little it was). I thought about the good that I was doing and the possibilities of what that little contribution could do and I felt a bit better so I hit the 'donate' button!

Literally the next day I won a competition on twitter for the exact same amount! RIDDLE ME THAT!

So if you're still in that emerging stage of "I'm worried but I want to do good" here are some awesome suggestions of how to give more and do good deeds without feeling crap afterwards! Baby steps!

21 Ways to Give Selflessly & Do Good Deeds

+ Have a bake sale and fundraise for a cause or charity i.e Breast Cancer Foundation

+ Donate your time to the local swimming center or sport center

+ Volunteer at a homeless or animal shelter

+ Go on a loose change hunt round the house & car and donate your findings to your fave charity

+ Send postcards to the people you love

+ Donate some canned food to the city mission

+ Sponsor a child in Africa, Kenya, Russia etc

+ Meditate on sending love to those in need

+ Hold a free car wash event

+ Offer your talented skill-set for free

+ Smile genuinely at every person you see for a day

+ Listen intently to someone talk without judgement

+ Give your fave teddy to a child in need at the children's hospital

+ Shout your bestie a coffee!

+ Pick some flowers and give them to your beau, boss, mum or a stranger

+ Declutter your wardrobe and give your clothes to charity

+ Join a big brother/big sister program

+ Volunteer your time towards a fundraising charity event i.e 40hr circuit-athons!

+ Offer to help a friend move or pack

+ Do the gardening for your grandma or next door neighbour

+ Go to your parents house, clean it, leave them fresh flowers and a note saying 'I love you!'


See, that's TOTES doable ain't it? :P

Love ya!
Elise xo

P.S - Don't forget to take the survey bout the Inner Vibrance Project! I've been getting some awesome responses!

Does Your Label of Yourself Match Your Purpose?

After the mammoth weekend of wedding bells, family and toomanydrinksfoodcakeomg!! I have taken today to just relax and catch up on some reading - blog reading obviously cause I'm uber cool like that.

Anyway, I was reading Denise Duffield-Thomas' blog and one of her posts got me thinking about our values and opinions of ourselves and what we label ourselves as.

I thought to myself 'What if we have a particular label for ourselves and that current label we have doesn't match our passions, purpose or desires?'. For an example, say your dream is to become an oscar winning actress, but your self confidence and esteem is suuuuuuuuuper low. While you have these BIG DREAMS, your label is actually 'I'm not worthy'.

Shit.

What to do!?

Find your label.
Well, before you can "fix" what's going wrong, you need to find out what it is that's "wrong".

You already know what it is you're meant to do, you have a passion, a dream, a desire, a big goal, BUT, something feels STUCK. Maybe you're always coming second best or you allllways wind up working with the wrong people. Your job right now is to uncover what the duck you're labelling yourself!

You find this out by monitoring how you feel and what you think when you're thinking about your purpose. i.e if you wanna be a life coach and you're thinking about courses you want to do to learn how to be a lifecoach and suddenly up pops the thought of, shit what if I'm too young to be a life coach? You've just labelled yourself as incapable and inadequate.

Boooooooooo.

But great (lol), now we've found your label, here's how to change it!

Find a new word.
Wha...huh?

If you've read or seen Eat Pray Love, you'll know what I mean.

If you haven't, it's super simple. Find a new word to label yourself as.

It's so simple but SO effective. I'm sure you've heard about the frequency of words right? Well each positive word has a high frequency and every negative word has a low frequency. It's actually legit.

So imagine what happens to your mind, body and spirit when you switch from the negative label/word you've been using to a positive word...

Your health starts improving, your brain starts growing new powerful brain cells, your thinking changes, your energy changes, you attract positive, inspiring, genuine people, your get more energy, your eating changes, opportunities come in and suddenly you're aligned and ON PURPOSE.

All from a simple change of YOUR word.

So the question is, does your label match your purpose or do you need to find a new word?

How to Find Your Purpose & Do What You Love

"So what do you do?"

"Oh..... I work at, um........ Starbucks..." (ashamed)

Ever had this type of conversation at a party, wedding, social gathering, event, conversation, meeting, class, conference, family event etc and felt absolute shit afterwards?

Oh how I KNOW you have!

Why is it that we feel so damn ashamed of what we do?! Obviously we believe that what we do isn't good enough. There is so much fear and self-worth tied up into that one little conversation it's ridonkulous.

A lot of the reasons why people feel ashamed of what they do is because they don't do what they love OR they don't know what it is that they want to do with their life! So they spend their time giving the best years of their life to soul-sucking jobs for that (average) weekly pay check.

This my darlings is not living.

To live a passionate purposeful life and do what you love you have to be willing to step outside of that comfort zone you've carefully decorated.

I know it's scary as shit but working at starbucks for the next 7 years when you've always wanted to be a dancer is scarier.

Even if you don't know what you want, you know enough to know that you do not wanna be exactly where you are. So in actual fact you do have somewhat of an idea where you'd like to be because it sure as hell aint here.

No more okay?

Let's get passionate!

To start yourself off on the path of finding purpose, you've gotta offer a little diligence on your part.

7 Steps to Finding Your Purpose

Commit to Yourself

Before you even start, you gotta make a pact with yourself. A pact that no matter what, you will do whatever it takes to get you out of where you are to where you wanna be. Be your own VIP and treat yourself like one. Have standards, know your values and never settle for anything less.

Make a List

Sit down and make a list of every single thing you have ever wanted to do and everything you want to do. Even the most silliest things like being a tortoise. From this list you'll have a certain level of feelings towards each thing. We're gonna work with the things that pique your interest the most.

Get Negative

Say whaaaat?? Just hear me out. Of the things that interest you the most, now you need to write a list of everything negative to do with it. Say you've put up 'win an oscar' and the negative things that come up for you are 'I'll need to attend a lot of acting classes, move to LA, you need to be talented and beautiful, how could I ever win one of these?'. The purpose of this is to see where your fears and limiting beliefs are so we can work them out.

Forgiveness

Release your old negative beliefs with forgiveness. Go through your negative list as often as you can and use forgiveness affirmations on yourself. Something like "I release you, I forgive you, I love you". The important thing here is to feel it more than anything.

Make Room

Time to clear some space physically and emotionally. Do a huge spring clean of your house, get lethal with your wardrobe (do you really need those 10 pairs of heels in the same colour?). Sell your stuff online and put the money towards your new purpose/passion, donate some of your things to charity, have a garage sale. Emotionally, become mindful of yourself when you get emotional about things. You'll notice you'll have a habit of getting emo about particular things i.e me with my partners clothing all over the floor (ARGH!) Oh and, you gotta say bye-bye to the people who suck the life outta you. Make room for the new 'on purpose' you!

Get Obsessed with Positivity

Chase it, hold on to it, seek it out. Find any reason to stay positive. Read books, hang around positive people, watch inspiring tv shows, learn about new things that excite you. Feed your mind with positivity and your life will change.

Enjoy Now

The number 1 way to find your purpose? Appreciate where you are. Get grateful, give love and be thankful for everything you've had, have and are going to have.

By now you should get what we're doing right? You can't figure out your purpose sitting on the couch at home all day waiting for the inspiration. You must take some action! Even the smallest amount of action is enough to provoke an idea from within you.

That's exactly what happened with me and this blog. At the beginning of the year - heck even in June - I had NO IDEA that I was going to start The Inner Vibrance Project! Then one day I came across a website which got me all inspired (Marie Forleo if anyone wants to know!) and I decided to do some of the exercises and hey you know what? Ideas started to form and slowly but surely came the idea for The Inner Vibrance Project!

Little did I know how quick the blog would grow!

All that grew from a singular tiny bit of inspiration.

Imagine what you can do?

The Secret to Living a Vibrant Life

Hello my darlings, today I have a SUUUUUPER something special for you!

My lovely friend Nige has written a guest post for you that is about the secret to living a vibrant life. Nige is a personal trainer (a damn awesome personal trainer!) and in his post he ties in women's relationships with food + self love + happiness. So I think it's a perfect match for last week and this weeks topics - Body Love & Happiness.

Please give a warm welcome to Nige........ *clapclapclap*

There is an individual and collective mind virus sweeping through the western world at this current time that is leaving people paralysed with fear.

It’s called the Denial Virus.

Where I see the denial virus so prevalent is in my work with women, food and their relationships with their bodies.

Now, as a self-confessed kick ass personal trainer, I don’t always deliver a message that people want to hear. In fact, I sometimes get people’s backs up because I have the courage to speak out, breaking the cultural and societal taboos that say for example that we can‘t talk about women being overweight, that you're entitled to treat yourself to cake and biccies on a daily basis, and that it‘s perfectly acceptable for you to hump around far more weight than you ideally need to be.

Obesity is at an all time high, with children as young as two years old being classified as obese, yet we still continue to sweep the issue under the carpet like it’s just something that happens to other people, but not you.

The humongous slice of chocci cake, the sneaky mocha, the generous handful of potato chips, the naughty treat - they all add up. These seemingly insignificant choices quickly gather momentum and speed. Before you know it, you’ve been into three different patisseries, munching calorific goodies along the way… each one building on the next until finally you reach destination fatsville! I’m referring to sugar of the table variety that they often add to biccies, choccy, cakes, ice cream and fizzy drinks - the one that leaves you feeling sexy and free one minute and like a zombie the next.

It saddens me to see you doing this to yourself day after day, because I know that all this comfort eating keeps you from addressing a deeper wound - a childhood wound. Unfortunately, while we continue to avoid the issue, choosing instead to go about our day plastering over the cracks with sugary foods in the secret hope that someone will wave a magic wand and make it all go away.

It doesn't. The crazy cycle lives on.

What started out as an act of self love quickly spirals into a act of self sabotage.

When you eat to comfort yourself you are really hurting yourself.

I repeat: When you eat to comfort yourself you are really hurting yourself.

If these words hit you square in the stomach, perhaps its time you listened to your body, your intuition and that still, small voice - the one that’s whispering to have the green tea instead of the hot chocolate.

The bottom line is this: sugar addiction is utterly lethal. You can defend it till the cows come home but the fact remains that it is as addictive as crack cocaine and until you say no to it, you will continue to feel irritable, edgy and tired.

So, the purpose of this article is to help shine a light on how you can overcome this fear based addiction once and for all and take the positive action that is necessary to help you make lasting change to the way you think feel and look.

The first step to untangling this mess and feeling comfortable in your own skin is to first allow yourself to be where you are with all your flaws. I suggest that you stop whatever it is you are doing and take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror - not just a passing glance but a long, hard look. This is a sober moment between you and the reflection you see staring back at you. I want you to stop fighting with yourself, lay down your arms and surrender. Be where you are without doing anything. Just be with you.

When you look, ask yourself the following question: ”Can I honestly say, hand on heart, that I am entirely happy with the way I look and feel and with what I’m putting into my body on a daily basis?”

You don’t have to hide from the answer. Awareness, after all, is the first step to creating long-lasting change.

I encourage you to take a moment and no matter what you see, let yourself grieve for the part of you that seems like a distant memory. Beneath this apparent craving for sugar is a wounded girl who believes she is unlovable. Her deeper craving is for acknowledgement and love. You have to find the inner strength to reassure her and let her know that she is lovable and then do whatever it is that will help you take a step towards her rather than away from her.

Treat yourself with kindness, not food. Hold yourself. Then muster up all your courage that from this day forward, decide that you will do things differently - starting right now. Declare that you will take better care of yourself. No more excuses - it’s time to take action. Stopping sugar is one of the two most important things you can do in this life. The other is starting to train. This will lead you to a life that is lean, strong and vibrant.

Living a healthier lifestyle is a journey - when you first 'get clean', you may crave the sweet stuff but I just want to reassure you that it will pass - it's just a thought, and you don’t have to act on it.

Remember, the point of power is always in the present moment. You may stumble and fall but what really matters is how quickly you get back up and back on track. Breathe, relax, remind yourself that you are safe and loved and then make a healthier choice - one that is better suited to where you want to go.

It’s the small positive daily changes that we make to the way we think, eat and train that make all the difference. So, if you really want to see long lasting changes in the way you think, feel and look then you have to stop putting yourself last and start telling yourself that you matter.

The next time you are about to reach for the double choc chip muffin, stop yourself dead in your tracks - empower yourself, take a breath and watch your thoughts because it is only by doing this that you will free yourself from the clutches of the sugar monster. Facing your fears head-on is always empowering because there is only love waiting on the other side.

The most vibrant people I know have something in common. They are a pretty inspiring bunch, gentle yet brave, courageous yet surrendered, committed yet flexible, passionate yet receptive. These people don’t make excuses or justify why their lives are the way they are. They know that their lives are created from the inside out, and that creating inner vibrance is their number one priority.

The particular people I’m thinking of also have this in common: They don’t do refined sugar.

I wonder what you will choose today?

Love, Supernige

Biography: Nige's life is a rich tapestry of incredible stories that have shaped him as a trainer, an athlete and a man. He offers something as powerful as it is unique - personal fitness training, online courses and ebooks that will give you far more than just a transformed physique: he will give you your life back. He is also the creator of the motivational free weekly newsletter Kick A$$ Fridays.

[SIDENOTE: Wowwee! What an inspiring slap-in-the-face (but with love & kindness) post that was! I hope you got as much out of it as I did, and remember, all it takes to change is taking one small step in a different direction every day. Make sure to sign up to Nige's kick ass fridays newsletter - it is packed with incredible advice! Elise xo]

How to Find Happiness & Make It Stay

I feel like a lot of people think in order to find true happiness they must go on this quest to find it (somewhere in the Himalayas probably... yeah it's definitely in the Himalayas..) or they feel they've got to spend years of studying the patterns of the universe and only then will you achieve ultimate enlightenment to actually get a smidgen of unwavering happiness.

Yeah... no way.

In a way I think we like to idealize happiness as if everything will be better once we're happy, but there's this part of us deep within our souls (whom we neeeeeever show to anyone) that, dare I say it, actually likes to be unhappy.

I mean, I understand it. Unhappiness/misery/negativity - that shit is like a drug. It's so addictive to jump on the bitching squad than it is to switch off and go read Who Moved my Cheese!

So the real question is, What little steps can I take today that will improve how I feel?

And this my darling, is the right question.

If you want to find true happiness and make it stay, it doesn't take years of study and application. All it takes is one little step each day.

How to Find Happiness & Make It Stay

Take a good solid hour to ask yourself and write down these questions. Really take some time to think about the.

• What are the things that make you feel good? 
• What brings you a lot of joy and fun?
• What do you feel energizes you?
• What makes you feel complete?
• What doesn't make you feel good? 
• What makes you feel frustration, anger and boredom?
• What are ways you can start changing feeling bad today?

The point of this is to find what it is that lights you up, what doesn't and small actionable steps you can take each day towards being happier.

If you're still hungry for more info, check out The Happiness Project and this article 'Is the pursuit of happiness a bunch of bullshit?' by Gala Darling.



Happy Monday Lovely!
Elise xo

The Quirky Girl's Guide to Using the Law of Attraction

I know some of you out there love LoA stuff! And there's also some who want nothing to do with it. There's also this other group that kinda sits on the fence and then jumps in when it feels good.

All the above = totally cool.

Whether you want to learn something new, you're starting to create and develop your very own spirituality or you're looking for some law of attraction tips - I've created an awesome quirky guide for you to follow and refer to! (Feel free to print it out if you like!)

The Quirky Girl's Guide to Using the Law of Attraction

For the full low-down and brief on 'What is the Law of Attraction?' check out this fabtastic definition by my good ol' friend wiki!

Asking

If you have read either Ask and it is Given or The Secret, you're gonna know what I'm talkin' bout! Basically what it means is that in order to have, be or do something you really want you must ask for it. Ask the universe/god/higher self etc. From there, it gets thrown out into the universe so that it can start bringing you all the things you desire!

Visualizing

Visualization is a technique you use alongside asking. Once you have asked for the thing you want, add in visualizing having it for extra effect. Imagine that whatever it is you want, say an iPhone for example, visualize having it, using it, txting and talking to your friends on it, takings pics and vids and playing ridiculously awesome games on it. Get to a place where it actually feels like you already have the damn thing and then drop it and go about your day! Read this 6 step guide to visualizing for added effect!

Believe

This is where a lot of people can get caught up. They know what they want, they've visualized it and gotten to a really good feeling place of it but then that's kind of it. They keep waiting and waiting and looking out for 'it' but it doesn't show and what they've done without realizing is sabotaged the whole process. There's a part of you (conscious or sub-conscious) that may believe you don't actually deserve what you want i.e $100,000. You must get yourself to a better feeling place about this, it takes practice but once you get there the flood gates will open! Try practising self love, check out the abe forum for some amazing tips and advice on LoA and also check out this vid 'How to Re-Program Your Sub-concious Mind to Get What You Want' by Marie Forleo and Catherine Collautt. Thanks to Lyn for this extra tidbit!

Trust

Bit of an odd one but yeah you gotta trust that what you want is coming to you at the perfect time that you need it. Don't ask and visualize and then worry about whether the universe got the message - it did! Trust that it's coming, believe it's here and don't worry about details of how it's going to come to you. That's the exciting part! Leave that one up to mystery!

Gratitude

There's always a price for something good ain't there? In this case the price for getting every single thing you want is... thanks. Yeah not a HUGE expense huh? Though gratitude can be the most tricky part about manifesting. After you have asked and visualized, you can even go on further to bump up the process by being grateful. A good technique I like to do is be grateful for yesterday (the past), be grateful for right now and my surroundings (the present) and then be grateful for all the things I believe are coming that I want (the future). Rounds it off quite nicely. For an AMAZING guide on practising gratitude, get The Magic - it's a 30 day guide on turning your life around by being thankful.

Manifesting/Receiving

Last but not least there is manifesting/receiving. This is the best bit! This is when you've aligned yourself with what it is that you want by doing allllll of the above! Which then means whatever you've asked for, envisioned in your life, trusted it would come and have already been grateful for will physically manifest into your life! Check out 'Manifesting 101' by Gabby Bernstein!

Whether or not you believe in the law of attraction, you gotta admit that your thoughts are powerful. And for me that's what I like about LoA, whatever I want to do and achieve I know I can do it with the power of my own thinking. I have full creative control over myself and my destiny and I love that feeling!

Did that answer all of your LoA questions? If not, feel free to ask away in the comments section and I'll add it to the post!

Elise

P.S - How we manifested our $2.1 million dollar home

How to Feel Good About Yourself

After the mega hit of 'a delicious recipe for sexy confidence', ya'll told me you wanted more!

Well now we're digging deep.

We're going in full speed ready to get your self confidence and quality of life up to where you want it.. Beaming with awesomeness!

As you know, anything you want that will be liberating and rewarding for you requires time, patience and effort. (Hell that's the "secret" recipe for everything in life!) You gotta decide now whether you can be assed putting this effort into you. Because I tell ya, it will test you and challenge you and push you to your limits. One moment you're on cloud nine, next you're balling your eyes out to the bottom of a Ben and Jerry's.

You get what you put in. If you do the work once today, maybe once next month and for 2 days the next week, your results are gonna be scattered and make you feel like a class-A schizophrenic. If you're gonna half-ass it, you're gonna get half-assed results. If you take little steps each day, you'll get better and better each day. Get it?

There is no mystery recipe to life except that it gives you exactly what you put into it.

So in order to gain self confidence and feel good about yourself you must start with baby steps.

How to Have Self Confidence & Feel Good About Yourself

List your past achievements

Get out the self-love journal and make a list of all of your past achievements big or small. From the compliment you got on the red lipstick you wore to the most outstanding achievement certificate you got in primary school - name it ALL and get DAMN proud of it all. Be like your former 5yr old who gets the medal and does nothing but stare at it, talk about it and praise it.

Write out your strengths

Time to dig a lil deeper. I recently did this exercise in terms of discovering what my acting strengths were and it took quite a while but I got a good list in the end. On a new page in your journal, write your strengths - yes even if it's guzzling a pint Guinness in 5 seconds flat.

What's important to you?

On a new page in your journal, write out what is important to you right now. What values do you have? What will you not tolerate? What friends, boyfriends and family members are #1 on your list? What must you do every morning, afternoon and evening? How often? Write it all out and create a personal map for yourself.

Where do you wanna go?

I'll admit one of my favourite exercises - write out exactly where you want to head in life. Even if it's multiple places, just write it out - get it out. Do you want to travel and have a career? Do you want money and independence? What about a relationship and babies? Do you want apples or oranges? Puppies or kittens? Bargain or couture? Money or spirituality? Don't worry if one contradicts each other, just write everything that comes to mind.

Commit to yourself

Make a promise to yourself that you will do this work, that you will strive for success no matter what obstacles you face. Knowing that they'll pop up is a strong part in making them less powerful. Write a statement or declaration to yourself in your journal that you will do this. Kinda like my 4 simple goals I created the other week.

Set small goals

Give yourself something to work toward every 1 - 3 months. Take up a class of something you've always wanted to do like dancing or sewing. Join a sports club that you've been interested in or start learning that language you've always been fascinated by. And at the end of each completed goal, reward yourself with something you like.

Work on the mind

So simple to say, but it's actually gotta become a daily practise. Whether it's meditating, reading, affirming, researching, manifesting, visualizing, focusing etc each day you gotta commit to working on your mind. Because anything you want to change and create starts with your mind. You gotta work on the actual source to get to where you wanna go.

Confront your insecurities

Now it's time to go deeper. On another page in your journal, write out all your fears and insecurities. Whatever comes up just write it out. Some will be ones you've known about, others will come out of nowhere. The important thing here is to get them out and know what they are so you can work through them

Talk it out with friends

You're bound to have at least one friend you can talk about all of this stuff with and ask for advice. You'll be surprised to know that most people go through the same things and if some of your friends have already been through it, you have a great little support network right there.

Look for others you admire

What I mean is, look for people who you feel are like you but are where you wanna be and start interacting with them or research the crap outta them. Start applying the things they do and find out if it works for you.

Get your gratitude on

And last but certainly not least, give the gratitude! Show your appreciation for being here and for being you. Be grateful for your brand new confidence and your sassy new attitude. Basically just adopt a characteristic and gratefulness!

So there ya go! Lots to work with but if you take it in baby steps you'll find that it's actually easy to apply. To get to where you truly want to be, you gotta start from the inside out. Remember not to rush, you can't rush your learning process. But with each new thing you apply you will find yourself getting more and more confident each day.

Have fun!

Elise xo

How to Feel Confident, Sexy & Delicious!

When you think of sexy confidence do you automatically think of the Victoria's Secret Angels?

I do!

Now, before you cower away ready to drown in a packet of chocolate buttons and inadequacy - just stop for a moment and hear me out.

A year or so ago, I was having some issues. I wasn't confident with where I was going in my life - I didn't know what I wanted and I had become very stagnant. So much to the point a barely wanted to be around people (crazy, I know).

I had backed myself into a corner, hid myself under my fluffy pink blanket and didn't want to come out from under it. My confidence took a huge dive. I could barely socialize with people anymore and I just wanted the world to swallow me up whole.

One day, I had a moment of clarity. I don't know where it came from but I feel it was my soul crying out for help. I needed to do something and I needed to do it now. I could not stay like this anymore - it was time to get Elise back!

I don't know how, but I just knew what to do. I started acting and pretending I was confident, even if I was by myself in my room. I saw the Victoria Secret models on tv one day and I knew that THAT was the confidence I wanted! I kept at it and life started turning back around and before I knew it it was getting better than it was before!

Now, whether you're in times of desperation like I was or if you know you just need to do a lil work - look past all the feathers, the sequins, the lingerie, the smokin' hot bods and the gorgeous features of these women, what have they got?

A very delicious recipe to confidence.

See it! There in every picture! Sure they ooze sex appeal but there's that underlying playful confidence. ANYONE can have that!

The question is, how exactly do you get THAT confidence? Well, here are my 4 tips to getting yourself there!

By having a sexy affair with yourself!

Dance around to your girl power playlist in your sexy knickers, date yourself, do daily kick-ass affirmations, meditate your heart out, have an affair with food, take pleasure in doing nothing, get selfish and do things just for you. You gotta fill yourself up with the good stuff so it can ooze out of you like an intoxicating love potion! You've gotta indulge in you.

By strutting down your runway!

Mmhmmm, you heard me right! You gotta strut as if you're on your runway. So, if you were super confident, how would you walk? How would you talk? How would you act? Think about it and then PRACTICE IT. Practice walking, talking and acting exactly the way you would if you were confident. Summon your alter ego for assistance and make it a daily practice!

By having a fun, playful & positive outlook!

Get playful with people around you. Go back to when you were a kid and used to chase each other just cause they poked you in the hip and said "you're it!". Chase the fun around you or make simple things fun! It's all about perception! Finally, now that you're aware, start looking for the positive in everything - because there always is a positive! Train yourself to look at things 'glass half full'.

By love and kindness for others!

Random, I know. But I've noticed that there can be a slight arrogance the more confident you get and if you're not careful you can tip the other way and become an absolute douche. So you counter act this by giving love and kindness to the people around you. I've learned that if you treat people with love and respect while being confident, these people sing sing your praises to the world!

Start applying these four things daily and watch as your life transforms around you. You will become an incredible inspiration to your peers, you'll lead the way for many others and you will have a healthy and wholesome respect and love for yourself that most only dream of!

Elise xx

What are your Ridonkulous Fears?

 I really gotta know.

These are fears that either make no logical sense or are just down right silly.

What I mean is that these fears, no matter how much you worry about them, are never actually going to happen or there is nothing you can do anyway - but you do worry about them still!

I'll use my most recent ridonkulous fear as an example:

Gods, Universe & Everything In-Between

I started reading this book called 'Fingerprints of the Gods' by Graham Hancock. He was a correspondent and his book is based on a theory that there was a highly advanced ancient civilization that existed on a continent that supposedly disappeared. The civilization was wiped out by the cataclysm of the ice age but he provides actual proof and evidence that they existed and that the continent didn't disappear - it moved. Ooooooo...

Anyway, a downside of reading the book is that it got me thinking about the whole "2012 End of the World" palava.

Now, I'm that girl who'll watch a scary movie and actually be scared for the next few days because I was a dumbass and watched it by myself at night without a buddy. It's like aftershocks of a quake.

Afterscares.

So as my mind mulled over the after effects of this book. My mind conversations went a little like this..

"Holy crap, the world could end in a few months?... But that's not fair I haven't even made it to 30! Do you think the planet gives a shit whether you've turned 30 or not?... Oh shit, I should start kickboxing lessons... Why? Well if I survive an ice age, tsunami or volcanic eruption I'll need to know survival tricks. And you think kickboxing is gonna teach you survival tips?.... Shit! I won't have a blog anymore. Dude, you won't have a life anymore... What if a cataclysm happens while I'm asleep? What about the cat?.... I don't know how to make clothes out of leaves! I really should do cross-fit. OH MY GOD I'M GONNA DIE IN THREE MONTHS."

And it just got worse. I saw an ad on television advertising the latest iPad that I have wanted for like ever and all I thought was "What's the point."

Like, how stupid is that? Honestly.

It's stupid in the sense that whether it does or doesn't happen there is absolutely nothing I can do anyway. I literally worked myself into a state of anxiety over something that may or may not happen.

Geez..

In a roundabout way there's nothing quite like believing you're going to die that kicks your ass into serious action.

In my attempt to get over this absolutely ridonkulous fear, I came up with a three-step fool proof strategy to get over it - and you can use it too for whatever crazy fears you've got going on atm!

1. Realize it's silly, there's nothing you can do anyway.
2. Laugh about it, make it into a joke.
3. Use it to empower you to live it up right now.
   

But now it's your turn.. to share your ridonkulous fears. Did you have a scare similar to mine? Or maybe it was worse? I'd love to hear them! And even if you've still got weird feelings about them, sharing them is a way to get it out, joke about it and feel better about it!

Elise xo

21 Self-Love Affirmations

I know I don't usually post on a Thursday, but I'm just so dang passionate about self-love I really couldn't resist myself.

Plus I'm really excited about sharing these self love quotes and affirmations that you can start using today!

By now I'm sure you know what affirmations are, and yes I understand you might feel like it's bullshit have some resistance against them. But, as you're here reading this right now I truly believe you are willing to do anything that will positively transform your life.

So, friend - here is something that will help.

I'm not saying you have to do it all the time, or that you even have to like it (though it'd help!) but no harm came from trying something positive so give it a shot will ya?

So to begin..

Find a place where you're the most comfortable and feel safe i.e I do it either in my bed or the bath tub. Write the self love affirmations down in a journal, copy and paste into a word file or just say them out loud.

Really try to feel what you're saying. Don't try to rush them. Just feel it. Each affirmation will have a slightly different feeling/trigger point. Note what feels good, what you connect to and leave the others for another time.

You don't need to use them all. I personally believe that the shorter the affirmation the better. There's power in shortness - well I think anyway!

21 Self-Love Affirmations

1. I am loved.
2. I am unique.
3. I am powerful.
4. I am worthy.
5. I am valuable.
6. I am worthy of love.
7. I am worthy of success.
8. I am worthy of the fulfilment of my dreams.
9. I am worthy of happiness
10. I am learning to approve of myself.
11. I forgive myself.
12. I love and accept myself.
13. I am in the process of feeling great about myself.
14. I am learning to radiate love and respect.
15. I accept others as they are and they in turn accept me as I am.
16. I know I deserve all that is good.
17. I am never alone.
18. I am becoming more and more grateful.
19. I am becoming happier.
20. I am loving.
21. I am loving it!

And above all these beautiful quotes, my favourite one below is by none other than my childhood hero - Walt Disney. Which is also why I made it a tweetable! So click the link and get sharing!

Today's tweetable: "The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique." - Walt Disney via @EliseMcDowell

Aint it juicy? The more you are true to yourself, the more unique you become because there is only one of you honey! (even if you happen to have an identical twin, you're still your own person!)

Elise xo

The #1 Way to Start Loving Your 'SELF' Right Now

When it comes to loving your SELF, are you guilty of putting you as the last thing 'to do' on your list? Do you spend most of your time doing all the things you have to do and see before you even think of you?

What about when you are alone with yourself? Do you loathe looking into the mirror, going out in public or being around people because you don't feel good enough?

Well you listen up here beautiful, we are about to change that! We are going to bring that inner vibrance out and turn you into a self loving machine!

You wanna know the #1 way to start loving your SELF right now? Well here it is..

D A T E    Y O U R S E L F

Oooooh.. What a gorgeous, sexy vixen you've got there for a date!

Think about it, when you reeeally like someone and you start dating you literally pull out every single stop. You put aside a boatload of time for this person, you spend money on this person, you communicate with this person often, you do different activities than usual with this person.

You think about this person, you talk about this person, this person makes you smile all the time, they give you butterflies, you get warm fuzzies, you make cute little things for them, you eat at different food joints, you crack jokes with them, you laugh together, you hug, you kiss, you cuddle, you link arms, you play, you get intimate, you share things with each other and most of all you have FUN.

This is what you need to do with yourself.

You have to start treating yourself like the special one in your life, the one you'll pull out all of the stops for. You've got to fill your pink bedazzled cup-of-love with an abundance of S E L F   L O V E. Because only then will you be able to give, love, create and play like you've never done before. You've gotta put yourself first!

Image from Militant Baker

Here is your challenge for the next month. You are to date yourself every day. Become besotted with yourself. Imagine YOU as the sexy, hot person you're taking home with you every night.

Use these ideas to get you started and create your own. Reenact a previous date you've had that went really well and do it with just yourself. Indulge in YOU, fall in love with YOU.

+ Have a movie date with yourself

+ Treat yourself to your favourite take-out food

+ Snap some awesome photos of yourself

+ Talk sweet words to your body

+ Use affirmations for extra luuurve

+ Write to yourself and in a journal

+ DANCE your butt off in your room in your underwear

+ Smile for 30 seconds

+ Make something pretty just for you.
+ Go for a walk and a picnic in your favourite park
+ Listen to your favourite tunes
+ Kiss yourself in the mirror!
+ Do things that make you laugh
+ Try something new like a food, hobby or running track.

+ Start a new hobby for yourself
+ Buy yourself something nice
+ Dress up for yourself when you go out
+ Stay in bed all day
+ Plan a day trip for yourself
+ Instagram your life

+ Wear sexy underwear
+ Go shopping and have lunch in your fave cafe
+ Have a saucy, scrumptious and delicious dessert
+ Get lost in borders. Read mags, books and drink coffee all day

This is the start of something amazing. You are more than you realize. You are pure amazingness and not nobody can ever tell you otherwise! You are the one who can change yourself into a self loving bunny! Let's start today!

Elise xo