Se7en’s Fabulous Fun…

I know, the first week of January and the internet is exploding with all sorts of NEW YEAR ideas… new projects, new goals, new you, new inspiration. It is resolution season and it is here with a vengeance. I am not a resolution gal… I like change, but I firmly believe that incremental changes lead to big goals and when I decide I am going to do something then… well then I go for it… New Year or not. However, I do enjoy inspiration whatever the season, where folk are getting up and doing things… there is lots of good stuff out there and I am sharing my favourites with you:

1. Mindset Reset with Mel Robbins: Thirty days of learning how to change your mindset… how to change your inner song from “it’s impossible, to let’s do this.” Loads of free tips, loads of encouragement and loads of easy to implement things you can actually do. And you can join her anytime… all her resources are free … just click on the link and go. I have been watching her video series, about 12 minutes a day… and actually if you don’t have twelve minutes then you can catch her gem of the day in about 5 min… this week is all about your morning routine… and hello… get the SLEEP you need.

2. If your entire year left you collapsed in a comatose state, and you didn’t “Marie Kondo” your every single closet before Christmas, then there is a solution: The whole world appears to be watching Marie Kondo’s new show on Netflix… silly me, I thought you had to watch an episode a week… turns out you can watch the whole thing at once!!! I am all for getting rid of stuff, especially stuff that doesn’t Spark Joy. One thing I can say from the first episode: She doesn’t say that the Mother Person must rise from the couch and purge the house of stuff until it is in perfect order. In fact each person has to go through their own goodies. I can say that if you watch with your kids, you can expect them all to leap from the couch and sort their clothes in a flash… To be sure we will be watching more episodes TOGETHER and books will indeed be next.

3. If you enjoy any kind of organising then you need to be following Spark_Joy_London… She is running a KonMari kids for the month of January, I was a little doubtful. Nobody wants to drag their tots through an entire month of decluttering, but it is really sweet. With a very easy to apply and totally practical, achievable task to achieve with your small child each day. It is sweet, it is lovely, look for the hashtag #konmarikids on instagram for inspiration.

4. If touching every item in your home and wondering if it sparks joy leaves you gasping for air and grabbing for your inhaler, then Simplified on Instagram is the way to go… they are posting one fifteen minute-ish task, something completely manageable and doable… like Day 1: Walk your home with a trash bag and toss stuff… be ruthless… other tasks might have followed, and they are all posted on beautiful post-it-note type images, lovely… One problem, I may have gotten stuck on task number one… I am still walking the house and tossing things… always always tossing things!!!

5. Otherwise, I have been following Mina Guli on instagram for a little while now. Her goal is to run 100 marathons, and raise awareness for water security… Having survived last year and the Cape Town Water Crisis, I can only imagine how hard it is to survive when water is just not available… at all. At marathon #62 her stress fracture became too unbearable to run on and she has had to call it a day… due to her injury… but never fear, what one runner can do for water security… so many more runners can do as a team. If you want to add to her water security miles you can: run/walk/share… share a photograph of your mileage and hashtag it #runningdry

6. And if you are looking for some body image encouragement… like you are just fine the way you are… AND YOU ARE… then you have to take a look at Brookegenn, who is posting a photo a day for month of January, of herself just as she is… not in full flight leaping across the Rockies, or airbrushed to perfection, not squeezed into perfect gym gear… just a girl getting up everyday and living her life. This is what we really look like, forget the marketing, forget all the nonsense… you really are perfect just the way you are!!!

7. Julie (Bogart) BraveWriter’s New Book: I love and adore all her homeschooling encouragement, and not just homeschooling… all moms everywhere can be encouraged by her work. She is a daily inspiration on instagram… and her podcasts are always on point. And if you are looking for writing encouragement for you and your kids, wether you homeschool or not, then she has fabulous free resources if you scroll down the right hand column of her website.

And the se7en+1th thing…



8. I know, I know, I am always on about Gretchen Rubin, of The Happiness Project fame… but she has a new book coming out in March… and it is about controlling your stuff. Yup. So if you haven’t got your entire house organised by March… then Gretchen Rubin might well be able to rescue you, her ideas are practical, applicable and totally doable… honestly I just can’t wait!!! In the meantime you can go and take a peek at her website over here.

And that’s us for now… look out for some new and fabulous fun on our blog later on this week, I am excited about it and can’t wait to share it with you all.