Progress Update: 365 Days Later

One year ago to the day I set myself (and the universe) a challenge to achieve Success, Health and Wealth in 365 days and here’s how I got on.

The original challenge:

1)     Great Success and Wealth in my Perfect Career

Well I got a new job in April last year, which made me much better off financially and late in 2012 I was awarded a big flagship project to incorporate high end design. This project will be commencing 2013

I started my own Interior Design Blog and business undertook my first commission and have another scheme to start designing in 2013

I have started working in partnership with builder friend to provide outline designs and draughting skills

2)     Achieve my perfect weight:

Honestly all attempts have failed.

In 2013 I am determined to stop focusing on improving health and fitness.

As I spent more time thinking about what I want from my life I embraced my Expanding Ambitions to include:

3)     My Dream Home Self Build:

In 2012 we faced the fact that we would not be able to build a home on my mums land, I had been struggling to feel comfortable with the idea for a while so when we finally agreed to stop trying I think it came as a relief to everyone (especially my mum). It just wasn’t meant to be.

We also found and lost a development opportunity in a property in need of modernisation, although the loss of this property was heart breaking it cleared my mind and gave me focus. Refurbishment has always been my passion so as we move into 2013 we will hunting our next property with development potential.

4)     £300,000.00 in the savings account:

Sadly not yet

5)     Mulberry Alexa Handbag

Bagged it! On the way to New York I purchased my Mulberry with my first pay cheque from my first private job.

How Did I Do?
All in all, I feel like I achieved a lot in a year. It’s been a 365 days full of celebrations and good news and it’s not a bad year’s progress on my aspirations. The focus I have found by addressing my thought processes, and really thinking about what I want has helped me plan for my future without fear.

The Secret isn’t magic. It is addressing your approach and taking control of your life via the greatest tool that you possess; your mind.

It has taught me that I can do anything; I will never be trapped or lost because I am privileged to live in a society where I have the right to exercise choice and because I am surrounded by amazing people who I love whole heartedly.

Undoubtedly the single best thing the Secret has taught me is to enjoy and be grateful for the good in my life and to quash the relentless paranoia I used to suffer about it being taken away by chance. I am my own fate.

Whilst I haven’t achieved infinite wealth or success in the year gone by I intend to use the lessons I have leaned and my new found focus to continue perusing my goals in 2013.

Happy New Year Everyone, I wish you all the love, luck and happiness in the world.

NYE:2012

It's NYE once more and 2013 is just around the corner.
 
2013!

As I sit here with my hair in questionable DIY Pin Curls, preparing for my very good friend, Sugar Plum Slippers, Roaring Twenties NYE Party, I have been reflecting on 2012 and begun mentally preparing myself for 2013

2012 (In Brief)

Weekend trip to Bruges
First new job is 7 years!
The first baby within my close group of friends
Bridesmaid to one of my best friends
Hen Do for one of my best friends
Trip of a lifetime to New York
Excellent group holiday to Majorca
My niece turned 2 years old
The Olympics
New Business- [Your] Place, Your Rules
My sister moved in with her boyfriend
4 friends got married
2 friends got engaged
2 friends are expecting
2 friends set the date for their wedding
6 friends moved house
2 friends emigrated
2 friends got promoted
I bought my Mulberry
Sadly we lost a development opportunity
Dave turned 30; This was a year of 30th as the first wave of our nearest and dearest friends
Career Sucess; as I was awarded my Big Project

All in all a brilliant good year full of celebrations and happy tidings for friends, family and myself, for which I am very gratful. Here's to more of the same in 2013 :)

Thank You
xxx
 

I’m a Big Believer in Rewards for Achievement...

I know getting a new job to most people is something they do every other year but getting this new job means so much to me because I feel like a success for the first time and I’ve overcome a lot of my personal hurdles [like fear of rejection] so I decided I deserve a big reward.

Unfortunately I decided and set my heart on a really really big reward before I really appreciated the cost…

The Mulberry Alexa Nightshade Blue Large Silky Snake bag, retailing at £950

‘Now I know £950 is a really nice holiday, or a big chunk off the credit card but this bag is soooo beautiful, would go with everything, be a symbol and a reminder to succeed and I would use until it disintegrated’

This was my plea to but unfortunately my plea fell on deaf ears and Davey laid down the law…. So I am going to have to find another way to get the bag. It’s going on The Secret list!

From Career Crisis to Confidence

Preparing for my interview got me thinking about the changes in my career over the last 18 months and how grateful I am for them. I went from someone who felt trapped by 'lack' to someone who attracted more development opportunities in 18 months that the entire 5 years previous. I am convinced it's because The Secret taught me that a positive attitude attracts opportunity.

This is my story...

For many years I have worried about which direction to progress my career to gain success. Every time I thought about persuing my education in Architecture I felt sick and anxious but I couldn’t see a way to develop my preferred career in interior design. The indecision made me feel awful and like a failure. I worried constantly because I didn’t know what to do for the best and my employer was pressuring me.

I was having a total confidence crises and couldn’t see how to make my career suit my personality. I began to try and be what I thought others wanted which made me depressed and insecure because I felt dishonest.

After reading The Secret I realised that I had allowed other people to undermine the confidence I had when I left uni. I had let my colleagues short sighted criticism put doubt into my mind that I even belonged in the creative world.

I made a decision to stop worrying and started looking for inspiration of how to make my career work for me. I feel a renewed sense of confidence and ambition because I have found examples of people who have enjoyed massive success by not conforming.

Meet my celebrity muses:

 Zara Hadid; Not only is she a female architect, but she is a female British-Iraqi architect who has overcome many obstacles. My favourite Zara quote is:

‘Men don’t listen to me, so I have to give them hell’

Working in a male dominated profession can be intimidating sometimes especially when you turn up on site to tell burly builders twice your age what they’ve done wrong. Next time one of them gives me grief I am going to channel Zara!

Vivienne Westwood; who doesn’t love Viv? 70 years old and still kicking arse in the design world. Not only is she an amazing designer she often writes though provoking pieces on human rights, ethics and philosophy [her blog is a must read]. On top of all this she has an incredible sense of fun and doesn’t take herself too seriously which I’m pretty sure is unique in the fashion world. I would love to take her to dinner to discuss her ethics followed by skanking at a punk gig!

 Lady Gaga; I didn’t used to rate Lady Gaga. I thought she was an intriguing gimmick who produced good songs but nothing to obsess over.

How my opinions have changed!

I watched Gaga on the TV at the Radio 1 gig and she blew me away. She is packed with talent and her ‘eccentrically artistic bit’ is just the sideline.

From there I went on to Watch the Monsterball tour and fell in love with her. I have never seen another artist give back so much encouragement and love back to her fans... I am now a proper Little Monster and if I need a confidence boost my medicine is dancing like a loony in my pants to Gaga!

Meet My Muses in the Family...

I am lucky to be surrounded and encouraged by three of the most inspiring artistic and creative ladies I could wish to have by my side. It definitely runs in the family... 

 

[Left to Right] My Nana, my Mum with baby me and Lizzy-Bet with crazy custom made moustache



Not to mention Papa Bear, a home builder and master craftsman. Our Dad learned to carve so he could make us a rocking horse, made us countless pieces of custom furniture and worked constantly with my Mum to build a family home and a happy childhood for both my sister and I.

Thank you. Thank You. Thank you. Thank you.



Papa Bear [aka Dad]

Thanks to these inspiring people and a little help from the secret I managed to work out [at the ripe old age of 27] that it was OK to be myself, that I had a right to make my life and my career work for me rather than squeezing myself into a pre-formed mould.

They gave me the confidence to stand up for myself and take positive action to push for the things I wanted.

They gave me the self worth to value my opinion and my work as highly as the next designer and to not care if it wasn’t to everyone’s taste.

Now I am focused on finding the positive and inspiring I absolutely adore reading the interviews with eccentric characters in design [BD Magazine]. In this weeks BD an architect called Piers Taylor resigned from his practice, via email, after a holiday in Australia to escape the confines of the studio and set up a new venture called 'Invisible Studio' to work collaboratively with magicians and mathematicians.

There is too much criticism and negativity in the world and if you let it surround you, you can drown in it. I am now entirely focused on seeking out inspiring characters and designers and focusing on what I can be, rather than what I can’t.

It Works...

I decided about a year ago to just focus on the fact that I wanted a career in Interior design, rather than all the possible obstacles. Very quickly the office began to get more and more Interior Design commissions, which were all offered to me and in September last year my boss agreed to change my job description to Interior Designer.

Now I have an interior design career I am determined to focus on greater success in this or another creative industry and I will let the universe decide how that success comes to me.

I'll keep you posted.

2 [and a bit] week update...

So what have I been up to in the two [and a bit] weeks since my last post?


Well let me tell you...

I have been listening to The Secret Audio book every day; on the way to work, at work and at home. I have listened to it in the background, I have concentrated on it and I have let it sink into my subconscious.

It’s working.

I have been listening to all the advice given and sought out podcasts from other 'teachers' [as they call themselves]. Turns out most life coaches, Feng Shui gurus and other 'sorts' that the rich and famous can afford to hire, are all advocates of The Secret.

Now some of the Americanisms and the over the top dramatics are a bit much for my slightly cynical British reserve [thank god for Rhonda Byrne, who reads the majority of the book, in her soft Australian accent] but they have a point and as a result of really absorbing the concept of The Secret I have taken 3 steps:

1) Saying thank you for all the brilliant things I have to be grateful for every morning

There are a lot! When you stop and think about it you will be shocked about how much you have to be grateful for (including things that we maybe we all take for granted). Whether it’s your family, your friends, your colleagues, that man that held the door open for you, that woman who stopped you to tell you that you had dropped your favourite scarf, the fact that you have food to eat, that we have access to clean water, that we can see a doctor when we need to, our health, our ability to exercise, your family pet...

The list goes on and on and the more you think about it the more you will remember to be grateful for.

2) I have focused on what I want and asked for it

Following on from my last post I have been thinking in more detail about what I really want. Thinking about this can be a scary process, as you can discover that a lot of what you thought you wanted is actually what you thought you should want... like world peace  
None the less I let my mind have free rein to establish what I would dare to dream for if I truly believed there were no limits to what I could achieve... I realised I left a few things of my list:

My dream home
The image below was designed by, Interior Designer, Kathryn Tyler who I absolutely idolise. I first saw her on Grand Designs and totally fell in love with her style, green design principles and her courage to grab success.

Her practice is Linea Studio which she established, in 2004, very soon after leaving university. She is an inspiration to me because she showed me that you need to have courage and commitment to your own style, the confidence to risk going it alone and the balls to ignore the critics.
When Dave and I build our own house this will be the precedent.

£300,000.00 In the savings account
Don’t know how I expect it to get there but I want it.

3) Finally I have taken action to achieve ‘Great Success and Wealth in my Perfect Career’...

Over the last few years I have spent a lot of time working on various portfolios, but I never really found a layout and style that represented me or gave me confidence in my work.

I spent a lot of time worrying about if it gave the right message and if people would like my style or toss all my dreams and hopes into the shredder, as such I hadn't sent out an application for a new job in 7 years!

Since I have started focusing on being positive I found it incredibly easy to design a portfolio layout and content that I love. I have updated my CV and confidently sung my own praises. I have also applied for my first job in 7 years. And guess what I already have an interview...

So thank you Rhonda Byrne.

So what am I up to?

About a 18 months ago a good friend of mine, Victoria Hale aka Sugar Plum Slipper, introduced me to The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

No I don't usually go in for hippy nonsense (it makes me cringe) however her enthusiasm lead me to try it out. I devoured the book in one sitting (its not very long) but also available in DVD and audiobook depending on your favoured medium.

The most basic premise of The Secret is that you can attract the life that you want... including the perfect career, the perfect partner, health, wealth, success etc. by being positive and grateful for the things that you have. The idea is that to attract something in your life you should send positive and grateful vibes out and you will attract it to you. The book gives numerous examples and encourages you to test the principle out with something small in the first instance. So I decided to challenge the universe...


 The Challenge...

Whilst shopping with boyf I fell in love with a pair of blue and orange Rayban Wayfarers. So I decided my challenge to the universe/ The Secret was that I wanted the sunglasses for free. I asked, I felt gratitude and then I waited. Payday came and I decided I would buy the sunglasses and trust that The Secret would see me right. It did. A week later i received and unexpected cheque from the Inland Revenue for just £3 and a few pence less than the value of the sunglasses... now you may say its coincidence but based on this event I am a believer in The Secret.

So now what...

Well I have a bigger challenge for The Secret which I intend to document with absolute honesty on this blog. I am setting myself the challenge that in 365 days from today I will have achieved:

1) Great Success and Wealth in my Perfect Career (to be dog friendly)-

I am an interior designer and generally creative sort. Aside from my professional career I have many ideas for home products, children’s book characters, fashion accessories, events packages, interior packages, graphic design and this year will be the year I persue them all hopefully to result in my own business. All my creative designs etc will be documented on my 'other blog' which can be seen here

On the career front I have already achieved more in the year and a half since I discovered the Secret than I did in the five and a half years previous but now my focus is on great success and wealth whether that is in my perfect role in my perfect company or my own business.

2) My perfect weight
Fairly standard but I would like to be one and a half stone lighter, fit, healthy and ready for the challenges my perfect career will bring. I'm not too fussy something along the lines of the picture below will suffice ;o)

The reason I am able have these two focal points for this year is because I'm very lucky and happy in all other areas of my life... for which i would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you.

Further gratitude to follow in my next post.