5 Steps to Inspired Living

Best. Quote. Imagine the freedom if you lived by it?

I posted this picture and the caption below today on Instagram account. At the same time, I thought, “I need to keep sharing helpful content on my blog.” 

My Instagram Post

“When I started blogging in 2016 to share inspired living content for women over 40, people said, “What is she trying to prove?” “ She is showing off.” “She’s too much.”

It hurt. But I kept going. Over time, I cared less what people thought and more about focusing on the people who found my content useful.

It’s the beginning of 2021. I look back on the hundreds of blog posts I wrote and the self growth that came with it. When we are whole with ourselves, we function at our very best. In love, in life, in our career.

My blog helped me realize my potential and desire to be a jeweler like my parents and my grandfather. Today, my lifestyle blog generates 800 page views a day. That’s almost 25,000 views a month. And it’s the highest source of traffic to my fine jewelry business, ounceofsaltjewelry.com.

It turns out, there’s nothing like building trust among jewelry clients by sharing your life online.

I write all this to say, Show Yourself. If you’re lost, start the work to Find Yourself. So many women my age feel paralyzed to renew. It is never too late to enrich your life. If you don’t feel like you’re living as your very best self, there has never been a better time to start. Happy New Year! Cheers to Living our Best Lives!”

I realized that this caption is a summary of more I could share to help people take action to find themselves. The following are the top 5 Steps I believe are necessary to live an inspired life:

5 Steps to Inspired Living

1. Write. 

For 15 minutes a day, write. Write in a journal. write in a workbook in a life coach program. Write in a blog! Just write. write about what is spinning through your mind. Write how you’re feeling each day. Write in shorthand. Write in bullet points. Write anything. 

I believe writing unlocks our subconscious and provides a release for our thoughts and feelings we keep pent up inside. It’s one of those things we don’t realize we need until after we do it for awhile and see the positive impact it can have. Kind of like meditation! I didn’t start this until this blog, despite hearing people’s recommendations to do so. Try it for 6 weeks, everyday. See what it unlocks for you. 

For me, I write on this blog. But for business, I often jot down notes throughout my day as thoughts pop into my head. Sometimes I write letters to people I won’t send when I’m feeling emotional or angry.  

There is a life coach program called Scholars I recommend, if you’re not sure where to begin with your writing. It gives prompts and exercises to help you figure things out if you’re stuck. I did this program for a few months but felt I had done a lot of this work on my own already. But it would be a great roadmap for someone who hasn’t. It isn’t cheap at $297/month. So be prepared to invest your time in doing the work, or don’t do it. 

Here is a blog post I wrote a few years ago when I finally stopped saying “I’m not a writer.” How Marriage and Kids Helped Me Find Myself. It was published on the Today Parents Site , I was proud!

2. Move.

Move your body at least a few times a week. If you need to take a few weeks off, no problem. But I believe a healthy body is necessary for a healthy mind. Get your heart rate up, whether it’s on a walk, run, peloton, or a strength workout. 

You probably know by now, I am a runner. If I don’t run for a while, my mood and general feeling of wellness diminishes. During the last half of December, I didn’t run due to being so busy with Christmas jewelry orders. I needed to find an extra 90 minutes each day so I gave up running for a few weeks. My body told me I went too long without moving! when I got back out there a few days ago, I was as slow as a caterpillar and completely out of breath. 

Make moving a part of your weekly routine. The hardest part is when you first start. After a few weeks, your body will get used to it, and you will gain more energy (not less) from your exercise.

Here is a post about my experience running the NY Marathon. I really believe that if I can run a marathon, anyone can. 

3. Make Goals.

I am an overachiever and could use less “goal setting” in my life. But I find many people won’t set any goals at all due to fear of failure. This makes no sense to me. I’ve heard people say, ” I don’t need goals. I just want to enjoy life.” To this, I call bullshit. 

Self improvement continues until the day we die. When we stop striving to better ourselves, we can become complacent. Whether it’s to read 12 new books this year, take that online course you’ve been wanting to try, or to learn a new skill, make some goals. 

My post “Improve the quality of your life with a growth mindset”   has some great tips on shifting your mindset to “growth” vs a “fixed” mindset. 

4. No Drama.

Sometimes it’s unavoidable. I’ve had my share of drama and have been the catalyst when I felt it was important. But in general, I try to stay drama free. Do you ever notice some people have continuous drama in their lives? I’ve been working on “less drama” life. I realized a few years back that for the most part, we can control how much drama to let into our lives. If your life has a lot of it, it may be time to assess how you’re contributing. Our problems are usually a mirror to ourselves. 

5. Find Mentors.

It’s hard to go where we want to go in life without some guidance. Find people in your life you look up to, confidants who understand and want the best for you, even a therapist! And mentors online or via podcasts can be extremely helpful. We all have different styles and needs to level up in our lives, so what you need in a mentor may be completely different than mine. For me, I love Brene Brown’s books and Jame’s Wedmore’s podcast.

Brene’s theories on living wholeheartedly resonates with me on every level. Her humility, authenticity, and story telling teaches and inspires me to strive everyday to live with intention and without fear. 

James Wedmore – He is an entrepreneurial business coach mostly for online courses, so different than my fine jewelry world. But I love listening to his podcast! Some call him “woo woo” which means too into spiritual theories for business. But I love how he takes this approach to being an entrepreneur. Like I said in my Instagram caption above, I believe the more whole we are within ourselves, the more successful we will be in our lives, including our business. I listen to him like he’s my friend just talking to me while I’m driving to downtown L.A. for my jewelry work.

Happy 2nd day of 2021. I told myself I wanted to write for an hour to share more thoughts related to my Instagram post. It used to take me 6 hours to write a blog post. I’ve come a long way. They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert on something. While I’m not an expert on blogging, I believe that only by practicing can we improve on anything we do. I hope there was some helpful info in here for you!

Until next time, stop thinking about what others’ perception is of you. Just work on your perception of yourself. 

Flavor Your Life with an Ounce of Salt. A Lifestyle Blog by Jen Oliak.