Today’s episode is all about ways to glow up your life, particularly because I’m personally making this summer a “glow-up” kind of summer where I’m really going to try tackling some goals that I’ve always wanted to complete. And ideally morph myself into a morning person once and for all. That’s been a goal of mine for a very long time, but it’s been hard to keep consistent, so that’s my ultimate summer goal. But beyond that, I wanted to share some other “glow-up” goals I had, as well as provide some inspiration and ideas for you in case you wanted to do that this summer as well!
***NOTE: the post below is just a rough outline of some of my ideas that I talk about in my podcast. That’s why you’ll find some bullet points, and random parts written out in more detail. It’s just the outline I used before recording, so if you want to actually get the full content, make sure to play the episode or save it on whatever platform you listen to podcasts on (find it by searching “Pursuing the Happy”).
1. Stick to a Schedule
Now maybe this could be a personality kind of thing. I like the idea of having freedom in my day, and would naturally run without a calendar. But the thing is, I am infinitesimally more productive when I schedule out my tasks in my day. Literally not even just meetings, but like, all my tasks. If you looked at my calendar during the school year, you probably would have fainted. And yes, it was colour-coded of course.
If you’ve been needing help being more motivated and productive, I do have another post here where I talk about it all in depth, but I do highly recommend creating a schedule for yourself. It’s a super effective glow-up method and I speak from years and years of experience. *Cough, cough* my whole life’s experience.
2. Invest
If you don’t invest already, this is your sign to do so because you don’t want to have your money sitting there and collecting dust. Like, if you want to really glow-up your finances, you need to invest. Not even “should”. It’s something everyone should be doing to build wealth.
Now with that little life tip away, I’m planning on taking some time this summer just to sit down, read some really great investment books and delve further into that area. Because while I do invest, I feel like there’s just so much more to explore and learn, so that’s a great way to glow up your life. I took a course this year at university and the prof was amazing, so he definitely got me more interested into this area of finance too.
Maybe I’ll make a podcast episode on investing once I feel confident enough to doll out investing experience haha.
3. Follow a Chore Schedule
I know chores aren’t super fun, so I found that I sometimes put things off once in a while. So I had this idea of a “chore schedule” where I block off a chunk of time every Saturday to complete chores. Now this isn’t the normal every day stuff like washing the dishes. It’s more like vacuuming or hand-washing laundry, and more seasonal things that you do once a month or something.
4. Go Outside More
Not as in, go to shops and stuff, but rather go out into nature and enjoy it. I’ve always found nature so therapeutic, and it’s a really grounding experience just going outside and breathing in the air.
- Mindfulness exercise to do when you’re outside
5. Practice Your Passions
I’ve always found some time, even when I was busy, to play piano. It’s just a nice way to take a break from the screen and do something fun. This summer, I’ve got a goal to learn some new songs. Maybe La Campanella by Liszt.
6. Exercise Regularly
I used to go swimming quite often, but now that there’s COVID, I’m definitely not going to a pool. I mean, I barely go out anyways, but the point is — when you’re also not super athletic, you don’t really feel compelled to exercise super regularly, especially if life is busy.
7. Read More Books
I loveee books, but when you have a full time university course load, it can sometimes be hard to find time for reading for fun. I’ve personally always put aside some time once in a while to read for fun, but this summer I’m particularly looking at reading some of those more challenging books.
- YA novels vs Pulitzer Prize and Scotiabank Giller Prize
Reading is literally one of the best ways to have a life glow up.
8. Write
- Seth Godin and his blog
- Writing stories
9. Try Something You’ve Always Wanted to Try
This could be learning a new skill, or just something you’ve always wanted to get better at, even. I know there’s already a lot on my plate this summer in terms of this summer glow-up bucket list, but if I had some other things I’ve always wanted to do and get better at, I’d probably say building up my Chinese reading skills some more (maybe borrow some books from the library for that), and learning guitar or something. Or get better at the flute. There’s a lot. I also love the sound of the violin, but I feel like buying a whole new instrument when I have two that I should get better at already might be taking it too far, haha.
10. Wake Up Earlier
Okay I touched on this already, but let’s end off our ways to glow-up our life by unpacking the whole idea. Because if you’re listening to this, you’ve probably also had a similar goal of wanting to wake up early, but found it really hard to implement and keep consistent.
So I just wanted to share my journey a little.
- Methods that have helped me (e.g. alarm clock)
- Waking up early is all dependent on going to bed early
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