2024 Goals –Welcome to a new year.

Can you believe it?

2024.

I know a lot of people are all about those New Year’s resolutions.

Not me. I truly suck at NYR’s because you go from holiday mode to strict mode faster than you can say…..”New Year.”

It just doesn’t jive with me.

Instead, I try to make new healthier habits throughout the year.

The break down to my pretty effortless approach? A planner you can check on, the will to build your habits around your lifestyle, lots of grace and radical honesty with yourself. Also, a bit of kindness goes a long way.

Your brain actually likes to do great things for you when you are actually nice to yourself. Who would have thought?

If you wouldn’t want someone to speak to a friend that way — don’t allow yourself to talk down to yourself either.

Things to Leave in 2024

People Pleasing

People pleasing serves no one. Not the person who’s on the receiving end of people pleasing and certainly not your boundaries or your nervous system. This takes work. For example, it could take a few years — It took me five.

Other People’s Opinions

Other people are entitled to have opinions about you, and it shouldn’t be any of your business.

Self-Depreciation

It’s not a flex to speak badly about yourself, or to expect others to meet you down in the dumps of self-loathing.

Fear of Failure

You’ll never be criticized by someone who is doing more than you. Most people are living their lives for others and other people’s approval. Not their own. If your life is your own and you have to give an account for your life — best to make it the truest life you can live for your soul.

No one is on your deathbed with you. You come in as a soul, and you leave as a soul to go back to God.

Make it a life worth your final account.

Let people make fun. They’ll be held to account and won’t need any help from you when learning to understand the error of their actions.

The bully.

The critic.

The liar.

The schemer.

The stealer.

The people who play in your face and hide their hands–

It’s all seen, all written down, and God will always have the victory.

So if you are failing? At least you are trying.

If you are failing — you’re closer to success.

Trust the process and trust God.

Self-Doubt

Self-doubt is normal. Letting it control you is not. Take action, and the self-doubt lessens. Move through every uncomfortable moment and see it for what it is — a mirage.

Things to Bring Into 2024

Radical Self-Honesty

It’s a tough pill to swallow — but it is worth every ounce of bitterness. To look at a situation, to look at yourself, to view the circumstances. Bravery at its finest.

Yourself

Your most authentic self is required in 2024. The chances of you being here (on earth) scientifically are slim.

Meaning your soul and genetic makeup are one of a kind.

“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”

Self-Validation

If you don’t know how to validate yourself, you will be gaslit into oblivion by someone who is banking on you not knowing who you are, what you like, how you feel, what you love and what you believe.

When you don’t know how to self-validate you will always be giving your power away — wreaking havoc on your nervous system.

Your Goals

Goals are a great way to make sure you are always mentally stimulated with your life.

Healthy Relationships

Healthy relationships….the final flex of 2024. Most people put up with people just to put up.

You don’t have to.

Let go of any and all dynamics that feel off and cultivate the emotional support system you deserve.

Remember.

All company is not good company and your best company is likely your own.

Happy New Year.

To watch the full YouTube video which has significantly less sass —- I will link it below.

xx

The post 2024 Goals — What to Leave in 2023 and What to Bring into 2024! appeared first on Bella Kate 22.

Goal setting is no joke.

Last year I made a blog post about New Year’s Goals and followed up with another post about Checking in With Your New Year’s goals.

After completing one year of goal setting, I have some thoughts and tips that I found and would love to share them here.

Goal Setting – Be Nice

When you’re goal setting it is incredibly important to be nice to yourself.

Permitting yourself to be nice to your brain while doing things allows you to try and fail and try again.

Silencing your subconscious mind to give you grace does a lot of good for your brain, your actions, and how you show up for yourself in your day-to-day life.

When you’re goal setting, you need to be specific about your real dreams and aspirations, so it’s so important you don’t say things like, “that’ll never happen.”

Um, your goals could happen, and so you need to be able to try.

Silence the head noise.

Pay Attention to Who you Surround Yourself With

Have you heard of the term; “you are who you surround yourself with” or “you become most like the five people you spend the most time with?”

They were not lying.

When you are around people who have goals, boundaries, respect for others and themselves and have nothing but good intentions towards you……Watch your life change for the better.

If you haven’t found those people yet, that is fine. They will come.

But when you make new goals and are creating new paths for your life, you will not be able to sit with people who are fine with where they are in life and mad at you for changing your environment.

Pay attention to who talks about ideas and who talks about people.

Realize how you feel around others and know that sometimes having more alone time is to your benefit, rather than being around people who do not want to see you do well.

When you are goal setting, it is time to look at who is around you.

If the people you are around feel off to you…..send them love, love them from afar and cut your losses.

Realize Where You Are Spending Your Time

It’s really easy to conceptualize and understand that you have a lot on your plate, but if you want something done goal-wise, you will find time to complete it.

Never bully yourself into accomplishing something.

I say no to bullying yourself because you catch more flies with honey, and self-doubt and obstacles are flies.

If you’re going to bully yourself, you’re setting yourself up for bad subconscious programming.

That’s a no from me.

If you want something. Try, plan, speak kindly to yourself, and yes…

Set aside time for your goals.

Check-in with Your Goals Often

Writing down your goals and putting them in a place where they can be easily accessible is a great way to keep track of your goals.

Every week check in with yourself.

Why?

When you check in weekly, you are more present with how your week went, what you have time for and what you do not.

If someone asks you to attend a party last minute, you’ll know if you have time or not.

Maybe the previous week you had taken time off from your goal, and this week was a really important moment for your goal.

See if you can fit another weekend in for the fun and stick to your goal.

This way, you learn to create boundaries for your goal, yourself, and the people in your life.

You’ll also just feel way more anchored and confident in your own life, which is amazing.

Not everything needs your attention and focusing on yourself is a much better way to spend your time.

Happy goal setting.

You’ve got this.

xx

The post Goal Setting Strategies for 2023| Smash Your Goals appeared first on Bella Kate 22.

Must have office supplies for work are the reset we need every year.

Why?

The best deals with back-to-school shopping can also be used for those of us that are no longer in school.

And reality check.

Life is always trying to teach us lessons, so why not embrace the new school year and pretend we need new stuff.

It gets us back to work with a refresh on all thing’s organization.

Personally, shopping for office supplies is a real thrill for me because I spent my summers in teaching supply stores as my mom got her classroom ready……

This also meant that we as her kids had lesson plans for the summer.

There was always this rule that if a new supply or clothing item was for school, it had to be used when school started, which added to the excitement.

Being the child of an educator will likely make you nerd out over pencils, books, notebooks, and stationery long into adulthood and you’ll always think learning new things is exciting.

Being able to hang around before and after school in my mom’s classroom modeled how much organization and planning played a big part in her career successes and if you’ve experienced watching those behaviors, these lessons follow you as you get older.

New Office Supplies

If you want to add a pip in your step and motivation to your station…..

Getting new office supplies is the way to go.

The Briefcase Backpack

Right now, I am loving the get up and go nature of being able to work from different areas.

One thing that makes that possible is a great and reliable briefcase that also works as a backpack.

The added sophistication it brings to the table is next level.

You can walk into the office with your briefcase on your back with your hands full, or you can be meeting ready with on over the shoulder strap or use the top-handle.

This makes this briefcase truly versitle.

Think Beis bags, but a chic leather briefcase.

If you are looking for a more femme version, they make one with a bow.

But, if you are wanting a higher priced version of a laptop bag, check out this Bostanten laptop bag.

Highlighters

I am an annotator.

Most almost English majors are.

I learn by writing, highlighting and doing, so I have to have an assortment of tools in my arsenal to engage my brain in what I am reading and understanding, and highlighters help a lot.

Post-It Sticky Notes

I love to have an assortment of color-coded sticky notes to place around me at all times.

Post-It notes help keep me organized and work great for notebook inserts if you need to placemark a page to come back to it.

Notebooks

Other Office Tools to Add

File Folders are great to have on hand for filing and sharing files.

Typically, I go for plain looking file folders because they are the professional standard.

At home, I can get a little more colorful with my office decor, but……

I don’t want to hand off precious documents or projects to a higher-up with a wacky colored file folder.

Basic file folders are great to have on hand at all times.

Push pin clips are great for having contact lists, reminders and deadlines pinned to at all times.

A corkboard is also a necessity for one’s office space.

And don’t forget your favorite pens.

I love a pen that glides on paper, and the pens mentioned above are one of my favorite pens.

What are your favorite office supplies?

Share them in the comments.

-Nikita

The post The Must Have Office Supplies for Fall| Ultimate Checklist appeared first on Bella Kate 22.

Goals can be tricky and last month was the start of a lot of goals talk via our New Year’s Goals blog post, in which we discussed well….goals.

Before we get into goal setting….

Welcome to Bella Kate 22, which is a fashion and lifestyle blog.

In this blog post you may see affiliate links, which are links that give a small commission to the blog if you decide to use it, which helps keep this blog going; so we thank you for supporting this blog in advance. You’re awesome.

Goals

As stated before…… goals can be tricky.

Now that we are almost two months into 2022, how are you feeling about the goals you have set for yourself in 2022?

Are you just as excited as you were on January 1st?

Is the honeymoon phase over?

Was life on paper a lot less complicated than in real life?

Okay, I hear you and that is why I am making this blog post.

To hold myself accountable and also to offer you a pep talk if you also need one.

The real question is, how do you continue to hold yourself accountable when life is not as you thought it would be even a month ago?

Give Yourself Grace

Understanding that life is like a box of randomness is key.

If these past two years have taught us all anything, it’s that you cannot really expect life to remain the same, but you can also rely on it to move you slowly through a glacially slow pandemic.

It’s understanding that your day to day tasks and moods and emotions will always ebb and flow and it’s up to you to really hone in on what matters to you for the day.

Hone In On What Is Sticking

The reality that all of our goals will be accomplished within the time frame we have given the goal is not always a reality.

Understanding that even if your goals sheet in all of its entirety is very much still as important to you as it was January 1st….

You may have found that certain goals may have moved up in urgency or importance since you last made your goals list.

Check back in with yourself and ask, what is sticking?

What needs to be moved down to a later date?

What no longer excites you?

Only you will be able to know exactly what needs to shift.

What’s A Goal That Needs Pruning?

This can apply to all of your goals, but really, what I mean is…..

The main goal out of all your goals…

What needs to be changed to make you more efficient in that area?

Do you need to go to bed earlier?

How about needing to work later?

Do you need to wake up earlier?

What are things you know are holding you back from your goals?

Revisit Your Monthly & Six Month Goals Sheet

What was the overall big picture?

The steps in which you need are hidden in these two goal sheets.

Remember that making a goal is like a funnel.

You want to end up here (the main goal), but in order to get there, you have to take a lot of very small, annoying and not at all glamourous steps to get to the big picture (main goal).

It is all very exciting.

After you’ve decided on what goals are more important for now, you can give your weekly and daily planner sheets a revamp.

Why Revamp Goals After One Month

Revamping your goals after one month is kind of important because you’re not the same person you were a month ago.

Even if you feel the same……I can almost promise you, you’re not.

It is scientifically impossible.

From the date you wrote down those goals, you have a different mood and mindset and essentially, you’ve lived more life.

So with this new perspective it’s really important to honor who you are now, with the perspective you have now, over say, a month ago.

Conclusion

Thank you for coming down revamp goal lane and……

I hope you crush your goals and hold yourself accountable and give yourself grace.

The free printable downloads of planner inserts are very much what I was referring to in this blog post and if you want them, they are here for you and linked here.

Talk to you soon.

-Nikita

The post Checking In With Your New Years Goals…. appeared first on Bella Kate 22.

New Year’s Goals will be the topic of this blog post.

Welcome to Bella Kate 22. This is a fashion and lifestyle blog. Sometimes I post affiliate links. These are commission based sales, that I see a portion of. Thank you for stopping by my blog.

New Year’s Goals

Welcome to 2022.

I am glad we are all here for another trip around the sun.

With that being said, I know the normalized trend that everyone wants to talk about is their New Year’s Goals, guised in the phrase “New Year’s Resolutions.”

As someone who has enough experience of many a New Year’s Resolutions; I know that the resolution hype is not for everyone.

This blog post is for those of us who don’t make resolutions, but strive every year to be a better version of ourselves…..without the “resolution” hype.

Let’s be real.

Not every year of our lives allow us to show up and show out how we thought we would, or could.

The reality of life is that when life throws you lemons, you can cry, whine and mope about it…..especially if it hits an open wound, but after letting it all out……..

Please make some lemonade.

I want this blog post to inspire you to make some lemonade and to feel excited and empowered about your goals.

Self Reflection

No one ever got anywhere they wanted in life without a little self reflection.

Not everything that happens to you is your fault, but how you respond and react is a choice and that is what the last two years have taught us all.

That last sentence are some things that I have to remind myself of a lot.

A lot of the time……I get it wrong.

I have to admit all of my flaws, but I also have to shine a light on my strengths as well.

Reminding myself that I always get back up.

I kind of think that is the point of self reflection when making your new year’s goals.

What was this year like for you and what are your new year’s goals?

Please set aside some time to write down your non-negotiables in how you’re going to show up for yourself this year.

Write your goals and non-negotiables down and see how it feels for you and make adjustments as necessary.

Keep them close to you and don’t let anything or anyone talk you out of the resolve you’ve made over your life.

Plan

New Year’s Goals need planning.

It won’t do you or I any good if all we do is visualize where we want to go.

What steps are we taking to get us where we want to go?

If you just do one thing this week, or today…..

Consider setting aside a half an hour to an hour, make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, grab a cozy spot to think and jot down what you want to achieve in 2022.

Strategize

Now that we know what our goals are for 2022, we need a strategy.

If you don’t have a planner already, I geeked out and have made some printables to share.

Yes.

Free printable PDF inserts for your pleasure.

I did this last year for myself and I think it helped a lot.

But this year, I wanted more of a variety of my planning sheets…… because I think planning can be a bit complicated.

Personally, I like to try to break down my goals down into check-in points.

I check in daily, weekly, monthly and at the six month mark.

Sometimes, I like to check in at three months.

Doing this allows me to see if my plan of action is actually working for me, or if I need to edit something in or out.

I give myself understanding and grace when I don’t hit the mark.

I keep planning.

This is me giving you the go-ahead to also be nice enough to yourself to fail, to get back up again and do what you have to do to achieve your goals.

Free Printable PDF 2022 Planner Inserts

PDF Tip: You can always resize them from the PDF download in paint studios.

Goals Recap

I hope you find the printable inserts helpful and that they help you to stay organized as you enter the new year.

Remember, never give up on yourself.

Be your own biggest supporter.

Check in with yourself often.

Take care of yourself.

You’ve got this.

-Nikita

The post New Year’s Goals appeared first on Bella Kate 22.

Snacks for fall is a very weird folk in the road to navigate after summer months.

Why? It’s getting colder and foods that were in season are now on their way out of season.

The art of snacking and the very American reality of the grab and go lifestyle at its finest, is the reality; although maybe not this year, as this year really is the craziest of times with little to no directions…….enter in snacks for fall.

Unpredictability of life does not mean lack of energy or the need to replenish one’s energy reserves; with that, I want to discuss snacking options that are great on the go options, which I think benefits everyone, because sometimes you need a snack….. and quickly.

The reality is that stopping hanger is sometimes in everyone’s best interest.

Disclaimer: I am not a dietician nor a nutritionist. These snacking options are merely fun suggestions and are snacks I swear by when I am running around and or low on energy.

An Apple a Day – Snacks for Fall

Number one is natures own delicious apple. Nothing says fiber, filling and crunch like an apple that’s been freshly placed in a to-go container where you can safely reach into your bag and grab this ultimate snack.

Apples offer many shades and variations, not to mention that apples really do fit the mantra that “variety is the spice of life” and truly, no snack knows variety like the seedlings of an apple tree. Whatever your favorite, the apple has something for everyone.

Seaweed Snacks

Next on the snack to-go train is the beloved green and salty seaweed snack.

Seaweed snacks are salty, crunchy and delicious. I find them highly addicting and am always sad when I reach for the last one. Seaweed snacks are packed with amazing health benefits.

String Cheese

Moving onto a childhood classic, we stare into the gaze of some lovely string-cheese.

This snack is not the most easy to pack around for long periods, as it is literally a cheese and needs to be refrigerated, but it is one of those quick snacks you can put in your purse or lunch bag if you plan to eat it within a safe amount of time.

(Quora.com states you can leave string cheese unrefrigerated for three hours, but I was unable to find an actual medical or health site that could confirm this, so as always, use to your own discretion. I would say no more than an hour or two).

“Go Crazy Go Nuts”

Next, we get to snack with some high protein and healthy fats, coming at you in the form of nuts.

Nothing says to-go like a handful of high protein nuts.

Personally I love a handful of cashews, however; peanuts, almonds and any and all nuts are all great options: offering quick fuel and with it being a higher healthy fat food, a little goes a long way.

Protein Bars

The final snack is the cliff bar, which is packaged fuel that puts your sweet tooth into consideration.

Cliff bars or any protein bars really, are great options for pre-workout or post-workout noms that satisfy you enough to get you through until your next meal.

I would say this snack is a great grab and go breakfast option with an additional side of fruit to make it a complete calorie consuming meal, if you find that you are still hungry.

Note: I would like to point out that snacks are not to be used as replacement meals, but are to be used as fuel to make sure you can perform at your highest level.

As always, please seek out the advice of medical professionals for your health needs.

I know that food can be a touchy subject and a trigger for some. I would also like to note that what works for someone else’s body isn’t going to work for everyone’s body needs.

Calorie counting is not something I believe in.

I rely heavily on intuitive eating styles so I have not consulted any sort of daily caloric consumption when formulating this blog post.

These options were just five off the cusp snacking foods I thought to be helpful for myself and wanted to share, in case others were having a hard time gathering ideas.

I hope you found this blog helpful for your on the go lifestyle needs.

What are your favorite to-go snacks? Leave your picks in the comments.

Talk to you soon.

-Nikita

The post Five Grab and Go Snacks for Fall appeared first on Bella Kate 22.

Work Week Goals

Who knew the quest for inner peace started on your last day of work and began the night before your next week?

I can assure you, as a young adult I did not. In fact, I would say the routine to living a successful adult life can leave you feeling very very dull, and if not done correctly can leave you in a clouded slump of chaos.

In these next few steps I am going to layout my guidelines to a successful work week and it may surprise you.

Step 1:

Know when to shut off from your day job on your Friday. I know that not everyone works the normal Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm grind and I totally understand. That life, if not unchecked can be a GRIND and NOT in a good way.

Setting aside some “ME” time is a Friday night MUST if you can find the time to fit it in.

Scheduling in some “You” time can be anything that makes you feel good. Normally on Fridays, I just want a shower, dinner, a cocktail and some much needed solitude, while some people love to have a night out with friends.

Having a time that you have for yourself is yours to dictate, so you can hopefully carve out a little bit of heaven out for yourself in whatever way you choose.

Scheduling time with friends in 2020, may look a little different from any time previously before, but with some creativity you can still unwind and uncork with a few friends, all while keeping socially distant and respectful of the CDC guidelines that are meant to keep the people you love and yourself safe.

Step 2

Pick up your home all week long, every day.

Having a clean home and a picked up home are two different things; but if you can commit to picking up your home for the week, you can commit to a deep cleaning your home on your Saturday/Sunday or a day of the week that works for your  lifestyle.

A clear mind has a clean home. I promise.

Step 3:

Wash and change your sheets once a week and make your bed daily. I feel like this is a no brainer, but I thought I would throw in the motherly reminder that ones sheets NEED to be cleaned weekly and making your bed lets your brain know that your bed has a boundary for its uses; sleep, sex and naps (if you do indeed like or need to take naps).

Sleep schedules are not to be toyed with. Not with infants and not with adults either.

Step 4:

Meal prep if you can but always invest in a healthy grab and go snack.

Meal prepping takes away the added stress of hanger, anger and famished decisions and snacks buy you more time to check in with yourself for your everyday decisions.

The added stress of staring into your cuboards can be a creative task, but if you know you have something already that is made for dinner or lunch to grab and go, it really allows you to have more free time to handle whatever else may be thrown your way and you won’t feel so rushed doing it.

Even if you don’t meal prep, you can meal plan so you know exactly what you are having on certain nights of the week. It does take the spontaneity out a bit, but you can always switch around menu dates and play around with how you plan your meals.

The plan is that it is just that…..a PLAN, and if something else comes along you can always change your plan.

the meal prep or meal plan is just a strategy to avoid chaos and confusion when dealing with your meals and to me, that is a huge win on the adulthood front.

Treat yourself like your best parent version of YOU would take care of YOU and I promise adulthood becomes way LESS crazy to navigate.

Step 5:

Make your weekly goals known to yourself the night before your new week. Pencil them in your to-do calendar or make a voice memo (I love a voice memo).

Side note: Set alarms and ask Siri to help you remember times and dates for things that are due; so you don’t forget to complete tasks, pay bills, etc.

Step 6:

Get your body moving in a way that you enjoy. I know that sounds annoying because not everyone loves to work out, but I do believe that we as human beings were meant to be active daily and that the day-to-day work life we lead is not actually how humans are wired.

We have so much energy stored in our bodies for exertion and it’s not all just to make it into work on time.

When we move our bodies our bodies exert energy, our endorphins raise which makes us happier and it tends to clear your head and clear your energetic field; giving you more energy and mental clarity. It can be a walk, a run, yoga, an online workout (YOUTUBE has a ton of at home workouts you can do).

Step 7:

REST. Do nothing.

Recharge.

Check in with yourself.

Pamper yourself.

Relearn your wants and needs and do it all again next week. 

Let me know if you found this post helpful in the comments below and please take care.

-Nikita

The post 7 Ways to Set Up a Successful Work Week appeared first on Bella Kate 22.