Do What You Love

Hello lovelies! This marks the first of a new blog series I’m starting called “Monday Motivation” which will, as you may have guessed, be posted every Monday and will hopefully serve to provide little tidbits of inspiration, motivation, and good vibes all around. I wanted to kick it off with something that I feel myself and many others struggle with – finding that delicate balance between living your life doing what needs to be done while also doing more of what you love. 💖

Now it’s absolutely possible to love your career and there are plenty of people who find that extremely fulfilling on it’s own. However what I’m talking about is going beyond your 9-5 duties and doing what makes your heart truly sing. If that notion confuses you, I’d ask that you take a second to ponder what activity makes you feel happiest. Is it traveling with a loved one? Painting quietly in your bedroom? Cooking up delicious recipes? Whatever it may be, ask yourself – when was the last time you participated in that activity?

So many of us get caught up in our day to day responsibilities that we put the things that make us happiest on hold. It’s just too easy to do so! We are limited in time, resources, and energy – we can say that there aren’t enough hours in the day or that we’ll do said thing that we love “some other time”… but why are we living this way? Isn’t it time to embrace that life is short and unpredictable and in order to enjoy it to the fullest we NEED to allow ourselves to do things that make our hearts overwhelmed with happiness? The truth is we’re all busy, but it’s often the busiest people who still make time for things that will help them learn, grow and feel fulfilled.

The following are a few tips that have helped me tremendously in balancing my life and I hope will motivate you to do the same!

Find A Passion Project 

A passion project is something you work on outside of your job that gives you a feeling of happiness and fulfillment. Perhaps most importantly, it’s something consistent that serves as a great way to relieve stress after a long day at work or brings you inspiration on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The first step towards finding your own passion project is to take into consideration what you love to do and find a way to build it out to something bigger. Think of it as a way to not only unleash your creativity but also contribute back to the world in a small (or large) way – whatever you choose, remember there are no limits in what you can do.

For example, my love of yoga led to the creation of a separate Instagram account over 2 years ago called MelYoga1 that was solely for participating in yoga challenges and sharing my progress. After moving to NYC, I was encouraged to create a blog where I could share a larger aspect of my journey and more of the things that I’m interested in outside of yoga – and boom, Headstands & Heels was born.

Write It Down 

It’s not enough to just say you’re going to start doing XYZ more often, it’s time to hold yourself to it. Write down your goal and the steps it’ll take to get you there, then put it in a place where you’ll always see it. You can even create motivational alarms on your phone or post up sticky notes on your bathroom mirror. Whatever it takes to start getting used to the idea that this should be an important part of your life, so long as you allow it to be.

Collaborate With Like Minded People

When you surround yourself with people who share the same passion as you, it makes it so much easier to make time for doing that activity. You can hold each other accountable and give gentle encouragement when it becomes difficult to make your passion a priority. Not to mention becoming a part of a like minded community (or even sharing an interest with one other person) can make things so much more enjoyable. I’ve been fortunate to come across and befriend so many creative souls who have something in common with me and what I love – whether that be fellow bloggers or all my amazing friends who continue to encourage and support me in all that I do. Trust me, when you find people who lift you up it makes a world of a difference.

Stop Making Excuses 

The next time you’re tempted to push off your passion project because of {insert common excuse here}, ask yourself what is really holding you back. Do you really not have any time? Or are you spending your downtime elsewhere and with other things that aren’t as fulfilling? Try to remind yourself that the only thing standing in the way of doing more of what you love, is you and your willingness to put down whatever else is occupying your time and just go for it.

Hopefully you’re all motivated to start living a life that you love and pursue something you’re passionate about! If you have a passion project that you’re pursuing, I’d love to hear about it! Or if you have any motivating tips to share please leave them in the comments below.

Nina (my cutie dog pictured here) and I send you love and light, with wishes for an amazing week ahead 💖