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Day Eleven: Drugs or Smartphones?

Recently I find myself more engaged in my phone than my surroundings. I know I need to put my phone down, but the more I try, the more I draw towards it. When I found the book How to break up with your phone by Catherine Price, I immediately started reading it. I think anyone with a smartphone needs to read this book, however I know that not many people will promote it. So, I thought I would give a quick summary of what the book has taught me and why it’s detrimental that we make a change in our phone habits for our future and the future of mankind.

The first part of the book goes on to telling you how smartphones affect you. I’m sure you have heard all these reasons over and over again, but here is a list.

  • Increases anxiety
  • Increases depression
  • Increases rates of suicide
  • Increases solidarity
  • Increases mental instability
  • Decreases real human interaction
  • Decreases memory power
  • Decreases the ability to think
  • Decreases productivity/work time
  • Poor spelling/grammar
  • Poor creativity
  • Poor concentration/focus

But then there is also a list of all the good smart phones have also done, such as:

  • Give you access to internet with one click
  • Access to GPS/maps
  • Access to home alarm/AC system/lights
  • Social interaction and virtual friendships
  • Tools; Alarm clock, camera, calculator, etc.

Price goes on to saying how alcohol abuse, smoking and drug use have all decreased, but this constant addiction to smartphones have been rising in the past decade. Although children are getting into less trouble physical (from going out and doing risky things), they are more mentally unstable. Along with the negative side effects stated above, there are also other risks, such as radiation and poor focus. For people who have children, constantly giving your phone more attention over your children will cause them to be insecure and feel unloved. (Even my dog doesn’t like it when I am on my phone and not giving him attention!)

The second portion of the book is harder because it gives you a daily challenge to come out from this addiction. It’s a 30 day challenge in which you take small steps to limit your phone usage, reduce the cues and break off the habit. Listed are some of the daily tasks (not in order) ; this can be your 1st call to ACTION!

  • Track how many times you pick up your phone and how long you are on it. You can download an app for this purpose. (This will show you that you are on your phone a lot more than you think.)
  • Limit/remove all notifications
  • Remove all the games/social media on your phone. (You can still access via computer)
  • Change your charging station to outside of your bedroom
  • Get an alarm clock
  • Unplug for 24 hours

These are just a few of the daily challenges Price tells you do work on. Check out this book if you want to go in depth and learn about this addiction and it’s side effects. (Not sponsored) If you don’t think your phone usage is a problem, take the quiz in the beginning of the book to see where you are on the scale. The idea behind the book (and my post!) is not to get rid of your phone completely, but to use it mindfully and purposefully.

Call to ACTION #2: If you are reading this on your phone and have been ignoring the children sitting a few feet away from you OR not helping your parent or family member who might need a hand right now, this is your wake up call. I hope reading this blog post will make a difference in your life, break your phone addiction and learn to use your phone as a tool, purposefully.

But if you’re reading this mindfully and on your own free time, check out my other daily posts here 🙂

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Day Ten; Who is the real animal?

Charlie is a brown Chinese pug. He likes white, black, yellow, golden AND multi-colored dogs! He will play with other pugs, German shepherds, pit bulls, golden retrievers, labs, or ANY other breeds. You know what, he will even play with a mixed breed! Heck, once he has even played with a frog (I know, strange animal to have as a friend)! Charlie is of the Chinese decent, but he belongs to an Indian-American family who lives in America. He absolutely LOVES playing with other Indian, African, Mexican, Caucasian and ALL other races and nationalities. Charlie doesn’t check the color of someone’s skin or check if they are a cat or a dog lover.

All this sounds silly to say, but think about it. If dogs can get along with each other and with other species and all humans, why can’t the human race get along with EACH OTHER? Does it even matter that we have launched another space mission or made robots or have made working virtually a success? Does any success and accomplishments matter if humans can’t get along with each other? We have come a long way in technology, medicine and all other aspects. All that is useless if we have not changed our backward thinking, our egoistic ideas and the way we treat other humans.

Going back to Charlie, or say, any other dog or animal. Think about it, a big dog or any big animal can do some serious damage to you if they wanted to. The simple fact that they don’t choose to harm a human being says a lot about that animal. If animals who “have no souls” and who “just want food” can choose not to hurt, while humans willingly hurt each other, who is the animal here?

Something to think about: So many unfortunate events have been happening since the beginning of 2020. From Kobe’s death in mid Jan to the Coronavirus and now to the death of George Flyod. There are some things which we cannot control, such as death from diseases and sickness or accidents. But there is a whole lot we CAN control. It’s just a matter of educating yourself, keeping informed and being well, humane.

Call for ACTION: Be the change you wish to see.
– Make your VOTE count.
– Educate yourself on current issues, culture and history
– Speak the truth, raise your voice, protest in peace and stand up for others
– Open your eyes, open your ears, open your wallets and have an open mindset
– Sign petitions @ www.change.org

Check out my other post about Charliebaby here🙂

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Day Nine: Make Believe

Remember how we used to tell children to make believe? As a child, I remember being told to ‘make believe’ something numerous times. My memories growing up include pretending we were packing things into a car and going on a trip. We would pretend we were starring in a movie, or in a wrestling match or even cooking in an imaginary kitchen. Growing up, my parents would make us (my sister and I) believe there was a tooth fairy. And Santa Claus? Well, he always magically knew what we wanted for Christmas!

The older we got, the less we started to “make believe” and the more things got real. Santa Claus wasn’t from the North Pole, he was just the biggest and happiest man in our community. There was no boogie man hiding in the closet, that was just in our imagination. As we grew older, the world became more realistic and life was not play pretend.

What if I told you as an adult to make believe?

If as children, you could make believe and make things happen (at least in your world) then as adults, you can do the same! The law of attraction tells you that you can speak something into existence. If you want something badly and believe in it, the whole universe will work in your favor to bring it to you.
For example, if you consistently make believe you will get into the best university, you will put forth the hard work required to get into the best schools. If you speak your future job and that future position you want to hold, you will achieve it. Just believing in something itself will in return make you act like you already have it, dress like you already have it and talk like you have it. And by doing this, you will be attracting that very thing you are ‘making believe’.

A perfect example of this occurred when I was working as a teacher’s assistant. Our front desk coordinator was moving out of town and her position was going to be open. Out of all the teachers and teacher’s assistants, one young lady was offered the job. A recently hired teacher, who dressed, interacted and carried herself in the way that a coordinator should, got the offer! It was well deserved and almost as if she made herself believe she will get a promotion.

Call to ACTION:

As adults, I encourage you all to make believe into existence! Pretend that you are training for the big marathon next week. Hold onto the belief that you will be offered that position you’re working hard for. Trust that you are or will be financially independent. Know you are working on improving yourself and growing your side hustle. Trust that you are part of and have the support of a loving family. Whatever it is that you need to make believe, believe in making it!

Check out all the Daily Posts Here!

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Day Eight: It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

In one of my daily posts, I wrote about how you can really do anything you put your mind to. You know what it takes, you know all the steps and if you do it, you know it can happen. What I didn’t mention was that it IS hard to achieve that goal, whether it be a slimmer body, financial freedom, a better relationship or anything in between.

That is because anything worth having doesn’t come easy. If getting fit and in good shape was easy, then everyone would be fit. If reaching financial freedom was easy, then everyone would be financially free. If completing a triathlon was easy, then everyone would do it. You get my point. Whatever it is that you are trying to do, whatever that goal may be that you are trying to achieve, getting there will NOT be easy. It will take lots of time, hard work and dedication.

So what do you do?

My photography up on the walls of SJ Methodist Hospital, where I worked for three years!

You have to do something more than you are now. You have to do what others are NOT doing. When your friends may be partying it up over the weekend, you may have to skip out and attend that weekend conference to get that promotion at work. When others sleep in until 10 on Saturday mornings, you may have to wake up at 6am to work on that side hustle. You may have to skip out on those Sunday brunches with co-workers if being at church is your priority.

The underlying question becomes this; what are you willing to give up, skip out on and change in your life so that you can achieve that goal? The answer is completely different for everyone that reads this, because everyone’s priorities and lives are different. There is no right or wrong. It’s whats right for you.

Call to ACTION: You already know what you need to cut out OR add to your routine to get closer to that goal you have been thinking of getting to. UNDERSTAND that it WILL be difficult, but know that it will also be worth it. So, just do it!

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Day Seven: How old are you?

You’ve heard over and over that age is just a number. But to fully understand that and to swallow that pill is difficult. I had a milestone birthday this year and still can’t believe I’ll be filling out the next column for the age section. My first reaction was “I’m old”. Recently, I read a concept somewhere and it changed the way I saw my age (and life) after that.

Do what makes your soul smile.

It said that you could be 15 and almost at the end of your life. You could be 30 and have only lived one third of it so far. And then you could be 50 and still have another 50 to go! Bottom line is, each day, we are one step closer to leaving this world. But you don’t know if that will be today, next month or in another 40 years!

What I learned from this is that I shouldn’t be worrying about how old I am. Instead, I should be living each day to the fullest, doing what makes my soul happy. I should not let age be a factor in what I should or shouldn’t do. Let me give you an example; I love to dance and perform on stage. So far, I have not let the factor of age stop me from doing it. Even if knee pain, less tolerance or other factors may stop me, I won’t let age in itself be a reason. The same applies to traveling; I would never want to stop traveling because of how old I am.

(Disclaimer: I am not encouraging you to be careless, spend all your money, quit your job and do nothing because that makes you happy. What I am saying is that age is just a number- don’t be that person who dies at 25 and gets buried at 80.)

Call for ACTION: What makes your soul happy? What are the hobbies you’ve done when you were “young” that you enjoyed so much. If age directly is the only thing that is stopping you, why do you let it?

Check out the daily number six here!

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Day Six: You can do ANYTHING

You can do ANYTHING. Anything at all, but you have to WANT to do it. In this day and age, with an unlimited supply of how-to YouTube videos, blogs, articles, there is literally a how-to for EVERYTHING. So with all this free information and knowledge of how to do something or how to gain (or loose) something, why is it that we complain about not being able to accomplish the goal? We have all the resources needed, so doing it should not be a problem right? WRONG.

It’s not that we lack the knowledge or resources to accomplish something; that never was the problem. It’s because we lack either desire, motivation, accountability, or simply, self discipline. We will take the one most common goal that majority of people have, at all stages of life. If you guessed loosing weight, you are correct!I’m going to use this as our base example because it applies to myself as well. I know what it takes to loose weight and get fit. If not for all the information online, my husband has majored in Nutrition and my career is in physical therapy. So, it’s definitely not those things that are keeping me from doing it.

This also can apply to all aspects of life, like starting that business you have been dreaming of or learning how to cook or traveling abroad! You know what it takes to do all these things. But that is only half of it. The other half is YOU.

  • Ask yourself how badly you want it and WHY you want it. (Read Day Five: Why Why Matters.)
  • Make that reason (the why) your motivation
  • Hold yourself accountable:
    • Make smaller specific goals and deadlines
    • Ask someone close to check up on your progress
    • Do the task with someone else so that you don’t let them down.
    • Review your progress from time to time
  • Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Learn from them instead of allowing those mistakes to stop you from progressing.

Call To Action: Figure out what it is that stops you from achieving a goal. Realize that no goals are small and no reasoning is absurd. Give your goal a WHY and plan out single steps to work towards it.

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Day Five: Why Why Matters

The most important thing to know in any given situation is the WHY. This may come from the questioner in me, but I feel like I need an answer to ‘why’ before I do something. The ‘why’ is what gives something a purpose and provides motivation to complete a task (or leave it!). Knowing what to do and how to do something is pointless if you don’t know why you are doing it. For example, as a therapist, I should know WHY my patients need to do a specific exercise. Knowing what to do and how to do it alone is not enough- if it was, my job could be done by someone else.

This is how I see it:

The people who know HOW to do something become the workers.
And the people who know WHAT to do become the managers.
But the people who know WHY you do something… they become the CEO.

Learning how to recognize ‘the why’ is a learning process. It comes from experience and mistakes. If you were taught what to do and how exactly to do something all your life, you will have learned a skill. But without an explanation on why you are doing it when you should, you won’t learn the purpose behind it or even when to use that skill. Whenever I am with my nieces and nephews, instead of giving them all the answers, I ask them to think about it. If they don’t get it, instead of telling them the answer alone, I give them a thought out explanation on why we did something the way we did.
This is what I want you to take away from this post: If you’re WHY is clear, then putting everything else into place is made easier. See below;

WHY is the purpose.
What do you do? You do what serves the purpose.
When do you do it? You do it when it serves the purpose.
Where? You do it where it serves the purpose.
Who does it? The people who can serve the purpose efficiently
How? You do it in a way to serve the purpose.

Call to ACTION: Think about your goals and WHY you want to achieve them. Is it because someone else told you that you need to or is it because you want to yourself? Give everything a reason and you’ll find it more meaningful to do.

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Day Four: Charlie

My five year old pug, Charlie and I have been together through some major life events. Mine mainly consists of getting married and moving to Dallas. His consists of surviving many near death experiences, getting a new dad who spoils him rotten and occasional long distance road trips with his “hoomans”. If you have a pet, or have had one before, you will be able to relate to these daily posts about Charlie. But even if you don’t, keep reading to see why having a dog has taught me about life and purpose.

I can go on and on about all the things I have learned after getting Charlie. (And yes, I’m that dog mom who will show you ALL his pictures if you ask for one!) I think the most important lesson I have learned from him is his purpose. His daily purpose in life is to please his master, his hooman, me! His goal is to always be a “good boy” and to hear that praise from me. He is the most content when he is by my side, even when we are in a dog park with so many other dogs and people! It’s also probably his first waking thought (along with wondering what’s for lunch). You might ask what is the lesson here?

Charlie’s unending loyalty, his need for approval and his wish to be in his master’s presence makes me think deeply about MY true purpose in life. Only if we would love our Master, seek His appreciation and find comfort in His presence, the same way Charlie does his. If only… then maybe we will also be able to live out our true purpose in life.

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Day Three: READ

If there is ONE thing in my childhood I wish I did more, it was to READ. Reading opens up a new world of imagination and possibilities. Even though my dad would tell us (my siblings and I) to read all the time, we weren’t interested. There were far more interesting movies to watch or other things to do. I discovered the love of reading in my mid twenties and I wish I had earlier. Now that I am older, I feel like I have so many good books to catch up on.

When it comes to reading, we usually have a set of excuses like not having the resources or not having time. I had both of these excuses when I was on the borderline between wanting to read sometime and enjoying to read all the time. In this day and time, where you can access free books at the tip of your fingers, getting a book is not difficult. Time is relative; you have time for what you want to do. Once I realized these two reasons were just excuses, I went and got a library card. I have been consistently going to the library and making time to read almost daily since then.

What are the benefits of reading?

Reading changes everything! It changes what you know and how you see the world. It increases your knowledge and creativity. For young kids, reading helps them calm down, gain focus and improve their vocabulary. As older youth, it aids their decision making skills, improves communication and much more. It’s important to instill a reading habit in kids while they are still young. This habit will grow with them and they will learn to love reading.

Side note: Since libraries have been closed due to the pandemic, I have turned to reading on my tablet. An acquaintance recently told me about the free app called Libby. All you need is a library card and you can connect that library card to the app and to your local library. Then you can check out and read as many books as you like!

Call for ACTION: READ for at least 15 minutes each day. If you have young children, read to them! If are a bit older, allow them reading time before bed, while you read your own book!

Check out some of my favorite reads here!

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Day Two; Multiple Streams of Income

How many of you have multiple streams of income? This might sound like an irrelevant question when you have a great paying job or a successful business. You might not think it’s necessary to have another stream of income or a side hustle that provides some extra income. During times of good health and wealth, it may not be that necessary. But during times like this coronavirus pandemic, it might be the difference between barely making it and being financially comfortable.

We are two months into the pandemic and thousands of people have been out of jobs. Many are on temporary leave, some laid off and others fired. Fortunately for us, both my husband and I are ‘essential’ workers and still have work and we don’t have any other major responsibilities. Now, what about if we both had stopped working for two months? How would that change the scenario?

This is when having a side hustle, knowing more skills than just work-related and having another stream of income can make a big difference. You may ask what kind of side hustles can provide another stream of income. The possibilities are endless!

I’ll give you a short list of basic small scaled side hustles here.

Check out this book
for more ideas
  • Tutor/ Babysit
  • Caregiver/Personal assistant
  • Coach someone/teach a sport
  • Teach art/dance/music/language
  • Sow/quilt/crochet
  • Photography
  • Blog/You-tube
  • Dog-sit
  • Party/Event plan
  • Craft/Painting
  • Airbnb your free space
  • Lawn service
  • Tech/computer support
  • Car repair
  • Sign up for research studies
  • Any kind of ride-share/delivery jobs
All throughout college, I did event and outdoor photo shoots as a side hustle.

You may think these are very small side incomes and they are, initially. All of these are tasks and skills you can learn which takes little to no formal education. If you work on a specific skill over time, improve your results and keep growing, your stream of income will also grow with it. There are many people who started off with these small hustles and have made it into an additional stream of steady income and even a growing business.

Call for ACTION: Take some time to write down possible side hustles that you can do with the skill set you already have. Think if you didn’t have the steady income you have with your main career, what else are you good at that you can monetize?

Check out all The Daily posts here!