It's safe to say that this year is flying by with no intentions of slowing down; we are 6 months into 2017 and I feel like I have already been revealed certain lessons, so I thought I would do an overview of 6 things that I have learnt so far.


1. When you stop giving a f**k life instantly gets better.
This year is truly the year I have mastered this, I used to be someone who would always be cautious of how I present myself, how my actions come across to others and what others thought of me; this is a very exhausting way to live life. You can do what you want, when you want and how you want without owing an explanation to anybody; and other's opinions on how you chose to live your life is simply none of your business.


2. Cooking a completely new meal every night will make you broke.
I really don't know why it took me so long to figure this one out, but now that I have, life is super simple. Being a young woman, living alone in London  and constantly on the go, meal prep is truly the only way I can survive and maintain a healthy lifestyle and bank account. Prior to 2017, I used to do a weekly food shop that would basically consist of buying ingredients for several different recipes, when I didn't even have the time or patience to cook every day of the week. At least 60% of the food I was buying every week would go to waste, this would make angry so I would refuse to do the food shop and would live off takeaways until I got sick and tired and would try doing a food shop again... only for the cycle to repeat itself. So learn from my struggle and cook 1-3 meals (depending on how much variety you like) in bulk on Sunday or Monday to last you for the whole week, you will be surprised at how much time, and money you save, and also how easy it becomes maintain a healthy lifestyle.


3. It's important to master how to utilise every hour of the day.
Last year when I began to work full time I felt that my job was consuming my entire life; it was shift work and the hours were not consistant so I found it very difficult to make sure that I was utilising the time I had outside work as efficiently as possible. 

If you are experiencing a similar thing get a piece of paper and write down 24 hours, and from those 24 hours subtract the amount of hours you sleep, the hours you spend at work, how long you spend commuting, eating/cooking etc. What you're left with is basically your free time. From here you can plan and schedule what you wish to do with your free time and slot it in whatever time of the day seems appropriate. This may be an extra hour before you start work in which you can do a workout or go to the gym. Doing this exercise also helped me to realise how much time I waste online 'just browsing', so now I allocate a specific hour of my day dedicated to 'just browsing' and once this hour is up I move onto other important tasks.  

This may seem like I am 'doing the most' and being too controlling, but there are certain times in your life where the grind has to be  r e a l  and you to be honest you simply can't afford to be wasting time. There will be time to waste time some time in the future, not now.


4. Don't be quick to give everyone a hand, because they will take an arm and a leg.
I take after my mum, I find it easy sympathise with other people and have a kind heart.. in other words you could say 'I'm too nice'. I'm constantly willing to help others at the expense of myself and my own needs. Some people appreciate this, and others detect this and choose to exploit my kind nature as much as possible. I'm not suggesting that being a selfish and refusing to help others is the best way forward, but it's important to analyse certain situations and understand that it's not every Tom, Dick and Harry that you must bend over and backwards for.


5. Learning doesn't have to stop after you graduate.
You don't have to be in a classroom environment to learn. You may have finished your degree at university and are no longer working towards a qualification but this doesn't mean that learning and your desire to learn more must come to a halt. After graduating I found myself in an environment that was not mentally stimulating and even felt like I was losing brain cells (yes, I'm over dramatic, I know!); I was yearning to learn but I did not want to go back to university and do a masters degree nor sign to any official course where I'm working towards a qualification again, so I took it upon myself to register at my local library and check out some books every couple of weeks to ensure that I am constantly reading and learning something new. There is also tons and tons of information online, for example, I'm currently teaching myself more about the ingredients used in my skincare products, and something completely random and one of my goals for this year... how to make my handwriting into a font!


6. Family, friends, quality time comes first. 
It can be very easy to get caught up in our busy lifestyles and forget to check up on our family and friends and put time aside to spend proper quality time with them. A lot of us are in our own race to become successful and we are sometimes so focused on achieving this and simultaneously working hard that we forget our family and friends. Don't take them for granted, because they will not always be there as easily accessible as they are today. Reject those overtime hours every once in a while and spend this time with your loved ones, get to know them a little bit more. I promise you won't regret it!


Outfit Details..
Bikini - Virgos Lounge  ||  Trousers - Monki  ||  Sandals - New Look

What are some of the lessons you have learnt this year?