goals Archives - Parenting, Mental Health & Lifestyle

7 reasons you should start your own blog

3 January 2022 , 28 Comments

I always wanted to write a book about my life. I have storage boxes full of notebooks, diaries, poems I thought I could use to contribute to becoming a fully-fledged writer.

When the bottom of my world literally fell out from underneath me. Redundancy, a breakdown, a pandemic. Uncertainty central. I decided it was time for a change. Why not start your own blog, I thought? What’s the worst that could happen?

I felt compelled to share my story and what better way to do this than embracing the world of social media and online connections. After all, that’s where it’s at, right?

You have something to add. Your life experiences are unique and someone out there will benefit from what you have to say.

Quick note: Mummy Conquering Anxiety is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Some of the links contained on this page are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I only recommend products I use myself and think would be useful for you.

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I have a list of incredible reasons to start your own blog TODAY…

Your own platform

Starting your own blog can get your message out there.

I’m seeing a lot of wonderful people with amazing things to say and messages which should be out in the world for others to see. But sometimes this is limited to one social media site and I would love to see more content from this person.

Having a blog, which is connected to other social media sites, allows you to gain more followers and get your message out to more people. You control the content and create everything on the site.

If you’re thinking of setting up a blog and need web hosting, Bluehost is amazing. They provided me with the best customer service I’ve ever received when I recently lost my website! I HAVE to recommend them to other people.

It’s your chance to create something of your own

How exciting? I did a lot of research before starting my own blog. I decided I needed a chic-looking theme and I wanted to spend money upfront to ensure the branding was good.

After all, this place is like your office, your space, home from home. You’ve created it and why not make it look appealing?

If you need a theme, please check out Bluchic. I’ve had a few technical questions since setting up my blog and their customer service is fantastic. I am considering setting up a second blog and they will be my first choice for a theme.

What you need to begin your blogging journey…

A computer

Sounds silly doesn’t it, but it’s true. I’ve heard some people try and run a blog without a laptop. But honestly, there are only certain tasks I can do on my laptop. That said, I do use my phone for some admin tasks like social media interaction and noting down ideas, occasionally writing in google documents.

Research

I spent a lot of time researching how I would set up my blog.

Pinterest was a massive source of information for me. Other bloggers give the best advice because they have walked in your shoes and can speak from experience.

Time

Luckily, due to my situation, I had time to set up the blog. I desperately needed to occupy my mind with something to stimulate my brain but also help my mental health.

Don’t worry if you don’t have huge amounts of time. Sometimes I only manage 30 minutes a day for blogging tasks. But I look at it like that’s a few things off my to-do list and you can only tackle small chunks, which then lead to bigger goals.

Small steps really do amount to something amazing.

Patience

It is correct that it takes roughly three months to rank on Google or start seeing any results in terms of traffic to your website.

I was starting to feel deflated. I went for a weekend away. I had writer’s block and was just not feeling the blogging vibes for about a week. Then I checked my DA score and surprisingly it was at 9, EXACTLY three months after I released my first blog post.

DA is at 9! Wooooooo hooooooooooo! Can’t quite believe it. But I have worked my back side off since 12 August!! 👍
— MummyConqueringAnxiety (@Mummyconquerin1) October 17, 2021

A little bit of blogging motivation

We all love a good quote, don’t we? It’s time to include some here to give you some motivation, whatever your next step in life is.

Final thoughts

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and it has given you some motivation. Or food for thought?

Let me know in the comments below.

Achieving personal development, Mental Health, Mindset change

The Greatest Gift I Gave Myself in 2022 Was Self Improvement

9 March 2023 , 6 Comments

With the Valentine’s Day hype now over, it’s a good time to reflect on the self-improvement gifts I give to myself. And how doing this benefits me hugely. My hope is that one day we normalise taking time for self-care. Instead of seeing it as laziness.

If you follow my blog, you will know in the past I struggled with my mental health. Mainly because I was super organised, controlling and pretty uptight. However, it’s clear now that underneath all that, I was an anxious wreck. And I certainly wasn’t a happy person.

It was time for a brain reset. Strangely my mental breakdown gave me this, in part. But obviously not in a healthy way. And I needed to, once and for all, align my habits and circumstances with what I truly wanted out of life.

Why I chose hypnotherapy

Although a series of life circumstances made me reassess my whole life, there was still something missing. I knew I didn’t want to seek out counselling or a therapist, as I had used these tools several times in the past. Some of it worked and some of it didn’t. The option of a life coach was considered. But when I settled on a hypnotherapy course, I basically got the whole package. A life coach, a guide, impactful meditation. And a range of tools to use in my life moving forward. This was a lifetime solution. And once you go through intense meditation sessions, your brain is permanently changed for the better. There is no going back, in the best way possible.

Case study of our sessions

You might remember me posting on social media about Kevin, my therapist, writing a case study summarising our sessions together. It’s great to read through the progress we made. And I hope this will give you all an insight into how a hypnotherapy course can help you.

Why not sign up to download the PDF document and read it? Maybe you are ready to begin your hypnotherapy journey…

Read all the blog posts in my hypnotherapy series

Looking way back to my past self

Sometimes when you’re in the moment, you cannot stand back from the situation enough to use hindsight and make informed decisions about what happened. As a process, hypnotherapy doesn’t look too far back to your past self. The theory is that it doesn’t matter. And I agree with this.

However, I’ve recently been having a huge clear out of my camera roll (it’s a must as a blogger – all those TikTok videos take up a huge amount of space) and noticed a few things about who I was five years ago (I use the five-year mark because this is around when things started changing for me):

There were numerous helpful quotes saved to my phone, from social media. Now I try to be the one creating these images for other people.

I reflected on group photos with people who are no longer in my life. They were not on my wavelength and they were a total drain on my energy. Whilst I wish others well in life, I must surround myself with non-toxic people. I’ve learned, you don’t have to be everyone’s friend. And it’s okay that people are on totally different paths in life.

There were endless images of self-development notes I started writing. The inner work on myself began several years ago. I just didn’t realise it at the time. It wasn’t easy to comprehend where this journey would take me. I resigned myself to a life of stress because I genuinely thought that was how everyone lived.

Ultimately, a series of events which happened over the last five years would force me into changing my circumstances and myself, whether I liked it or not.

The impact of not aligning your goals, priorities, values and character traits

I now feel in synch, with my priorities, goals and how I live my life. Imagine planning a train journey. You book activities in Norfolk for a 7-day period, but your train is heading to Wales. You’re in the wrong place. heading in the completely wrong direction. That’s how I felt for years!

Imagine starting a construction job, but you don’t have the materials to begin the first stage. I felt like this daily – like a really important component of my life was missing! Like my life, the people around me, and how I was living, were totally out of sync with my goals. Once major changes happened in my circumstances, it was clear I still had old habits, which also didn’t match my circumstances.

It was time for a brain reset. Strangely my mental breakdown gave me this, in part. But obviously not in a healthy way. And I needed to, once and for all, align my habits and circumstances with what I truly wanted out of life.

I will be honest and say, everyone, is a constant work in progress. There is always work to do on yourself and we as human beings, should never stop progressing.

Reflecting on my hypnotherapy journey

It’s now time for me to reflect on my hypnotherapy journey and summarise the benefits and what I learned.

It’s important to note that since completing the course, I’ve been able to cement considerable changes in my life. I had started making progress on significant life changes before I met Kevin. However, the power of hypnotherapy in implementing lasting changes is the reason I am where I am today.

These are the main differences in who I was before

Be Intentional in everything I do

Set boundaries in ALL areas of my life

Say no when I need to protect my mental health

Value my time

Be kind to self

Experience joy daily

Practice gratitude

Consciously participate in fun activities with my toddler

Talk openly about emotions and problems in order to solve them

Help and guide others who may be feeling low

An example of how my life has transformed

A great example is my career, I spent 15 years in a stressful, demanding career and I genuinely thought everyone endured this level of stress. Turns out it wasn’t what everyone experienced in their working lives. During my hypnotherapy journey, I completely changed my career and finally pursued my passion for helping people. I put in a lot of work and successfully applied for two job roles. I am finally putting one of my main character traits and values top of the list – HELPING OTHERS!

I still have bad mental health days – just like everyone else

To clarify, I still have bad mental health days. If you follow me on TikTok you will know this. But how I deal with the bad days or weeks, is what makes a huge difference. And honestly, I wouldn’t be in a position to do that as well, without the tools the hypnotherapy course gave me. Resilience to deal with your life circumstances and challenges is the best gift I ever gave myself.

I approach each day now with a mindset of what can I achieve. What is the list for the day? Let’s smash this. I work hard, but no longer play hard. Our new family goal is watching the pennies, saving and planning for the future.

Final Thoughts

I am so thankful I had the opportunity to go on this wonderful journey with Kevin. It’s the best thing that could have happened to me. And I truly believe that everything happens at the right time. Sometimes things come along that you really need. And this was one of them!

Have you tried hypnotherapy?

Is it something you’ve been thinking about trying?

Have you downloaded the case study yet? I would love to hear your comments on this below.

Blog tag posts

This Time Next Year Tag – Mummy Conquering Anxiety

13 December 2021 , 22 Comments

I need to say a huge THANK YOU to @kvburton657 and @LinzBroganBlogs.

Check out their posts here and here.

Because I cannot shy away from the blogging buzz, my second blog is almost ready and will hopefully be launched towards the end of December.

THE RULES OF THE “THIS TIME NEXT YEAR” TAG

Thank the person who tagged you

Thank you ladies for including me in the This Time Next Year Tag. I am honoured to be tagged by the queen of Christmas! Also very happy to receive another tag. I did intend to release the post earlier, but I’ve had another rubbish week with something weighing me down at the moment. It’s almost over and I will be posting about it in January 2021. Writing about the negative experience is helping. But this post is all about the happy times the festive season brings. Therefore, let’s park the negative for now.

I love these types of posts because they allow us to get to know bloggers a bit better. I hope after reading this one, you will feel like you know me better.

Write your goals for next year

By this time next year, I want to be running three blogs full-time. Most importantly, I want to keep interacting with the blogging community and my lovely readers. It is no exaggeration to say this blog pulled me out of the darkness. For this, I will be forever grateful. I love logging into Twitter in the morning and it makes my heart smile to receive such amazing support.

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Write how you’re going to achieve these goals

This Time Next Year Tag is another great place to set out my goals and ensure I remain accountable in hitting them.

My blog is almost at the point it is self-sufficient, aside from writing and admin. There is a long list of amendments I want to make, but the crazy initial stages of setting up a blog are over.

Because I cannot shy away from the blogging buzz, my second blog is almost ready and will hopefully be launched towards the end of December.

I then have the domain and social media accounts for a third blog. Hopefully, this will be up and running in January 2021. I even have TikTok for this one, hehe!

Therefore, I aim to continue working hard and keeping in mind my driving force:

I NEVER want to return to a toxic office environment EVER again

I NEED to protect my mental health moving forward

I WANT to spend time with my little girl and make room for a second child in our lives.

What amazing motivation to keep going!

TAG AT LEAST 5 BLOGGER FRIENDS

I am losing track of who has and hasn’t been nominated so far. So apologies if you already have!

I want to nominate some of the people who have supported me so far (there are more than five and you all know who you are if you’re not nominated below)

IN 365 DAYS, WRITE A FOLLOW-UP POST ABOUT WHETHER YOU’VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL

I have set a reminder to complete the task this time next year. Can’t wait.

Achieving personal development, Mental Health, Mindset change, Tools for managing anxiety

Achieving Personal Development with Perma Hypnotherapy

26 June 2022 , 20 Comments

AD / PR – please note – the sessions have been gifted in exchange for my honest thoughts about the process

Earlier in the week, I posted on social media about an exciting zoom meeting I had. I promised further details. Well, here they are. Welcome to Perma hypnotherapy.

If you follow my blog, and my second blog, you’ll know I’m on a journey of transformation. When you go through life-changing events, it’s inevitable you will change in some way. I’ve tried to use my challenging circumstances to my advantage. I’m on my way to achieving personal development.

Whilst I’m proud of the progress I’ve made, there is still work to be done and I’ve been looking for a solution for a while.

Now I’ve found one.

Introducing Kevin Whitelaw

Kevin is an accredited Solution Focused Hypnotherapist from Edinburgh, Scotland and a member of the Association for Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy.

You may be experiencing issues such as anxiety, poor sleep, imposter syndrome, depression, or rebuilding after a significant life change or you’re ready to invest in yourself: developing new skills to sustain your well-being. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy supports you in moving forward to live your best life.

Having managed these issues himself, Kevin is well-placed to understand the challenges of turning that vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle and going on to build a new – better – life.

His services include Solution Focused Hypnotherapy sessions online at affordable prices. He even offers a free, no obligation, discovery call to understand your situation and establish how he can best help you.

So, if you’re experiencing these issues, or are ready to invest in yourself, a session with Kevin will help you find your answers and feel more confident with the path in front of you.

Kevin can be reached via Perma Hypnotherapy and directly at kevin@permahypnotherapy.co.uk

Download my new workbook – a freebie designed to organise your busy life

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What is solution-focused hypnotherapy?

As the name would suggest, solution-focused hypnotherapy looks to help people achieve positive change. Rather than focusing on the ‘problem’, this approach centres around the solution. Using practical strategies, solution-focused hypnotherapy looks to inspire change in a relatively short period of time.
Hypnotherapy Directory

Why I am excited about this new approach to achieving personal development

Some of the points we discussed which particularly resonated with me, were the solution-focused sessions. I no longer want to fixate on the past, but I do want some tools to become a better person for myself and my family. Toddlers are impressionable and this is a key time in my little one’s life. Naturally, I want to set a great example for her.

I’m taking you on this journey with me. From now on you will see regular blog posts and updates about my sessions. I don’t know where this journey will lead me. But I am certain it will help me improve.

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Blogging

A list of my proudest achievements since starting my blog

13 November 2021 , 22 Comments

When starting a blog, self-doubt is real. I’ve lived with self-doubt ruling my daily life for 15 years. It was a daunting prospect to set up something I’ve created and promote it to the world (hopefully ‘the world’ will eventually see what I write).

Because I consider myself the least technology savvy person you could come across, it is a huge achievement I’ve managed to set up and run a blog by myself.

It’s now time to look back at my proudest achievements and future goals for the blog.

This is the definition of ‘achievement’ from Oxford languages

achievement

1.a thing done successfully with effort, skill, or courage.”to reach this stage is a great achievement”

Continue reading for a rundown of my proudest achievements

Researching

I wasn’t bad at researching, given my essay writing traumas at University. Also, the fact I love finding out new information helps.

Because I literally started this journey by researching late into the night for months, I became great at it. I felt compelled to start a blog. I couldn’t explain why, but something inside me told me I must do it.

Of course, when I googled how to go about doing this, I was directed to Pinterest. It’s how I know all of us bloggers should persevere with our pins. Even though I know it is tedious. Imagine becoming a brand new bloggers source of information. That’s ultimate #blogginggoals.

When I get an idea in my head, I love researching information to support what I’m saying, or highlight there is a lack of information about a particular issue.

Writing

I’ve always loved writing. A lot of my proudest achievements include writing.

However, I honestly believe the more you do something you get better at it. With the help of Grammarly and Yoast, I am now in the flow of how to write and format a blog post.

And other writing opportunities are also coming my way, as a result of me starting the blog.

Final thoughts

Who knows where this blogging journey will take me next. It’s great to look back at what I’ve achieved.

Let me know in the comments what you are proud of? What have you achieved lately? What are your personal and professional goals?

I would love to hear from you.

Round-up posts

My September round-up post

2 October 2021 , 18 Comments

Welcome along to my first round-up post! It’s a little late, as we are a few days into October, but I still wanted to reflect on the previous month and set my goals for October.

My personal progress

I’ve been through a lot in my personal life over the course of starting the blog and definitely had an interesting journey with my mental health. A lot of bumps in the road. You can read more about my mental health struggles here.

I am proud of how far I’ve come in less than two months and it’s time to acknowledge my first full calendar month of blogging.

How it all began

I released my first blog post on 12 August 2021. Prior to this, there was a lot of research, writing, and quickly learning a lot of technical elements, which isn’t my strong point. I am proud of how far I’ve come in less than two months and it’s time to acknowledge my first full calendar month of blogging.

September 2021 blog posts

It wouldn’t be a round-up post without a look back at last month. I release 7 posts in total, which I am proud of.

l released this post on 2 September 2021 and I loved writing it! It made me excited for everything this spooky season has to offer.

4 times I rocked Halloween parties with my homemade costumes

This post was released on 5 September 2021 and it is one I will personally always refer back to. Because I love everything about autumn.

The things I love most about the upcoming autumn season

I released this post on 8 September 2021 in the lead-up to our holiday, because I was excited about it. Some context here, about four months ago due to my breakdown, I couldn’t even talk about booking a holiday, let alone become excited. Writing this was a huge step in my recovery.

The Great British seaside holiday and the reasons I love it so much

This post was released on 12 September 2021 and I felt compelled to share my experiences, in the hope of helping others.

Why I’m revealing my honest feelings about a setback in my recovery from a breakdown

This post was released on 14 September 2021 and I was honoured to write about such an amazing newsletter.

Introducing The Writer’s Job Newsletter – Why I’m grateful to be a writer

This post was released on 19 September 2021 and it was a huge step in my recovery to start thinking about gratitude.

8 questions I’m asking myself in preparation for gratitude day

This post was released on 24 September 2021 and it signified a change in me. Once you reach a certain point in your mental health journey, I feel there is no going back.

The secret to a happy and fulfilled life is actually really simple

Goals for October 2021

This is my first time setting goals! Then a round-up post to follow on the final weekend of the month. Read more here about why goal setting is important.

#Blogtober

I want to smash Blogtober and use this time to start other projects I want to work on. My main goal is to keep up with comments and how fast-paced it is.

Up my game on Pinterest

I have started pinning several different pictures for each blog post and I am hoping this will help.

350 blog views by month end

Based on my current stats this should be achievable.

Twitter

Reach 1500 followers on Twitter.

Instagram

Reach 3500 followers on Instagram and start using reels & stories more.

Affiliate

Get my first affiliate sale. I would be so happy!

Final thoughts

What are your blogging goals for October 2021?

What do you include in your round-up post?

Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear from you.

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goals

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Subscribe to receive my monthly newsletter

I have a list of incredible reasons to start your own blog TODAY…

Your own platform

It’s your chance to create something of your own

OTHER POSTS YOU MAY LIKE

Your voice matters to others

Gain confidence

Making connections

Use is as a diary

It creates opportunities

What you need to begin your blogging journey…

A little bit of blogging motivation

Final thoughts

Why I chose hypnotherapy

Case study of our sessions

Why not sign up to download the PDF document and read it? Maybe you are ready to begin your hypnotherapy journey…

Read all the blog posts in my hypnotherapy series

Looking way back to my past self

The impact of not aligning your goals, priorities, values and character traits

Reflecting on my hypnotherapy journey

These are the main differences in who I was before

Be Intentional in everything I do

Set boundaries in ALL areas of my life

Say no when I need to protect my mental health

Value my time

Be kind to self

Experience joy daily

Practice gratitude

Consciously participate in fun activities with my toddler

Talk openly about emotions and problems in order to solve them

Help and guide others who may be feeling low

An example of how my life has transformed

I still have bad mental health days – just like everyone else

Final Thoughts

Have you tried hypnotherapy?

Is it something you’ve been thinking about trying?

Have you downloaded the case study yet? I would love to hear your comments on this below.

THE RULES OF THE “THIS TIME NEXT YEAR” TAG

Thank the person who tagged you

Write your goals for next year

Sign up to my monthly newsletter below

Subscribe to receive my monthly newsletter

Write how you’re going to achieve these goals

TAG AT LEAST 5 BLOGGER FRIENDS

IN 365 DAYS, WRITE A FOLLOW-UP POST ABOUT WHETHER YOU’VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL

AD / PR – please note – the sessions have been gifted in exchange for my honest thoughts about the process

Introducing Kevin Whitelaw

Download my new workbook – a freebie designed to organise your busy life

What is solution-focused hypnotherapy?

Why I am excited about this new approach to achieving personal development

Sign up for my monthly newsletter, to gain access to exclusive offers & updatesSign up for my freebie library. Each week there will be a new freebie added to help organise your life and take away some stress!

Pin this for later…

achievement

1.a thing done successfully with effort, skill, or courage.”to reach this stage is a great achievement”

Continue reading for a rundown of my proudest achievements

Researching

Writing

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE…

Getting over my fear of social media

Being organised

Technical knowledge

Working solo

New projects

Ranking

Improving design and photography skills

Final thoughts

My personal progress

How it all began

September 2021 blog posts

Goals for October 2021

Sign up for my monthly newsletter, to gain access to exclusive offers & updates

Sign up for my freebie library. Each week there will be a new freebie added to help organise your life and take away some stress!