The secret to writing an award-winning blog

The secret to writing an award-winning blog

Last month I was extremely honoured to receive the Nutramino Health & Fitness Award 2019 for Blog of the Year.  I wanted to let you in on a secret to writing an award-winning blog. The one thing that goes beyond writing brilliant content, sharing your knowledge, speaking from experience, taking great photos, being consistent and knowing your audience. Let me tell you the secret.

Latest on The Flourishing Pantry
Cauliflower fritters with vegan mayo
Cauliflower fritters with vegan mayo

This recipe seemed like the perfect way to showcase the mayo and is a variation of my sweetcorn fritters which I created for the blog almost three years ago. Time flies! Cauliflower is in season right now and this is a seriously tasty combination.

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Flourishing Entrepreneurs: #17 Rachel Graham, Medicinal Chef
Flourishing Entrepreneurs: #17 Rachel Graham, Medicinal Chef

My next Flourishing Entrepreneur is Rachel Graham, Nutritional Therapist and Medicinal Chef. I’ll let her tell you more about the way she multi-hyphens and how her self-employed mindset from the age of 21 helps her keep taking action in her wellness business.

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GUEST RECIPE: Strawberries 'n Cream Raw Cheesecake
GUEST RECIPE: Strawberries 'n Cream Raw Cheesecake

I’ve got a gorgeous Wimbledon-friendly recipe for you as we hit summer! Kristie from Freya’s Nourishment has kindly shared this incredible strawberry raw cheesecake which you can whip up with simple ingredients and enjoy while the tennis is on.

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Flourishing Entrepreneurs: #16 Samantha Couzens from Spoonful of Happy
Flourishing Entrepreneurs: #16 Samantha Couzens from Spoonful of Happy

I’m so excited to introduce one my clients Samantha Couzens to you for this week’s Flourishing Entrepreneurs interview. Samantha is starting out on her entrepreneurial journey as a food photographer and stylist, all started from her blog Spoonful of Happy.

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Batch berry morning oats
Batch berry morning oats

I’ve been loving this quick and easy go-to breakfast lately which I can batch-make on a Sunday evening so I’m set for the week. I’m going rogue with this recipe and not putting measurements on. Shock horror! Will you give it a go?

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Flourishing Entrepreneurs: #15 Kristie Murphy from Freya's Nourishment
Flourishing Entrepreneurs: #15 Kristie Murphy from Freya's Nourishment

This week’s Flourishing Entrepreneur is someone I’ve met through the internet, not only online but also in real life. Considering she lives is Australia I find this pretty amazing! Find out about Kristie’s journey to creating Freya’s Nourishment, her range of beautiful natural products.

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Why you need to start making choices when it comes to your health
Why you need to start making choices when it comes to your health

Choice. It’s my current buzzword. Something I’ve been reminding my clients of on a regular basis and also myself and those around me. What are you choosing for your work and health right now?

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How to eat healthily when your partner loves salami and hates coconut 
How to eat healthily when your partner loves salami and hates coconut 

When it became clear me and David were going to be spending a lot of time together I realised I was going to have to find a way to eat how I want, but also find a way that worked for him too. Here are the tips I can share with you that have helped me continue to eat healthily, when he isn’t so keen.

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Flourishing Entrepreneurs: #14 Nichola Flood, Queen of Health
Flourishing Entrepreneurs: #14 Nichola Flood, Queen of Health

This week’s Flourishing Entrepreneurs interview is with Nichola Flood, aka The Queen of Health. Nichola shows what is possible when it comes to really embodying the change you want others to achieve. Nichola’s transformation is what inspires her clients and getting her journey out into the world is what attracts people to her.

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Butterbean and mustard pâté
Butterbean and mustard pâté

I think I’ve mentioned before that I am self-styled Queen of Dips amongst my friends and family. Butter beans make for a really lovely light, fluffy dip when they’re whizzed up, and take on flavours really well from other ingredients.

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HOW OFTEN DO YOU VISUALISE WHAT YOU WANT? 🤩 ⁣ ⁣ Can I be honest? I am not very good at following my own advice 🤦🏽‍♀️ I don’t spend enough time each day visualising where I want to get to 😬⁣ ⁣ All the evidence points to the success of entrepreneurs who get really clear on what they want to achieve and then spend time really feeling, experiencing and BEING in that moment of having it. ⁣ ⁣ What does it FEEL like to:⁣ 📈 run a thriving business ⁣ 🤗 attract lots of clients ⁣ 🗣 speak on a big stage ⁣ 🏆 win an award ⁣ ⁣ Sitting with those feelings and channelling the mindset, actions and beliefs that it conjures up into what you do today really shifts things 👊🏼⁣ ⁣ BUT. It is far FAR too easy to get sucked into spending time doing all. the. things 📝 You’ve got a to-do list as long as your arm! You’ve still got your website to perfect, social media posts to write and aaaaall the other ‘necessary’ business building stuff to do, right?! 😩 Visualisation is just wasting time. ⁣ ⁣ I’m really trying to get out of thinking like that 🙅🏽‍♀️ Recently I’ve been dedicating time in the mornings to journaling, meditating and trying to think about what I want to achieve and what it feels like to have it 🥰 If I had it, what would I be doing right now? What are the steps I need to take? 🧐⁣ ⁣ Do you spend any time visualising? Do you find it helps? Or do you find visualisation hard to prioritise or see as valuable? 😳⁣ ⁣ PS. If you want to come and spend some time visualising and creating a Vision Board, @thereset_me have just 5 spaces left on our Vision Board Brunch @housedublin2 on Sunday 3rd Nov. DM me for deets 💌
ATTEMPTS ARE WHAT MOVE YOU FORWARD 💪🏼 Do you know what it takes to be successful? ⁣ ⁣ NEWS FLASH ⚡️It isn’t about being successful every day. It’s more like making mistakes every day 😳⁣ ⁣ If I look successful from the outside, please be assured:⁣ ⁣ ⚡️ I write social media posts that bomb ⁣ ⁣ ⚡️ I pitch for speaking opportunities and get ignored ⁣ ⁣ ⚡️ I set financial goals for myself that I don’t achieve⁣ ⁣ ⚡️ I create products that don’t sell ⁣ ⁣ ⚡️ I invest in things that aren’t what I need ⁣ ⁣ It might be painful to accept, but the truth is you learn more and get further ahead by giving it a go and making mistakes, than getting it right every time 🤓⁣ ⁣ I’ve managed in the last year to shift my mindset to focusing on what I LEARN from every experience, rather than beating myself up for ‘failing.’ ⁣ ⁣ But it’s not always easy for a straight-A, people-pleasing, academic, overachiever. Believe me 😬⁣ ⁣ I don’t like feeling like a beginner or accepting I’m not good at something. It’s a weird old sensation to go into something thinking there’s a possibility it won’t work out. But I’ve had to accept those feelings come with the territory of running your own business. ⁣ ⁣ If you’re not trying and making attempts, you’re standing still 🕴🏼 And we all need to keep moving forward in this game 👉🏼⁣ ⁣ Do you find it hard to give things a go if you’re not guaranteed success? What have you attempted and learned from?
ARE YOU TERRIFIED OF NETWORKING? 😱 I’ve been attending a good few networking events this year. Including this one pictured where I gave a short talk at We Can & We Will #wcwwevents hosted by @amandadelaneymentor 🎤⁣ ⁣ Networking can be really scary. I often go on my own and believe there is the very real possibility I’ll be standing on my own hugging a drink in the corner for the whole event 😬🍷⁣ ⁣ Obviously with that vision in mind my brain’s comfort zone default tells me I’d be MUCH safer just staying at home on the sofa. Why bother going at all? 🥺⁣ ⁣ But networking CAN be amazing 🎉⁣ ⁣ If we’re all here to build know/like/trust with an audience then that happens MUCH faster in person than it does online. ⁣ ⁣ And we all want our businesses to grow faster, right? 🤔⁣ ⁣ If we meet in real life (IRL for the cool kids), we can really show our personalities and look people in the eye. We can ask them questions more easily and show our warmth and share tips in the moment 🥰⁣ ⁣ But getting ourselves to that event and overcoming that initial fear is essential 😱⁣ ⁣ We also need to go with a purpose to events and BELIEVE that networking can open doors and hold possibilities for us, way beyond the online world 📲⁣ ⁣ Mindset, as with everything, is key to making the most of networking! 🙋🏽‍♀️⁣ ⁣ I’ve invited @alyjharrold to join my in my Facebook group later this month to share 3⁣ Top Tips If You’re Terrified of Networking. If you’d like to be there and help overcome your fear so you can make the most of networking, head to the link in my bio to join the group 👆🏼⁣ ⁣ Do you enjoy networking? Or does it scare you? 😬 Do you have to ‘force’ yourself to go?!
LET’S TALK VOICE NOTES 🎤 Do you use voice notes? You know, where someone talks into their phone and leaves you a mini-voicemail rather than typing a message. Do you like them? ⁣ ⁣ I’m going to be honest here: I really struggle with them 😬😬⁣ ⁣ I am often in places that I can’t or don’t want to listen to messages. It’s one of the reasons I think captions on videos are essential (but that’s another rant 😉). ⁣ ⁣ When I see voice notes come in I usually decide to listen to them later and then totally forget. So then I look rude! 🤦🏽‍♀️⁣ ⁣ When I do eventually listen to voice notes I can’t refer back to them quickly in future like a written message 🤔⁣ ⁣ If someone leaves a long one I can’t remember everything they’ve said 😫 ⁣ ⁣ And if someone sends me one that I’ve never met before.... I’m really sorry but I find it quite creepy. Sorry!! 😳⁣ ⁣ Should I learn to embrace them?! Would you like to receive voice notes from people instead of written messages? ✍🏼 ⁣ ⁣ Please share your views and experiences - I’d love to know what you think 👇🏼👇🏼
WORLD PORRIDGE DAY🥣 #ad #gifted Today is world porridge day! As the mornings are getting colder and we all need something comforting to start the day, the lovely people @clarksnaturalsweeteners sent me an autumn care package to keep me warm! 🥰⁣ ⁣ I made my porridge with @flahavans oats, milk, cacao and hemp protein and topped with chia seeds, crushed walnuts and a generous drizzle of @clarksnaturalsweeteners pure maple syrup to naturally sweeten the lot 🤗 I still make mine on the hob and not in the microwave, call me old fashioned! 👩🏽‍🍳⁣ ⁣ Have you kicked into porridge season yet? How do you make yours? 🥣⁣ ⁣ PS. Never know when these Awareness Days (like World Porridge Day) are? I’ve spent all of this year collating the best health, food and nutrition awareness days together and I’m turning them into a handy calendar for you for 2020 🗓 If you want to get your hands on a copy when it’s ready, head to the link in my bio and sign up to be the first to get it 👆🏼👆🏼⁣ 
THIS IS NOT MY DESK 😬 I spotted an advert for a ‘How To Start A Blog’ Masterclass promoted to me on Stories the other day. ⁣ ⁣ It was a glamorous lady standing in front of an immaculate desk with a floral laptop, blush pink seats, white walls flooded with light and fluffy cushions on the sofa in the background 💞⁣ ⁣ Now I can’t remember who the girl was. And I am absolutely sure she is 100% lovely and amazing at what she does. ⁣ ⁣ But I’m me and that isn’t how I promote my Masterclass ☺️⁣ ⁣ Because: REALITY CHECK ‼️ Blogging doesn’t look like that. (For me anyway 😬) ⁣ ⁣ 👩🏽‍💻 Blogging looks like being really passionate about something but also working a full-time job. ⁣ ⁣ 👩🏽‍💻 Blogging looks like learning how to build a website by yourself on your lunch break, being a total beginner and sucking at it. ⁣ ⁣ 👩🏽‍💻 Blogging looks like insecurity, doubt, overwhelm, fear of judgement and imposter complex. And less than perfect hair 🤪⁣ ⁣ So that’s how I run my Masterclass. Embracing and acknowledging ALL of that. And helping you STILL create that blog you’ve been thinking about but just haven’t found a way to start yet 💫⁣ ⁣ 🗓 My How To Start A Blog Masterclass is tonight and I won’t be running it again this year. ⁣ ⁣ So if you want that blog running for 2020 and stop with the excuses, hit the link in my bio to join 👆🏼👆🏼⁣ ⁣ Anyone else think there’s a misleading ‘polished’ version of how blogging is marketed sometimes? 😳
NO IDEA IS ORIGINAL 🤯 Should you start a blog? Should you share your passion for health online? Or is the market already saturated...? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This is doubt I hear from people all. the. time. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Ahhhh who needs to hear my opinion?” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “I have this idea but it’s already been done.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “There’s already way too much information out there, I’d just be joining the noise online.” 😫 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Yeah okay the online world is noisy. There’s a lot of us here. But do you know what there’s NOT though? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There’s not YOU 💗 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There is not a person on the planet who thinks like you, who has experienced what you have and who can communicate in the way you can. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When you have those doubts that the market is saturated and your voice isn’t needed (and jeez in health and wellness we can aaaaall get moments like that), catch those thoughts and give yourself a reminder:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ No-one does it like ME ☺️ And the unique way you do it is NEEDED. So quite frankly, who are you NOT to do it? People need you 🥰⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What do you think? Do you worry about the saturated market? Does it hold you back? 🤔⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ PS. If you want to bust through mindset blocks like this around starting a blog, come and join my How To Start A Blog Masterclass on Tuesday. I’ll cover the practicalities but also the beliefs you need to grow a successful blog. Deets in bio 👆🏼
#AD When you run your own business one of the big benefits is being able to work from anywhere. I can chat to my clients online and create helpful content for people like you from anywhere in the world 🌍 So why can’t I do that from... Japan?! 🇯🇵 If you know me at all, you’ll know I’m obsessed with sushi 🍣 Japan is somewhere I’d love to travel to. Not just working, but also immersing myself in a truly different food culture 🤗 Set For Life from The National Lottery gives you the chance to win £10k every month for 30 years*. If I won, I’d travel Japan and try all the amazing foodie experiences on offer: the famous fish markets, Michelin starred restaurants (did you know there are 230 in Tokyo alone?! 🤯) and maybe do a few classes to learn how to make sushi myself so I could bring home the joy too 🍱👩🏽‍🍳 . . . If you won, where in the world would you go and what would you eat? 🌎 . . . *Rules apply #SetForLifeTNL @tnluk #AmazingStartsHere
WHY ME? 🤔 Confession. I did a quick search for “how to start a wellness blog” on Google the other day. Guess how many results there were? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 280,000,000.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Yup. Actually millions 😱⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There is so much information out here on the internet. And sometimes it can be totally overwhelming 😫 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So why, when there is so much out there already, should you listen to me when it comes to setting up a blog? 🙋🏽‍♀️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Well first up: I have been there. I knew absolutely sweet nothing about running a website, sharing my content on social media, branding my blog or identifying a niche. So I understand aaaaall the blocks, the mindsets and the difficulties you’re having. And I can help you smash through them faster than I did 👊🏼⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Secondly, I’m not THAT far ahead of you. Seriously. I started my blog in 2016 and I was doing it as a side-hustle with a full time job. I’m not a multi-millionaire blogger. What I’ve done and turned into a business is all totally reachable and achievable. I can show you how 💖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thirdly - and I don’t want to blow my own trumpet 🎺 - but I’m reliably informed I can break the whole thing down and teach it in a really easy and accessible way 💪🏼 Because no-one wants to be bamboozled with acronyms and flummoxed before they’ve even started 🤯⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My How To Start A Blog Masterclass gives you everything broken down into small steps and a chance to pick my brain along the way with ANY blog questions you’ve got 🥰 Deets are in the link in my bio 👆🏼⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What do you think? How do you decide who to trust in the busy online world? 👇🏼👇🏼
WHY I’M NOT LAUNCHING AN ONLINE COURSE (YET) 🚫 Last year I launched an online course. I was sucked in to the enticing prospect that you can make “passive income” by creating content from what you already know and packaging it up 🎁 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The whole process was a catalogue of disasters 😫 And it sold, unsurprisingly, precisely zero places. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Why? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Because I didn’t have an AUDIENCE that wanted the product I was selling 😳 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Audience. Tribe. Community. Whatever you want to call it. I didn’t have one 🤷🏽‍♀️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ No-one was asking me about the stuff I was putting into the course. I never talked to anyone about it as I created it. And I didn’t have that know / like / trust factor with people around the topic I was focusing on 🤦🏽‍♀️ In an online world we watch people launching products every week and we think we should be doing it too 🙋🏽‍♀️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And you should. One day. But not until you’ve built an audience for what you’re selling 👊🏼 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ People buy from people 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 Total strangers are very unlikely to stumble across your awesome content and invest straight away. Hard to accept perhaps, but true. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You have to build up know, like and trust with a community of people. You have to show them what you’re capable of and truly help them every day before they’re ready to go all in with a paid product 👛 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I was inspired to share this for two reasons. Firstly listening to @ruthpoundwhite sharing her experience of launching (and then pulling) an online course as part of her episode ‘On Failing’ of her podcast Creatively Human. Well worth a listen 🎧 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And secondly inspired by @lucysheridan #TheGoodGram and the amazing community that has been fostered and grown this week 💖 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ For Q4 2019 I won’t be launching a course. I’m going to focus on building my community and talking to wellness business owners about what they need and how I can help 💫 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What do you think? How much are you focusing on building a community right now? 👇🏼
DO YOU WANT TO START A BLOG? 💻 I started my blog @theflourishingpantry in 2016. I had nooooo idea what I was doing and yet I quickly got sucked into the world of blogging, health and wellness. ⁣ ⁣ Through my blog I discovered a whole new community of incredible business owners, passionate content creators and wellness entrepreneurs that inspired me more than I could ever have imagined 🤯 ⁣ ⁣ Fast forward to 2019 and I found a way, through three years of blogging, to turn all my passion and excitement for the world of wellness into a business 👩🏽‍💻 Oh and I picked up a couple of awards for my blog along the way too 🏆⁣ ⁣ And now I want to share what I did to create my blog WITH YOU 👊🏼 ⁣ ⁣ If you have a massive passion for health and wellness and want to create an online platform to share it all, I’m running a 2hr online Masterclass showing you exactly how to do just that 🤗⁣ ⁣ From choosing a platform, creating a simple but identifiable brand, writing inspiring content and sharing it all on social media I’m going to be talking you through everything in a practical, accessible way to help you get started RIGHT NOW 👊🏼 with the blog you’ve been dreaming of. ⁣ ⁣ Check the link in my bio and sign up for the Masterclass now. It’s on Tuesday 8th October 7-9pm. You’ll get to hang with me live for 2hrs and ask me every question you’ve ever had about what it really takes to start and grow and award winning blog. It could just be the start of the business you’re dreaming of 💫
NOTHING WORKS UNLESS YOU DO 👊🏼 There’s been a lot of talk around these parts lately about manifesting. I’ve been chatting about it @thereset_me Connect & Calm, @kerrlyonsco has been talking it on her podcast and the powerful duo @sarahakwisombe and @themoneymedium have been promoting the Money + Manifesting School. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But what I want to point out if you’re thinking manifesting is some sort of hocus pocus magic that means you can just say stuff and then it happens, I’ve got news for you: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🙅🏽‍♀️ Manifesting doesn’t work like that 🙅🏽‍♀️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Nothing works unless you do. If you want to manifest something - and by that I mean get really clear on what you want and then make it happen - you have to TAKE ACTION 💪🏼⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You can’t just write “I want to have a 6 figure wellness business,” stick a picture of cash on your vision board and then sit back and then have another Netflix binge 📺⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You have to do the work 👊🏼 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You have to write the plan and action it 👊🏼 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You have to catch those negative thoughts and re-programme them 👊🏼⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You have to learn and grow as a person 👊🏼⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You have to get out of your comfort zone 👊🏼⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What are you going to do TODAY that will move you forward? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Give me a little fist bump below if you’re going to take that action and do the work today. Because nothing works unless you do 👊🏼