Australia Actually: May 2015

May 20, 2015- Quarter life Crisis Averted

by Chelseawroteit - 9:53 PM

These past few years, i've been dealing with a lot of life questions and have been tackling them one by one. I believe in the concept of holistic health-- and i'm a weirdo (or maybe I just have too many existential thoughts) in the sense that I consider happiness a personal success. It's safe to say that i've been consciously "choosing to be happy" since the beginning of 2010, when I made the decision to cut drama out of my life and only hung around people who made me feel good and appreciated. It took a bit longer for me to quit pursuing a degree that was making me unhappy, but I finally did it (a billion dollars worth of student loans later), and I am so glad I dodged that bullet. I'm left with a huge sum to pay off, but i'm happy with the decision.

Making a life-changing decision or going through enormous change can really pull the ground beneath your feet, but I can honestly say that these 180 degree turns have been the best learning experiences for me. I've adapted through so many changes that i've literally stopped taking no for an answer. In my book, anything can happen if you want it to.

"If there's a will, there's a way" and "No sacrifice no victory" are just a few of the mottos that I live by. Another one that I tell myself when times are tough is "Stop being a little b*tch"-- it helps. LOL. I also do not have much patience for people who don't know how to help themselves. That's just me, i'm a tough love kinda gal. It's because I know only YOU can get yourself out of whatever hole you're in, and TBH, it doesn't really matter who put you in that difficult situation. We can talk about it all day, but it will not make your problem go away. I'm a fix-it person, so if you come to me with with 10 problems and making zero changes to fix them, I will go all Judge Judy on your arse.

So when I started going through a really ugly time in 2014 and ran away to Australia, I knew it would come with repercussions. It was awesome taking a break from reality (what is real life, even?), but when the one year was up and I came back home, I was exactly in the same spot where I left-- lost in the rubble of my quarter life crisis. It is so tempting to fly off to some exotic country to get inspired... but I have to figure out where I am in life right now and where I wanna go next. Things like these you can't put off for too long. I need to line up my ducks. I need a plan, and these past 3 months have been spent planning and plotting (world domination?!) how i'm gonna answer the big questions. Time to make my life make sense again. That's what a quarter life crisis really is, in my humble opinion-- the feeling of being stranded and clueless as to where to go next.

Make a list of what you want in your life. Make THE LIST. Make this list a secret, and write all your dreams and desires (especially the ones you've been denying yourself for fear of being judged!!). Be 100% honest with yourself. You don't need to tell anyone anything about this list. Keep it in the back of your mind, or in the back of a notebook, and slowly work towards it. These are the things that your authentic self wouldn't dream of telling your friends and family about-- because it sounds like a stupid idea and you think people will think you're on crack. Well guess what? YOLO! I always make sure that my rocket is ready for blast off before I tell people about my crazy plan. I do not accept objections. Did I cancel my flight to South Korea when they were receiving nuclear threats? No!

Maybe I AM on crack.

Kidding aside, I am serious about writing this "secret list". Everytime i've been completely honest to myself about what I wanted, i've attracted these things into my life, and in most cases, things just fell into place. If it's too embarassing, don't discuss it with other people. The main thing is that you're letting yourself dream again. Personally, I have a habit of claiming things. When I want something, I consider it done. There is no bargaining, it is mine. If the world is making it impossible for me to reach that goal, I wait. I wait for the right time and work on other goals instead. But I keep my secret list in the back of my mind, and like a crouching tiger, I pounce when the time is right.

Australia wasn't a random move. It was on my "list" for four years (I swear i'm not a psycho...). When I took a break from school, it was the first thing that came to mind. Everything happened seamlessly. I got my old job back the same day I quit school, and a week later I got promoted on my second job. Money started rolling in. My boss f*cked up the payroll and I got paid $200 dollars more. I got a $150 tip from my third job (a girl's gotta work, you know). I ended up with the exact amount that I needed to pay for a ticket to Australia. It wasn't a coincidence. It was God in motion. He was helping me reach my goal, which is a good thing because it sure wasn't Santa who I was writing my list to :p #imcheesyok. Seriously though, fortune favours the brave. Although to be fair, i'm not really that brave... i'm just really curious. hehe.

In the bigger scheme of things, having a quarter life crisis can actually be a good thing. When we go through a "crisis", it forces us to re-evaluate our decisions and make the necessary changes to survive. It's a wake up call-- and I hope that you recognize it. It's there to make your life better-- even if it feels like hell at the moment. It challenges your priorities and defines your character. If you want to get out of a crisis, a good place to start is by having an honest conversation with yourself, and not running away to another country.

Remember: If you feel lost, start by writing down ALL your dreams and goals. Start from a happy and hopeful place. Make your dream list, but make it realistic (something you can assign a timeline to). Ask yourself if the things on the list are worth the hassle. If the answer is yes, get ready to work for it. This list also makes for a wonderful contingency plan in case you go through another crisis-- but I hope one is enough! Good luck :)

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July 6, 2014- Day Out in Geelong

by Chelseawroteit - 10:23 AM

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Staying Organized

by Chelseawroteit - 10:11 PM

Before I started dating Jesse, I used to be, to put it bluntly-- a slob. I had zero work ethic (it only developed when I lived abroad!), my mom used to do all my laundry and dishes, I never checked my bank accounts (biggest mistake ever), and I basically did 3 years of university without a "study" or homework schedule. I have no idea how I survived being a full-time student and having two jobs -with zero organizational skills-, all the while doing almost 3 hours of commute daily, since I didn't have a car.

I visit Jesse's house quite a lot, and picked up many habits from him and his family. For example, they would always do the dishes after eating. Every weekend, they would sweep every perimeter of the house (LOL-- I hope they don't mind that i'm mentioning this!). They even have a laundry schedule. It was such an eye-opener for me and I slowly started to implement these little changes in my life.

How I Stay Organized

1.) Writing down my monthly & weekly schedule

(unless you're one of those people who plans everything in their head)

I stopped doing this for three weeks and noticed a big difference in my productivity. I'm definitely more effective & less stressed when I know what's coming at me.

This was from the calendar that I got from the bank. Haha! I also use the calendar on my phone daily. I find that jotting things down twice (once on the phone, once on paper) helps me to remember the events better. Plus, it's a good thing that I have two copies because I don't always carry this huge binder with me!

I found these free weekly printables on Pinterest. As you might notice, i'm really into bright and colorful planner pages. It's because I have the attention span of a goldfish and I actually pay more attention when i'm looking at a colorful page rather than a black and white one.

I write down my appointments, work schedule, weekly chores, and to-do list on my weekly planner.

I also printed out a few gym schedules so I could make time to attend the classes that I like for that week. It's a good thing that my gym has a lot of locations- it makes it harder for me to justify skipping. A little trivia: I started going to the gym at 25-- literally two months ago. Yikes! Better late than never, right? Going to the gym serves as my motivation!

2.) Identifying & writing down my goals

It is so easy to caught up in life-- i've had many Decembers when I thought, "So.. the year is about to end, and I can't remember what I did with it." This time, i'll know exactly where my time went and what things I worked hard for this year. Besides, if you don't have a goal, what are you working so hard for? How do you know where you wanna go if you don't know where you wanna end up?

My goals also affect my budget, so i've decided to set up my bank accounts in a way that's easier for me to see where i'm at with my planning. For example, under financial goals i've put down 'get license & car' (It's financial because i've attached an amount to it before I can reach it, I guess). This is a short-term goal which I want to achieve within the next six months, so i'm putting the money in my savings account.

Short Term Goals

{ Regular savings account }

e.g Buying a car, saving for a vacation

Long Term Goals

{ High interest tax free savings account }

e.g Buying a house, migrating to a different country

Daily Budget

{ Cash or chequing account }

e.g Bills, eating out, shopping

In-case-I-get-fired Savings

{ Another savings account }

Our economy is crazy-- 'nuff said.

Retirement Fund

{ Will have to set this up soon }

Who said being a grown-up was cool? It's tiring!

3.) Keeping tabs on my money

More money, more problems! haha. I definitely believe this to be true. We get a little greedy when we earn more money. Since i've recently started working again, i've been fighting to keep my spending tendencies down because i'm trying to make the switch from being a spender to being a saver. Sofia Amoruso said in her book, #GIRLBOSS, that "Money looks better in the bank than on your feet." And she's right.. it sucks to have designer shoes and a dry bank account.

The biggest difference that i've made last year & this year was staying on top of my debt. No more credit card debt! Yay! I told you earlier that I used to be scared of opening my bank statements. That's cause I didn't keep track of my spending-- and I knew that I probably couldn't pay it in full anyway. It was such a crappy feeling, but I was stuck in an "emotional spending" cycle where I bought things to make me feel happier. Kinda like emotional eating :P

I still believe in #TREATYOSELF, but I really don't want to go into debt just so I can do that. Trust me, I have gone to the extreme end of #TREATYOSELF (intercontinental vacations, a $700 concert, etc) and it was a pain in the butt when I had to sit down and count how much I had to work to pay it all back. While I wouldn't trade the world for any of those experiences, I do wish I did more planning and saving before I left. Financial stability is crucial to happiness, and i've felt so much happier and more confident since i've started working on this area of my life.

I've made this mini ledger thing to keep tabs on what I spend my paycheck on.

You can say that i'm doing a bit of research on my spending habits, so I know which areas to work on and what changes I can make.

4.) Using financial management apps

This app I found, called "Financius", gives me a breakdown of my expenses and shows me the balance on each of my accounts. It's pretty awesome!

Planning and goal-setting are both very important in keeping me on track. I can't wait to put a big fat check mark next to my goals when I reach them! I hope that I was able to give you an idea on how to slowly tackle your goals. Divide and conquer is KEY here.

One big goal can be achieved by a hundred mini to-do lists. Sometimes you may feel like you're not making any progress, but as long as you're working on it-- I guarantee you that you WILL see results! Be patient and keep chipping away until you get there.