If only you could see the greatness that lies ahead for you.
Hold a future vision of living a fulfilling life with passion and purpose.
Believe that every step you take, leads you to your dreams.
As you progress through your life today, make each step count. All you have to do is focus on each single step and in no time a brighter horizon will form.
Don’t dwell on the grey skies, for then it will surely rain. Seek the blue above and let the energy of the sun uplift you.
Think of one thing you can do today to turn your grey skies blue.
Be your own light of hope.
No one can save you but YOU – please read that one again.
Life can knock you down a thousand times, and it probably will. But the most important thing is for you to never accept that failure is forever.
Failure is not a word that I like to ever use, because I choose not to believe in it. I much prefer to put a positive spin on things not going your way.
Where you tried, celebrate your efforts for giving it a go. I am sure there are many valuable lessons that you took away from the experience. You might have gained a better perspective on life or achieved clarity.
If you went for it and then decided it wasn’t for you – I salute you!
If you really want to change your current status, you have to channel all your energies into making that happen.
You have to go ALL IN , in order to get ALL OUT, of any unwanted situation.
It seriously is up to you and you’ve got to have real clarity on what you’re going to do everyday, in order to make that positive change.
Do the work and stay totally focussed on the goal in hand. It may also help to have an emotional trigger that will keep you on track.
Work, work, work on your plan, as much as you can, and in time, your efforts WILL pay off.
If it means, getting up at 4am every morning to fit the work in, then do it.
Your energy is so mighty and powerful, it can help you achieve so much more than you think.
Are you ready? If you are, you will feel a different person from within. You will switch into ‘gladiator’ mode and nothing will stop you until you get there.
Deliver everyday on becoming the best version of yourself.
Deliver by honouring your core values and serving your inner purpose.
Trust yourself to deliver on the things that matter to you and forge forward in the pursuit of your dreams.
Success is an accumulation of ‘doings’ aligned with your goals, that in time, manifests into your desired outcome.
Take charge of your thinking and channel your energies into a focussed and habitual manner that serves you well.
You won’t achieve what you want by delivering on this once or twice a week. Your success will be determined by the work you put in everyday and that is an absolute fact.
If you want to get real results, act accordingly and know the fruits of your labour will appear in good time.
Self-mastery is a neverending challenge but when you make that your goal, everything else becomes so much easier.
Temptation to do or not to do surrounds us daily and that’s what makes self-mastery the ultimate challenge.
The mountain climber, the marathon runner, the world class swimmer, the champion cyclist etc.. are all on the path of self-mastery and it is often AFTER the great win that the real challenge begins.
If winning was the only end goal, life would lose true meaning – read that one again.
Remain in alignment with your core values and gain some real inner peace and quality of life.
Your goal on this journey of life is whatever you want it to be and I guarantee you that you’ll get there so much faster if you focus your mind on mastering thyself.
The greatest version of you is waiting to be unleashed and only you my friend have the key.
Keep on keeping on and flourish in your own magnificence.
The midnight sky, is vast and black, yet stars appear and light comes back.
Keep on dancing your way through life and don’t let anyone dim your beautiful light.
Remember, you are the magic and it’s time to release your power.
There is challenge, there is change but most of all there is choice. May you choose to adopt the right daily habits that will serve you well and lead you to your dreams.
Life can bring with it, some tough days, tougher days, rough days, rougher days and the most beautiful glory days.
We all know, in life, sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t, but the key is to stay focussed on the job in hand and progressly move forward, inch by inch towards your desired goals.
Expect the unexpected and never be surprised when the tough days get tougher or a happy day gets happier – and we all love the latter!
Show the world what you’ve got and ignite your inner strength into something so powerful, that no matter what comes your way, you are ready to fight back, every single time.
Deliver your best you every day and remember, impactful changes take a whole lot of time, energy and real effort – then you can look forward to the fruits of those wonderful glory days and believe me, I know they are coming for you.
Cheers to resilient you with the strength of a hundred soldiers.
I know going for your goals in life and chasing your dreams can be extremely tiring at times. Believe me – I am with you here!
You’ve got to get yourself a good strategy in place for when the going gets tough. Working on your “go to” strategy upfront will prepare you for those harder times – because we all know, those days will come.
The best way to stay on top of your game, is to prepare for the game, not when you’re winning but when you’re losing.
So start planning right now for those challenging times and be prepared to kickstart your “go to” strategy when it is urgently needed.
Stay strong, stay resilient and stay focussed my friend.
Everyday you must be brave, battle the barriers and become the greatest version of yourself.
Don’t get stuck in your head with negative thinking and over analysing. If you really really want to do something, I know you WILL make it happen. On the other hand, if you say you really want to do something but nothing is getting done about it, you’ve really got to look at that.
There are many reasons why you would want to do something but just don’t and this inaction may be related to some sort of inner FEAR.
You see, I’m there right now. I really really want to do something but I have a HUGE fear of it not working out and this fear comes from experiencing this pain a number of times in the past. So what am I doing about this? Well, I am taking every lesson from the past failures and making changes ever so slowly, rather than just jumping in, which I have done every time before.
I’m not frightened of change, actually I embrace the right kind of change but taking baby steps towards the progression of this change is a better option for me.
I’m learning to move forward but in a different way. This type of movement helps me become more patient, disciplined and consistent with my daily action.
Please don’t stay stuck, it’s a miserable place to be in. Take a look at what tiny changes you can make everyday to help you on your new path.
We’re all in this together and that’s why I do what I do. I just love sharing words of encouragement with you – we all need a little bit of that.
I know you really really want to – so start doing something about it today.
Brave steps of change can be a little daunting at times, however, you must think of the positives; you must stay focussed on all the great things that change can bring.
Yes, change can be a little scary but sometimes the more you over analyse, the more you want to stay in your comfort zone. Surely a great life can only be achieved with brave change, ambitious desire and deep faith in your heart that you are most definitely doing the right thing?
When you feel driven, when you feel responsible for making your life a great life……then you will take the plunge and what if everything does go your way….what if?
Wouldn’t that just be a great GREAT life for you.
What if you had to begin again? I really mean begin again, right where you are. What would that mean for you? What would you want to start again?
Life is a bit like that, sometimes we just have to begin again, start afresh, let go of old ways and encompass new ways – new ways of thinking, new ways of doing and new ways of feeling.
Think of your life ahead as one big blank canvas, with lots of white space to fill with whatever you want to fill it with – what do you want to fill your white space with?
Use your imagination right now to envisage a life of love, love for everything you want to do and who you love being with. Reinvent the next chapter of your life into something truly amazing for you and your loved ones. This space can be entered into the here and now by changing things up for yourself, whatever that will be for you.
So I encourage you today to fill your walking boots with courage, bravery, energy, love, self-discipline, creativity, imagination and determination to make each baby step of change fulfilling and purposeful for you.
Get those walking boots out and rock your socks off into the next episode of YOUR AMAZING LIFE.
Whilst on my own self development journey, I have tried and tested so many different life hacks and growth mindset strategies. One that I found very difficult to adopt but now seem to really love – is those “Crazy Cold Showers” in the morning.
I’ve got to be honest here, it took me a long time to get into the swing of it but now I simply love turning that shower from hot to cold for a short blast of super freshness and sheer aliveness in every cell of my body.
Of course, the real expert on this cold immersion therapy is the guru himself, none other than, Mr Wim Hof – you can find out all about his Wim Hof Method on his websiteand it’s really quite fascinating but not for the faint-hearted!
The main benefits I feel I get from my morning cold showers are quite simple yet impactful. Here are just a few:
First and foremost it wakens me up like nothing else and after a good 8-9 hours sleep – that’s got to be a good thing.
It uplifts my mood instantly – yes that crazy coldness makes me feel happy inside.
Every cold shower is a challenge to me but the self-satisfaction I feel from overcoming that morning challenge, really does set me up for the day.
My hair and skin looks and feels so much better, fresher and softer to touch – is this cold shower related? I feel it sure is.
It’s fun – yes I did say fun – I treat it like a fun thing to do and it then feels like “childlike fun” in a funny sort of way.
It puts my brain on an uplifted alert mode, which I then feel enhances my focus and concentration levels throughout the day.
I don’t need that morning coffee to wake up my senses – these crazy cold showers work better than caffeine every single time.
It detoxes the mind. The cold shower for me, in that moment, erases all the worries and stresses trapped upstairs – it’s like a destress release button to allow clarity to then kick in.
So there you have it, that’s eight good reasons for anyone to think about introducing a cold shower to their morning routine.
My cold shower process starts with hot, warm, luke warm, cool and then freezing cold – I turn the temperature down every minute or so, which allows by body to adapt quickly to the coldness. I then try to stay as long as possible under the freezing cold water and this is definitely the fun part!
Are you up for the cold shower challenge?
Have you already introduced cold showers into your morning routine?
Let me know you thoughts in the comments section and let’s support each other to be the best version of ourselves each and everyday.
It’s Your Life – GO GET IT!
Written by Clarabelle on 7 October 2022 Posted to Blog on 12 October 2022
I have been a massive fan of the popular cafe latte and chocolate topped cappuccino since I tried my first ‘proper’ barista coffee in 2005 and then, I was quite simply. . .”hooked”.
One of my favourite past times used to be going to my favourite coffee shop, having the perfect window seat and writing poems in my notepad – I really loved it! Such a simple thing to do and I could easily sit there for hours people watching, pondering, reflecting and writing away. It was soulful bliss to me.
I actually didn’t realise how much the caffeine was adding to my enjoyable experience and how my creative mind seemed to flood with rhyming words and magical rhythms as soon as the caffeine hit kicked in. I later discovered that although this caffeine intake was great in the short term moment, it wasn’t so great for my long term mindset, sleep and general mood.
For me the instant buzz of caffeine raised my output to another level and my creativity and performance, albeit for a short period, was off the charts. However, with the highest of highs came the lowest of lows and I soon realised my body needed more and more caffeine to achieve the same hit. Well, this started worrying me and in all fairness, I just didn’t like it.
The negative effects of caffeine on me were too much to tolerate to keep on taking it. I experienced mood swings, adrenal fatigue, anxiety, heart palpitations, trembling hands, acne and mild paranoia. Caffeine was making me slightly psychotic, so I had to give it up.
It took me 26 years of drinking coffee everyday to then realise how much it was negatively affecting me – that’s a lot of coffee and a lot of money to Mr Starbucks.
Since 2015 I’ve been on a rollercoaster ride with caffeine – sometimes I would stay off it for many months and then try it again to see if my body could handle the effects any better. Nope . . . . . if anything, it was just getting worse.
So fast forward to today, 30 September 2022 and I am caffeine free once more. This time I not only cut out caffeine coffees, tea and soda drinks, I also removed foods containing caffeine, such as chocolate – damn it – such a shame on that one, as I really do love chococate but I just can’t take the cocoa content.
What can I say – I genuinely feel I’ve found me again. The real me without the stimulants and I’m starting to really feel great again. My mood is now balanced, calm and focussed all of the time. My energy levels are increasing everyday and I am improving greatly with my running. My sleep is undisturbed and peaceful every night. My creativity is back to where it should be, without the need for that caffeine fix. If I want a coffee or tea it’s got to be decaf/herbal and I never drink soda anymore, sparkling water is my thing now.
I have never found the process of cutting out caffeine easy. As a matter of fact, when I do start the detox process, my mood is low and irritable for about two weeks and the caffeine withdrawal headaches are 48 hours of intense throbbing craziness.
Will I ever go back to caffeine again? Not on your life! Caffeine just messes with the very essence of me and I don’t want that messiness in my life anymore.
The last few months I have also massively reduced my refined sugar intake and I think that has also helped me to get back to me.
How does caffeine affect you? If you rely on your caffeine fix every day to ‘perk you up’ and ‘stay on it’, maybe you want to have a closer look at that?
Quitting caffeine was EXTREMELY hard for me. I once heard this quote: “If you do what’s easy everyday, your life will be hard, but if you do what’s hard everyday, your life will be easy.”
In the longterm I want an easy life, so today I will do what’s hard.
By Clarabelle
Article written on 30 September 2022 Posted to Blog on 8 October 2022
“There must be more to life than this”, I said to myself, as my mind filled up with deep monotony and extreme dullness. I was 23 years young, had just lost my father to cancer after a 5 year struggle, was about 3 stone overweight and completely and utterley unfulfilled at work and life in general! I didn’t just have the “Monday Morning Blues”, I had the “Everyday Blues” at that time in my life. It got so bad, I didn’t even want to look at my reflection in the mirror because I was so afar from the person I wanted to become. Absolute true story. . . .phew!
Thank goodness, I took charge of my life and decided to change it for the better. The good thing is, I recognised at that time, nothing was going to change, unless I changed – so that’s what I did.
I joined the gym; started applying for new jobs, got a better job and a new boyfriend, all at the same time. I turned my boring, stagnant life into a much more happier one, in under 12 months.
You see, I’m really not the “settle for less” type of person – I can only do that for so long and then I begin to explode with passionate energy for something much more fulfilling.
I guess that’s just a natural part of me, who I am and what I really do love about myself. I am like the underdog who keeps coming back for more, getting stronger and more resilient everytime.
Oh how I wish I had joined the army when I was 18, which I really wanted to do, but I allowed the voices of others to decide that wasn’t a good option for me. No regrets and no blame – life is what it is and you can always make it better if you want to.
I encourage you to focus on the things in life that give you real energy and enthusiasm for each brand new day – this is why I write.
Bring more meaning, purpose and fulfillment into your life, in anyway you can and bit by bit move closer to the best version of you.
Most importantly, where you can, please help others along the way – your wisdom and experience can make a real difference in their life.
Take command of your heart, mind and soul and make a self-commitment to worry less and live more.
Thank you for being here.
Clarabelle, London, UK Created on 23 August 2022 Posted to Blog on 21 September 2022
Don’t let your environment dictate your bad habits – you need to think and do GREAT things for yourself.
The environment that you spend most of your time in can be a huge influence in your life and it might not be positive.
Think about daily habits that don’t serve you well and you can probably link them to being in a certain environment or around certain people. You may think you have control over your “doing” but I bet you, when you really think about it, you are most definitely picking up bad habits from others.
I am not saying here to put the “blame” on others – that’s one thing I am very opposed to but I am saying, you WILL be infuenced everyday – positively or negatively, whether you realise it or not.
I can totally vouch for myself here, especially during my Secondary School days when I went against the true essence of me and picked up some terrible bad habits from the age of 14. Thankfully, as I became more confident, especially from the age of 26, I started to change my bad habits into better ones that had a real positive influence on my life.
Below are some real examples of bad habits that I had which I then changed to positive ones:
I watched far too much junk TV, so I got rid of my TV, which in turn, gave me so much extra time, that I started this Clarabelle blog. Taking up writing, gives me so much fulfillment and the articles hopefully help others too. I have been doing this for over 10 years.
I also got “off the couch” every evening after work and took up running outdoors and going to the gym – this led me onto running four marathons and raising lots of money for charity along the way. I still run outdoors twice week and I love it! I have been running outdoors since 2007.
I moved to a different country – a few times – and this got me “out of a rut” and gave me so much self-belief and confidence. The moving to a different location, led me to start my Greeting Card Business, which is now progressing very well on Amazon & Etsy. I now live in London after living in Bonny Scotland for 40 years of my life. I am not frightened to move again – I actually enjoy the new challenge and adventure of being in a different place and starting from scratch.
I never want to settle with bad habits – I just don’t like it! I always want to strive for better and get the best out of life.
Think about your habits today – are they serving you well and getting you to where you want to go in life?
The habit of a habit, can move you up or pull you backwards – it’s for you to decide, which way you want to go.
Remember . . . . It’s Your Life – GO GET IT!
By Clarabelle, London, UK Created on 22 August 2022 Posted to Blog on 17 September 2022
Stagnation can be so very painful. Lack of growth and stimulation can make a person feel ‘dead’. Focus on staying alive and true to yourself. Be the person today, you want to become in the future. Grow into tomorrow by developing as much as you can today.
As soon as you stop learning and making a meaningful contribution in life, you don’t just STOP, you actually go backwards, because everyone else is moving forward.
Are you happy being at the back of the line?
What will entice you to move on up the line?
What greatness awaits you at the front?
What will you do TODAY in order to make that positive change in your life?
The world waits for no one and no one waits for you. You’ve got to get UP yourself and GET GOING.
This one is for YOU – the back of the line doesn’t suit you.
It’s Your Life – GO GET IT!
By Clarabelle, London, UK Created on 17 August 2022 Posted to Blog on 13 September 2022
I just love writing in this blog and I will never tire of it.
When I write, I write for you and for me. Often, I am talking to myself when I write a post. It usually starts off with something that’s going on in my life – good or bad and then this conjures up some words of wisdom and/or a real effort to turn around negative thinking, in order to brighten up my spirits or to cheer up someone else who needs to read these words.
You see, timing can be EVERYTHING – empowering, positive words and strategies might just pop into someone’s life, just when they need it. They might be pondering over a difficult decision or life changing matter and the blog post helps in some sort of way.
The forever aim of what I write IS to help, motivate, encourage, inspire, empower, teach, develop and share as much positive influence, inner wisdom and useful knowledge as possible.
I write about these things because that is who I am as a person and that comes most natural to me. I have so much energy and passion for this stuff – it takes my breath away!
So, no matter the barriers, difficulties and challenges that we all face in life – you can always ‘camp out’ in this Clarabelle Blog and hopefully find something that will help you move forward in life.
It’s Your Life – GO GET IT!
By Clarabelle, London, UK Created on 16 August 2022 Posted to Blog on 12 September 2022
There’s only one way forward when you’re reaching for your dreams and that’s to keep digging deep, day in and day out, in order to achieve what you want.
This digging process can seem real tiring at times, especially if progress is slow but you must keep going until you get there.
“There” might be just around the corner or very faraway but if you are really passionate about your goal in hand, the distance, near or far, shouldn’t put you off.
Remember why you started and remember the pain of staying stagnant or indeed, going backwards – that very thought absolutely terrifies me and always seems to help me regain any lost focus.
Stumbling blocks along the way can seem to spoil the journey a little bit but always be mindful of the purpose behind what you’re doing and the end result which will inevitably be yours.
You’ve got to believe that you will achieve this dream or goal, for without this self-belief, you could be building on shaky ground.
Eliminate all failure by never giving up on what you truly desire and find ways to stay energised and focussed on the goal in hand.
The more progress you make, the more confident you will become and the closer you will move towards your dream.
Stay disciplined, determined and committed to the end outcome – hold that vision so strong in your mind and never let it go.
The greatest reward will come from your everyday efforts being channeled in the right direction.
Don’t sway on the heavy days, stay light on your feet and put your mind and body into ‘drive’ mode.
Laser focus, tunnel vision or whatever you want to call it – just make sure you stay on track and see how your life positively changes before you.
Happy digging my friend!
It’s Your Life – GO GET IT!
By Clarabelle, London, UK Created on 16 August 2022 Posted to Blog on 11 September 2022
I was heading out for my usual outdoor run one day and my friend said to me, “It doesn’t bother you running outside?” I was like, “Why?”. She then explained to me, that she wouldn’t run outside because she would think everyone was looking at her. I shared with her, that gladly that thought didn’t ever come into my mind and even if it did, I would probably think, “Good, maybe I’ll inspire someone to run too!“
Do you see the EMPOWERMENT or DISEMPOWERMENT your mind can have over you?
I want you to THINK about your THINKING and if it serves you well or not.
Think POWERFUL thoughts that will build you up, not break you down.
Aim to be more SELF-CONFIDENT and less SELF-CONSCIOUS, it will help you to forge forward in life.
And lastly, if you want to run outside but are maybe thinking, “What if everyone is looking at me?” Change that thinking to, “WHAT IF I INSPIRE SOMEONE TO RUN TOO?”
The selfie photo below, is of me recently, just back from my evening run in Hyde Park, London.
Clarabelle loves to run!
I hope I have inspired you to run too!
Have a GREAT one, wonderful you.
By Clarabelle, London, UK Created on 10 August 2022 Posted to blog on 6 September 2022
Clarabelle 