Project Girl 2 Woman

How do Successful Women set Goals – Revealed

University teaches us how to set SMART Goals. Fairly sure 99% of you have heard about that method. Goals should be: 

 

specific
M measurable
A attainable
R realistic
T time-based

 

But how do successful people actually set goals? We’ll take a look: 

Sara Blakely - Visualization

Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx swears by this method. When she was still selling fax machines, she envisioned herself being self-employed, selling a product to a lot of people and creating a business, which would fund itself even when she was not around. She said, you have to imagine every little detail. 

 

In Her Book Self-Intelligence Jane Ransom Describes A Visualization Experiment:

Conducted in 1989 in this experiment college students were divided into three teams

  • The students got tested on their dart-throwing abilities before and after an eight-week study. The first group, the control group, didn’t practice and didn’t visualize throwing darts. Their throwing abilities did not improve. 
  • The second group physically practiced daily for 8 weeks. 
  • And the third group altered between physically and mentally (visualization) practicing throwing darts. The third group improved the most!

“When you visualize you have to imagine all the body sensations”, Jane Ransom suggests. I found 2 simple visualization exercises:

1.1. Create a vision board.

A vision board does just what it says. It displays what you want and what your dreams are. Typically, it is a poster, or a cork board and you stick pictures and sentences of your dreams onto the board. Every time you look at it you get reminded of where you want to be.

1.2. Try this simple visualization technique

  1. Find a place where you are comfortable, and you can relax.
  2. Decide where you want to be or what you want to practice. 
  3. Set the scene. Where are you? Who is there? What does the place look like? What are you doing? What are you feeling? Which sensations do you feel? What do you hear? What do you smell? Imagine the scene as vividly as possible.
  4. Now practice the action you want to perform.
  5. Imagine how you succeed in the action and how it makes you feel. Proud? Delighted? Happy?

Oprah - Manifestation & Skill Up

Oprah believes in Manifestation. Here  is how it works:

1. You have to want something. 

2. You have to imagine how your life is like when you have it. 

3. You have to believe it’ll happen. 

4. Then let it go and move in the direction of working toward it. 

 

Skill Up 

She recommends to become so amazing at something that your talent and skill can’t be dismissed and do not compare yourself to others. Here is a post on how to achieve your goals on Oprah.com.
How Successful Women Set Goals Cover Picture with laptop and hands in the background
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Kylie jenner - Do Something You Love

Do something you love and that you are passionate about so you’ll have something that makes you happy every day. 


Carreergirldaily did a great job on showing, which business tricks we can learn from Kylie Jenner

Set Your Goals Today -With the Digital Goal Planning Workbook!

Candice Oneida - Dream Big

Instead of setting goals you should set dreams, Kaeina Cave recommends. The 22-year old girl already has a minor planet named after her after developing a method for finding nano toxins that form in seawater after oil spills. If people don’t laugh at your dreams, they aren’t big enough. 

Heidi Grant Halvorso - Decide when and where you will take action

Heidi Grant Halvorson, author of Nine Things Successful People Do Differently recommends that you know exactly when and where you take action. Your brain will be prepared to take action. Plan and schedule your action

steps. According to studies it increases your chances of success by up to 300%.

Lisa Nichols - Chunk Big Goals into Smaller Goals

Lisa Nichols cuts down big goals into smaller 90-day goals. You should be able to measure your actions, goals and milestones. 

Write Your Goals Down

 

A study by psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews confirms the assumption that writing goals down makes them more achievable. She did a study on 267 people. She separated them into 5 groups and each group had to think about their goals. People who wrote down their goals were more likely to achieve them. People from group 5, which had a whooping 76% success rate wrote down their goals, created actionable steps, held themselves accountable through friends and created a weekly progress report.

 

Write down your goal along with us daily. Post it down in the comments if you want or message us we will ask you in a few days if you are still on track!  Or share it with us on Pinterest. Create an action plan for your next 10 steps and create a progress report, which you will share with a friend or family member.  (PS.: Don’t share it with a negative person. Instead, look for a supportive friend) 

What else to Read:

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How to build a new habit during Quarantine

Did you know that 40 % of our actions are based on habits?­1 That’s almost half the actions we take all day! Out of 1 hour, we are 30 minutes on autopilot. Our whole life basically depends on habits. So instead of wasting time you can learn a new habit during Quarantine and it’ll have a major impact on your life. 

Let’s find out how we can build a good habit. Apparently, we aren’t the only ones who try to implement new habits. Quora shows 1.1K people follow the question “how do you build a new habit”. 

What is a habit?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a

habit is “something that you do often and regularly, sometimes without knowing that you are doing it”.
Thankfully, we have good and bad habits. Our brain uses habits to save energy.

 

A study conducted in the 1990s by MIT shows the brain activity of rats before and after habit building. The
experiment was  mentioned in the book “The power of habit” by Charles Duhigg. After a clicking noise a door opened to a maze. The rats had to find their way through 2 sections for a piece of chocolate. At
first their brain was on full activity, but after a week their brain activity calmed down during the task.

“We first Make our habits , and then our habits make us” – Frederick Langbridge

How Do Habits Form

In His Book The Power Of Habit Duhigg Explains That Habits Are Formed In A Three-Step Habit Loop:

 

The Cue                        

A cue is a trigger that tells the brain, it is time to start action loop XYZ.

For example, it is nighttime you go to the bathroom and see your toothbrush. Your brain knows it is time to start brushing. (Hopefully)

 

The Routine                

Next comes the routine, which is the action or the behavior following the cue.

In the case of the toothbrush example. Now you would take your toothbrush apply toothpaste and brush away.

 

The  Reward                 

 Last comes the reward. It’s how your brain remembers the task as beneficial.

 Maybe your brain connects brushing teeth with your mum’s praise as a kid. Or you like the clean feeling afterward. 

Why to start a new habit during Quarantine?

I think the Covid-19 Pandemic, despite all its negative and dreadful consequences,  is a great chance for us to start new habits. Instead of seeing  quarantine as a “waste of time”, and feeling lonely we have time to start something new.                                                                                                 

How long does it take to implement a new habit

Learning and forming a new habit can actually take anywhere between 15 to 254 days!

Why is it so difficult to implement a new habit?

Let’s be honest, we all know how to build a new habit. We all have done it before. It is just so difficult at times to have the discipline to stick with it. When I looked for how to implement a new habit I found Malcolm Scovil’s Quora answer, which explains really well why it is so difficult to implement a new habit. 

Methods that make starting a new habit during Quarantine Easier:

1. Figure out your cue and routine

Imagine your habit. For me that would be for example “borrowing” slippers. Every time I see slippers in our house lying around, I just slip into them and wear them. To the great annoyance of my mum and sister.  Let’s say your mum has gone so far as to leave slippers for you in the hallway, but you still “borrow” hers. She gets angry and you promise it won’t happen again, but the next day your feet are cold, there are her slippers… zack.

     My cue are cold feet and slippers. If you know your cue you can change the action. Try to figure out your cues and create new habits. I always put on wool socks, when my feet get cold.

2. The 2 Day Rule

I first heard about the 2-Day Rule from my twitter feet. Meraki Beans wrote a blogpost on it. Please check it out it is really interesting.

 

According to the 2 Day rule, don’t, under any circumstances break a new habit 2 days in a row. You can break the habit once, but never twice or you will have to start from the beginning again. The 2-day rule gives you some lenience, so you don’t have to beat yourself up over missing a habit once.  With a strict one day rule you might get discouraged.

3. Track your New Habits (Free Habit Tracker)

Checking a box each day can feel really satisfying! You will feel super proud, when you see the progress you’ve made. Check out our free Habit Tracker Printable and track your progress. 

4. Only start one habit at a time

 I tried implementing a number of new habits all at the same time at first.  It was just overwhelming. After a few days I gave all of them up. These days I try to just implement 1 habit. Pick the one little habit that will impact your life the most and work on that. Btw. we are doing a #30DayHabitChallenge on twitter. Share your progress pics or your tracker to stay accountable 😊.

5. Start a New Habit During Quarantine with Small Changes

Our brain resists change but the smaller the change the less likely is that our brain will try to resist.

6. Share the habit you want to learn

Share your habits with a friend or make new habits a joined effort. When you make it a challenge between you and a friend you stay motivated. For example, make weekly gym appointments.

7. Post its

After work I always forgot to press the button that re-directed my calls from my company phone to my mobile phone. Sticking a post-it note on my computer screen changed that. Post its are a useful tool against forgetting.

8. Use Routines

Routines are a sequence of habits. Use your existing routines to implement a new habit. E.g.: While brushing your teeth squat. 

– Here is a Productive Summer Routine

Morning Routines of Successful Women

– A Self-Care Routine to Destress 

– A Night Routine for Self-Care

2 Tiny habits that positively changed my life:

If you want to learn even more about small habits that can change your life read this post. 

Getting up early

                    

I was always sleeping in when I was a teenager till 10 or 11 a.m., but after I started work I always got up at 6 a.m., and these days since the start of my morning routine I joined the 5 a.m. club. I get so much more done now and my days are much more productive. 

 

Sleeping 8 hours a day

When I don’t sleep at least 8 hours a day I just don’t work well. I can go with 5 or 6 hours of sleep for one or two days, but after that, I end up totally drained. At first, I used caffeine to stay awake, but lately, I always try to sleep my 8 hours.

If you want to learn even more about habits, I’d recommend the book Atomic Habits – by James Clear. 

> Not sponsored it’s just that good. 

Wrapping it up and Resources:

 

I hope you can use some of the tips to form a new habit.

Society for Personality and Social Psychology. “How we form habits, change existing ones.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 August 2014.

 

So that’s it for today. We update every Wednesday and every Saturday. So it would be great to see you again. Also for updates follow us on:

Posts To Help You Pull Through When you Feel like Giving up:

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9+ Great Creepy Halloween activities for adults

This year finally feels a little more “normal”. Maybe we just got used to all the crazy. In any case let’s celebrate Halloween this year properly! We can make it a special day, even if we decide to spend it at home. Let’s check out these Creepy Halloween Activities for Adults:

Today I’ve prepared 10 Creepy Halloween Ideas for You! 

Note: The ideas are for adults.

Summary of Halloween Ideas:

  • Create a Horror House
  • Eating Sweets
  • Listening to real horror stories
  • Watching video material of scary encounters
  • Watching horror movies and series
  • Playing Horror Games
  • Listening to creepy songs.
  • No lights allowed!
  • Visit a Corn Maze
  • Visit the Woods

Create a Horror House

I love horror houses in fairs and amusement parks. Why not create your own horror home to get some haunted house vibes? (You might invite some friends and scare them). Ghosts, pumpkins, fake blood, candles, skulls, spider webs

Listen to real horror stories to Get Scared

Now, that one will really spook you out! What is creepier than real stories about the paranormal or encounters with abnormal behaving humans? I would definitely recommend you to listen to Corpse Husband (on Youtube)! Not only are the stories unbelievable scary but also his voice is incredibly sexy! 

I might have to warn you in advance: You might be too scared to sleep with unlocked doors after listening. Just a slight warning, nothing that keeps you from checking it out right? 😉 You might also ask your parents for stories. 

Watch video material of scary encounters

Not into listening but more into actual footage? Youtube is filled with creepy clips and brave filmmakers to unravel the yet unknown afterlife. Even though some actually play more with the video editing than with ghosts: it is definitely worth watching during this spooky season!

My current top favorites are CJ Faison and OmarGoshTV. Those two Youtube channels are more for the patient watcher, who wants to jump alongside any activity that happens. On the other hand, if you are more on the inpatient side: Collected Ghost encounters

Watch horror movies and series

This point can’t miss on any list of creepy Halloween activities for adults. We all love a good movie marathon during Halloween. I’ve heard that “the haunting of bly manor” is a really good series and my go-to for this year’s event. It would be amazing if you could leave us a comment about your favorite horror movies! I am always open for great movies ^_^

Playing Horror Games

If that isn’t the next level I don’t know what it is. What is scarier than actually interacting with those scary creatures? One of the best games of all time (in my view) is Outlast. I also recommend you try Phasmophobia. Currently very popular, Phasmophobia is a multiplayer game where you go with 3 more friends ghost hunting. It doesn’t look that scary at the beginning, but once you are in – there is no way out.

Listen to creepy Music

Let’s make it a bit more scary, ladies and gentlemen. Grab your earphones and choose a Halloween sound for your home. I’ve added a couple of examples from youtube, feel free to check them out!  [ 1 | 2 | ]. Playing creepy music naturally makes you more cautious about your surroundings. I would dare say almost paranoid. They definitely cause you to take an extra look over your shoulder. Wait! Did the door just open on its own? 

No lights allowed!

Now let’s come to another point that definitely makes a change! No lights allowed for the rest of the night! Would you dare to only use a flashlight for whatever you do tonight? Especially if you also have the creepy songs in your mind? It freaks me out just thinking about it. Using a flashlight decreases our  field of view and lets you wonder what is hiding in the dark. This to be said, only using a flashlight for sure can give you a faster heartbeat, 

Visit a Corn Maze

Did this with my sister last year and it was awesome. Serial killers tried to drag me into the corn for who knows what… We had to solve puzzles and it was pitch dark with only our phone lights. I know it was fake but once someone grabs you by the hair in the dark it gets scary really fast. 

Go into the Woods with your friends

Woods + Dark + Halloween. What more do I have to say? It’s uncomfortable during the brightest of nights. Want to do something really creepy? Go with your friends on a nightly hike. Bring enough light. You wouldn’t want to twist your ankle in the night. 

Wrapping Up ...

Hope you enjoyed our Creepy Halloween Ideas for Adults. Some points are less creepy if you actually have people living with you or loud people living next to you. Just for that, I might have a good solution. Invite them to join (it’s more fun!) 

Now here are some creepy things you can do together: 

  • Hide and Seek in the Dark 
  • Using an Ouija board, EMF meter, or the spirit box. (Those items can bring harm use with caution.)
  •  Lay your own tarot cards. 

Need Decoration and Recipe Ideas?

If you need some decoration and recipe Ideas for Halloween check out our post on fun Halloween Activities at Home, where we share decoration ideas, drink and food recipes, and much more

 

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Love from Germany,

Carina and Julia

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