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Set your goals - make the plans - artfully create your life - live it beautifully. Grab the good chocolate and find your muse.

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Home » self-improvement

Your Past is Not Your Future

August 15, 2019 Leave a Comment

Your Past is Not Your Future - Tips to Move on From a Bad Experience | ChocolateMusings.com #selfcare #journaling #moveon

Your Past is Not Your Future – My Tips to Move on From a Bad Experience

Your Past is Not Your Future – what does that mean? For me, it means to learn from experiences and better my life based on my reaction to those experiences. I know I can’t control the experiences in my life, but I can control how I react and how they affect me, here is my plan of action.

Have you ever had a job that you absolutely hated? Hated so profoundly that no other words to describe your feelings about the situation? It’s been 4 years since I left the worst job of my life, and it still affects me. Here’s what I’m doing to move on and get past it.

A Little About My Job from Hell:

First of all – I was on track to be fired.

I’m a hard worker, I like to do things right, and I’ve never received a negative review in my life. I enjoy succeeding and take pride in my work. (My current boss says I rank high on the “Give a Sh** Meter – meaning I care a lot about the job that I do). When I can see someone else is down, I try to bolster their spirits, and I try to be kind. I know I have flaws, too, but I genuinely try to do the job well and positively impact others.

But at the previous job, they didn’t like me, and it was apparent. In fact, during a review session, my manager and his minion told me that I was on track to get the boot.

They Said – and I Quote:

“You are smart, you are always on time, you’re responsible, you don’t make any trouble, people are drawn to you as a leader, but you are not a good fit.”

– Mike, the Manager from Hell

That was quite positively one of the most confusing conversations of my life. I worked hard to develop those qualities, but they weren’t desirable attributes for the job.

The job was inside sales, ask anyone (except for my manager), it was really just telemarketing. Cold phone calls all day, dialing, striving to find someone who would listen to our semi-scripted spiel about the services we provided. My statistics were in the dead middle of the group. I generated more ‘leads’ than some and less than others in our turnover-ridden department.

They don't control me... so I took my destiny back

I decided at that time that they weren’t going to determine when I left. So I took my destiny back and quit before they could fire me. I had no prospects (other than a part-time job where I’d worked before), and it was one of the lowest points in my life. I wish I could tell you that I have completely moved on from it, but I haven’t, so here is what I’m going to do.

Your Past is Not Your Future - 8 Tips to Move on From a Bad Experience | ChocolateMusings.com #selfcare #journaling #moveon

Decide

Decide whether you will let them control you or if you have control over your thoughts, your desires, your future. If you allow other people to limit what you can do, you will never break free of their chains. You have to be the one to decide what happens to you.

I received an adorable book when I was a kid called “You Are Special” the book detailed a little wooden character who got bad marks from others around him because they didn’t think he was good enough and it really affected his day-to-day life, always worrying about the fact that he tripped on a cobblestone or that he wasn’t good enough.

What’s more, he really started believing all the other people around him. Then he met someone who didn’t let any comments, positive or negative affect her. He had to decide to let other’s opinions mark him or not.

I want to be more like the character who didn’t permit any outside influence to affect her. That’s the goal – people will say what they are going to say, people will have their opinions, but it’s up to me to allow them to control my life.

Journal Prompt | ChocolateMusings.com #journalprompt #journaling

Journal Prompt: What is one experience you’ve had that haunts you? Which one do you want to let go?

Find Bits of Positivity

You know, come to think of it, the job wasn’t all bad. There were (a few) good people who worked there, and I met one of my good friends there. Even though the job was absolutely horrid overall, individual days weren’t.

I find that when I focus on the positive, I have more control over my feelings and my actions. When you focus on positive, energizing things, you have more room in your life to do the things you want to do.

Negativity tends to consume everything around it, and I know it tends to suck the life out of me like a growing black hole. But if I allow positivity to radiate like a lightbulb, the negativity runs away.

Journal Prompt | ChocolateMusings.com #journalprompt #journaling

Journal Prompt Idea: Make a list of all the good things (even the minute details) that came from your bad experience. Did it lead you to a new job or new love? Did it make you realize a truth about yourself? Often times a bad experience will lead us directly to a new path.

Look at the Details

If you’re having a hard time finding positive things, perhaps your vision is too broad at the moment. I know that sounds contrary to every piece of advice everyone says such as “broaden your horizons” or “look at the big picture.” But sometimes you need to zoom in and look at the details. Life isn’t as overwhelming when you focus in on the details.

Life Isn't as Overwhelming when you Focus on the Details | ChocolateMusings.com #quote #selfcare

When my older kids drive me crazy day in, and day out with their constant fighting (they are 8 and 10), it’s hard to see past it. But if I can focus individual moments, I’d realize that in between the squabbles they are playing with legos, together. Those two are creatively solving problems and building something collectively.

They are both strong-willed, and they don’t let someone else push them into doing something they don’t feel is right. I need to teach them to use that power to progress through life.

Write About It

I find that writing soothes my soul. Typing is one thing, but gripping a pen or pencil in my hand is an entirely different sensation. This is why I bullet journal in a physical notebook. There’s something to be said about feeling the pen glide across a sheet of paper, watching the ink flow and the words pour into words from scattered thoughts. I also know when I write things make more sense than they do in my head.

Writing lists and events, grouping items together often form a story, a theme, that I didn’t recognize before. From that comes a plan of action of what I want to do.

Stop Reliving It

Am I the only one who has ‘shower fights’ where I relive the past by winning an argument using finely crafted words that I edit over and over in my mind as I win the discussion with an imaginary person? Only me? Ok. Well, I need to stop reliving the past and move on.

Does it Line Up With YOUR Goals?

At the time of this job, I thought my world was ending. But in reality, the job didn’t line up for the goals I had for myself. So, indeed, it wasn’t a good fit. If they wanted a ‘yes woman’ and one who didn’t lead by example, well then that job was most certainly not for me.

Sidenote – later, one of my friends who still worked there told me that the manager regretted letting me walk out because there was another job in the department ideally suited for me. I can’t tell you how much joy that brought me.

Set Your Goals

I know when I’m wandering aimlessly without a goal in mind, I’m more susceptible to outside influences. For instance, I liked the money that I was earning from that terrible job, but in all honesty, the money wasn’t worth me trading my soul and happiness. But I didn’t have a goal to point me in the right direction. A goal will guide you home and will help you refocus and realize when to change a situation. Goals provide a course to follow.

Goals Provide a Course to Follow | ChocolateMusings.com #goals #quote

Create a Life List

I’m not talking about a bucket list of actions to do or sights to see throughout your life. I’m talking about a list of things you will do or not do in your life. Think of your life list as the governing set of rules for your life. For instance, I will not work in a place where I am a mindless drone. I will stand up for others for good. I will keep my family at the highest priority.

If you find that your current situation in life directly conflicts with your life list, then you need to consider changing what you’re doing.

Move On – Your Past is not Your Future

Above all, your past is not your future. The past is the past, and it’s not your future, so stop acting like it is. Decide what you want to do, set your goals, create your life so it focuses on your goal. Don’t let anyone (including your past) stop you.

My Past is Not My Future

So, what do you want to do?

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Filed Under: Blog, Find Your Happy, Journal Prompts & Ideas Tagged: find your happy, future, journal prompts, overcoming negative, self-care, self-improvement

Advice for Your Younger Self (That You Need to Take Now)

March 25, 2019 1 Comment

How These Three Products Gave Me Confidence and How they Can Help You Too | ChocolateMusings #journal #writingprompts #confidence

What advice would you give your younger self? I know you can’t go back in time, but maybe you can take that advice and live a bit better today.

Do you follow @GoodType on Instagram? If you’re a fan of fonts, it’s eye candy all day long. I can’t stay looking too long at their amazing feed because I don’t want to start comparing my beginning to their masterings.  Every week they put out a prompt, and their followers create their own interpretations for the weekly prompt. (Similar to the “perfection” prompt I did a while ago). Sometimes I contribute, and sometimes I come up blank so I admire other’s participation.

Advice For Your Younger Self

A prompt from a several months ago was “advice you’d give your younger self.” Now, I’m not a fan of living in the past. I personally strive to move on from the past. Whether I do move on is neither here nor there, but it’s something I strive to do (#goals right?). Nearly two years ago, I wrote a post on this same topic. I had no idea that I would come back later realize that I still need to take my own advice.

Listen to be better

When I first wrote my advice, it was to “be more patient with my kids” because regret never solves anything. I still agree. I can’t go back and change it, but I can move forward.

This time around, I decided to focus on my personal self-development. What advice would you give past self? What advice can you take now and move forward?

My Advice for my Younger Self: IGNORE THEM

Back in high school, I’d pack the whole day’s worth of books with me to every class in my backpack, so I didn’t have to go down the hall where my locker was so I could avoid the group of peers that sat near my locker. I literally quit singing because of them. I believed that I was stupid because of them. When someone smashed my ceramics piece before it made it into the kiln, I let them win because I didn’t rebuild it. (It was darn cute too! A polar bear mama & cub with an igloo.)

What would have I done had I ignored them?

No Matter Who

No matter who it is, peers, teachers, siblings, whoever makes your heart ache, don’t listen to them. Ignore what they say, you have wings.

Don’t clip your wings because they can’t fly.

I freehand drew this piece. It’s on black paper, and I grabbed a Sakura Gelly Roll pen and started drawing.

Now, I’m not saying that I’ll freehand every piece without measurements, but sometimes those whiny little voices in the back of my head that say “what if you fail” or “what if you mess up”? IGNORE THEM.

Ignore Them: Don't let their lack of wings keep you from flying - advice for my younger self

Why Does It Matter to You?

Why do you care about the advice I’m giving myself? Because you’ve probably been there too. Hesitated, because you worried about what others might think of you. Fretted that you weren’t good enough or even felt the fear of impostor syndrome.

Here’s the deal: if someone thinks or says something negative about you and what you’re doing to find your own happy state, they probably are too self-absorbed in their own plight to really care past the fleeting moment anyway. And the real question you need to ask yourself: Are you going to let them clip your wings?

No matter what advice you might give your past self, take the advice and move to a better you.

I don’t have to give my past-self advice. I can give it to myself now and move forward to a better me. And so can you.

Pushing Yourself Outside Your Comfort Zone

Whenever I sway outside my comfort zone, I always learn something new and beneficial. Whether it’s freehanding a doodle on an unforgiving black piece of paper or deciding to draw watercolor portraits, there’s always a benefit. So if you don’t succeed the first time or if you absolutely hate the project, look for the good. Find a snippet of something you learned. That’s what getting out of your comfort zone is all about, because next time, you’ll find another lesson.

Now, go fly!

Note: I originally found the prompt in the 300 Writing Prompts by Piccadilly, and decided to ask myself the same question every year.

question mark - chocolatemusings.com

What is the advice you’d give your younger self? And how will you take that advice now?

~Tricia

Journal Prompt: Advice for your younger self | ChocolateMusings.com #journal #journaling #confidence

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Filed Under: Blog, Find Your Happy, Journal Prompts & Ideas Tagged: accept yourself, Advice, advice for my younger self, ignore them!, overcome, self love, self-improvement

Ready for Take Off: Lessons Learned – January Monthly

January 11, 2018 3 Comments

Lessons Learned from Bullet Journaling

Every month I learn something new from bullet journaling. This month is no different. This month, one of the lessons learned from Bullet Journaling I’ve learned is that open boxes are fun. I did it in my January future log and continued the trend in my January Monthly Calendar. Not all boxes have to be perfect or closed off.

The background art took up more room than I wanted to give at first. But then the colors just seemed so beautiful I couldn’t let them go. So I didn’t fight it and just let things meet where they wanted to meet. I don’t get a lot done the last week of the month anyway right? But the more I look at it, the better I like it. Another lesson learned is that I need to leave room in my life for art and for the ‘things to do’.

(FYI I tried to find the inspiration picture for this spread so I could share it and now I cannot find it anywhere – I looked at it once briefly know how to draw the back of an airplane and I loved how the sunset looked with the clouds) Lesson here: save the picture to your Pinterest board, you so you can find it again.

Monthly Calendar Set up with theme - "Ready for Take Off" - lessons learned from bullet journaling + process video

Intentions Foiled – Ready for Take Off, Anyway

I fully intended to do a whole year’s worth of flowers and foliage and the like as my yearly theme is ‘grow’. However, the transportation theme just built on itself and each doodle became more and more fun (just wait until the mid-month habit check – I think that layout is my absolute favorite for the month). So what can I learn from this seeming mishap? I learned to just let inspiration take place. Crazy that I can learn from bullet journaling, but it seems to have a lot to teach me.

What has Bullet Journaling Taught Me This Month?

I guess you could say that Bullet Journaling has taught me how to compromise. Sometimes what I think is very important at first is actually not important after all. Am I making a big deal about something that truly doesn’t matter why not just be open to new ideas? Who knew a little-dotted notebook could hold such insight in its blank pages? Who knew it held life lessons that years of living have not been able to teach me yet?

I think that all this drawing and journaling and planning have gotten into my brain and tried to make me a better person. I’d better let it do its magic and learn how to compromise in real life. I think I’ll take a cue from my monthly theme and let the good things take off. It’s easier to let things come naturally and not force them. I learned that when creating this month’s group of spreads. Just allow the inspiration to come and learn from it.

Recap: Lessons Learned (just this month!) from Bullet Journaling

  • Open box design is fun
  • Leave room in my life for art AND for ‘things to do’
  • Intentions aren’t always what you need
  • Intentions don’t always give inspiration
  • Compromise – if something doesn’t work out the way you want it, don’t just say no at first. You might enjoy it.
  • Allow yourself to become a better person

Question:

What unexpected objects have inspired your life lessons? Let me know in the comments below!

Watch the process video below for how I painted/set up this page.

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Get Organized & Start Planning, Plan With Me, Plan With Me 2018, Planner Spreads Tagged: #BuJo, brush lettering, Bullet Journal, bullet journal spread, bullet journaling, creativity, hand drawing, hand drawn, January, January 2018, learning, lessons from bullet journaling, Lessons Learned, monthly, monthly calendar, monthly layout, monthly log, plan with me, self-improvement

November Mid-Month Habit and Mood Tracker Check

November 19, 2017 4 Comments

November Mid-Month Habit Check + Mood Tracker Update

When I sat down to start writing this post, I realized this is the monthly insight into my life. There are so many emotions tied to habits, so many excuses, so many passions. I can’t write about my habit tracker {and now added mood tracker} without being a little more personal. Of all the things I have in my bullet journal, my habits and my moods show the most insight into my life on a day-to-day basis.

So here is a monthly update on my Habit and Mood Trackers.

Half Circle Habit Tracker in my bullet journal - mid month checkup

November 2017 – Mid-Month Summary

Whew! This month has been – well – different. There were some major things happening at work that made the rest of my life feel like it was spinning out of control. I couldn’t separate my personal life from my work life. It’s not that I didn’t want to or didn’t try. I could not separate them. My friend from work (who got me my job) moved to another company. My employer was very unhappy with this. Alright – I could have gotten around this and helped everyone make peace with it if needed. But we were in the middle of a loan for my friend. There were confusion and so many emotions swirling and information that none of us knew what was true (I am a home loan processor by day, by night I blog, but I am superwoman all day).

I tried to remove myself from the situation, I even banned both parties from speaking further about each other and would not participate if I didn’t agree with a conversation. But being in the middle of the loan where I had to know details so I could do my job made things even more complicated. Every conversation, innocent in intent, kept stirring up more and more. And I couldn’t get away. It was as though dark swirling clouds circled my head.

How All This Affected Me

The stress was taking a toll on my body. The muscles in my back were tight, I had to remember to unclench my jaw regularly and my stomach was so upset for about a week. That coupled with my husband having a cold for two weeks straight and the coughing that kept me up just as I would drift off to sleep wreaked havoc on everything I tried to do this month to improve myself. Thank goodness I tried to get ahead the beginning of the month because, by the middle of the month, I was struggling in more than one way.

In Control or Out of Control

There were many things out of my control – but I used those things to negatively affect my goals and daily life outside of work, which made my life feel even more chaotic. So for the rest of this month, I am going to make an effort to go to bed earlier, wake up earlier and check off my goals before the rest of my family wakes up. When things are out of control in your life, taking command of the things that you can control makes all the difference in having a bad day vs. a good day and a bad month vs. a good month.

New This Month

I created a mood tracker this month – my first. I saw what other people were doing, and knew that I couldn’t group my days into one mood. Both designs are very functional – I am not the biggest fan of the overall look as it is very utilitarian, but like most utilitarian designs, it gets the job done. The more yellow, green, or purple, the better in this case. This month there are a lot more ‘frustrated’ and ‘anxious’ times than I expected.

I classify the moods/sleep by these categories:

Mood:

  • Sad
  • Content
  • Happy
  • Productive
  • Frustrated
  • Angry
  • Excited
  • Blah
  • Anxious

For Sleep:

  • Refreshing
  • Good
  • Restless
  • Bad Night
Half Circle Mood Tracker with sections of the day in my bullet journal - mid month check-up

Design Assessment vs. Functionality

I would like to make a ‘pretty’ mood tracker that is aesthetically pleasing (like the mandalas or feathers or the endless myriad of designs I’ve seen) and still include the times of day to help me see where the problem lies. If I like it by the end of the month, I will figure out a way to make it pretty and functional. The times of day are broken into chunks (you can see it if you scroll down on the graphic):

  • Before – before work, getting kids ready for school (on weekends, I consider this to just be morning vs afternoon)
  • Work – which I blocked off during the weekends
  • After – afternoons when I get off work and the kids are home from school
  • Dinner – often a time of angst because of picky eaters
  • After – after dinner as the kids are going to bed and the time that my husband and I have together afterward
  • Sleep – track how well I slept

For the most part, I feel like this has provided great information into my days, so I think I will keep it! I will be thinking of different ideas to make it prettier for the future. I thought of using this general layout and turning it into angel wings, I would like to do flowers or I saw a hot air balloon idea that may work but  I will keep the segmented times of the day.

My habits – well they suffered this month as well. I finally read The Miracle Morning and loved it. It is very motivational I started getting up early and enjoying morning yoga and reading. I would get so much done in that short hour, and many of my habits would be checked off in the morning. I discovered that if I am going to do this, I need to go to bed earlier.

If you are curious – these are the habits I track

  • Study – usually scriptures
  • Kid Time – time where I put my phone down and play with my kids, we go to a park, play outside, watch a movie together
  • Exercise – I count yoga in the morning as exercise, a walk, etc
  • Journal – Writing in my journal, even if it is a one-liner or one word in my gratitude log
  • Kind words – speaking kindly to everyone around me and not losing my temper
  • Words – it’s my swear jar in reverse – I fill in a square if I don’t swear all day. Last month I had just 5 days where one of those pesky words slipped out but I’ve already passed up that quantity this month.
  • Healthy Choice – consciously choosing to eat healthily vs. not. Taking a side of veggies instead of seconds of pasta etc – this one will be more developed in the future, but I included it so I could become aware of it before fully developing what I wanted to do.
  • Dishes – do the *&%$ dishes
  • Straighten – choose a room and straighten it
  • Clean a room – vacuum, dust, wipe down, clean it.
  • No Spend – frivolous spending, eating out, extra spending (I don’t count grocery shopping or getting gas)
  • IG – Instagram – keeping up with my challenge!
  • Show Me Your Letters – Hosted by the Happy Ever After Crafter – a great place to start if you want to start modern calligraphy (I will be doing a post later with my favorite lettering resources)
  • Prayers – I will probably separate this into AM & PM later
  • Laundry – ugh this task and dishes are never-ending. Only checked off if I have completed one full load – not just put it in the washer or taken out of the dryer but put away. 

I put habits on my tracker to assess how I am doing before making loads (haha I’m punny) of changes.

Other things I’ve done this month

I read a new book this month on habits. Read is a relative term, I listened to it. But hey! According to “things I am going to do” I wanted to read/listen to more books. I have consumed two books already this month – Better Than Before & The Miracle Morning. Thank you library. I will do a book review of these books later – spoiler: I liked both.

Habits and Moods mirror each other & provide daily insight, half-circled mirrored bullet journal layout, Habit and Mood Tracker

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully.

~Tricia

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Habits, Planner Spreads, Trackers Tagged: #BuJo, books, brush lettering, Bullet Journal, bullet journal spread, Circle, circles, collection, habit tracker, Inspire, leuchtturm1917, mood tracker, November, November 2017, page layout, plan with me, self-improvement, trackers

The Beautiful Why of Planning

November 7, 2017 2 Comments

Plan Your Life So You Live Beautifully – The Why of Planning

Someone very near to me (who will remain unidentified) questioned why I plan. They didn’t see a point to practicing my handwriting and my lettering. They suggested that I get my priorities in order. Um… Isn’t that what I am doing when I am planning? This conversation devastated me, and probably took a month or longer to shake off. It was with someone who I expected to back me up and to understand me – no matter if they understood what I was doing. Their suggestion stated that they did neither.

I don’t know what they were meaning when they told me that I should get my priorities in order. I took it to mean that they thought I was wasting my time. But the thing is…I have so many big plans and so many ideas! Tired of sitting, doing nothing but I had no purpose. It wasn’t until I started planning that I felt like I had a purpose to my life. Before I started planning, I was wandering blindly through life, not enjoying anything. To be completely honest, I was miserable and I made everyone else around me miserable too.

I realize a lot of people out there who might not understand what I do or why I do it.

I came up with a list of reasons why I plan:

  • I plan so we, as a family, know what we need to do.
  • So we don’t miss an appointment.
  • Personally, I plan so I can have more time to carry out what I want to do.
  • I plan so I can get my errands done in record time so we can do other fun things like go to the park, go on walks, so we can play outside, or watch a movie as a family.
  • I plan so we have more quality time together.
  • I plan so I can live better.
  • I plan so I don’t spend as much money on eating out.
  • I plan to save money.
  • I plan because I like feeling accomplished.
  • I like to set goals.
  • I like to see how far I’ve come.
  • I plan because it helps balances me emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

I plan so I can live more beautifully.

This has become my planning/life mantra when I came up with it a couple of months ago. You may have noticed in earlier blog posts. Now you know why.

The beautiful why of planning | Reasons why I plan. Plan your life so you live beautifully.

There are lots of different ways to plan.

There are many planning systems to use: hardbound, traveler’s notebooks, spiral bound, pre-dated, disc bound etc. Styles of planning are endless – minimal, art journaling, weekly, monthly, daily and a mix of these. Add accessories such as stickers, washi tape, doodling hand-lettering, or stamps. None of these options is wrong if it works for you. I like the bullet journal because I can change it to suit my needs. One week I may need a very clean, minimal layout, the next, I may need to immerse myself in a full-color water-painted page with pretty lettering and motivational quotes. Creating is part of my ‘why’ for planning and I like a variety.

Re-discovered Talent and Passion

I used to paint and draw every day. Then life happened to me and I forgot. I literally forgot that I liked to draw and paint for 12 years. When I started keeping a bullet journal as a planner, the pages were open for my interpretation. I started doodling again. Then I started drawing again. Shortly after, I found a paintbrush and I tried something new for me – water coloring. I had never attempted to watercolor before. What was this magic I had missed? Not long after this, I started seeing this concept of hand-lettering words and phrases that looked like calligraphy.

I practiced calligraphy a long time ago, but this looked different to me. I started trying to make the thin and thick lines that were so clear in this newfound version of calligraphy. And quickly fell in love with it.

Personal Changes Accompanying the Filled Pages

As I filled up the pages of a dotted notebook, I realized that I was changing too. I had passion in my life and I loved more deeply, not just journal-related things, but the people in my life as well. I found that I wanted to improve – as a person. Setting goals became a regular thing in my life; I haven’t liked to set goals before I started planning and keeping a journal. I do now and I enjoy it. Seeing the improvement is addictive.

What’s more, is I have started to accept myself as a person. I have started to see my worth.

This change is the most significant change I have seen in my life. Ever. Because there were times that I questioned if I belonged anywhere.

So to the anonymous person that questioned me and told me to get my priorities in order. I am. I am more than you know. This little book has brought me from the lowest of lows in my life to a place where I enjoy living again.

So friends, ask yourself why do you plan? And be honest with your answers. Certainly, you’ll discover some real gems in your life.

I plan so I can live more beautifully.

I hope you live your life so you can live more beautifully as well.

~ Tricia

Read: Give your Goals & Plans a Defined Timeline or View my November 2017 set up

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Find Your Happy, Get Creative, Get Organized & Start Planning, Start Planning Here Tagged: beautiful, Bullet Journal, bullet journaling, creativity, Inspire, leuchtturm1917, motivation, planning, self-improvement, why of planning

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About Me


Hi! I'm Tricia, the creative behind ChocolateMusings.com, I know how it feels to lose your inner muse. After years of darkness (which I call the dark ages of my life), I found my inner muse hiding in the forgotten corners of my soul, I vowed never to lose sight of her again.

Bullet journaling helped reignite the passion for art and living life again while organizing my days. I also discovered modern calligraphy and watercolor. Since then, my use of the bullet journal system has evlolved and I call it 'creative planning'. Here on the blog, I show you how to use your planner to ignite your inner muse and explore creativity and art while staying beautifully organized and living a joyful life.

I invite you to grab some good chocolate and dive into my musings. Let’s ignite your inner muse.

Read more on the about me page. You can also find my policies and disclosures here.

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