November is the last month of autumn, but the beginning of a new adventure; time to take risks and do the unexpected!
Are you ready for sweater weather? September has arrived!
How Your Circle Affects Your Happiness
Did you know your circle of friends can play a powerful role in your happiness? I like to say we are a reflection of who we surround ourselves with. So, if you’re looking to live a positive, happy life, you’ll want to surround yourself with positive people.
Studies have shown that our friends can influence us more than our family. This controversial finding shows just how important friendship can be. However, how they influence you will depend on what type of friends you have.
If, for example, you find that your circle of friends leaves you feeling stressed or like you’re not good enough, you may need to change them! Negative friendships can be really damaging to your health and happiness. Positive friendships, on the other hand, can motivate you, make you happier and even potentially help you live longer according to some studies. Living longer with great friends equals more girl talk and wine – who doesn’t want that?
When you spend time with like-minded people, it can have numerous benefits on your health and wellbeing.
They can make you happier than money can, truly. This means, even if you struggle financially, you’ll have your friends to help pick you up. Which is great for your mental health in the long term. Spending time with positive friends helps to ease anxiety and reduce depression.
They will even help you to improve yourself as a person. Positive friends build you up and give you the motivation to become a better person.
Easier said than done, I know, but now you know how your friendships can impact your happiness. Could it be time to change your circle? If you find yourself feeling drained, stressed or unhappy after spending time with your friends then the answer is definitely yes.
You need to surround yourself with positive, happy friends. You should never feel guilty for cutting people out of your life who don’t make you happy. You only get one life to live, so why waste it with friends who make you unhappy? There are so many ways to meet new friends these days – so start by searching for those who share the same interests.
Overall, your circle of friends definitely does have an impact on your happiness. So, if yours aren’t helping you to be a happier, more confident person, now’s the time to find those who will.
Join us in our Facebook group, The Virtual Studio Workshop, and introduce yourself! Meet new, like-minded women, create new friendships and surround yourself with positivity and support!
Michelle Phan
A decade after posting her first video on YouTube, Michelle Phan’s name is synonymous for influencer-turned-entrepreneur. I am super thrilled to add her to my Inspiring Greatness: Women who are changing the world! collection.
She is truly a woman that inspires greatness! She launched the beauty subscription company Ipsy at the age of 24! In June of this year, Michelle transformed her Youtube channel from the make tutorials it was known for to 24/7 Magic Hour Radio. Below read a snippet on how she speaks about her motivation to follow her passion and create a life her mom would be proud of.
I uploaded my first video in 2007. Social media wasn’t even called social media yet. It was a place where people would just go online and congregate and share ideas and videos and content. YouTube was just my creative outlet. I didn’t have sponsorship money, I didn’t have people giving me free products. I had to go out and buy my own makeup products.
I was very motivated at a young age to find a better life, for my mom’s sake. She wanted me to be a doctor, but I didn’t see myself in that future. I promised her that I would take care of her but I would still pursue what I loved.
Then I got this really amazing offer from a big beauty brand. When they told me how much money I was going to be making, it was so big – as much as a doctor would have made. The first person I wanted to tell was my mother. She’s the reason I work so hard, and she inspires me so much. I said, “What are you doing?” She said, “oh, I’m still at work, I’m doing someone’s pedicure.” I told her that it would be the last time she would ever have to do anyone’s pedicure and she won’t have to work the next day because I would take care of her. We both started crying It was a moment that I’ll never forget. I want more people to have moments like that.
To read about more amazing and inspirational women, head over to the Inspiring Greatness archives!
I would love to hear from you, who inspires you? Who do you feel is a woman who is changing our world? Let me know in the comments below or on the Studio’s Workshop Community.
Cindy Sherman is the first woman to break $1 million in a photography sale. She studied painting before she became a photographer and is known for her conceptual and chameleon-like self-portraits.
Below read a snippet on how she speaks on her budding career as a female artist in Time Magazine’s FIRSTS Women Who Are Changing The World.
I never felt pigeonholed as a child in terms of my potential. But I did feel that I’d probably be expected to settle down and get married and have kids at some point. I definitely remember from all the old movies and TV shows from the time, like The Donna Reed Show and Leave It to Beaver, all these women that were portrayed as these perfect moms. I never really saw myself as that. I never imagined myself getting married, I never imagined myself in a bridal gown, and I really never imagined myself having kids – and I never did.
In an issue of LIFE magazine, I saw Lynda Benglis as a young artist throwing paint on her floor. I don’t know how old she was then. I was probably in high school, but it was the first time it dawned on me that a woman could be an artist.
When my career got started in the ’70s, I did feel like I was being taken seriously. I didn’t really notice any kind of difference between men and women artists until I would say the early ’80s, when specific men started to become very successful. Even though I was critically successful, it was definitely a big distinction between what their work sold for and what my work sold for.
As I evolved in the ’70s, I think I took for granted what the first wave of feminist artists had to go through. I never felt like an activist because I didn’t experience that kind of fighting., It’s not like I would say I’m not a feminist, I just couldn’t quite identify with those women. Of course we’re all feminists, right? We all want women to be seen as equals. I am shy and not a person who can debate and take on critical political talk. But at the same issues definitely piss me off and show up in my work, and I definitely have always used my work as a forum to address a lot of things that I can’t say, that I can’t articulate.
Cindy Sherman, American photographer and film director.
Tell me, who inspires you? Share below in the comment section or join the conversation in the Facebook group.
We have all heard the saying “don’t sweat the small stuff.” right? I am sure you know that getting stressed over the little things is a significant way to bring unnecessary grief into your life. It’s believed that we can avoid a lot of negative feelings, and even health problems, simply by learning not to let the little things get to us.
I truly believe it so, here are a few things that I try, and I do mean try, to do and hope they also help you not sweat the small stuff!
When something small happens that makes you want to get angry, compare the moment’s significance to everything else going on in your own life, and in the world around you. You may have spilled your cake batter on the floor an hour before your guests are due to arrive, but… Are your friends still going to love you and enjoy the evening even if you don’t have a freshly baked cake for them? Probably, so clean up that mess and put your energy somewhere other than berating yourself for this small mistake.
When something threatens to destroy your positive outlook, remember that everyone makes mistakes. Whether it is yourself or someone else who caused the situation that right now, feels like a train wreck, keep in mind that mistakes are a normal part of life and they happen to everyone. Don’t let one bad moment take you by surprise.
It can be hard to forgive someone else when it feels like they have brought you extra work and stress. If someone rear-ends your vehicle or swings their car door open far enough to bang into yours, you may be tempted to lash out at them verbally. However, stop and think about how it would feel if the roles were reversed. I am pretty sure these types of things are not done on purpose, so don’t act and feel as though you have never made a mistake. React with kindness and choose empathy.
Forgiving others, for the most part, is easy. Forgiving ourselves – not so much. There are many moments that we treat ourselves worse than we would ever allow a friend, client or even a stranger to treat us.
When you are having a difficult time forgiving yourself, think of how you would handle a similar mistake made by a team member friend. Stop and think before bullying yourself, and consider seeking professional help if you can’t stop a cascade of negative thoughts every time you fall short of perfection.
A perfect example would be when a team member falls ill, do you tell them to stay home, rest and get better? I am sure you do! Then why do you push yourself to work when you fall ill? If you are anything like me, you would power through and rest after work is done for the day. It wasn’t until after I started seeing a counselor that I realized that I was not able to treat myself with kindness and forgive myself for the littlest of things.
We all have problems, and usually, at that moment, any problem seems big. Perception is not always the truth, though, and it is up to us to put our situation into perspective so that we can adequately deal with whatever comes our way.
When something negative happens in your life, ask yourself if it will matter in ten years. If it won’t, let it go. Heck, I sometimes ask if I will even remember in 10 days! So, if someone gives you the middle finger in traffic, don’t lose your cool, it’s just not worth it. Save your emotions for things that are life-changing and deserve your full attention. Laugh it off and move on.
I guess, in short, when something goes wrong, you have two choices. You can slip into a range of emotions, or let it go. Making the choice not to sweat the small stuff will bring you life-changing happiness, and you will be thankful for your own shift in perspective.
Now, I’d love to hear from you. What are some of the things that you practice and suggest for others to do, to help not sweat the small stuff?
