8 Things I Learned This Summer + Giveaway

Summer is coming to an end and I couldn’t be happier about it! I’m SO looking forward to cooler weather, layers of clothing, fall candles and making my favorite chili recipe. I’m really hoping the weather will cooperate more this year compared to last year so I’m crossing my fingers!

For me, this past summer was a time to slow down and hit the pause button.

I spent a lot of my time resting, relaxing, doing a lot of self-reflection and reevaluating my life and the direction I’m heading.

Although I planned to have the most productive summer by doing a lot, quite the opposite happened. I’ve found that during my time of rest and self-care, I was actually being productive even though it didn’t feel like it.

As we say goodbye to summer, I wanted to share with you eight things I learned these last few months.

Stay with me because there will be a fun giveaway at the end of this post so here we go!

Taking time to relax is actually more productive than you think.

This was one of the biggest lessons I learned this summer. I’m one of those people who feels “guilty” when I sit still because I know I can be using that time to cross things off my to-do list. However, I’ve realized that resting is still doing something productive. It’s difficult because I’m usually a “Go! Go! Go!” kind of person, but it’s an area I’m currently working hard on.

Protecting your mindset is extremely vital. 

If you’ve been around SSD for awhile, you’ll know that mindset is extremely important to me. This even means walking away when someone says something negative so your body won’t have a chance to absorb it. It may be weird to you, but when someone keeps repeating that they’re tired, I tend to walk away because I don’t want my body or mind to get the idea to be tired when it’s not. If you’ve read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, you’ll know what I’m talking about and if you haven’t read it yet, do yourself a big favor and read the book. 

Who you surround yourself with does affect what you do.

I love following people who really push themselves to get better personally and professionally. People who want to add to their skill set and abilities are SO attractive to me. Others who say, “I was asked to do this, but I couldn’t because I wasn’t certified. It’s okay though. I was mad about my lack of skills so I went out and got certified.” are very admirable souls in my book. People like that make me want to go out, see what new skills I can gain so I can be a better version of myself.

To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a “commoner” or a celebrity. Anyone who makes up for their lack of abilities by finding a solution to close that gap will always make me evaluate what I’m doing to grow, which is what I did these last few weeks, ha! I can only hope to meet and know a lot more of these kind of people in the near future!

How you see yourself and your own self-worth affects your actions.

One major thing I learned this summer is the value of understanding your self-worth. My self-confidence in who I am and what I stand for grew by leaps and bounds this past summer. And because of my belief in myself and understanding that I do deserve success and great things happening to/for me, I’ve taken big action steps that I wouldn’t have done in the past. And you know what? It’s not as scary as it seems.

Enjoy the transformation process and don’t be ashamed of your story.

I used to be afraid of telling people about my past. I thought about it often too. What would my future husband think when he learns of my story? Should my future husband be a successful celebrity, what would he say about how I grew up? I kept these very thoughts a secret until I embraced the fact that the levels of struggles I’ve experienced has made me who I am today. Over time, I realized that whoever my future husband is, he’ll know I am who I am because of my story. And he’ll love me all the more because he’ll love me for me, past struggles and all.

One should not have to wear a mask for any kind of job or for anyone.

Reading Mask of Masculinity by Lewis Howes this last year has tremendously affected my relationships I have with men in the utmost positive way. However, I’ve taken Lewis’s foundational idea and applied it to my everyday life. This summer, I learned that I don’t want to wear a mask when I meet someone new. I don’t want to wear a mask at my job either. I know that there’s a work me, a friends me and a family me, but I want to be myself no matter what environment I’m in. Personally, I never want to hold back on who I am by putting on a mask just to keep up a front.

Being a private person is absolutely okay if that’s your personality. However, to hide behind a mask to impress others is not a life of true freedom.

Keep the faith and do not settle…this includes finding your life partner.

Often times, I look back at all the men I’ve dated or been involved with at some level and all I can think of is, “Thank God I didn’t settle.” I’m not saying these guys are bad people, but what I am saying is that they were not for me. As times goes on, I’ve learned to keep the faith that I will succeed in life. I will be successful in using my gifts to help others and in finding someone who is not only my future husband, but my partner in life. And that, my friends, is so incredibly exciting!

Reading epic fantasy novels has been such a nice escape from the realities of life.

To end this post on a lighter note, it’s been so fun to teleport to another world when reading fiction books, especially when I’m at my day job. My work shift goes by so fast too. I’ve just finished the first book of The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind yesterday and it was SO good! Can’t wait for the next book in the series! Reading doesn’t always have to be personal development related, it’s still fun to use your imagination as an adult.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post and that you yourself had a restful and relaxing summer.

Is there anything you learned this summer that you’d like to share?

I’d love to know so leave me a comment!

SHOP THIS POST

Frame Le Skinny Tuxedo Jeans c/o Clothehorse Anonymous (love these tuxedo jeans for fall!) | Black V Neck Tee | Rebecca Minkoff Avery Crossbody Bag (old; love this investment ‘everyday’ crossbody bag) | Black Pumps (old; investment black pumps) | Cateye Sunglasses (old; investment gradient cateye sunglasses) |  Stud Earrings | Lipstick in Sell Out

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Clotheshorse Anonymous for partnering with me on this post! All thoughts and opinions are my own. As always, thank you for supporting my sponsors! 

Now for the first giveaway of the week (the second giveaway will solely be on Instagram so make sure to follow me)!

 

As we say goodbye to summer, I wanted to give away this set of beautiful and bright lipsticks from MAC Cosmetics to one of my lucky followers/readers!

And to make it easy peasy, there’s only two rules you need to follow to enter:

1. Leave me a comment below on this blog post about anything you learned this summer. It can be serious or funny. Up to you!
2. Don’t forget to leave me your name and email (or Instagram handle so I can DM you) so I can contact you if you’re the winner.

Your comment with your contact info counts as one entry! For an extra entry, you can follow me on Instagram if you want! 

Deadline to enter is this Friday, September 21st.

The winner will be chosen, announced and contacted Friday evening so I can ship your prize to you over the weekend! Good luck! 

GIVEAWAY CLOSED! 

Winner is Erika Goper!!! Congratulations, Erika! I’ve emailed you! 

DISCLOSURE: This giveaway was purchased with my own money as a way to say thank you for following along and it is NOT sponsored by  Clotheshorse Anonymous or MAC Cosmetics nor Too Faced Cosmetics.