30 Lessons in 30 Years

30 Life Lessons I’ve Learned Along the Way

A friend of mine sent me this article about 5 years ago, and ever since then, I knew I wanted to write something similar once I turned 30 someday.

Well, time is a strange thing, and that someday is today.

I’m officially 30. 

If you read this recent post, then you may know that I haven’t felt good about it, and rather have been dreading it. Almost as if life ends at 30. Not sure why as women we’re made to believe our prime time is our 20s, and everything ends for us after that. I’ve found that this is certainly not the case, and am very excited for the journey ahead.

Looking ahead.

I am looking forward to looking back when I’m 35 or 40, and realizing that what I am about to write is or could be completely different than how I view the world now.

I think that’s what’s beautiful about life, is that everything in nature, including us, is forever changing.

I wrote something similar when I turned 25 here. This might officially become my thing.

So, without further ado, here are the 30 lessons I’ve learned in 30 years:

1.Make peace with your past. Constantly work on healing. Everyone, good or bad, has a past, and know that your story is beautiful. Healing your past will allow you to live more in the present, and it’s something your future self will thank you for. Always remind yourself that each day there’s always a new story to tell. Strive to make sure it’s a good one and one that aligns with what you really want out of this life.

2. Don’t overthink about what could’ve, should’ve or would’ve happened. Things are just as they should be, and you always have the option to pivot at any point in your life.

3. Don’t chase happiness. Chase freedom instead. Freedom from the desire to have, be, or to be doing something other than what you are currently doing in that present moment. Chase freedom to get out of things that don’t align with you. Chase freedom from people pleasing, and rather work on being authentically yourself. I’ve found this is where inner peace, authentic living, and in return, happiness lies.

4. A long walk with your favorite song is always a good idea.

5. Nothing is permanent. Not your emotions, people, moments, negative thoughts or hardships. Good news is you don’t have to go through it forever. Bad news is nothing you love is forever. Learn to be present and honor both moments.

6. See more sunsets – they’re truly magical. Making an effort to see the sunset at the beach has made my life exponentially better. Taking a moment to yourself, outside of social media is important. Just sit there and be in the moment and realize how beautiful life can really be.

7. Money isn’t going to make your life better. Stop chasing money and following a career path that is safe and secure. You need to find work that feels right in your heart and one that you have a passion for.

8. Time is your most valuable asset and commodity. You will never get your precious time back. The saying “spend your time wisely” is overused, and yet, we forget how much truth that phrase has.

9. Don’t compare where you are in life with others. Your journey is your own, and the only person you can be in a competition with is the person you were yesterday. That might sound cheesy, but it’s 100% true. It’s how I’ve lived my life, and it has served me well so far. Don’t forget to be kind to yourself in this process, though.

10. There is never a “right time” for anything. Start now. When starting anything, always aim to have a growth mindset. Embrace being bad at things at first. Things don’t happen over time, and depending on natural talent is not something that’s measurable nor always achievable. If you find you quit right when you start to feel failure, question that feeling and learn to move past it. You learn so much from failure and it always moves you forward to what is truly meant for you!

11. Live where your heart is happy. It’s important to live where you feel the most alive and at a place that allows you to see the world in a different light. This will also help you get out of the mundane. So, get out of your comfort zone and leave your home state. It’ll probably make you a better person and give you a whole new perspective on life. Might give you a lot of joy as well.

12. Love yourself and your human journey. Over said, but not over done. If you think about it, seriously think about it, the longest relationship you will ever have is the one with yourself. Make sure to always nurture that relationship. Me, myself and I mentality is important.

13. You are the one you’ve been waiting for. When you finally realize you are the one responsible for your actions, thoughts, your life and happiness; things shift. No one else will save you, heal you, or be there for you as much as you can be for yourself.

14. Being kind is always a good idea.

15. Your thoughts create your reality. Focus on having thoughts that enrich your life versus one’s that belittle you.

16. Don’t fight with reality. Everything in nature is as it should be. Whenever we fight with what is, we experience suffering. Remember, pain needs to be recognized, but suffering is optional.

17. Your parents won’t be around forever, give them a hug more often. Sadly a true fact, and each moment you have with them is limited. Cherish the moments you have with them. Put down your phone and be fully present. Call them more often. If there is some healing to do, forgive them. Neither you or your parents will be here forever. I’ve found it’s best to have love in your heart and to forgive people. And reminder, as Steve Jobs said: “Death is the single best invention of life”.

18. Stay mindful and present of each moment. Once a moment passes, you’ll never have it back. Stay present and cherish each moment you have living in this expansive world. Live in the present moment. I’ve found the mundane things are actually things we look back, and cherish – like the memory of being with my grandfather and holding his hand. I’ll always miss that.

19. Don’t focus on things you can’t control. Rather focus on things that you can change and have control over.

Things you can control: 

• How you treat your body
• Your efforts
• How nice you treat yourself
• How much work you put into being the best version of yourself
• Your outlook on life
• Your thoughts

20. If you want to change any part of your life: stop talking about it and start taking action through your habits. Change is done through habits. It’s a simple fact that I find we sometimes overlook. Habits are not as complicated as you might think. Two things to help you with habits: 1. Read Atomic Habits by James Clear and 2. Don’t listen to people that say give yourself a certain amount of time, rather give yourself all the time you need to build a new habit. Persistence always pays off.

21. Life was never meant to be easy. As Matthew McConaughey says, “Life is not easy. It is not. Don’t try to make it that way. Life’s not fair, it never was, it isn’t now, and it won’t ever be.” I found that instead of wishing it were easier; rather work on being better, growing your mindset and becoming tougher than life. It somehow does get easier this way.

22. Motivation is actually a skill you can learn. Mind-blowing, I know.

23. Your body is your home – take care of it. Just like how you clean your house, you need to make sure to keep your body clean with exercise and nutritious food.

24. Stand up straight when you walk into a room. And don’t ever doubt if you are good enough or question if others are better than you. Half the time, most of the people are also faking it, and most likely thinking about themselves.

25. Always, always tell people how you feel. Tell them you love them – you’ll never regret that, I promise.

26. Wake up early and go see the sunrise. Don’t over-romanticize sleep, rather over-romanticize the time you have left to be able to experience the little moments in this life. Little moments like seeing the sunrise or sunsets make life exponentially more beautiful.

27. Nobody cares or is over-analyzing the situation in your head as you are. Stop caring about what people think of you. It’s wasted energy. Learn to refocus your energy on things that will help you become a better version of yourself instead. Life’s too short to fret over the things that are so miniscule in the large scheme of things.

28. Be at peace with not having all your questions answered. I do wonder quite often if we’ll ever have all the answers to the questions we’re seeking in this lifetime. I have a feeling that we won’t, and I think that’s okay.

29. Know what you want. Write down your goals each week, month, year, decade. You are allowed to reinvent yourself as many times as you want or need to.

30. How you do anything is how you do everything. Don’t underestimate the value of hard work. Nowadays, with people going viral on the internet, or people posting about such a small fraction of their life, we may be influenced to think things should come easy. NO. Things will never be handed to you and if they are, it probably won’t mean much. Whether at your 9-5, or other areas of your life, make sure you are always giving your 100%. This will reflect in other areas of your life, and hey, you’ll probably get a promotion too.

Those are the 30 life lessons I’ve learned in 30 years.

I know I have a lot more to learn in my journey ahead. I look forward to learning more about the growth mindset and becoming a better version of myself each day.

Steve Jobs:

So far, Steve Jobs’ quotes have gotten me through most of my late 20’s. His influence and words live inside my head (rent free, as they would say) as I feel that he left an important imprint on our life with his work and his words.

So, with that, here’s a quote that I have a feeling will be the theme of most of my 30s:

“When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it… Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”

― Steve Jobs

Until next time,

Ozzy

READ MORE

The Journey to 30 and Finding Meaning in Endings

Hi, I’m Ozzy and this is my journey to turning 30.

I’m currently 29 years old, living in Santa Monica, California.

I have about one month left of my 20s, and turning 30 is something I’ve been somewhat dreading. The older I get, the less desirable I feel to society. I don’t know if that thought is shaped by my own limiting thoughts, men (some), or going through my own process of finding meaning in endings.

I want to share my journey of how I’ve reshaped my thoughts from the above, to alternatively, finding the positive meaning in endings.

Roaring 20s:

I thought that my life would be over at 30 (I’ll talk more about this later), and I know that sounds dramatic, but that’s the reality of how my thoughts shaped my belief system.

At your early 20s, you feel the most alive; like anything is possible. You feel desirable by society, powerful in some ways, and reckless in some; but in a good way. You have so much energy. You’re not that wise, although you think you are, and you think anything is possible; however realistic it may be.

Then, your late 20s really shape you and bring more truth to the reality of life.

The reality is that the high you’re on in your early 20s isn’t as realistic as you thought and it doesn’t last, as nothing in this life does. You get to understand that being a real adult and how you pictured your life are two different things to how you imagined.

I’m not here to say 20s aren’t great, but they’re definitely a roller coaster of a ride. And I’m finally ready to come off of that ride.

How I feel about Turning 30:

Reframing my thoughts.

As I’m slowly approaching my 30s, I’ve learned to reframe what I initially thought about turning 30, and escape from every thought that made me feel undesirable. I’m slowly learning that 30’s are actually my prime time, and I should get excited about it.

I’m a lot wiser (actually wise this time), healthier, have way more inner peace, and am so much more confident than I ever was in my early 20s. Those are all the things I am excited to bring into my 30s, and to work on into my next decades that is yet to come.

For a while I felt lost about turning 30.

Lost because I’m not where I thought life would take me. I’m not married, I don’t have kids, a house or a career I thought I would pursue.

But, I feel whole in other ways because as I am getting older, I feel more connected to my intuition, and have a lot more inner peace than ever before. I am learning each day to practice gratitude for where I’ve been able to take my life and learning to find joy in the smaller things.

I’m not where my mom was at my age, but I know I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.

And each day, I am learning to get back to my roots and follow my path to authenticity.

I thought I would have everything figured out by 30.

Growing up, I thought that I was supposed to be married by 25, have kids, a house, and “start my life”. I thought that I would be married to one guy for the rest of my life and that it would all really just be a fairy tale. Or…at least really like any of the early 2000 rom-com movies. 

Finding meaning in endings.

Now, I look at my life at 29, at the brink of 30, and yet, I don’t see how any of that could be true.

For one, I don’t look at marriage the same way I used to. I find that partnerships, whether you are married or not, are spiritual journeys that help us evolve. These journeys could last one year, five years, fifteen or even thirty years — and then they come to an end.

And that’s okay. 

Endings, I believe, have a purpose and I’m at peace with endings. In fact, this life and Earth are built on endings. Whether that’s in nature or in the human journey, we all experience endings. One of the greatest endings we all know is death.

So I’ve learned, endings are part of reality and I am okay with reality. I find that if we fight with reality we experience suffering. Alternatively, there is so much more inner peace when you allow reality to do what it needs to.

Being more grateful in the journey ahead.

What’s next for me? I’m not sure. I live in my dream state. I made the bold move from Boston at age 27; a defining age I hear.

Now, I’m at a place where I feel the most alive at this moment in time.

Currently, I am trying to be more intentional with my time and life. 

I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunities I have and I no longer want to fight with not being where I thought I should be at this point in my life nor be consumed with the thoughts of where I want to be.

I’m exactly where I need to be.

Mundane.

I find that as humans, we can get too comfortable with the mundane, everyday living. And with that, we may habitually overlook what we need to change or how we need to adjust in order to evolve. Or worse, not be grateful for what we already have. It’s a balance of realizing what you have is amazing, but at the same breadth fighting mediocrity for a life of purpose.

My goal is to break from habitual living, and with mindfulness, appreciate the small moments of life. However, I’m still learning to take action on the things that have meaning to me and make me feel the most alive; whilst honoring my time.

Desires.

I recently learned that the desire for a more positive experience is in itself a negative experience. And accepting a negative experience is a positive experience. So, although I want to focus less on the negative, I also want to welcome all experiences. For me, it’s about knowing life is hard, each day isn’t perfect, but learning to find the middle in between. Each day can be special in some way and we also have the control to create a life that’s meaningful and exciting for us.

Flowing through.

Life has taken me here, in this moment in time, to be here typing this story to you. I can’t be certain that life will flow through in a way that is smooth or how I picture it, but I know that in the end it will flow through how it’s meant to. 

So far, life hasn’t paved itself in a way that I have imagined thus far, and yet looking back, the dots connect and everything is as it should be. I’m at peace with this moment.

A bigger purpose.

Looking ahead, there’s a part of me that feels that I have some sort of mission to complete here on this Earth. Like there’s a bigger purpose. I haven’t found it yet, and I know I will keep searching for it.

As Steve Job’s said: 

If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.

Steve Jobs

But, on the other hand,  I am at peace if I never do find what this big purpose is or what it really means. I know at this moment in time, my purpose is to be curious. Each day, that purpose will change. And I know that we will never really have all the answers we seek, and that’s okay. I know being present in the journey is the most important aspect of it all. Even more crucial is always following your heart.

I don’t let the thoughts of what I’m supposed to do consume me. I get curious about it, and then I let go and go on with my life.

Something big.

All I know is I’ve always wanted to do something big with my life. Not sure what big is to me or how I want to define it, but it’s what I’ve always felt in my heart.

This brings to mind my other favorite quote:

Closing a chapter.

20’s for me have been about being a fighter. Trying to find the horizon where it didn’t seem to exist or impossible to get to. 20’s weren’t easy. But as I look back, I see the dots connecting to get me to this moment. I see the beauty in it. I know that 20’s were my primer, and 30’s will be a new defining chapter of who I truly am meant to be. I let go of all the thoughts of feeling like I will be less desirable, less relevant or really less of anything. On the contrary, I’m ready to play even bigger with my life.

As I’m in my last few months of my 20s, a defining decade, I am getting ready to close this chapter of my life. I am excited to go into this new decade with a lot more confidence, strength, inner peace, freedom, self-love and understanding of who I am at my core. More so than ever before. I look forward to all the experiences, good and bad, that allow me to feel most alive.

I have no way of knowing when my ending is, and I know that I may not be too old or too young, but I am starting to believe that we need to give this thing called life our best shot. I’m ready to play bigger, go on more adventures and make decisions on what I truly want vs what people want of me. Additionally, I’m ready to express more of my creativity.

Lastly, most of my 20s were spent dealing with my mental health and surviving. Now, the journey is about protecting my inner peace and going confidently in the direction of my wildest dreams.

As my life is expanding to this new reality, I welcome it. I am grateful that I fought to get to this point. That I never gave up. I fought through my tough days in order to grow wiser, stronger and be at more peace than ever before. 

So here’s to being almost 30, finding meaning in the ending of this chapter, and being grateful and excited to live each day in this expansive world. In the midst of it all, I will always believe magic is all around me.

I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I’m excited.

See you soon 30s,

Ozzy

READ MORE

The Process of Becoming Her

The process of becoming Her is a movement that’s recently taken a hold through social media, and I want to dissect what it means.

My interpretation of it is that it’s about becoming the main character of your story. With all the TikTok videos out there showcasing this, I wanted to write down what that could look like in action and the process of actually becoming Her and the main character of your own story.

Two disclaimers:

1. I am also on this journey myself and probably always will be.
2. This is not only for people who identify with ‘Her’. This could be for anyone that identifies with any other pronouns.

Analyzing our belief systems.

We hold a lot of beliefs, whether we are aware of them or not. 

Some beliefs that we hold could be:

“I am a bad writer.”

“I am not a great cook.”

“I am not a morning person.”

“I don’t know how to…”

“I’m not smart. ”

“I need to lose weight.”

And so all of these beliefs quickly become our identity and feel incredibly true to us at our core.

Then, we start acting the way we believe ourselves to be.

Which is where we start: our limiting beliefs.

We may not even realize that we’ve been holding these belief systems for so long as they’ve become habitual thoughts and patterns.

The important thing to note is that our subconscious brain believes everything we tell it. If you tell it ‘I’m not a great cook’, then it will limit yourself to that. It will do everything in its power to  make this statement true for you. As Jim Kwik says, our brains are our supercomputers. We need to program it with the right inputs and thoughts.

What does Becoming Her mean?

The process of becoming Her is the pursuit of becoming the best version of yourself each day. And in that pursuit, I believe we have to learn to be limitless, and more intentional with our thoughts and belief system.

It all starts with taking a closer look at what’s holding us back.

Main Character Energy:

Becoming Her means becoming and acting like the main character of your life movie. Main character energy is about the process of learning to become the woman of your dreams.

If your story was a movie, it would mean that you would be the main character. You would be the person that all the viewers and characters fall in love with. And essentially, you would be the one who would learn to become stronger and better as the story went on. Throughout the whole story, you would never doubt yourself nor give up on yourself, and always persevere through anything.

This isn’t to say that becoming Her is a way to change who you are deep within. Rather, this is a movement to showcase the parts of you that you may have been hiding; perhaps letting go of living with fear and instead choosing freedom to be unapologetically you.

Being intentional.

It’s a journey at aiming to live the life you’ve imagined for yourself, and not how others want you to live. Moreover, it’s about owning your story and learning to love yourself and your human journey. It’s about falling in love with your life; even the everyday mundane tasks, and realizing that you are the one you’ve been searching for. It’s about giving yourself more love each day and allowing every experience to come and go.

My interpretation of becoming Her means becoming obsessed with your life. Rather than obsessing over people’s opinion of us, you move that energy and refocus it to accomplishing things that make you feel good and empowered. It’s about finding peace within and at the same breath, leveling up your life.

It all starts with the next three steps. This is an ongoing movement, as such is life. As long as you never give up on Her, you will always be where you are meant to be. You just have to trust that.

Three Crucial Steps to Take in the Process of Becoming Her:

The first step is to correct your inner dialogue and adjust any beliefs that are not allowing you to live the most authentic and freeing life. As we talked above.

This takes time. Give yourself patience and love through this tough journey.

It starts with unlearning habitual thoughts that you no longer want to identify with.  Taking control of your thoughts is not easy. You may think that it’s no big deal to have the thoughts you are having, however, I truly believe the small increments of change we make each day are what add up to make a big difference in our life.

As a matter of fact, 1% improvement each day adds up to 37% improvement in a year. For doing the bare minimum, that’s a pretty good number!

Journal your thoughts:

The journey to unlearn thoughts that belittle you start with journaling.

This means having to get real with the thoughts you have. It means having to write down everything that you’ve been ignoring (but your subconscious brain has not).

So, write down every thought that pops up in your head in a notebook throughout the day. Then, ask yourself if this thought is true? If yes, ask yourself how can you know absolutely that it can be true? What examples do you have? If you really don’t want to write it down, you could also have an inner dialogue with yourself. I promise this will make a big difference.

Next, if you know that it’s not really true or know deep down that this thought isn’t something you want to identify with, then ask yourself if your ideal self would have this thought about herself?

Identify your ideal self beliefs and characteristics:

After you identify your current beliefs and thoughts, you want to identify the thoughts and beliefs your ideal self has.

Get very specific and detailed with anything that comes to your mind of what this would mean for you ideal self. Write down all the characteristics she might have, and her belief systems. How does she talk (especially to herself)? What thoughts does she have? What are her belief systems?

Write everything about the woman you want to become. The woman you envision for yourself. Think about the characteristics she might have. What does she eat to make herself feel her best?

Write it all down. Print it. Put it next to your bed or desk and look at it everyday. Then, learn to show up as her every single day.

No matter how small of an action it is each day — just show up.

2. Learn to show up to your commitments

The second step is learning to show up to your own commitments.

First, this means to show up to all the things you say you want to do, but keep postponing to another day. It’s about knowing that everything starts in the now and not at a time later in the future. With that, it means getting organized and learning to show up for yourself.

How many times do you show up for others?

Do you show up to work on time everyday? How about your friends; do you show up for your friends? Do you show up for events that you really don’t want to go to, but you feel bad rejecting people? 

We show up for commitments for others all the time. Sometimes, without really questioning what it means for our mental health and time. 

Becoming Her means realizing that one of the most valuable assets we have is our time. 

Becoming Her means letting go of anything that wastes your time, people who are not aligned with your values, and things that are not true to your purpose. 

It’s important to remind yourself each day that showing up to your commitments is a sign of self-respect.

So, how do you learn to show up to your own commitments?

The crucial step to take to learn to show up to your commitments means you start saying yes to you and no to everything else that doesn’t align with your core values. It means saying no to anything that doesn’t allow you to be free and messes with your inner peace. Only intuitively, you’ll know what that is.

Similarly to step one, the second step also takes time as really anything in this life does.

This one means you need to learn to really love yourself. And well, the tough journey to self-love is a journey that may last a full lifetime. But it means that you need to give yourself patience, grace and know that it’s okay to not have any of this be “perfect”.

3. Dress like the Main Character

Dress like Her.

How does your future/most ideal self dress? How would the main character of the story dress?

This one is important because I believe how we act and show up attracts more of what we want to experience.

I also strongly believe that how you dress affects your mood. If you feel your best, then you end up showing up as your best self.

Moreover, it’s also important to note that how you live each day is how you live your life. Each day adds up and becomes your life.

Personally, my ideal woman is someone who dresses in chic outfits and power suits. She has great fashion and takes care of her skin, hair, and diet. She shows up to take care of herself, not for anyone else, but for herself and her mental health.

Write down every detail of your ideal self.

So, how does your ideal self dress? Write it down. There’s no wrong answer here and it doesn’t have to be the same as mine. This is really understanding how you want to show up each day. I want you to take care of yourself and if it means showering and putting on your favorite sweatpants, then do that.

This is about learning to understand how you want to feel by how you portray yourself outwardly. This goes hand in hand with how you dress and feel inside may help with the characteristics that you may want to portray. If it means in the beginning you’ll feel like an actress, then so be it. Remember you’re the main character.

When I started showing up as the woman I wanted to be, the world began responding to me; showing me all the different ways I needed to keep moving, and healing, and growing, and stretching beyond myself, beyond anything I had ever reached before. When I started showing up as the woman I wanted to be, the world lead me to a place where I could finally say: ‘I am her’.

Reaching the sun – april green

The Journey Ahead and Why “Her”

The journey to showing up each day as our ideal self is tough, and you may question: is it even worth it? In my opinion, showing up as your best self gives you freedom of the thoughts of ‘I should do this’ or ‘desires’ to be wanting more of our life. It allows you to get unstuck and live more fully.  So, whatever gives you freedom in the end is worth it to me.

Summing it all up

Finally, to sum it all up, becoming Her is a process of persistence. It’s an internal fight to become who you want to be and not letting obstacles get in the way of becoming all and everything you are meant to be and dream to be.

Becoming Her is a movement within yourself to show up and show to yourself that you matter. It’s truly an act of self-love. I know that the word self-love has gotten thrown around a lot more recently to a point that we may start to question the power of it, but I promise you, when you choose you, you are choosing right.

Welcome this new journey for yourself of wanting more out of your life, for not giving up until you are aligned to your most authentic self. This journey is about knowing that through the ups and downs, when you show up as your best self, you are more connected, free and full.

Here’s to the journey ahead.

-Ozzy

Resources: 

1% Reference:

Clear, James. “How to Get 1% Better Every Day.” Next Big Idea Club, https://www.facebook.com/NextBigIdeaClub/, https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/get-1-better-every-day/19161/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2021.

READ MORE

How to Master Problem Solving in 5 Seconds

READ MORE

10 Songs That Instantly Lift Your Mood

One of the best ways to change and boost your mood immediately is through music.

Music has been such a big part of my life. No matter what emotions I’m feeling, I can immediately change it with music.

The key for not letting the emotions that are unpleasant to control you is to not stay with them for too long.

Science suggests that listening to nostalgic music will put you in the mood you were in when you first listened to it, and happy thoughts arise of that moment. Chill music is also known to calm you down and put you in a better mindset. Additionally, it is hard to be frowning when happy music is on, and if you force a little smile, your brain will automatically signal that as being happy. 

Here are the 10 Songs That Instantly Lift Your Mood:

1. Put Your Records On – Corinne Bailey

If you really listen to the lyrics of this song, you’ll notice this song is SO FREAKING POWERFUL. One of my favorite songs of all time. I love how it says “I hope you get your dream, just go ahead let your hair down“… “Maybe sometimes you feel afraid. The more you stay the same, the more they seem to change. Don’t you think it’s strange.”

How powerful is that? This song is about being true to yourself, reaching for your dreams, being confident in who you are (let your hair down) and always growing and improving yourself.

I seriously get so happy when I listen to it. It is so good for my soul. This one reminds me of when I quit my first job out of college and was walking around all in happy thoughts because I finally did something that scared me and I knew a better future was ahead of me!

2. Dog Days are Over – Florence + The Machine

Okay, this one just makes me want to have a dance party in my room….all by myself…no shame. I get so excited and happy listening to this song, and it automatically makes me smile. It also helps that they are so talented.

I couldn’t decide if “Put Your Records On” or this one comes first on my list. I guess depends on your mood. If you want to dance, listen to this song. 🙂 If you want to feel relaxed, listen to “Put Your Records On”.

Whenever I listen to this song, I immediately start smiling and feel all the good feels. Listen for yourself.

3. Where You Lead – Carole King (Gilmore Girls Theme Song)

The moment I found out Gilmore Girls was on Netflix was easily one of the happiest days of my life! This song just brings back all the memories of watching this show like my life depended on it. I love this song because it reminds me of how cute and loving the mom and daughter relationship is in this show.

Personally, this song is more sentimental about bringing back old memories of my sister and I watching this show together. It was so fun to just stay in with her, eat random snacks and just be kids.

4. Shake It Off – Taylor Swift

Another solo dance party song! I mean come on, who doesn’t love dancing and Taylor Swift. Okay, the latter is controversial….

I know there is actually science backed research on how dancing boosts your mood, so to fully benefit from these songs, make sure to have a dance party as well. 🙂

This song talks about just shaking off anything negative things people say about you and not caring about what people think of you. It’s so powerful.

This song is one I listen to before work and have a mini dance party session to boost my mood. I like to think of it as shaking off any negative thoughts and letting them go. No space for them, nor are they needed in my pursuit of a badass day!

5. Love Myself – Hailee Steinfeld

I came across this at a Barre class, which of course, the Universe loves being in sync with our lives, as this was when I was single and working out to empower myself.

She talks about putting your body first, yourself first and that she doesn’t need anybody else, but herself. That is so empowering for us ladies who sometimes put our worth in somebody else’s hand. Just want to see.. hey babe, you are all you need! Don’t forget to love yourself first before giving your love away to anyone else.

6. Can’t Stop The Feeling! – Justin Timberlake

I mean, we all know this song, but seriously this is just the most amazing song. Withing seconds of listening to this song, you just feel so good and let all the negative thoughts go! This song makes me want to get up and start dancing. It’s cheesy, but in all the right ways. 🙂 Also, who else grew up LOVING Justin Timberlake? I had his posters with N’Sync all over my wall (no shame :)).

7. Over the Rainbow – IZ

This one’s an oldie, but a goodie. I’m sure most people know this song. It makes you want to be in Hawaii or somewhere tropical, drinking pina coolada’s and relaxing, listening to waves crashing. If you close your eyes and imagine it, you’re kind of already there. 🙂 Seriously, I love this song. This one automatically puts you in a positive mood and just makes you want go out there and live an adventurous life on an island!

8. Who Says – Selena Gomez

Love this one for when I need a little confidence boost. I love the words in it and it’s a good reminder to stop listening to other people who make you feel insecure and who tell you you can’t do something — because, who says?

This is my favorite song of Selena’s. It is the most amazing, powerful song out there for ladies out there who are struggling with loving themselves. We all need to realize that beauty is defined by what is inside and not outside. As Selena said, you have every right to a beautiful life — and it all starts with you!

9. Better Together – Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson’s songs are always perfect for letting you relax and put you in a good mood. Banana Pancakes is another amazing song by this artist — makes you want to stay in on a rainy day and make banana pancakes. 🙂

The melody of this song, as with any of his other songs, is amazing and relaxing. Pay close attention to the lyrics, which are so soothing and have such a powerful message. It’s a song that reminds us to relax, sit back and stop stressing so much. Take a mindful moment and surround yourself with the person or people you love!

10. Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band

I love any song from Zac Brown Band, but this one especially hits home for me. It reminds me of where I came from — Turkey. Everyone has a place they can truly call home and Turkey has a special place in my heart.  It brings back all the good memories of growing up as a kid in Turkey and being so happy with not having a lot and just living the simple life! Never forget where you came from and always be thankful of where you are. 

Alright guys, if you were having a bad day or not, hope that these songs boost your mood as it does mine!

Thank you for reading!

Ozzy

READ MORE

Guided Meditation For Compassion + Positivity

READ MORE

10 Morning Affirmations for Happiness, Love & Positive Energy

Good morning beautiful people! ♥

Mornings are the best.

Peaceful, relaxing, and a reflection of how the rest of your day will be.

If you don’t agree, then read on for these affirmations for positivity.

One of the best ways to ensure a good day is to start on a positive note.

If you want a full rundown of what I do most mornings, you can read it here.

Why Affirmations are Necessary:

Affirmations can seem like a nuisance, but it’s always the small steps you take in your day that reap the biggest results into a positive life.

So, don’t take the power of affirmations lightly — I promise, you will see a big difference in your life!

It is one of the best way to set a good tone for the day and allow for a positive start.

If you want to fully understand the effects of positive affirmations, read this.

Most people are “too busy” for affirmations. “Too busy” to put themselves first. But not you. You’re not like most people. You take control of your happiness and know that it’s a battle each day, but you’re a Warrior of your life, and don’t let life happen TO you, rather you MAKE it happen FOR you.

How to Get Started:

To get started with these affirmations for positivity, I would recommend meditating before saying these as to put you in a calm state of mind. It will get your body ready to feel these out even more strongly.

You may reap the rewards of positivity more this way, however, even if you want to say them while you are in bed, that is still better than not saying them at all!

It’s also important to note; do what works for you! Similarly, if you want to say them looking at yourself in the mirror, do that. If writing them down works, then do that! Finally, keep trying new ways of doing it, stick to one and build it into a habit.

By saying these affirmations out loud, you allow your brain to digest what you are saying and believe it to be true.

As silly as some of it may seem, give it a chance and watch the magic of affirmations take your life to the next level.

And honestly, when is the last time you called yourself beautiful? I think you should start now!

Life can be so hectic and harsh sometimes, but if we can’t give love and positive energy to ourselves, then we will never be able to receive it back.

By repeating the below phrases, you let your body know that you care for it and that you are here to nourish it.

Once your body believes it, your soul will be radiating with so much energy, love and peace.

I hope you give it a chance.

10 Morning Affirmations for Happiness, Love & Positive Energy:

1. I radiate positive energy and greet the day with fresh eyes and a fresh mind.
2. Today is a new day and a new opportunity to start fresh on an amazing note.
3. Abundance flows through my day. I have all the happiness, love and positive energy I need today to have the most amazing day.
4. In this moment, I give myself permission to release bad and toxic thoughts and allow the good energy to flow in through me.
5. I am focused, excited and ready to take on whatever comes my way today with a beginners mind.
6. I am powerful, strong and radiate so much positive energy.
7. I feel so much joy and happiness in this moment and know that today is going to be a good day!
8. I am beautiful inside and out and define my own beauty through my positive energy, compassion and abundance of love.
9. I am eternally grateful to be alive today and have the chance to live a creative life.
10. I am confident in my body, my voice and know that the most important day is today and I will live it exactly the way I want that bring me the most joy.

Namaste.

Hope you have a beautiful day and know that you are amazing. <3

Much love,

Ozzy

“You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.”

Ain Eineziz

READ MORE

20 Powerful Mindfulness Quotes to Help You Stay Present

Something that is an absolute in this life, and as much of a certainty as death, is that it is your absolute own job to to make your life beautiful.

To me, it’s an absolute life mission…

Too often, we blame others for our feelings/conditions/outcomes/circumstances, however, we don’t realize that all of these outcomes are doing of our own actions and feelings about these situations.

Here’s the truth:

It’s nobody else’s job to help you achieve inner peace, take control of your life and no one can give you what you need to make your life beautiful, happy and peaceful.

Additionally, it is your duty to take care of yourself and to live a meaningful life.

A life dedicated to love, to following your heart and a life that leaves this world a little better than you found it.

The thing is….

So many of us are living lives we are not happy with.

We are unsatisfied with the present moment and are substituting the pain with unhealthy habits to make it feel better, however, you will never fully be alive if you keep living in auto-mode.

Well, my friends, I want you to wake up from your old ways of thinking and your old habits that are no longer serving you.

One quote that really changed my whole life is:

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

My first “aha” moment with mindfulness was after my beginners mindfulness class. I can remember that exact moment crystal clear as if it is happening right now. I was on the train back home looking at the poem we received about mindfulness, and  I remember thinking;

“This is it. Mindfulness is the secret to life.”

I felt like I found my treasure that I’ve been searching for all this time.

My treasure was finding the key to happiness and inner peace. To clarify, I didn’t have to change my circumstances to feel inner peace — after that, I realized this what I was missing. That right there is the magic of mindfulness.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a practice back to simplicity. A practice to fully enjoy this life and beautiful planet in the now.

Additionally, a practice to fully appreciate every single object, place, thing or person – including your body on this Earth.

Above all, mindfulness allows you to live in the present — which is the most important moment in life.

Not everyday will be a good one, but it is your mission to find ways to make it beautiful. You can do this by simply being present and noticing these emotions meanwhile staying mindful of your surroundings.

I hope these quotes allow you to do just that.

I’ve found that this is the first baby steps to living a life full of joy. Enjoy!

Here Are 20 Powerful Mindfulness Quotes to Help You Stay Present:

1. “Be where you are, otherwise you will miss your life.” – Buddha
2. “Because you are alive, everything is possible.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
3. “Your true home is in the here and the now. It is not limited by time, space, nationality, or race. Your true home is not an abstract idea. It is something you can touch and live in every moment.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
4. “Wherever you are, be all there.” – Jim Elliot
5. “The goal of meditation isn’t to control your thoughts, its to stop letting them control you.” – Unknown
6. When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” ~Lao Tzu
7. ”Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
8. “In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived. How well we have loved. How well we have learned to let go” ~Jack Kornfield
9. “Do every act of your life as though it were the last act of your life.” ~Marcus Aurelius
10. “In this moment, there is plenty of time. In this moment, you are precisely as you should be. In this moment, there is infinite possibility.” ~Victoria Moran
11. “It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth – and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up – that we will begin to live each day to the fullest as if it was the only one we had.” ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
12. “There’s only one reason why you’re not experiencing bliss at this present moment, and it’s because you’re thinking or focusing on what you don’t have…. But, right now you have everything you need to be in bliss.” ~Anthony de Mello
13. “If one were truly aware of the value of human life, to waste it blithely on distractions and the pursuit of vulgar ambitions would be the height of confusion.” ~Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
14. “We are awakened to the profound realization that the true path to liberation is to let go of everything.” ~Jack Kornfield
15. “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future; live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh”
16. “In today’s rush, we all think too much — seek too much — want too much — and forget about the joy of just being.” ~Eckhart Toll
17. “The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn
18. “Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.” – Jack Kornfield
19. “Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it.” – Sharon Salzberg
20. “There is something wonderfully bold and liberating about saying yes to our entire imperfect and messy life.” – Tara Brach

In conclusion, mindfulness is a tool we all have to live a meaningful life, and I hope you give it a try.

My question for you is:

What can you do today that will allow you to be more mindful of your life today?

To be able to notice the little miracles in your life?

I challenge you to take action to be more in the moment today and every single day going forward.

Watch how your life will change.

Most importantly, stop blocking your life with living in auto-mode. Wake up and notice how beautiful it truly is to be alive!

Action Step:

One powerful action could be to take one of these quotes and hang it around your home as a reminder.

Lastly, always remember, how you spend your days is how you spend your life.

Much love & gratitude,

Ozzy

READ MORE

Mastering the Emotion of Love & How to Have More Self Love — Three Simple Steps

How much love do you have for yourself and others?

How do you even know if you love yourself?

Do you even need to love yourself?

Ask yourself this:

• Do you show up for yourself?
• Do you say you will go to the gym and actually show up when you say you will?
• Keep your commitments to yourself on your calendar?
• Do you eat like you love your body?
• Do you have confidence in your ability to achieve anything you set your mind to do?

If you said no to all or some of those, then you don’t have respect, integrity and love for yourself.

And, we need to work on that….

Why?

Your job, your goals, time management, finances, productivity and health all depend on how much you love yourself and what you think you deserve.

If you don’t love yourself, then…

• you’ll constantly make excuses on why you didn’t show up for yourself
• won’t take your health seriously and not live your best life each day with nourishing your body
• put others opinion of you first before your own
• have a very low self esteem
• you’ll think you don’t deserve a raise at work
• your finances will be suffering
• you won’t want to share your voice

Sound familiar?

The key here is you can’t live your dream life, without loving yourself first.

Love is the foundation of all things, and you know we’ve all heard the saying; ‘love is the strongest force on this earth’, but why the heck did they never mention — loving yourself is the first step!

So, my next point is do you even know what love really is and what it means to you?

Do you have a hard time finding love in your life?

Well, if you want more love, know that you can LEARN to love.

When I learned this fact, my whole world changed. It’s in the same realm as ‘You can’t love someone, until you learn to love yourself.’

When you choose to love yourself, in return, you get to have more love in your life.

Why Would You Want to Choose Love?

Firstly, if you want to feel true happiness, you have to mindfully choose love each day.

Secondly, because love is the strongest, most powerful feeling we can all experience. It’s the most peaceful, calming and out-of-this world amazing feeling. It’s true joy and contentment.

Lastly (and most importantly), having true love and respect for yourself is an adventure. It’s contradictory to what society expects of you. Be a daredevil, I say, and have immense true love, integrity and respect. Stand tall and be proud of who you are.

So, here’s what you need to know: Love is always an option.

You have the choice yourself. You have the choice to love yourself or not to love yourself. Yes, it’s this simple, but think about it, most of us don’t choose love.

To show you this fact; Dove came up with an alarming result in their research with women:

• Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful (up from 2% in 2004)
• Only 11% of girls globally are comfortable describing themselves as ‘beautiful’

These statistics are wildly low. As women, we have to learn to love ourselves and show what it means to be a powerful woman.

When you don’t love, you can’t feel love (insert mind blown emoji here).

So, lets get good at this love thing…

Think of someone in your life that you love unconditionally. For me, that could be my my sister, nephew and niece.

Really think about how much you love them. How you shower them with love and how you think they are absolutely perfect without having to change anything about themselves.

You have unconditional love for this person.

Well, no reason, you can’t have the emotion of love towards yourself, either.

Here Are The Three Simple Steps To Having More Love In Your Life:

Step 1: Choose the Emotion of Love

Here’s the truth, you can have unconditional love for yourself, too.

You can choose to have this feeling. Yep, love is just a feeling because it is an emotion.

You can choose the feelings you have and not have.

For example, you can choose to get angry at a situation or let the situation be what it is and choose to feel peace in your heart instead of anger.

It’s the same with the emotion of love. Instead of having hate in your heart towards yourself and others, you can choose to have love.

Feelings are fleeting, right? They come and go. Well, love is the same way, but the reason we stay ‘in love’ is because we choose to commit to that person. Who we love is just as much of a  choice as it is a feeling. Since love is a choice, mindfully, each day, choose to be in the state of feeling love. Loving towards yourself and others. Trust me, it feels better feeling love throughout your day than feeling any other emotions out there.

Hmm, maybe that’s why people always say “choose love”….

So, the real work begins now. You have to constantly see the good in yourself, instead of judging and seeing the bad.

Practice with others as well. You have to work on yourself and improve yourself each day because you can choose to be your best version of yourself, and in turn, get to show up to this world with giving back all that you can.

Step 2: Get Really Good At Being Loving

As you can get good at anything, you can also get good at giving love and being more loving. This right here is a game changer. So, if you want more love in your life, just get good at being more loving.

Since love is an emotion, you can choose to bring up the emotion of love throughout your day.

Here’s another mind blowing fact; you can choose to love your alcoholic dad, emotionally draining mom or the heartbreaking ex-boyfriend, but it doesn’t mean you have to have them in your life.

All you have to do is have love in your heart for them and move on. It feels much better to have love then hate or anger or any other resentful emotion, so why not have a positive one?

Step 3: Make a Habit of Showing Up to Your Commitments

You show up at work everyday. You show up for your friends. You show up for a loved one. But, why do you never show up for yourself?

For instance, how many times do you write on your calendar that you will do something and you don’t do it? You say you will go to the gym and you snooze instead of showing up.  

I want you to practice getting in the habit of showing up for yourself. When you say you will do something, don’t make any excuses and do everything in your power to make sure you do the thing you said you will do. Have full integrity for yourself.

You wouldn’t want your friend to get mad at you if you didn’t show up for your plans, right? Well, don’t disappoint yourself, either.

Summary –

The more you practice showing up with love in your life, and less anger and bitterness, the more joy, peacefulness and contentment you will feel.

If you choose anger, you are the only one feeling anger — not the person you are angry with — always remember this.

Also remember, when you don’t CHOOSE love, you don’t feel love.

Remember the person you love unconditionally, and then, choose to feel that way towards yourself. Choose to give yourself immense amounts of kindness and love.

In short, focus on making it an intention each day of feeling the immense love you have for others to have for yourself.

Love yourself because you are worthy. You are needed. You matter and you have so much to give back to this world.

If you need help with learning to love yourself, your life, the people around you and become a Warrior Woman, my coaching is open. Apply for the program here.

Much love,

Ozzy

Resources: “Our Research.” Dove US, www.dove.com/us/en/stories/about-dove/our-research.html.

READ MORE

10 Quotes to Guide Your Life

Quotes have the power to change your perspective, visualize a goal and lead your life to live it the best possible way.

The older I get, the more I understand the most clichéd quotes and the people who have spoken those words, were just trying to shed some light into our lives.

I enjoy reading quotes because they can help change your outlook of the moment, open your eyes, and help you take action in a flash.

They have gotten me through a lot of good days and bad days.

I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes that could potentially help guide and shape your life.

1. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” – Ralph Marston

Most of us live for tomorrow or wait for that one specific moment to start something. It’s so important to make the jump today – the most important day in your life. Today is the most crucial time to start to live and do what matters most to you. I think we all forget the powerful effects of small wins, which we can incorporate into our daily lives, easily.

2. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale

You can either spend your time accomplishing the things you have always dreamed of, or you can let the time pass not doing anything and feeling stuck. The choice is always yours. A life spent as a passenger rather than a contributor to help the world, is a life not fully lived.

3. “Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy.” – Ralph Marston

This is a good reminder to stop waiting for that one specifying moment to feel ‘happy‘. You’ll never get there if you keep waiting for that moment because it’s not coming. Rather, happiness is how you choose to perceive things, how compassionate you are, and it’s always living each moment as they come.

4. “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa

In this day and age, we see so many people doing great things and some are becoming millionaires or billionaires at such a young age, but it’s important to realize that is not how you can measure your worth. You are worth so much more than your perceived definition of success. Your beautiful heart and mind are amazing and you never know how much someone needs and appreciates you.

5. “The moment you’re ready to quit is usually the moment right before a miracle happens. Don’t give up!” – Unknown

This one is a tough one. We all have been there when quitting is so much easier than going through with what’s difficult. But, if you repeatedly do what is easy, I think your life will become hard.

6. “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was a lucky man living out his dream job on this earth. He left this earth with an impact because he followed his passion. If that’s not inspiring to go out and figure out what you are meant to do on this earth, then I don’t know what is.

7. “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” – Theodor Seuss Geisel

It’s important to remind yourself of this daily to appreciate the people around you. Those people won’t always be around and someday you won’t either. This quote is over-said, but not over-done. Many of us forget to appreciate each moment as they are and to be in the moment every day. Technology makes it harder for our generation, but it’s not impossible. It is quite simple to be there for someone, be mindful of their feelings and cherish every moment of it.

8. “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” – Aldous Huxley

It’s good to have a self-care routine because let’s be honest, we can’t go back to our parents past a certain age to take care of us. Not even our partners, or loved ones can help us, you need to improve yourself on your own. It’s crucial to do so because you can’t help others before you help yourself. If you can’t give back, then we are all living poorly because we are missing out on what you could have given back to this world.

9. “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” – Dr. Seuss

A lot of times, we tend to overthink things and over-analyze questions rather than think through the answers, one small step at a time. You don’t need to worry and over-analyze a situation, just take it as what it is and look at the big picture. It doesn’t need to be solved today, but is crucial to be resolved over time. So, stop worrying and start looking for the simple answers today.

10. “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Going back to the first quote, yes, sometimes the most important day is today, but sometimes, some days suck. Some days are awful and you don’t know how to deal. It’s important to know they don’t last forever and tomorrow is always a brand new day. Sometimes, you have done all you can do for that one day and you just need to shut your eyes, sleep and wait for your second most important day – tomorrow.

That is all for some of the quotes that I love and have changed me. If you follow me on Instagram, you know, I love quotes and share many others that resonate with me each day.

If you are feeling to get more inspired, here’s a clip of Steve Jobs’ speech at Standford commencement.

Final note: What is your favorite quote of all time? I would love to know!

Until next time,

Ozzy

READ MORE