21 Ways to Live Your Best Life!

1. Say YES to Yourself!

Let’s be honest: How many times do we hold our true selves back when we're worried about others' opinions, reactions, or judgments? Hiiii this guy right here does this sometimes! And GIRL let me tell you, that ain't no best life!

All of my dreams and goals that have come to fruition have only done so when I've said YES to being my full self, no matter what other people think of that.
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So, I want to challenge you: Give yourself permission to be fully you. Say YES to yourself and see where it takes you!

2. Say NO to opportunities that don't align with you!

When opportunities come along, we often have this fear that if we say no, we won't receive another opportunity. Babe, I'm here to tell ya - you gotta let this go!
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Living your best life means saying no so much more than saying yes - life hands us more opportunities than we can take on! Don't you want to reserve your energy for the things that make you say HELL YES?

3. Come Up with a Mantra!

I legit can't say enough for mantras. Words are so, so powerful. For years, I believed I wasn't enough, I wasn't capable. I began believing I was enough solely by implementing the mantra "I am enough" into my life constantly. From there, everything else fell into place!

My current mantra? "I deserve to live the life I love," because hell yes I do!

What's your mantra going to be?

4. Create a Specific Vision

Create a super specific vision of what you want your life to look like.

You guys, I absolutely swear by this. Sit down with a pen and paper (not your phone - there is something so powerful about writing it out!) and get specific with your dreams!⠀

What do your days look like? How do you spend your time? What are you wearing? What foods are you eating? The more detail, the better: It'll give you such a clear picture of how to move toward your goals!

5. Change Your Mind!

Ready for a mind-blowing secret? Okay: We are ALWAYS putting energy into the world - we never stop! What does this mean? It means our mentality becomes our reality.⠀

If we tell ourselves we’re stuck, we're going to find ourselves stuck! If we tell ourselves we can't succeed, we're going to find ourselves having a hard time succeeding.⠀

YOU get to create your reality - how amazing is that?! So today, I challenge you to choose the reality of your dreams. Tell yourself you CAN do it! Tell yourself you are capable, beautiful, able - and you will be. ❤️

6. Come Up with 3 Next Steps:

Let's face it - goals can be daunting, am I right? Like, how do I get from here to there? 😱 The answer: Break goals down into suuuper small tasks.⠀

Come up with 3 tasks per day that are NO MORE than 10 minutes a piece, and watch your goals come to life! ✅

Example: My goal is to have a kickass launch for Let's Start Living on the first day of summer! 3 things I've done today:
1) Post to Instagram
2) Email 1 radio station
3) Email 1 venue to book my next tour show

BOOM! I'm closer to achieving my goal and it took me less than 20 minutes. What are your 3 steps?

7. Replace SHAME with POWER

Shame has been one of the most debilitating emotions for me. I've felt the most shame around my bipolar, because it's something often beyond my control. The way I've moved forward from that shame?

I chose to claim my power! 💪🏻
I asked myself, "What about my bipolar can I be grateful for?" Replacing shame with gratitude is one of the most powerful things we can do for ourselves. 🙏🏻

And my answer? I am so, so grateful for it, because without it, I wouldn't have been able to reach all of you. I do so much activism work and it's straight up my favorite thing. I wouldn't have that without my mental illness! 🧡

What piece of your life can you hold gratitude for?⠀
[Don't forget to pre-save Let's Start Living via the bio link! 6.21.18 - first day of summerrrrr!]

8. Spend time with loved ones

This one needs no explanation: Love and good company are two of the best parts of life!⠀

As a [recovering] workaholic, I need to take my own advice here. Us type A personalities sometimes have trouble closing the computer 💻 and separating from work - but we gotta do it, friends! Connection is one of the best things we can ever experience.

9. Replace COMPARISON with SELF-LOVE

“Comparison is the thief of joy” is one of my favorite quotes. Every time I catch myself comparing myself to others, I remind myself of this truth.⠀

We compare ourselves so easily - so how do we get out of that cycle? As always, we CHOOSE to.
Any time I find myself comparing, I cut myself off with a list of the things that make me ME. 🧜🏻‍♀️

Today I challenge you to make a list (mental or physical) of the top 5 things you love about yourself that make you YOU. Next time that comparison monster comes up, pull up that list and embrace your beautiful self!

10. Say "I Love You" to Yourself

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: There is so much power in telling yourself you love yourself. For me, it’s a daily practice, and it’s what has allowed me to embrace myself so fully. 🙏🏻

Today’s challenge: Say “I love you” to yourself in the mirror! If you haven’t done this before, it may feel uncomfortable, even unnatural - this is totally okay. When I first started this practice, I could barely look myself in the eye. Now I look at myself with confidence! 💪🏻⠀

Keep repeating “I love you I love you I love you,” and watch your world change, my friend! ❤️❤️

11. Blast That Good Music!

Okay, I'm a little biased, but music is amaaaazing. I'm currently a junkie for @taylorswift's new album! No matter what mood I'm in, those beats pump me UP. 🔥

​What's your favorite tune?

12. Self-Love Affirmations!

When that inner critic pops up, the most empowering thing I do is turn those thoughts around by replacing them with self-love affirmations. Ain't nobody got time for negativity here! 🙅🏻‍♀️

My current favorites (taken from bae Jessie J): "I love my body. I love my skin. I am a Goddess. I am a Queen." I feel like a queen after repeating those words to myself! 👸

What are your affirmations?

13. Ask Yourself: "What Would My Confident Self Do?"

For me, sometimes that means putting on my makeup and getting glam 💋. Sometimes that means going on Facebook Live and singing my little heart out 🎤. Sometimes it means dancing in my underwear💃🏼. Only YOU know what your most confident self loves to do, so ask her/him/them, and then take action! 💪🏻

14. Try Something New!

Try something new, even if - especially if - it scares you. 😱

Launching this blog was a new, exciting, and scary process. What if it didn't go over well? Those unknowns and what-ifs have caused me to hold myself back in the past, but not this time!

This time I used all the Best Ways to Live Your Life tips to embrace my confident, self-loving self, and I encourage you to do the same! ❤️

What are you going to try?

15. Turn Off Social Media

Okay, maybe not literally right this second, but seriously. Social media is a beautiful new piece of our culture, and it can also have its downsides, such as lessening our connection to ourselves 🙏🏻.

It’s so important to pause and take a break from our investment in the lives of others to nurture our investment in our own lives, and to remember there is a beautiful world out there to see, feel, experience. ❤️

The challenge: Take one day completely off of social media this week!

16. Take a Selfie!

The challenge: Take a selfie, no filters, no edits, just beautiful YOU, and post with the hashtag #letsstartliving! Because to live our best lives, we gotta embrace our gorgeous selves! ❤️

17. Invest in a Photo Shoot!

For real, I can’t say enough for photo shoots. My body has changed shape and size so much throughout the years, and I have held body confidence throughout because of photo shoots! 💃🏼

If you’ve never had one, it can bring up some nerves - and that’s okay! Your photographer will be there to guide you through poses and make you feel like a natural - and at the end of it all, you get photos of your gorgeous, gorgeous self! Helloooo, confidence booster! 🔥⠀

18. Stay Hydrated! 💦

No for real. This will make SUCH a difference in your life! When I started drinking 64oz+ a day, I gained more energy, overate less, and felt constantly refreshed! It’s the type of thing you’ve gotta try to see the difference it can make - so today’s challenge is, of course, to drink that 64oz!⠀

If you’re new to boosting your hydration, I highly recommend the app Plant Nanny to track your intake & keep you motivated! 

19. Down Time is Just as Important as Go Time

Y'all can we just debunk a myth right meow? There's this idea that the grind & hustle are necessary to succeed.
This is straight up not true. 🙅🏻‍♀️

It is absolutely possible to work from a place of rest, and in fact, I encourage it! I love working hard as much as the next powerhouse babe, and, I love resting so much more, because it's what rejuvenates me. (Though trust me, this practice is definitely a work in progress for me!)

Today's challenge is to rest, to slow down. To give yourself permission to simply be and trust the universe to take you where you're meant to go. 🙏🏻

20. Celebrate Your Victories!

In this world of social media and comparison, I sometimes feel there isn't enough celebration of our victories. So, I would LOVE love love it if you leave a comment on this blog or on my Instagram or Facebook telling me a recent victory of yours! Or, make a list of 5 recent victories of yours! Let's lift each other up, babes. ​

21. Be YOU!

I want you to just be you, and to make a list or write down what you loooove about yourself!! Thank you so much for being on this journey with me. I’ve had a blast sharing these tips and ideas with you and I am sooo excited to continue launching new music and projects over the coming months. BE YOU, YOU GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS BABE!