Keiko's Makeup

I’ve finally found myself getting into the groove of things! It took a year after moving to feel comfortable enough to build a routine and form good habits. Whether you’re struggling to reach your goals or you’re just feeling lazy and unmotivated, I hope the tips that I used in my personal life can help you feel productive ♡

Slowly Change Your Daily and Weekly Schedule

Keep a log of your current day to day activities, including even the tiniest moments. You have to analyze how you’ve been spending your time and decide where you can fit new habits in. I’ve realized that if you force yourself to completely change your lifestyle, you’ll overwhelm yourself and as a result, you won’t stick to any goals. It’s okay to keep waking up when you usually do instead of changing your alarm clock and making it dreadful to begin your “new journey”. You have to be patient with yourself and slowly build the life you want. Taking one step at a time and adjusting your schedule little by little after you’re ready and prepared is more likely to have you stick to your new practice than if you were to shock your body into a strict routine.

I’d recommend to first introduce a new pattern into your afternoon or evenings, where you were most likely taking “too much” time scrolling through your phone or lounging. After you’ve mastered a night routine that you’re happy with, you’ll feel more confident in yourself to start your day with a new morning routine. I think we should all strive for our best selves and aim to reach every aspiration we have in our hearts, but it does take a lot of self-regulating. You have to understand your moods and know when you’re going to accept a new plan for your day. There have been so many times I planned for a busier schedule without actually asking myself first if I could handle it. Overpromising and underdelivering causes you to lose faith in yourself and feel disappointed, which is going to give us the opposite effect of what we want. By accomplishing little changes first, you build your confidence up and can successfully get more done.

Find a Planner That Works for You

I love writing things down to organize my thoughts, but Notion has been my go-to for creating schedules. I have weekly schedules for cleaning, a time stamped daily schedule, and timelines for content and skincare. I let myself loosely follow every agenda and always have it handy to look at on my phone, tablet, and laptop. I know that I won’t forget about it because my phone is always in my hand!

I wish I could get into bullet journaling, and I’ve tried and failed at weekly and monthly planners. I love them so much, but always fall off the routine of using them! What I love about Notion is that I can customize it and fit charts and lists where I want, add links, and embed videos and my Pinterest boards into pages. It’s been easier to stick to because I keep everything in it. I brain dump, use it as a creative outlet, and as a database for my entire life.

I also write everything we do on our calendar in the kitchen to keep track of expenses and how often we need groceries and household items. I’m hoping to get into meal planning so I can make sure no food goes to waste. There’s also a dry erase board on the fridge for jotting down a shopping list before I forget what we ran out of.

For notebooks and cute office supplies for home and work, please visit my Target storefront! I’m constantly updating with my favorite Target finds.

Always Stay Inspired

Only consume media, music, information, and ideas that inspire you. Cut off uninspired people that are energy vampires and that follow what everyone else is doing. Observe your reaction to different people and things and decide what is good for your journey and what needs to be avoided. If something or someone makes you sluggish, uneasy, or gives you any negative emotion, you have to figure out a way to get away from it. No relationship or job is worth you being held back from living life the way you want, because your wants and needs are important! People are constantly trying to find a way to stay motivated, but don’t realize that there’s likely stressors and distractions that stop you from finding the right mindset.

A change of environment and people will do wonders for you, believe it or not. I finally feel more myself now that I’m in the right place and have surrounded myself with people that have self-awareness, compassion, and ambitions. I feel safe to go after the things I want without doubt. I feel comfortable being vulnerable and putting myself out there the way I need to in order to reach my goals. And most importantly, I have loved ones that will let me vent, tell my deepest thoughts to, and that I can trust to be honest with me and show support.

I hope that my content can be a source of inspiration for you! I share a lot of my life on TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, and my sources of inspiration can be seen on my Pinterest and Tumblr. You can anonymously ask questions or suggest video and blog post ideas on Tumblr and NGL, and I’ll do my best to be helpful ♥

I love making vision boards to manifest what I want, also! I used to use the Landing app and website to make collages, but it recently shut down. When I was a teenager, I cut out pictures from magazines into a spiral notebook, and as an adult I made physical vision boards on posterboard. Now, I think I’ll use shoplook to create outfits, moodboards, and vision boards for myself.

Accountability is King

Do monthly or weekly checks on your progress and see where you need improvement. Ask someone to keep you accountable if you think you can’t self-assess. One thing to add to your planner or notion is a progress bar, where you can fill in x/100 days you’ve completed your new habit. I have a checklist of big goals and wishes, and it feels so good to be able to check something off! If rewarding yourself keeps you motivated, definitely do that. Include as many people as you want in your habit-building journey or keep it private. It’s all about you and what’s going to get you where you want to be.

Don’t forget to check in with you and have days where you get to know yourself better. Ask hard questions, journal, and heal. Be honest with yourself one day out of the month, and then gaslight yourself into being positive on all other days!

Be accountable to yourself and others by being kind, knowing when to say sorry, and doing better. No one is always right, and we’re all on our own path and timeline. When you hear the saying “You’re the only thing standing in your way”, realize that it can be your problematic habits that are stopping you from gaining new healthy ones. It’s not always your environment, your busy schedule, or the people around you. It can definitely be you, and it’s important to have the ability to identify that about yourself.

I’m wishing you the best journey to your ideal self! Thank you for reading ♡