“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” -Mother Teresa

My self-love month is now officially ended. After getting more time for myself due to the Ramadan, I was able to do a lot of productive things. Until now, I can’t still believe that I was able to stick to my routine until the end of this month. A print out that I posted in my room greatly helped me to focus on my task and priorities for the day. Since I found it very effective, I planned to continue it for the next months that will come. Now that we’re about to reach the half of this year, I can say that I’m pretty doing well since I successfully achieved some of the goals that I set for this year. I can tell that I’m on the right track towards the right path. I believe that, as long as I’ll be consistent on what I started, I can eventually achieve the rest of my target in this year.

In the course of planning my days in this month, I see how I greatly improved. As I assess what I’d done for the past six years that I started my career, it still feels unbelievable because I can’t imagine how I was able to achieve the goals that I gained today. Who would’ve known that a simple student with big dreams can achieved such big goals that she’s just visualizing before? I still remember that day where I’m just praying for this while crying my heart out, and now I already achieved some of it. In this journey, I learned the importance of the saying “Make most out of your day?”. As long as you start in that kind of mindset, you’ll develop a habit of good time management that will help you to work on your goals.

“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”- Thomas Jefferson

Just imagine if I will continue to work on good habits that I’m currently developing today? For sure there will be more success and achievements along the way. Just like how this month became another productive period that passed by in my life, this blog will remind me all of the memorable moments that happened. Some may see it as just another month, but with all the things that happened during this period, I feel so grateful and more inspired. In this April, realized a lot of things, worked on my self-growth, experienced memorable moments and failed at some point. These 30 days was filled with a lot of things that drives me to be a better version of myself. Another unforgettable month of my life that I will always look back by means of this blog.

“There is only one success, to be able to spend your life in your own way.”- Christopher Morley

I may not still halfway of this year, one thing for sure is that I will continue to aim for productivity. I will not put into waste the things I sacrificed for my dreams because I choose to trust the process. It will not be a flowery road and I need to expect challenges along the way. As long as I trust myself that I’ll make it happen, it will surely be granted in the right time. Together with prayers and strengthening my faith, no failures can bring me down. I am ready for more and I’m stronger than before.

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”- Henry David Thoreau.

Now let’s see the things that happened in my life this April 2022. It will consist of both negative and positive things that I’d experienced and on how I was able to surpass it.

1. RAMADAN DUTY HOURS

Given the opportunity to allocate more time for my goals, I took this month of Ramadan as a chance to invest on things that will help me to develop myself more. In this month, we were given a five hours duty which starts at 9:00 in the morning and will end at 2:00 in the afternoon. I allocate those three extra hours of my day in doing productive things such as,

• 30 Minutes Workout, 10 minutes Yoga
• 30-40 Minutes Online Training
• 30 Minutes for Household Chores
• 30 Minutes for Self-Care Routine

In order to make use of the time efficiently, I also made a routine for specific days in order to cover all of my tasks. Here’s the illustration below:

Sticking to a daily routine is very hard at first, but I was able to get used to it when I repeatedly did the whole process. There are times that I feel lazy but I really pushed myself to stick to it. The first couple of days is a challenged but when I keep achieving my routines. I became more motivated and inspired to do so. By following the tasks that I have on the day, I was able to accomplish all the plans that I set for this month. I also found it very effective to have a reminder of my task where I can review every single day, because it helped me to get track of my time efficiently. Because of this routine which helped me to be more productive, I discovered that I can still push myself beyond my limits. I can also feel how I became more confident unlike before. The consistency that I did in the whole month of April indeed impacted me in a very positive way.

 “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”— M. Scott Peck

2. SELF CARE MONTH

In the first three months of working on my selflove plan, this month became one of the major moments in my life where I allocate more time for my self-growth. Given the opportunity to have five hours only duty, I made it sure that I will make use of the extra time efficiently. I just don’t want to put this period into waste without getting anything from it. That’s the reason I became more motivated and inspired to follow the routine that I set for this month. I always believe that plans can only work if you put an effort to make it happen. Regardless of how many plans you have for your goals but you didn’t do anything to it, then it will just turn as an idea. YOU NEED TO WORK FOR IT. There’s no such thing as getting your goals without sacrificing something for it. Whether it’s your time, money and many more other things, you should be willing to do it.

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”- Pele.

The specific things that I did for myself this month are first doing a 30 minutes cardio workout followed by 10-15 minutes yoga from Saturday-Wednesday. As soon as I reached home at 14:30, I will hurriedly change to my workout clothes and start it at exactly 15:00. It will finish around 15:45 and the 15 minutes will be intended for my early dinner preparation. In doing workout, I also discovered that the ideal time to eat is minimum 15 minutes to 60 minutes after the post workout. It is also important that the food that you’ll first intake is packed with nutritious foods in order to maximize the benefits of it. That’s why not only I focus on doing my workout, I also make it sure that I eat the right foods. Here below are my common meal intake the whole day:

1. Breakfast (9:00 am)– Cereals w/ Milk & Coffee or Tea
2. Lunch (12:00 pm) – Fruits (Tangerine/Orange/Banana) & 1 Boiled Egg
3. Early Dinner (4:00 pm) – 1-1.5 cup of Rice & Vegetable or Protein Dish
4. Dinner Snack (7:30 pm) – Granny Smith Apple/Grapes

If there are times that I crave for sweets (you know when), I still make it sure that it’s within the maximum calorie count that I must have for the day which is 1400 kcal. This is for me to maintain my weight and stick to my track. During Friday is my cheat day where I don’t count any calories. If I don’t have any plans to go out during that day, this is when I eat more sweets and snacks and enjoy the day just watching movies. I also called it as my “Lazy Day” when I literally don’t do anything at all. This is for me to at least enjoy the day without pushing myself physically and mentally. Of course, from the six days that I’d been so productive, I deserve to have that one day of relaxation. Because of this set-up, I became into to movies which is not my hobby before. By my partner’s movie recommendation, I found myself getting hook to it but at the same time within control. As of now, I watched one movie per day and a series during Friday.

“We need solitude, because when we’re alone, we’re free from obligations, we don’t need to put on a show, and we can hear our own thoughts.” ― Tamim Ansary, West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American

3. SMALL LAUDE VLOGS!

I’d been watching inspirational videos in YouTube since before from Robert Kiyosaki, Oprah Winfrey and now Jim Rohn. It became a habit of mine to watch educational videos which inspires me to do my best every start of my day. Because of this, it helps me to change my mood into positive one. In this month, I came across in a vlog which is manage by a very rich woman who’s known as Small Laude. Even though she’s living a luxury life, I admire her for being so down to earth with her staffs and the people around her. Her jolly personality feels so admirable that makes all of the people watching her be affected by it. As I watched her vlogs in YouTube, I started to dream a life like her. Not in a luxury type of life but a kind of life that you don’t need to feel worried about your finances because you know that you’re secured no matter what happen.

I’m not a fan of Luxury Items just like her, but what I always feel every time I watch her is the thing that I wanted to happen in my life in the near future. A kind of life where you do what you want because you can, a kind of life that you spread positivity to the people around you, and a kind of life that you inspire many people. As I assess on what I am currently doing right now, I started to look for more ideas where I can have an opportunity to increase my finances. In that way, I can achieve my goals as soon as possible and at the same time share the blessing to those who are in need. As I keep thinking about it in this month, I found just one answer in this hope. Like what she did, the power of social media gave her more access to the people and at the same time maximize her income capabilities.

Because of this realization, I wanted to plan out the right strategy for me to grow my engagements on my social media accounts from Instagram, TikTok, WordPress and Facebook. I will really make it sure that this year will be my big stepping stone to the kind of life that I’d been dreaming of. Even though I won’t rich that kind of luxury lifestyle just like her, as long as I can influence people around me in a good way and share blessings, that will be more than enough for me. Just by thinking of it really makes me feel so excited. I will make it sure that I’ll be able to achieve this goal before this year ends. Once I already built my foundation, I will start to work on making my own YouTube account that will share my daily life, stories and goals in life.

“Social networks aren’t about Web sites. They’re about experiences.”- Mike DiLorenzo, NHL social media marketing director

I believe that maybe by doing this way, God is giving me a platform to be his instrument in sharing His words. Once I’ll be granted with this opportunity, I will make use of it as a pathway to give hope and inspiration to the people. I will make use of this rare opportunity to share blessings to the rest.

4. VACATION PLAN FOR 2022

It has been almost four years since I went home. My last vacation was on the year 2018 but due to the pandemic my 2020 plan was cancelled. Now that my sister is also planning her marriage, I am solely depending on their dates before I applied for vacation. Right at this moment, the tentative month that I plan to go is on October. This plan is still on process and under approval because the FIFA world cup here In Qatar will be on the month of November and December. During this period, the country is expecting more than a million of visitors around the world, and flights for residents/locals may be affected by it. Despite of this, I wanted to ready my finances and priorities just in case my vacation will happen.

Since I also have a lot of things to do regarding my local banks, payments and government ID registration, I need to plan my vacation ahead in order to ensure that I will finish my priorities. As you can see in the plans I made this year, my finances are really intact due to the projects I set. Because of this as well, I need to strictly follow my budget and if I can save more, that will be very ideal for me. By means of planning ahead, it will help me to foresee the things that I must do and also manage my vacation budget. What I have in mind is to apply for 30 days (four-week vacation) which can cover the tasks I need to do and the leisure activities that my family planned for us. I think that it will be more than enough for me to visit my relatives and also have fun. Unlike before where I go for more than a month, I planned to save my days and used it for my sister’s marriage.

Another factor that still makes me wary is my career target this year which is to be promoted or get an increase. Since the budget that I set for 2023 is the target which I need to achieved this year, I need to double my efforts in making it possible. After all the things that happened from the past months, I concluded that there’s no opportunity here for me. There where no signs of it that’s why I need to work on other opportunities that’s available. Rather than waiting for it to happen, it will be more worth it if I’ll work on other opportunities to maximize my chances. If ever I’ll go on vacation this year, what I planned is to apply right away once I come back.

If there is no chance for me then I’ll just make one. Once everything is set and I achieved my plans for the year 2022, I can start to push myself more in achieving things that I deserve. This is a critical period in my life, I should not seat back and just wait for things to happen. I need to do my part in making all of my dreams possible. I will make use of this vacation to collect my thoughts to derive in the right decision.

“A vacation helps to relieve stress and boredom, gives us a change of scenery, provides us with adventure, and helps to bring us closer to the people in our lives.” – E. S. Woods

5. MY PARTNER’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Another thing that made this month very special is the celebration of my partner’s birthday. On April 29 (Friday), we will celebrate his birthday with a staycation and a buffet dinner in Shanghai Garden restaurant. Since we will spend the whole day together, it will be one of the best moments that we will never forget. After we discover a budget friendly buffet, it became our favorite restaurant to hang out. Compare to the high-end buffet offered by hotels, this restaurant is very fir to our likes and our budget as well.

The story of discovering this place begin when I was looking for a buffet below 100 rials. In our previous celebrations, we usually go for Applebee’s which we spent almost 300 qar minimum. Since I wanted to try more food items without concerning how expensive it will be, I look on the Internet and came across with Shanghai Garden. Gladly, they have two branches which are located in Al Sadd and City Center which makes it ideal since we don’t need to take a ride anymore after our staycation. It was really funny because my partner is so skeptical to try it since he’s not really familiar with it. As we all know, it’s very rare for a guy to try new things because they don’t want to compromise. They’re not really a fan of exploring things that’s why they usually go for what they’d used to. So, it took time for my partner to say yes and he keeps researching about the food that they offer when we’re about to go there. To cut the story short, he literally fell in love to the restaurant! After eating there, he keeps saying that we’ll be back and he’ll take his friends as well (of course together with me!). He will try the rest of the soups and foods that they offer and until we get home, he still can’t get over it.

As I look at both of us, I feel so bless that we both have that same mindset which is to save money and be practical. Sometimes, I feel embarrass on my choices in life, but gladly I have that support system that helps me to get over it. I know that there are still more experiences that we are yet to discover. As long as I’m with him, everything will be ok. I’ll continuously look forward to these remaining months, holding the same hand that I’d been holding since the last three years.

Here are the pictures that we took on that day.

Some of our memories are meant to vanish. In order for me not to forget special moments in my life, this monthly recap will be a reminder of it. I will keep all these memories safe here so I can have a chance to look back on it again.

Life is short so I should not take it for granted. I need to make lasting memories that will help me to be better. My life story which I am sharing in this blog, is the journey that I choose to pursue and share to the rest.

I hope that by my blog, it will reach people’s heart and inspire them to achieve their own goals as well.