Hello April!

We are now in the fourth month of this year. Looking back on the first three months that had passed, I can say that I am doing pretty well. By reviewing every now and then my progress, it helped me to be more motivated and inspired. It also helped me to plan my days well so that I can make sure that there’s no time to waste. With all the things that’s currently happening in the world right now, it is very important that we help ourselves to be strong. Of course, we cannot always rely to someone. At some point in our life, we need to be strong alone. Once we reach that kind of attitude, our life will automatically reset on its own. Like what I am experiencing right now, I feel like I was reborn again to a better version of myself. I really learned a lot of things from the experiences happened in my life. I may not yet there, but the contentment in my heart is more than enough to see every single day with smile. Every goal that I set every month became my driving force to do well. There are times where laziness creeps out in me, but all in all, I can still say that I am doing great.

I never been so productive like this. I feel like the months slowed down because ever single day is fully packed with productive activities that I set for myself. Unlike before wherein I just feel like days, months and years passing by so fast, this year is completely the opposite of it. I can see how this change affects my daily life in a positive way. I never been so happy, grateful and excited like this. Doing this blog also became my outlet to share my plans and goals in life. It seems like I found a digital friend whom I can open up whatever things in my head. At 26, I am living the life that I’d been wanting since I was in college. A person who’s driven by her goals and choose to be strong even if she’s alone.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

In this month, I will make sure that it will be another productive moment for me. I may not know the challenges present in this month, but trusting Him will never let me down. I will not let the fire within vanish, and let it ignite stronger than before. I will set my barriers high and continue to challenge my limits, because I believe that by doing this way, I can eventually see the light in this chosen path.

Now, let’s have a recap of goals that I need to aim for 2022!

Just by thinking of it, I feel so excited to achieve the goals that I’m about to set for this month. Since I also have more time for myself due to the Ramadan Period, I will make of those hours to be more productive. To effectively plan my day in this month of April, I will make a daily routine for myself. In this way, I can achieve all the plans and targets I have for April.

Here below is the weekly routine that I need to follow for this year which I also stated in my first blog for 2022:

Right planning is indeed the best way in achieving one’s goal. In these three months that had passed, the plans I made guide me to achieve the things that I set. Although I know that there are inevitable changes that may takes place, having a plan is still the best way rather than not having at all. I heard some people don’t prefer planning their life simply because they believe that it can change anytime. But for me, plan serves as a guide in our life. It helps us to decide on things easily and provide us a clear path towards our goals. Without it, no one will know where they are and where they will go. It is proven effective for me, so it won’t cost too much of your time to try it as well.

“If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”- 2 Chronicles 7:14

Without any further ado, let’s tackle all the goals that I have for the month of April!

By sharing this, I hope that someone out there will be inspired to do the same as well.

Let’s both make it together!

Now that we’re in the fourth month of this year, I need to double my efforts in investing for myself. Given that I have more time due to the Ramadan period, I need to make sure that I’ll make use of those hours efficiently. By the daily routine that I planned, it will be my guide to successfully achieved all the things I set for this month of April. As I look back in the past months, I think that I still have more room to grow. I still haven’t reached my full potential and continuously work for it. In these coming days, I will strictly stick to my plans so that I can improve my focus.

Another thing in mind that I planned to pursue this year is to take vitamins and invest in my physical self. Once I can save the amount for my grocery next month, I planned to buy something that I’d been keeping out from myself due to my small budget. Once I reach my goals this year, I can expand my budget for myself so that I can buy the things that I want. I just need to be more patient in the rest of the year and I can eventually be financial free somehow. In order not to feel so pitiful on my current situation, working out gave me a sense of peace and calmness during those times. A 30-40 minutes workout greatly helped me to free my mind on all the thoughts that I have.

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. “– Ralph Waldo Emerson

For the month of April, these are the three things that I need to accomplish. It comprises with things I need to work on for my own self, places I need to go and lastly the workout routine I’ll be focusing on. Here also below is the daily routine that I set for this month in order to make use of the extra time I have efficiently.

UNHEALTHY HABITS FOCUS: IMPROVE SELF CONFIDENCE

After a successful month of working on my self-confidence, I can say that I’m slowly improving. Compare to before, I now found courage and strength especially in communicating my thoughts. My fear slowly vanished and I can see how confidence radiates in me. A month of repetition and practice became a good foundation for me to achieve this goal. Although there is still time that I loss confidence and feel inferiority complex, I believe that I can eventually claim it by means of working on it continuously.

Last month, I set a rule for myself that I strictly need to follow. I will continue do it this month because by means of this, I can at least avoid negative feelings about myself. This will also serve as a guide for me as I work on building my confidence.

For me, confidence can be seen as strength and power to someone. It’s the source of courage and trust in yourself which helps an individual to attain his/her goals easily. Working on it is not a bad thing. Not all human is equipped with it, so as long as you are dedicated to work on yourself, building your own confidence is one of the best things that you will do for your own sake.

Let’s work on it together.

TRAVEL: STAYCATION/ BUFFET DATE

For my partner’s birthday celebration, we decided to celebrate it in our favorite place and buffet restaurant. In the start of the month, I gave him the budget that I have for it so that it will all be settled one time. He’ll manage the money together with his own on that day which is April 29. Actually, his birthday is on the following day but since I only have a one day off, we just decided to celebrate it together on the 29^th. On this day, I will also give my birthday gift for him which I’ll purchase on the first week of April. Due to the tight budget that I have, I literally squeeze in the things I bought for him. I decided to buy multiple things that he can use rather than a shoes because I think it will be nicer rather than to give an item which he already has.

If ever I have extra means, I’m also planning to hang out with one of my colleagues. He’s been calling me from quite some time in the past months but since I have limited budget, I always say next time. Now that I have more time to hang out, I’m planning to spend time with him and check out the happenings in our own life.

By hanging out, I’m also aiming to take aesthetic videos for my TikTok and Instagram. This is as part of my influencer journey! Kidding aside, this hobby of mine nowadays really makes me feel happy. Upon watching tons of aesthetic reels and TikTok, It inspire me to have one as well. As of now, I still have aesthetic videos ready for upload, and I planned to keep more so that I can be consistent on it.

HEALTH & FITNESS: 30-40 MINUTES CARDIO/ 10 MINUTES MEDITAION OR YOGA

In this month, I will not be on a rush unlike before since I will have more time for myself. Now, I planned to strictly follow a 40 minutes cardio, 10 minutes yoga/mediation and then followed by a prayer. As soon as I reached home, I will go straight doing workout following this plan so that I can also have time for my online training. The specific things that I’ll do for this month will be:

1. 5 Min. Stretching
2. 30 Min. Cardio/Jogging/Jump Rope
3. 5 Min. Post Workout Routine
4. 10 Minutes Yoga/Meditation
5. 30 Minutes Prayer
6. 30 Minutes Online Training (Tuesday/Wednesday) / House Chores (Saturday/Sunday)
7. Leisure 

These activities that almost reached two hours will solely be for myself. This is as part of my self-care journey in this year and I think that this month is the ideal period to prioritize myself. To be able to remind myself again in this plan, I will make a print out and put it in my room so I can always be reminded of it.

Now that my first project is done, I will now slowly settle my other financial obligations in order to start my next project for this year. Since I already set a specific month for me to settle those, it will be now easy for me to determine on how much I need to save starting this month. The projected cash flow that I did greatly help me to know the ideal month that I can pay without compromising other things. That’s why I came up with a specific timeline for each of my obligations.  To give you a glimpse of my current financial obligations and its purpose, here below are the details of each including the month of settlement:

1. [ON-GOING] 1^st Insurance. Long term savings intended for emergency and health concerns situation. Month of settlement will be on May.
2. [ON-GOING] 2^nd Insurance + Investment.  Long term savings fund intended for business and kid’s insurance. Month of settlement will be on June.
3. [ON-GOING] SSS.  Long term savings fund intended for retirement purposes. Month of settlement will be on May.
4. [ACHIEVED] 1^st House Rental. Intended for additional income stream. First income will be intended for SSS Payment.
5. [ON PROCESS] 2^ND House Rental. Intended for additional income stream. Month of settlement will be on July.

Once I will successfully achieve all the financial obligations I have for this year, I can slowly focus on building my very own passive income. The more I invest on real estate before I get married, the more I can be financially free in the future. I just need make a sacrifice in the present knowing that it will be worth it in the end.

IDEAL BUDGET GUIDELINES

The budget that I plan for this month will be intended for me to save up for my pending financial plans and next projects. I will also strictly follow the budget I set for my expenses in order not to compromise my savings. Using the yearly budget that I planned for 2022, it will be my guide in coming up with my monthly budget. I will also assess my finances by means of doing a Financial Review consistently and continue to track my cash flows by the use of the excel sheets I made. Here’s a glimpse of my budget plan for the month of April:

Here’s the glimpse of my financial plan for the whole year which I also based my monthly budget plan!

“The habit of saving is itself an education; it fosters every virtue, teaches self-denial, cultivates the sense of order, trains to forethought, and so broadens the mind.” – T.T. Munger

DEBT COLLECTION: SECURE DEBT

After I successfully collect the first payment of the debt, I will continue to collect it until it completes. Based on the projected cash flow, the amount will be completed on June based on what we decided. As long as I collect all the amount, I can finally go on with my next project which is the renovation of the 2^nd house rental. The more that I can stick to my plans in these four months, I can finally start saving for my emergency fund again and grow my money in my local bank. One thing that may only affect it is if my vacation will take place this year. Just in case it will happen, I already planned a back-up budget for it in order for my other savings not to be affected. In these coming months, I will make it sure that I’ll complete the balance amount so won’t be problematic about it. I just need to have more patience and eventually I can achieve this task.

Hopefully there will be no more changes after this, because my budget is intact and planned already.

FAMILY & LOVED ONES: 1^st House Rental Tenants Secured!

It was on the 3^rd week of March when we finally finished the renovation. In its 4^th week, we decided to upload it in different Facebook page in order to secure responsible tenants. At first, we put a P6,500 monthly rental, but since mostly are asking if we can reduce it to P6,000, we just decided to stick on what we originally planned. From the last two days of March, there are tenants who wanted to check the house and actively coordinating with my mom. Now that we’re in the month of April, one thing that we must do is to find a suitable tenants for us, so that we can also start to earn passive income. This will be our main goal for this month and hopefully we can find one as early as possible.

The marketing illustrations that I did using Canva App greatly helps us to attract customers. By doing that, it will look like professional and not a scam! It also helps us to market the house easily by the use as well of social media applications especially Facebook.

Here below are the illustration that we did to market the house:

Given the time that I have this month, I planned to have an hour of time for my career growth. Since I failed last month to take an online training course, I need to double my efforts now to make it sure that I’ll make it possible this month. In terms of my application, I decided to put on halt on it and just wait for more opportunities to come. This month, I’ll be focusing in my own self growth and once everything is settled and I still feel that I need to look for another opportunity, I’ll continue to send more applications. Actually, right at this moment, I just wanted to be present. I need to assure myself that I’m doing well and shouldn’t be pressured on things that are yet to come. Everything will be ok and all of my efforts will surely be granted in the right time. What important now is to live in the moment and make use of the time to do something productively.

I believe that once I have peace in my mind, heart and soul, I’ll stay strong no matter what happen in my surroundings. It takes courage and trust to make it possible, that’s why I need to focus on my self-growth rather than be pressured. Time will eventually come and I will continuously trust His plans for me.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”- Proverbs 3:56

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: CHECK CURRENT APPLICATION

Due to the crisis in the world right now, I decided last month to put halt on my application and settle first in checking the current applications I did. Since I already experienced being laid off, I need to be very careful in making decisions. I need to double think and assess the pros and cons of every situation. Now that I applied in at least ten properties, I think that I need to first wait for response until I apply again. While waiting, I need to something that will add up in my credentials and that is by doing online certifications. As of today, I received response from some companies and invited for an interview in one luxury resort. I will wait again for this month if ever I will receive any response from the rest of my applications. Meanwhile, I will also try to help my friends to find a job here in Qatar. Although I already send some applications for them, I’ll try to at least send another ten more.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: STARTS DIPLOMA/TRAINING CERTIFICATES (1 Hr Sat/Sun)

Now that I failed to do it last month, I planned to achieved this goal in this month of April. An hour every day is more than enough for me to complete a Diploma course which is part of my goal for this year. I find this month very ideal since I have more time due to the period of Ramadan. Before the month starts, I actually look for a Diploma course and certifications that is aligned in my current industry. I will carefully decide the suitable training for me this month considering the time that I have. Here are the following:

1. Diploma in Business Administration
2. Food Safety Training- Safe Practices & Procedures
3. Diploma in Food Safety

In these three training, it is mostly concern in hospitality and food industry which I need to support my credentials. I hope that I can be able to achieve these three certifications before the end of this year, as it will greatly help me to acquire more knowledge and skills in this industry.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: MAKE SURE THAT I’M NEEDED!

In order for them to appreciate more of my efforts, I need to show them that I am really needed in my current team. Given the opportunity to join in another site location, one thing that I must have in mind is I need to make sure that I will gain a lasting impression for them. As long as I continue to do my best, someone out there will surely see it. Not that I’ll do it for the sake of validation, rather I’ll do it for the sake of my own self. I know the things that I deserve from the efforts I put through in my daily life. Given the plans and goals I have, I really need to double my efforts and be more eager in doing my plans. I may have more years to get there, I should not take for granted the time that I have right now. In order to make this plan work, I set a rule for myself which are:

1. Be confident.
2. Look professional all the time.
3. Smile with confidence.
4. Create professional connections.
5. BE YOU!

YOUTUBE: WORK ON 4^TH TRAVEL VLOG

Since we successfully shoot our vlog in Katara but failed to edit it, my target for this month is to finalized the edit and publish it on May. Before I do that, I need to free up some space in my mobile so that I can be able to edit it. Since it was shoot from a Go Pro Hero 8, it really requires big storage before you can edit it. Another challenge that we are facing is the subscription that we did for our music. Until now, it is still no yet settled so we need to double check on it.

Now that summer is coming, we planned to have an indoor shoot like in Museums. The two places that I have in mind is Qatar National Museum and Museum of Islamic Art.

1. CINEMATIC 4K | EXPLORE QATAR: Msheireb Downtown Doha –January
2. CINEMATIC 4K | EXPLORE QATAR: Aspire Park –January
3. CINEMATIC 4K | EXPLORE QATAR: Souq Waqif –February
4. CINEMATIC 4K | EXPLORE QATAR: Katara Cultural Village- May

I also decided this month, not to set any targets since we’re just starting. Rather than being pressured by it, we will just focus on making more travel vlogs and advertise it at the same time.

I also decided this month, not to set any targets since we’re just starting. Rather than being pressured by it, we will just focus on making more travel vlogs and advertise it at the same time.

INSTAGRAM: 1800 FOLLOWERS

After one of my photo updates went viral and it reached almost 35k Instagram users, I gradually received follower request, tons of likes, comments and messages. It happened all of a sudden and what I did is to make used of that time to make them engage more in my profile. This is also the reason that I surpass my target 100 increase of followers for March. The total followers I gained from March 1 until March 27 is 284 which is almost triple than my target for this month. Up until this day, I’m still gaining followers and other notifications, that’s why I keep uploading post, reels and story in order for me to attract more engagements. Upon noticing it, I’m gaining almost 100 followers a week which is really great. I’ll double my efforts in this month, and upload more quality updates for my followers. Who knows, I’ll reached 2000 followers for this month?

Here below are my current updates in my Instagram account.

WORDPRESS:6-7 BLOGS

For this month, I will stick to my number of publish blogs while sharing it to my other social media accounts. Since I also have limited time to work on computer, I need to double my efforts in publishing advance post. By doing that, I won’t feel pressured to work on it. What I’ll do is to work more on creating blogs and published it at the same time. Not only that, I also need to prepare topics beforehand for me to save time. Here below are the blogs that I’ll be publishing this month of April.

1. March 2022 Goals Review – Life Journey
2. April 2022 Goals– Life Journey
3. You are Worth the Wait– Unspoken Poetry
4. April 2022 Recap– Life Journey
5. March & April Workout Progress – Life Journey
6. April 2022 Financial Review– Life Journey

I’ll be working on this in advance and just schedule it a week before. Now, here below the thing that I also must do in order to reach out more readers:

1. 6-7 Blogs
2. Share it in Instagram post & Stories
3. Published it in Facebook
4. Share it in Pinterest
5. Share some in LinkedIn (Live to Inspire)

TIKTOK: 1100 FOLLOWERS

After almost deleting my Tiktok account due to low engagement in the last week of March, I finally decided to stick to it regardless of views, followers, likes and comment. As long as I can share the aesthetic videos that I do, it is more than enough for me. I promise to myself not to delete anything and don’t base my decision on the current engagements of my social media accounts. The more I will rely in its performance, the more I will feel down if ever it doesn’t reach my expectations. I will just continue sharing the videos I took and take more aesthetic videos like the usual. I also planned to at least upload three updates in a week for the whole month so that I can gain more engagements.

For this month, my goal is to reach 1100 followers and update a minimum of nine videos. To give you a glimpse of my account, here’s the top post for the month of march:

This is another great month that God gave to us. In this fourth month of the year 2022, I need to be more aggressive in achieving my goals and at the same time enjoy the moment. Every minute and hour count thus, it shouldn’t be put into waste. Given this another chance for me, I will make sure that I’ll be a better version of myself as this month ends.

Truly when you trust yourself and at the same time His plans, you won’t fear any single thing. You will see every challenge as an opportunity and mistake as a learning process. Having that kind of mindset, I will make sure that I will achieve all that I’d planned.

April will surely be a great month to reflect and be productive.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6–7 (NIV)