I have learned the most valuable lessons, habits and discovered new ways to improve my life in 2024. I’m sharing them so you can get ideas for your 2025 plans and goals.

1.) New Mantra – “I am becoming open to any thing and attached to no thing.” This new belief or mindset shifter that I used as my daily mantra helped me to treat each day, even in each moment as a new chance to become aware of new possibilities but not attached to outcomes, expectations or even old patterns that triggers an old emotion or fear that I had. It was liberating to implement and practice this new outlook in life. I discovered new passions, reconnected with old ones and continued other daily practices that really resonated with me. I welcomed each day as new potential for alignment, growth, expansion and most importantly, CLARITY.

How can you implement this new mantra or one that you resonate with? Start with getting to know yourself deeper and more familiar with how you feel about your beliefs as well as what may possibly align with your true authentic-higher self.

*Tip – start with meditating and asking your inner self, god or the universe for signs, for answers, for symbols and for guidance. Surrender to “anything is possible”, and journal your thoughts and findings. Here’s one of ways you can know that it’s working; you will discover or better yet-a new idea will arise and something in your gut opens up and you feel this light energy fill your whole body, from that one idea everything that follows are so connected, they feel so true and right with your whole being as if something is whispering secrets or codes and you cant help but get excited to make the next move. WRITE down those moves, those actions and any other ideas that flow into your mind in that moment. Create your first step, your second and your third step so that you have actionable guides to follow. Next – FOLLOW THROUGH.

Do not be afraid, it does not have to be perfect, you just need to Do it and See it through. Because that’s the ONLY way to unlock the next guidance or set of signs. There is something that you must unlock in these steps in order to open a new door of possibilities. Continue and believe in your inner power. You are becoming intuitively SELF-guided and truly aligned with your inner-god.

2.) Mewing – Haha, this is actually funny to me because “mewing” exploded that even my 10 and 7 year old knew what it is. They do that weird jaw motion that tiktokers do. Aside from it being kind mainstream and ridiculous, it actually works! I have an asymmetric face and this helped to even them out by 50%. Look it up on YouTube and you will be flooded with tutorials and testimonials.

*Tip – practice this infront of the mirror and take video of yourself with front pointing camera. You can use this to practice your smile too. It must’ve been in highschool when I read in a magazine, possibly Cosmopolitan, Allure or Teen Voque some tips for red carpet ready smile that celebrities use. Or maybe it was from Victoria Beckhams book.

I practice that smile while mewing to combat my RBF – resting bitch face.

3.) Face Massage or Face Yoga. I love this!!! This is a must for me, but kind of always have. I learned face massage from Esthetic School so I always practice it when applying my skin care. But now it’s really next level. It’s like a whole procedure or session on its own. So I love practicing it before I apply my mask, make up, my moisturizer and or on my self-care day. You can do short ones daily and the more consistent you are, the better the results. Let’s just say I wont be using botox or filler until it’s my very last option. Even then, I actually really love noticing the ways my face ages. It’s beautiful!

*Tips – You can use your hands and or tools like Gua Sha, rollers, cupping etc… Use an oil serum or you can do this with your oil cleanser, after you remove your make-up, so a second oil cleanse. Really good for slip and it removes extra dirt and oil which really clears out your pores. Use a warm cloth after and I swear it feels like you went to the spa or got a spa treatment! Do it as often as you can or 3 times a week to see the best results. You will fall in love with it. I use the forehead ones to even out my lazy eye! Lol.

4.) Lymphatic Drainage – Wow, this one is effing amazing! I noticed the difference especially in my legs almost immediately. My body didn’t swell as much, especially in my calves, thighs and stomach. You can use tools or your hands. I loved watching and learning ways to do this on YouTube. The gym I go to has these foam rollers which I have been using every week to release some tentions on my back, neck/shoulders, butt and legs. It feels so good! I’ve let out some weird sounds because you literally just melt and sometimes you hit a spot that is so sore but it feels amazing to go over again and again. It’s a little bit weird at first and takes a few practice but once you get the hang of it, you can do different things and ways to hit certain spots.

*Tips – this is the perfect foreplay to practice with your partner. Do a drainage hand massage or hand roller to each other. Taking turns and using it as a “code” for when you’re up for night time intimacy. Be extremely cautious, don’t go too fast.

5.) Taking notes – I’ve always found it helpful to write things down like ideas, reminders, tasks, pages of lists etc… but I never consistently prioritized it. This year I made an effort to write more with my pen and paper or when that wasn’t available I used my phones Notes app in my icloud so that I can access them in all my devices. This is so convenient and I’m so grateful I wrote my ideas and little tid bits of tips and information that I knew I would find useful. Tell me this isn’t true though, we live in a time where there are abundance of continous distractions and things vying for your attention! We are moving at 10x speed that most of the time we hardly get a second chance until it’s too late and the idea’s have left our minds or it doesn’t hit the same.

*Tips – Have one note pad to use daily for all the things, preferably ring binded so you can flip the pages easily and the adhesive doesn’t tear the pages. This is your quick brain dumb landing space. Make sure you write all the important details; date, what it’s about, who it’s for, numbers, codes, side notes etc… and anything that will help you to remember months from now. Key is to write the info you need to come back a few months from when you take the note to still understand and continue working on it. I do this a lot for for ideas, things I’m listening to, tips I find, and other important information for me, my family, our business and all the things.

6.) Rekindled my love for arts & crafts (Making my wreaths again) – I use to make wreaths over 5 years ago and since then my flowers and tools have been safely stored in my parents shed because I couldn’t find the right buyer to take all 7 large bins of stuff. It was an overwhelming amount that I couldn’t fathom selling them piece by piece… Finally at the end of November, I was able to bring them to our new place so I can start playing with them again. I’ve just completed one recently and I realized how much I missed it! To be honest, I just want to use up atleast 80% of the flowers and materials and I’ll donate the rest so that it doesn’t go to waste. I’ve kept one wreaths for 5 years where I have used it as decoration everywhere we’ve lived and I always get compliments on my pictures about them. They last for so long! The flowers that I bought are really pretty so I didn’t want to just give them all away because they were a big investment.

*Do you have a hobby that you use to enjoy doing? Making the wreath actually helped me with my focus and determination. Seeing something completed gave me that satisfying feeling of having accomplished something. This habit can overflow into other aspects of your life especially in places you have been procrastinating!

7.) Thrifting – I have always enjoyed going to yard or garage sale but I didn’t visit that many thrift stores to intentionally look for things that I need. For the last half of the year my power word has been “intention”, and I started being more intentional about all the things in my life. I have created lists of ways I can be more intentional with the way I shopped to support my longing to live a more sustainable and mindful lifestyle. I think this alone deserves its own post but pretty much, I made the decision to write down things that I need and things that I like or want. For those things I created a list of non-negotiable rules, for example: price/budget, colours, size, material, texture, brand/company (to avoid or to look for) etc… When it came to looking for things I followed 3 steps before buying new. First is to see if I already have it or something similar that I can fix or upcyle to make do. Second is to ask my immediate family and close friends if they have it, if I can borrow it when I need it or if it’s permanent, If they don’t need it- can I purchase it from them? Third is to look at thrift stores, yard sales and other second hand options because usually if they are still in good condition, that they are a good quality. My final last resort is to buy them new if I really really need them.I’ve thrifted a lot of amazing books to read and to use for decor like encyclopedias or coffee table reads.

*Tip – Another option for tools, seasonal and barely used things is to rent them. I would even expand and post it in my facebook or social accounts to see if someone in my community has it and willing to let go of it, if they are not using them any longer. Thrifting is the most sustainable way to live through live and the things that we need. My family and I now enjoy thrifting together whenever we go to other places outside of our town. Do you enjoy thifting too?

8.) Annotating – I thrifted a book with lots of notes left on the pages and it inspired me to do the same! I use to fold the pages of the books that I find inspiring and want to go back to for motivation and teachings but I’ve never really left notes to reflect back on what ideas and beliefs that I’ve identified with or can relate to. Even marking the pages with hearts, stars and underlining vaulable words, wisdom and paragraphs that I resonate with to remember them by. I have told my kids to do the same to their books to help them comprehend the book better.

*Tip – use pencil whenever possible and use circles, stars, hearts and other drawable emoji’s to help you remember the emotions orhow the ideas and words got you feeling. I’m sure there’s a productive and strategic way to do this and I’ll learn more in 2025 so I can report back because I find it so useful plus it makes me enjoy the book that much more.

9.) Air fryer – I can’t believe I’m including this but I am so impressed with this appliance. I’ve now been playing around with recipes to use it instead of deep frying meats. It also cooks the food way faster and crispier! But not all things come out well like pizza pops and things with thick breading or crust. I haven’t played around with all the options but I want to share recipes once I ace them consistently. For sure my family has been enjoying lots of fries and air fried pork that are crispy to perfection! Yummmmm.

*Tips – do your research on the brand and their features because they’re not made or designed the same. Mine has the griller but I haven’t used that option. I will report back on progress and more tips once I get the hang of it.

10) Skating – This is very surprising to me. This year my kids have gone to skating field trips and they reall enjoy it. Glen has taken them a couple of times and somehow have convinced me to try. I actually haven’t skated since elementary or highschool! I’m so scared of hurting myself that I’ve been opting to use the skating aid that look like walkers to help me get the hang of it. I’ve gone 3 times now and the last time I tried to skate without them and I’m still so fearful of falling and hurting myself. The skates also hurt my feet so it’s hard to stay on the ice for too long. I guess after 30 minutes of skating, it does get tiring. I skate mostly alone while Glen, the kids and all the crowd skate around me. It get’s embarssing for me sometimes BUT I just do it anyway. I’ve met a few other moms and first timers who started learning too. It makes me excited and hopeful that one day I wont need those skating aids and can confidently while safely skating around the rink. I hope to try out other sports and activities next year to get me out of my comfort zones and also to add new challenges in my life. I’m documenting this journey and process that I’m going to be mentioning again in the future.

*Tips – Make sure to bring earphones or headphones so you can play your own music! Bring your own helmet or borrow the ones they have at the rink. If skating is something your family seems to really enjoy especially the kids, look into yearly membership pass. Our local rink is only $39 for the whole year! and it comes with free rentals. Sooooo good! I really love our community centre, so grateful for this.

This blog post sat in my drafts for almost a month that it went from 5 things to 10 things because I tried more in the last 4 weeks. Maybe it was meant to be so that you can hopefully get inspired to try some of these or something similar.

What about you? What are your favourite things that you discovered or tried this year? Or new ones you want to try for 2025?

I can’t believe tomorrow is New Years Eve! AHhhhhh! This year is finally OVER!

Now onto the next to welcome new challenges, opportunities and uncover more possibilities!

Cheers! Happy New Year to you and your beautiful family 🤍

See you in 2025

ox.ox. Zen