Amiga, Let's Talk
Amiga, Let's Talk
Discover how to reset your life: A fresh start with practical tools and strategies
What if you could reset your entire life and business with just a few simple tools and strategies? Join me, Damaris Ramirez, as I share my transformative journey on this episode of "Amigas Let's Talk." From tackling the chaotic world of home renovations to managing client projects, I'll introduce you to the magic of self-reflection, digital journaling with Penzu and Day One, and the power of setting SMART goals. Discover how Trello can become your best ally in organizing both personal and professional tasks, ensuring that you stay on top of your game every single day.
But that's not all—we're also diving deep into the quest for a healthy lifestyle. I open up about my experiences with Pilates, the struggles of weight loss, and the importance of a strong support system. Learn how decluttering with the Tody app can clear not just your space but also your mind. Whether you're creating vision boards with Canva or finding joy in passion projects, this episode is packed with actionable self-care and personal development strategies. I also recommend reading "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brene Brown to help you embrace your flaws and live authentically. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that could very well be the reset button you've been searching for.
Hello and welcome to Amigas let's Talk, the show where we discuss life and business and everything in between. I am your host, damaris Ramirez, and every week we will bring you stories and insights, hopefully to inspire you to think differently. My goal is that every woman lives her best life. So, amiga, grab a cup of coffee or tea and let's talk. So, amiga, I'm back. I'm back doing these podcasts, trying to share the message, trying to create a community where we can share ideas and help one another. But before we get back into that, I thought in this first episode, back.
Speaker 1:I talk about resetting your life, specifically resetting my life and my business and the things that I've done to be able to get back on track. The first thing that I did was think about self-reflection and journaling, so spending time every day writing about my thoughts, feelings, goals, from the very beginning in the morning, reflecting on what makes me happy and making sure that I was being able to silence my mind. There's a quote that says the soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind, so part of that is putting it all down on paper. To silence the mind, so part of that is putting it all down on paper. I personally like using a journal and writing my thoughts down using a beautiful fountain pen. If you're the kind of person that wants to do this, but you're more of an online you know everything is on your phone then there's options for you. Two of them that I considered were Penzu and Day One, and maybe one day I'll do that or use those options if I'm traveling and I forget my notebook. But they both have free options and also the in-app paying services. So look into them Penzu and Day One and those might be ones that might work for you. And, don't worry, if you're driving, I will include all of the items that I mentioned on this podcast, on the show notes which you can get if you are going to the platform that you listen to your podcast and then you're going to be able to click on this episode specifically, and there should be a link to show notes and through there you can get a copy of the items with some links so that you can have the information available if you need it or if you think someone is going through a tough time and they are now trying to get back on track and you want to just, you know, share this link, this podcast. That might be helpful too.
Speaker 1:The next thing that I did was I set some goals for myself, some clear, achievable goals, and you know I decided, in order to do that, I would use the you know, always mentioned SMART goals, which stands for being specific, making sure it's measurable, making sure it's attainable and relevant and that it's time bound, that there's a specific time that I'm expecting to get that task done by. And that was because I have a lot to do. I have a lot going on and you know we all have the same amount of hours in a day and in order for me to prioritize, I need to make sure that I write things down. And that I'm specific Also allows me to prioritize the things that need to be done for the day. And you know I mean you have to be realistic. Sometimes you can't get it all done, especially if you're going through a difficult time at the time or if you're just getting through a difficult time. You know, slowly you're going to get back to where you were once before, maybe just a new, normal Right. So you want to sit down and try to, you know, write down what are the things that you want to be able to accomplish daily, weekly, possibly monthly, weekly, possibly monthly and then be able to go back and see how you're doing with those tasks, because you can easily be distracted by your thoughts. So, again, there are specific tools that I use.
Speaker 1:I personally love, and have used for years, the app called Trello. I love it, I use it for work and, uh, also life. Um, it's a system, it's an app where you're creating cards and then, via these cards, you basically list what your items are that you want to accomplish. Um, then you could also attach deadlines to them and then you could, you know, really do some tracking on the progress. You could also share the information. I know my husband has one. There are times when we've had renovations in the house and we both have the Trello app and we use the free version and we're able to share and we're also able to, once we get a task done, move it over to the next column. You know we have a done column so that we know, ok, these things still need to be accomplished. I've even used it if I am hosting I know I've used it to host, like Thanksgiving dinner to make a list of what are all the things that I need to do so I'll have. I'll have a card that items to buy at the supermarket or guests to invite, or, you know, menu, a list for the menu.
Speaker 1:It's really user friendly and easy. You're like you know dragging things over from one list to the menu. It's really user-friendly and easy. You're like you know dragging things over from one list to the other, but you can clearly see where things are. And for business, I like it for many ways, and one of the things is listing my client, my active clients, right? Maybe non-active clients? Maybe those are the clients that I want to follow up with. Then I could also use it for projects, listing what are the items that I need to accomplish for this project and then, as I'm moving along, I can move those items over. So for me, that's the one that I like to use. There are many out there that you can use. I I tend to stick to what I know works and what I'm used to, and so that's the one I have that I'm using currently for my goals.
Speaker 1:The next thing that I've really done for resetting my life is practicing mindfulness and meditation, so that is something that every day, from the minute I wake up. It helps me to reduce stress and increase clarity. It's a process that everybody can do differently, process that everybody can do differently, and I think the word meditation sometimes for people it's a little scary if they don't know what they need to do, but really it can be done in any space. Your version of quiet time it might not be the same version that I have. You might want to use a tool or you might not. You might want to just sit quietly in a space where you can get your thoughts all together.
Speaker 1:For me, I can do many things.
Speaker 1:I can meditate quietly in a corner or I can use tools like the Calm app. That's one that anybody can use. They have the free option. They have a guided meditation. So if you're someone who feels like I think that might help me, but I don't even know where to start, you can go to the Calm app and they will have actual people guiding you through the meditation, speaking to you, and they also have different amounts of time. So let's say you have limited time, let's say you only have five minutes, or let's say you want a longer meditation, for like 30 minutes, that you have that option too. So there's the Calm app that has some really good guided meditation. So there's the Calm app that has some really good guided meditation, and then there's also other kinds of devices that you know are multifunctional, for example the Hash tool, and it's basically something that you keep in your nightstand and I have to tell you, for me that was life-changing.
Speaker 1:I got it a couple of years ago for the purpose of improving my sleep routines, because I tend to just do so much during the day that then at night I can't sleep. All the thoughts, all the ideas of what I did during the day, or what I need to accomplish, what I didn't accomplish, what I need to accomplish tomorrow, they start racing through my head and then the next thing, you know, it's two, three, four in the morning, and now it's the next day and I didn't get enough sleep. So that little device why I love it is that it also has lights. So it has a series of different lights that also help you, your brain, to understand. You know when you should be getting up and slowly change can change from resting to sleeping, to waking up in the morning. So the lights will change and you can adjust the colors that you want. So it's definitely a multifunctional tool with light and sound features that have helped me in having a better sleep routine. It does also have the meditation options, the guided meditations, that you can select via the app, and it does allow you to have some free functions. But if you wanted to increase the options, then you can do the monthly plan, which is what I have.
Speaker 1:At first I thought, well, this might be like the same as others that are out there, that you can buy the cheaper versions you know $10, $15 that have you know, sound and music. But after I purchased it and I think mine was, you know, a little bit over $100, you know I thought, oh, did I make a mistake? This is a little costly. But I saw that others were raving about it and I decided I would give it a chance. And, sure enough, after a while I realized I would wake up and I didn't even remember when I went to sleep. I think the brain starts adjusting to the different light versions and you know it's specifically timed and so if you continue and every day, use it regularly, it does really improve your sleep routines At least it did for me. So it might be worth you trying. You could always return it. It doesn't work for you, but again, the name of the actual tool is called the hash and it looks like kind of like an egg a little bit, and I'll leave the link below.
Speaker 1:None of these items that I'm referring to are items that I'm getting an incentive from. They're not sponsored. They're just my personal ideas that I thought you might be interested in. All right, the next thing that I started focusing on is professional development. Now, that is something I do all the time, but during these tough times, obviously everything had to go to a stop. I didn't attend any courses for almost eight months. I didn't take any workshops, I wasn't meeting with my accountability partner. None of that was happening because life took over. I needed to focus on being with my daughter, being with family, grieving. That took a lot of time, but now that I'm back, I'm starting to go back and attend courses, go to conferences. You know slowly getting back into it, and that's a key that you do things slowly when you're resetting.
Speaker 1:If you can't afford to go to conferences or you rather do things online, you can look into Coursera or EDX. They also have free online courses from Harvard, mit and Berkeley and you're able to audit some courses at no fee and access their content. So you can do that. There's also learning through LinkedIn. Linkedin offers free one month trial for you to check out their courses for on business and those. I have done those. They're pretty good.
Speaker 1:I did it for a while. I don't think I have it now, but a you know, everything is worth trying to see what's a best fit for you and then if you really need to have the minimum investment possible basically free then you can always go to the public library. There are local options right. Go to your community college, go to the public library, go to your local chambers of commerce. There are some local options for you to continue with your professional development. Or if you're getting back into working or your entrepreneurial project in you know you've had a gap in income then that might be the way you have to go until you get back on track, but that's okay. The key is that you start, that you start doing something and that you get back on track on the things that you were working on. That we're going to really be what we're going to take you to success. The next thing that I had to do is really incorporate a healthy routine and that's incorporating regular exercise, a balanced diet, in addition to, as I mentioned before, getting sufficient sleep, and this I knew and I know was going to help me with energy and well-being.
Speaker 1:I did find a book at the dollar store that is worth me mentioning because I'm really loving it. I'm still reading it and I really enjoy it, and the name of the book is Food Freedom Forever Letting Go of Bad Habits, guilt and Anxiety Around Food. The book is written by a woman, her name is Melissa Hartwig, and she talks about using food to distract and numb yourself, and when I read that in the beginning of the book, I thought absolutely, because I have gained a little bit of weight during this time and I know, you know, even though it's summer, I am committed to lose the pounds I gained, and so I could relate to her statement, and she has a really interesting story. I'm not going to get into it here. You can go get her book. As I said, it's Food Freedom Forever. Right now, she's a certified sports nutritionist and, you know, I think that you should definitely find ways to create a healthy routine for yourself, and that's whether you've have are going through something or have gone through something, it doesn't matter or right now your life is okay, we all need a healthy routine. So definitely that is something I am working on. For Mother's Day, my daughter got me a gift certificate for three private Pilates section, which I'm going to start next week, and I'm so excited.
Speaker 1:I was taking Pilates last year before all the craziness happened and I absolutely loved it and it was one of the things that I would go to regularly. And then I wasn't losing the weight, so I thought I'm going to cancel it and instead join a gym. Then I wasn't losing the weight, so I thought I'm going to cancel it and instead join a gym. And guess what happened? I mean, yes, I didn't go to the gym. So I think I'm going to go to these Pilates classes and if I really enjoy this space, I might renew or renew my club Pilates or sign up at this new place, because it's not the club Pilates, it's actually a different location. But and she thought that would be good because then I could, you know, compare and contrast with what I've done before and then figure out my other exercises that I need to also be doing. But, like I said, really important to establish that healthy routine. And then one of the things that definitely the next thing I want to mention and this is something that is key and really helped me through this time was having a great support system, connecting with people, and you know what I would say Having.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you just are so sad if you're going through something that you don't want to speak to anyone. So, for everyone listening to this podcast, if you know someone who's going through stuff, you need to reach out to them. You need to just call and say is you know, just checking in? You know you don't even bother saying are you? Okay, you could, but the reality is they're probably going through something very difficult and you might not be able to relate. Most of my friends would call and say just checking in. Just knowing that they were checking in really really was something that touched me and I realized you know, they really don't need anything from me. They don't want anything. They are just calling to check in and sometimes I needed that, you know, call to lift me and needed that community of family and friends to support me and motivate me, and you know you want to surround yourself with those kind of people. So definitely do that and definitely reach out to people if you know that they're going through something and, you know, offer your support.
Speaker 1:The next thing for reset that I've had to really focus on and this is this is a big one for me is decluttering and organizing, and that's because I didn't feel like cleaning and organizing. You know, when you are going through stuff, most of the time you're just thinking about what's going on and you know at least for me, maybe other people that's how they deal with stress. That was not how I dealt with stress. Ignoring it is how I dealt with stress. So you want to make sure that you can declutter. You know it helps you not only physically but mentally. It will help you mentally if you declutter, and that's what science has proven. You want to organize either your workspace, your living space, and you want to have a more conducive environment so that you can then be productive and you could be relaxed. And one of the ways that I found and at first I thought, oh, I don't know if this is going to work, but I love it.
Speaker 1:And this is the Tati app. That's T-O-D-Y Tati app. You have to get it if you're a busy person I would almost say even if you have a cleaning service this little app you put in all your rooms. Right, they have some rooms that already are listed, but you can edit and add your own. And then it helps you to organize and manage your cleaning tasks by breaking them down into smaller tasks. It even allows you to create custom cleaning plans. You can see the progress. There's little check marks when you say that you've completed something. It sends you reminders and notifications. You can share it with your family. You reminders and notifications. You can share it with your family, and it even has motivational features for cleaning your tasks by grouping things into goals and challenges. So I really, I really love it. I think you should check it out.
Speaker 1:All right, amiga, I'm going to give you three more things that I've done to reset. So one of them is pursuing my passion projects. So for me, I'm in my happy place. I have a background in art and taking time to do hobbies, to do activities that I'm passionate about. For me, that's what has rejuvenated my spirit and that is what I really enjoy. For you, it might not be that it might not be hobbies, but there's many things that you can do to pursue passion projects and you know I'll give you an idea of some of them here.
Speaker 1:You can create a vision board for yourself. Get some magazines or print some things, and you know I'll give you an idea of some of them here. You can create a vision board for yourself. Get some magazines or print some things, and you know it's the activity of actually putting them on a board, cutting it out, taping it, thinking about it and then having it around. We've all heard about these vision boards. They now have online vision boards. I believe you can create one on Canva. So if you don't have poster board, you can. You can create one on Canva. So if you don't have poster board, you can at least create one on Canva. I actually haven't, but I think I'm going to, because I know that then you can put that as your screensaver, which then you see it every day, and I love that idea. So I think I'm going to do that and create one one of these weekends.
Speaker 1:You can also attend events or shows for me. I've attended a couple of shows lately and I decided let me try something new Again. This is so that your mind can focus on new things. If it's something new, then it's harder for you to be present. It's harder for you to be present and distracted by thoughts that you're having. So one of the things that I did is.
Speaker 1:The first thing I think that I did is I purchased tickets to go to the opera. I've never been to the opera. I actually loved the opera. I didn't even know what to expect. So the anticipation of going to the opera and honestly, I bought two tickets but I told my husband, you can come, or if you're not interested, then I'll find a friend. If I doing things, even if no one can go with you, then just go on your own. But you need to get out, you need to do things. I say, more importantly, do new things, as I said before, because that's going to help you really to be present, and I really enjoyed it. I also went to Cirque du Soleil, which I love, and I think the last thing that I did was that was new was I went to the Ballet Hispanico, which was beautiful in New York City. So again, go on your own or go with a friend, but definitely go out and do some passion projects.
Speaker 1:And the next thing that I want to mention that I also do is practice gratitude, and that I usually do in the evenings in my journal and I just basically write down. You know what are the things that I'm thankful for for that day, especially having gone through a difficult time and the time that my daughter so you can imagine has gone through just being grateful that you know she's okay and that she's going to be okay, and that you know life just sometimes we have challenges and we have to get through them. Besides having a journal, I did check out an app called Gratitude. It's a mobile app that can help you with habits of gratitude, and I thought it was pretty. I thought that it had some good prompts. It also has inspirational quotes that you can see every day, that you can even share on Instagram or social media platforms. So I thought that part of it was good.
Speaker 1:The only thing I didn't like is some of the functions that I wanted to use are paid and I was only using the trial. So I don't know if you've used the Gratitude app. Comment below or comment in the show notes. So if you've used the Gratitude mobile app, let below or comment in the show notes. So if you've used the gratitude mobile app, let me know. Let me know what your thoughts are and what you think about it and if you're still using it, and then maybe I'll consider it again.
Speaker 1:And then the last number 10 item for reset that I am doing and that I would highly recommend for you is to prioritize yourself, prioritize self-care and relaxation. And there's a quote that says almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes. And that is including you. And I thought that was funny because all the times that I've called when I used to have cable I would call and say my cable's not working they always said why don't we unplug it for 10 seconds? So when I heard this quote, I said, oh, that sounds really, really nice. Yes, let's unplug, and you know, hopefully we'll work again. So you know, try to do and prioritize yourself, prioritize self-care.
Speaker 1:Have a spa day. If you can't go to the spa, then have one at home. You can always go to the dollar store. They sell masks there. They'll sell lotions. Also, they sell nail polish. You can have a spa day at home.
Speaker 1:Um, and you know, these are just some inexpensive or free. You can go outdoor, take a scenic walk, you can do, as we've discussed earlier, journaling and writing. And one of the ones that is really good for self care and prioritizing yourself and accepting yourself is a book by Brene Brown and the title of it is the Gifts of Imperfection, and in this book she wants you to embrace your imperfections, she wants you to live wholeheartedly and she gives advice on how to cultivate a more authentic and fulfilling life. It's a nice book, I think you know. It's a good read for everyone, especially if you're trying to prioritize self-care. So here you have it, amigas my 10 ways that I've been able to reset my life. I hope these are helpful for you or a friend, and definitely I want you to come back and get the PDF of the list, like I said, of all these items.
Speaker 1:I'm looking forward to having you all in my community again. Invite a friend and we'll be talking soon. Thanks, thank you for making Amiga's let's Talk part of your day. We hope you enjoyed listening to today's episode and be sure to hit the subscribe button to get notified when we release the next one. And if you know someone who would enjoy the show, please share it with them. I would really appreciate it. Thanks for listening and remember to smile, listen and be patient. Today Until next time. Bye. Today, until next time, bye, thank you, thank you.