Monday Muse: Seven Inspirations for the Week

Taking Risks, A Vintage Porsche, Self Love and Self Image and Changing Your World in 21 Days!

1/ The book I’ve been reading this week:

I know I mentioned this book last week, but I’ve been reading a different chapter each week for the last couple of months and it’s too good not to keep sharing it with you!

In Chapter 7 of Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill delves into the importance of organised planning as the foundation for turning desires into reality. He emphasises that no one ever achieves success on their own, having a well thought out plan and the right people around you is crucial.

Hill talks about the power of a Mastermind Group, a collective of like-minded individuals who support each other in achieving their goals. This group becomes an essential part of your plan, providing not only support but also different perspectives and ideas that you might not have considered.

Hill stresses that having a plan is one thing, but being willing to adjust it when necessary is another. Flexibility is key. Often, the first plan won’t work out, and that’s okay.

The important thing is to not give up when things don’t go as expected, but to adapt and refine your approach. Persistence and the ability to revise your plans are what ultimately lead to success.

The chapter is a reminder that while dreams and desires are important, they need to be backed up by practical, actionable plans.

It’s about being strategic and methodical, but also having the tenacity to keep going, even when the path to success is less straightforward than anticipated.

2/ What I’m grateful for this week:

I’m grateful for two things this week, rest and my friends. Last week was a challenging one! That’s an understatement. It was a really tough week. I thought by now that I wouldn’t have weeks like this but I think it’s all part of the process. After all it’s going to take a while to adjust to not being with someone that I had been with for 33 years.

So my body forced me this week to listen and I rested. And I cried, a lot. I’m grateful that I have the sort of life where I can slacken off a bit when I need to and actually I think that’s what my body was telling me this week. “G, you’ve just been pushing it a bit too far!”

So I’ve spent time in my garden, relaxing in the sun, reading some books. I’ve watched Netflix when I ‘should’ be working. I’ve gotten up late when I’m normally up and out of bed by 6.30/7, this week it’s been 10 or even 11.

Oh, and my friends! I don’t think they realise how much I needed them this week. A last minute dinner invite on Tuesday, Thursday afternoon catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen for a few weeks and neither of us believing it was 5pm when we finally paused for breath! Then a Thursday evening glass of wine in my garden with my friend, just being.

All prepared me and strengthened me for a truly awful day on Friday when I hardly got out of bed and cried so much. I had been divorced for 3 months on Friday.

Then a fun day yesterday that was totally unexpected. I had just gotten out of the shower, and there was a knock on the door. It was the same friends that had been checking in on me all week. They’d arrived in their vintage Porsche ready to whisk me off to lunch in style. We laughed a lot and sat in the sun, eating lunch and listening to some really good live music.

I came home and I realised that yes, I do need to process my losses, and sometimes I’m still going to feel sad, but really I have SO much. I am surrounded by beautiful people in a beautiful place.

At the end of my life I think that will be what counts, don’t you?!

3/ My favourite quote this week:

You know when you read something and it just hits you?! When you say out loud, Oh I love that! This was one of those quotes for me.

“So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?”
― Hunter S. Thompson

I think this quote sums up exactly what it means to truly live rather than just exist.

It makes me think about the times I've taken risks, faced challenges, and pushed myself out of my comfort zone. Those moments, though often difficult, have been the most rewarding, they’ve shaped who I am and brought a deep sense of fulfillment.

On the other hand, when I've played it safe, sticking to what’s familiar, life has felt stagnant, like I was just going through the motions. Thompson's words remind me that real happiness comes from embracing the storms of life, taking chances, and fully engaging with the world around us.

It's a call to live boldly, to step off the shore, and to seek out the experiences that make life truly rich and meaningful.

I’m grateful that at 55 I have definitely braved the storms of life and have truly lived. I hope I never stop!

4/ My healthy tip of the week:

I have 4 brief healthy tips for you today!

1. Take Your Vitamins. No matter how healthy you eat or what diet you follow, it can be difficult for your body to get all of the nutrients it needs from food.

2. Make Good Snacking Choices. Even if we are not nibbling all day I think most of us snack sometimes, maybe while watching TV or reading a book. But we can make good choices that are still tasty. Think about raw veggies with a guacamole dip, dark chocolate with a handful of almonds, goji berries, nuts, Greek yoghurt with berries. You get the idea!

3. Something I’m going to start doing this week after reading a suggestion from a fellow writer is to Schedule Rest Time. I know it’s important, but I often feel as if I need to be doing something! But what if I scheduled an hour or two a couple of times a week just to read a book for no reason, relax in my garden or actually finish a page in my colouring book?!

4. Get Moving and Get Fresh Air. As a writer I spend a lot of time sitting so I make myself run upstairs for no reason, walk barefoot to the bottom of my garden or just sit outside on my front steps in the sun for a couple of minutes. It’s incredibly rejuvenating!

5/ This is what I’ve been studying this week:

This week, I’ve been diving into the work of Maxwell Maltz (again!), particularly his ideas about self-image, which are truly fascinating. Maltz, a plastic surgeon turned author, realised that while he could change a person’s physical appearance, the real change often needed to happen on the inside. He discovered that our self-image, the way we see ourselves, plays a crucial role in shaping our lives.

Maltz says that our self-image is like a blueprint for our lives. It dictates what we believe we can achieve, how we interact with others, and even what we think we deserve.

If our self-image is negative or limiting, it acts as a barrier, holding us back from reaching our full potential. But the powerful thing Maltz teaches is that our self-image isn’t fixed, we can change it, and by doing so, we can change our lives.

So how do we go about changing our self-image? Maltz suggests that it begins with visualisation and affirmations. By consistently visualising the person we want to become and affirming positive beliefs about ourselves, we start to rewire our brains.

Over time, these new, positive images replace the old, limiting ones. It’s about building new habits of thought, which then lead to new behaviours and, ultimately, new results.

What struck me most about Maltz’s approach is its simplicity and accessibility. We don’t need to be stuck with a self-image that doesn’t serve us.

With patience and practice, we can reshape how we see ourselves and, in turn, open up new possibilities in every area of our lives.

It’s a powerful reminder that real change starts from within, and that by changing our inner world, we can transform our outer world too.

6/ This is what I’ve been listening to on repeat:

I’ve always loved this song, but I couldn’t listen to it for a long time as it made me too sad.

This week I’ve put a different spin on it. When life throws a curveball we don’t immediately see the blessings. The song starts off “I've gotta take a little time”, and he sings about thinking things over.

So I realised that this all applies to me. I’ve had the opportunity to ‘take time’ to think this over. I’ve had solitude and quiet and peace like you don’t get when you are in a relationship. The things I’ve been able to think over have been, who am I, just as me and what do I want? Things I’ve never asked myself before.

I’ve been able to show myself love in a way I didn’t do before, I didn’t know how as I had never taken the time.

It has felt like a ‘mountain I must climb’ and ‘a world upon my shoulders’ at times. But I wasn’t about to give up on myself. I wanted to know what it would feel like to truly love myself and I’m finding out now.

It means I put myself first, not in a selfish way, but in a way that I tend to what I need so I can be there for others. For instance this morning I debated on doing my yoga as I was starting it later than I planned and knew I had this post to write which takes a few hours! But then I thought, I need that yoga for my health, mental and physical. I’ve learned that it is part of a routine that keeps me balanced. I can’t write about all that and not live it!

So maybe you too need to, take a little time, a little time to look around. Like me you may realise, I've got nowhere left to hide. Looks like self-love has finally found me!

7/ My favourite meditation this week:

Who doesn’t want to bring more love, abundance and happiness into their life?

I’m creating a 21-day meditation course. The first week focuses on gratitude, the second on love and the third on abundance.

I know we all lead very busy lives and not everyone is able to set aside an hour or even 30 minutes a day to meditate. So I’m designing this course to be done in just 15 minutes a day.

None of the meditations are longer than 10 minutes and there are just two simple journal prompts to answer each day. It’s that simple, and I guarantee that starting your day off this way will change your life in only 3 weeks.

So I’d like some feedback on what you think of the first day’s meditation below. Feel free to message me or leave a comment.

I’ll include the first day’s journal prompts too. These are designed to be done at the end of the day. So you start and end your day with gratitude.

Three Blessings Journal Prompt:

Prompt: End the day by quickly jotting down three things that happened today for which you are grateful. These can be as simple as a moment of silence, a kind gesture from a stranger, or something you accomplished. Reflect on why each experience was meaningful to you.

Gratitude Reflection Prompt:

Prompt: Reflect on one challenge you faced today and find a positive aspect or lesson it brought you. How has this challenge shown you what is truly important or helped you grow? Write down your thoughts in a few sentences.

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What did you think of this week’s Monday Muse?! I hope you’ve found it inspiring and helpful.

I only share what has helped me and what I find inspiring, so please let me know in the comments whether it has helped you too and which of the 7 you liked most.

See you next week.

Love Georgia xx

I love sharing with you what has helped me, but I do need to earn money from my writing.

As you can imagine a huge amount of work goes into making my meditations and writing my articles. So if you do feel inclined please consider becoming a paid subscriber. All subscribers get free goodies! Plus I very much appreciate the support!

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P.S. Don’t miss Chapter 7 of my book The Synergy Game on Thursday!

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