Hi guys, how are you doing? Did you have a nice weekend?

Our little family got in the car and headed to Exeter to see as many friends as possible in one weekend. It was lovely! We even managed to squeeze in a lunch with all of Garths family on Sunday.

Ace had such a good time with his 3 cousins, his little friend Carlo and he also got to play with a 12-week old puppy… Little Albie the cavapoo. Guess whats Aces favorite word is now. Albie, Albie, Albie. Everything is Albie now.

It was an intense couple of days, but exactly what we all needed.

This is my focus, mantra, vision, and goal for this week:

My mantra this week– “Healthy body, healthy mind”. My stomach ulcer is a lot better. So I have decided to come off my pills and try to heal my body naturally instead. I don’t want to be stuck eating pills for the rest of my life. Instead, I’m doing my best to reduce stress, eat really well and do yoga at least 2 times every week.

I eat a lot less meat than I used to, I barely drink alcohol at all, I stay away from things that are fried or spicy and I’m eating a lot more veg. The only thing I can’t give up is coffee. I have to have a cup every morning, for my sanity and creativity. But I am trying to have it with coconut milk instead of regular milk. To see if it makes any difference.
Too often we treat the symptoms instead of the actual problem. And in my case, the problem is stress and an unbalanced diet. I much rather address those things than taking pills.

My affirmation this week  – “We can change almost everything”. If we head down a path that doesn’t lead anywhere, we can just reverse back to where we came from. We can choose a new and different route to before, discover another way of doing things or just bring out the machete and make our own path in the jungle of life.

All we need to do to change something is to make the decision. Of course, change itself can take time, but at least then you have started the process. And if it doesn’t work out, hit reverse and try something else. It’s really that simple.

My goal this week – I’m going to clear out my books this week. It’s step 2 in our Marie Kondo journey. I have actually done most of them already, but I have a few more to get rid of. I don’t really know what to do with the Swedish books I have? I’m not sure Save the children here in the UK will be able to sell them. Any suggestions?

My dream of the week – I want to buy a big stone barn in a lovely spot in the countryside and redevelop it. It would be amazing to remove one of the walls and replace it with as much glass as possible. Then the living room could have the full ceiling height and the second floor could be a mezzanine. It would be really cool to keep one original large stone wall throughout the house. The contrast between glass and old stone is just stunning.

My vision this week – ” A calm and relaxed Tess with my feet on the table, wearing fluffy slippers and sipping on a nice cup of tea. Ace is playing on the floor and I’m stroking my massive belly and wondering if our number 2 is a boy or a girl”. We want two kids, but to be completely honest I’m terrified of having to go through that first year again. I really struggled the first time. I’m not worried about the pregnancy, last time I felt great, so hopefully, I will be just as lucky next time.

It’s about having to still work when I have an infant. I had no help at all with Ace and I look back at that time remembering the feeling of never being able to put in enough time and energy anywhere. I was stretched past what any human should ever have to experience. I was blogging and pumping milk at the same time at 5 in the morning to be able to both keep my career and have a family. It was insane. On top of it all, I had horrible mastitis and a breast abscess… I have no idea how I even did it all.

If we are going to have a second child, then I’m either going to need a lot of help so I can work the 16-20 hours a week it will take to keep the blog/Instagram etc going. The other option is to quit completely. It would be horrible to get to the point where I had to choose between my career and another child. It makes me so angry to think about how these things only affect us women.

My focus this week  – I’m going to feed my soul positivity and inspiration. There is a noticeable difference between the weeks I make sure to go to bed earlier, so I have the time to read and those where I watch crap tv instead. As soon as I’m not feeding my creativity I end up losing momentum. So my focus now is to not overanalyze or give in to anything that zaps my energy. I want to surf the wave of positivity.

The event of the week – On Thursday I got a much-needed girls night planned with Gia and Josefina. We are going to a new restaurant in Shoreditch. It’s actually the perfect area for us all to meet, basically halfway between us. And there are loads of great places to try out. If I hang out in Shoreditch, does that make me hip and cool now?

My lesson from last week – Everything is a phase. When Ace isn’t sleeping and Garth and I become walking dead it’s easy to never see an end to the sleep deprivation. But then all of a sudden it changes and the child finally sleeps again. Halleluja! And we are trying to enjoy it as much as possible because we know that this is but a phase too.

My everyday-luxury this week – Tomorrow I’m heading to the salon to get my shellac done. I’m going to listen to a podcast and just get pampered for a little while. Bliss!

My inspiration this week – All of the people in the Facebook group “Sustainable sustainability”. We are discussing everything from palm oil to period cups and eco eggs. There are loads of great ideas, suggestions and tips flying around. If it sounds interesting, feel free to join us!

Have you decided on your focus, mantra, vision, and goal for this week yet?

Photos – Tomila Katsman. Now It’s my job to pick 20 photos from 90 of these contact sheets. Wish me luck! 

The whole point with Sustainable Sustainability is to make it really easy to be kind to the environment.

It’s for busy people like you and me, who can’t do everything, but can change a lot of small things. And together we can make a real difference. Little choices in our everyday life that won’t feel overwhelming or even like much of an effort at all.

So my journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle starts with something as simple as a reusable water bottle. 

I know it’s terribly basic, but surprisingly not all of us has made the switch yet. (Hrm me…) I think sometimes we overlook the smallest and simplest of things and focus too much on the grand gestures to mother nature.

First I had to find the perfect water bottle. I went for quite a fancy one – A collaboration between S’well and Liberty London. It’s terribly Tess! I love carrying it around since it’s almost like a fashion accessory in itself. (get your own here – adlink)

So far I have not only saved the ocean from more plastic, but I have also saved myself loads of money on bottled water on the go. Especially in airports (why are they sooo expensive?).

A third very unexpected perk of carrying around my water bottle is that I now always have water with me. So I’m a lot better hydrated than before. Not only is it keeping my brain on the top of its game (as much as it can be with very little sleep due to a tiny human who thinks night time is for partying), my skin is also over the moon.

See, there are basically no downsides to going reusable.

You don’t have to go for anything as fancy as mine. As long as you can fill it up, it’s easy to clean and has a good drip-free lid – go for it!

If you find all of this terribly interesting and would like to join us in the quest for a more sustainable lifestyle, one small thing at the time.  Please consider joining the Sustainable Sustainability Facebook group where we share lots of fun ideas, thoughts, and encouragement.

Photo – Ida Zander. My jumper is by Vila,  jeans by Monki and my S’well + Liberty water bottle here. – adlinks

You know what guys, I’m really enjoying this one-item-a-month challenge so far.

Hand on heart, I wasn’t sure if I could stick to only buying one thing for my wardrobe a month. But so far I’m having super fun with it. It makes me plan my purchases a lot more. I have a proper look at my wardrobe and I can see where the gaps are. As a former shopaholic, this is revolutionary.

What do I actually need?

So March is really the first spring month here in London and normally I buy my first pair of sneakers right around the time the cherry blossoms decide to cover the trees in the area like pink cotton wool. Most of the time I go for a white, simple Adidas-kind of sneaker for maybe £50. Simple, inexpensive and practical. Or so I thought. But if I have a good look at my credit card statement, then I see a not as uplifting pattern.

I get one pair of white sneakers in Marc…then another pair in June…and one in Agust… and possibly even a last pair in October. Because I go for the “cheap” option, I don’t tend to take very good care of them and they get old and boring pretty quickly. Then I demote them to “park-shoes” to wear when I go to the park with Olive and Ace.

When I did my Marie Kondo clear out I counted 5 identical pairs of not-so-white-anymore “park-shoes”.

So silly and really not inexpensive or useful. That is not what I need in my life.

I need a pair of really nice sneakers that I can wear to castings, meetings, or even events. I have lots of every-day shoes already, so it’s time to get a pair I really love.

So my goal in March is to find the perfect pair of luxe sneakers. And I’m gonna make sure I take bloody good care of them. It’s meant to be an investment that will last me a while. Not to be demoted to “park-shoes” after a month or two.

In the collage above are all my favorites from Net-A-Porter at the moment.

I know that the whole “ugly sneaker” trend is burning hot at the moment. But it’s just not for me. They look super cool on other bloggers, but I just feel clumsy and wrong when I try them on. So no ugly sneakers for me.

I did, however, include the pair från Alexander McQueen in my luxe sneakers edit if you happen to be a person who can get away with this trend. But for me personally, it’s between the Saint Laurent, Golden Goose or Givenchy sneakers. I love the furry ones from Fendi, but I’m not sure my PPW would be particularly good. They are not as versatile as some of the others.

Ok, tell me. Do you have a luxe sneaker favorite? Maybe one that’s not in the collage that can make my decision even harder?

Luxe sneakers (adlinks)

As you would read…
Saint Laurent
Gucci
Dolce & Gabbana
Golden Goose Deluxe Brand
Aquazurra
Fendi
Givenchy
Valentino
Alexander McQueen

Fancy knowing what I put my hard earn cash into in January or February? Click the links!

A great skill I have learned recently is to know how to regulate my pace depending on my circumstances. 

I used to be one of those people with a very strict schedule. Who had a to-do list with a set amount of tasks to get done every day. I had a number of both Swedish and English blog posts to hit every week. I wanted to go to at least so and so many castings. Posts this many Instagram posts and attend a specific amount of meetings. At the same time, I was going to cook all of Aces organic food from scratch, not give in to screentime at all and only have him in the nursery for 12 hours a week.

Basically, I tried to be super-woman.

Until I realized that life is not that predictable. To assume I will get the same amount done every week is totally naive. I will only end up over-stretching myself or feeling bad about not having done enough. How silly!

I can’t lead life, life has to lead me.

These days I go with the flow. Some weeks I will be slowing right down and others I’m free to sprint ahead. I will probably end up doing the same amount of stuff anyway, just in a different rhythm. And I get to keep my inspiration and motivation.

Right now Ace is in some phase that makes him wake up every 15 minutes (I’m serious!). Last night I had to stop returning to my own bed and ended up folding myself into origami to fit next to him in his crib instead. It was the only way to make him sleep for a few hours. Daytime he is completely over-tired and not a happy bunny at all. So this week is challenging. It hurts my mom-heart to see him this sad. I don’t care about my sleep. But he really needs his on a completely different level. I always have coffee…

So obviously this is not a week for sprinting.

So I re-schedule meetings, lower the bar and only do the absolute essentials. To make sure I’m free to focus on him and his needs. Then if he is feeling better next week, I will pick up the slack. ( If I haven’t done my back in from sleeping in a tiny crib)

As my lovely friend Josefina reminded me on Whatsapp this morning – “This too shall pass”. Our lives will be filled with ups and downs and it’s up to us to come up with ways to cope.

Btw, does anyone else have these problems around 17-18 months? Is it a typical sleep regression?

After that big rant, are you ready for my mantra, vision, goal, & affirmation this week? 

My mantra this week– “Back to basic”. Where will the little bit of energy I have left do most good this week? There is no space for any extras when we have rough patches with Ace. So I need to be really good at prioritizing to make sure the basics get done. The rest moves over to my to-do list for next week.

My affirmation this week – “I’m a good mom”. When we see our kids unhappy, it’s really easy to start wondering if we are doing something wrong. These kinds of thoughts will lead us down the worst kind of rabbit hole and nothing good will come from it. It’s completely natural for kids to go through stages. Think about how much their brains are growing, the nerves are making new connections and the body is working hard to grow and function even better. Imagine if we had to go through the same things as grownups, we would never have managed. So our kids are basically tiny superheroes.

My goal this week – I need to hit my 2 hot yoga classes at Yogahaven. If my exercise goes, I fall apart. So this has to be a priority. You can only pour from a full cup.

My dream of the week – I dream of a giant bookshelf filled only with books  I love and will read over and over. I have started collecting all the books from the house into one pile for the next step of our Marie Kondo clear-out. aIt’s looking like only about 30% tops will get to stay. I will keep the classics and the really useful stuff. Fiction and silly books a lá “How to be Parisian” can go to the charit shop. ( I do not want to be Parisian. There are way too many stupid “cool” rules to follow. Why would you ever try to fake authenticity?)

My vision this week – I have started putting together a vision board for myself on Pinterest this week.  A recurring theme is a large house with big windows, a view, in the middle of nature. I want to be able to see the stars at night and hear the bird song in the morning. I have had enough of smog and shouting foxes going through bins at night.

My focus this week  – Ace. This week I’m all his. He is obviously going trough something difficult and I want to be there for him. These moments will define who he will be as a person later on and the least I can do is to be supportive as he is battling it out.

The event of the week  – We are off to Exeter to see Garth’s best friends this weekend coming up. I hope nature, fresh air and a change of scenery will do us all good.

My lesson from last week – Have opinions and stick up for them. It’s easy as an “influencer” to not dare to say what’s on our minds. There will always be people who don’t agree. Considering how many we actually reach on a daily basis, it would be weird otherwise. So sometimes it’s easier to bite our tounges instead of taking the fight. But in the end, it should be based on what’s right for us, not on fear of a backlash. Discussions are important. They are there to make sure we get the full 360 view on a subject. The balance is to stand our ground without getting pig-headed. Noone is always right.

My everyday-luxury this week – It’s Garths birthdays tomorrow, so Cathy is coming over to watch Ace and I’m taking my dear hubby out for a nice meal. The times when we get to be Garth & Tess / man & wife instead of Mom & Dad are really important to our marriage. It’s a chance for us to reconnect on a different level.

My inspiration this week – I’m following this Instagram account called @BossBabe on Instagram and even though the name sounds a bit cliché I really love it. I love opening up my feed and find little words of encouragement. After my #MINDFLUENCING campaign, I have done a big Marie Kondo clean of my Instagram and only kept the accounts that spark joy and I’m really truly enjoying the app so much more now.

Have you had a chance to write down your mantra, vision, goal, & affirmation yet this week? 

Photo – Ida Zander. Location – Venn street Clapham. My jeans are by Monki and the amazing “Choose Love” T-shirt is sold in support for the charity “Help refugees”. I really think you need one! – Adlinks (Any adlink revenue from the t-shirt will go to the charity)

I love reading and I would spend my days doing only that if I could. However, since I became a mom it was one of the first things I chose to prioritize a lot less.

If I couldn’t have a shower, let alone unpack a dishwasher in a day, reading felt like a luxury I could not afford.
I saw it as me-time that was to be had whenever I had a bit of extra time to spare. And all parents know exactly how much extra time we have…

So I barely read at all for the first year of Ace’s life. Apart from children’s books… over and over again.

This was a major mistake on my behalf.

Not only did I feel exhausted and lonely, but I also lost a lot of my inspiration and motivation in life.

At the time I put it down to hormones. And of course, some of it probably was.
But what I have realized lately is that a lot of it had to do with not feeling like I had the time to read.

Because reading makes our world a lot bigger. We get to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and live their story for a while. It’s not only super liberating to get to dive into another reality, but it’s also educational.

I personally prefer to read business, mindfulness and motivational books. They feed me with the inspiration and motivation I need to be creative. If I don’t get my “fix” in a while I feel stagnant and bored.

So my goal this year is to read at least 3 books every month and so far it’s going pretty well. Sure some of the books are about parenting, and I do tend to need some easy fiction now and then, to just relax. But my favorites are still autobiographies and business books.

My latest discovery you might already have read – “Lean in” by Sheryl Sandberg, the very successful COO of Facebook (amongst other cool companies throughout her career).

Not only is Lean in an awesome book for women in business, but it also has a great chapter on the work-life balance conundrum and why we shouldn’t try to “have it all” as Mothers. She speaks about how women lose out on our careers when we chose to start families and the different ways to handle this. She also makes a great point why we should.

I also found the chapter on mentors and sponsors very interesting out of a business point of view. To be honest, the entire book is one of my favorite reads so far.

Lean in is a feminist/parent/business/mindfulness/self-help/biographic book you really should take the time to read. I found it terribly inspiring and motivational and my copy is filled with red marks, exclamation points and notes in the margin already.

I’m looking forward to finishing the last few pages in bed with a nice cup of tea tonight.

I have from now on decided to schedule reading as “work-time”. Just like I would with any other educational habit. Because reading is not me-time, it’s education. 

Photo – Ida Zander. Get Lean in here and my suit is by Asos, find the blazer here and trousers here, my t-shirt is by New Look – Adlinks

As a part of the new direction I’m taking on my social media platforms, I have decided to focus more on the things that truly matter to me and less on what makes me money/is cool/I “should” talk about…

On top of #MINDFLUENCING and One item a month challenge, I also want to introduce my latest concept – “Sustainable Sustainability”.

What is this, except for a tongue twister, you might wonder?

Well, In a world that is in need of some serious change if we want to keep inhabiting this planet, we all know we have to do our bit. However, we also have everyday lives, our own struggles and limited time, money and resources.

We all want to be perfect and do the right thing. But we can’t always fulfill the criteria of the “no-waste”, “low-CO2”, “pre-loved”, “no-meat”, no-plastic”, “save the insects” – efforts that are out there.

Don’t get me wrong they are all incredibly important, and I applaud every single person that works towards these goals.

But what about the rest of us? It’s really easy to feel like since we can’t be perfect, we won’t try at all. It is a bit of a jungle and the pressure of remembering/knowing how and having the availability to do the best for our planet can get quite high.

That’s where “sustainable sustainability” comes into play. The idea is that we all promise to be as environmentally sustainable as we can sustain in our everyday lives.

“Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something” – is the key here.

My job is to introduce the little changes you can do in your everyday life, that if enough of us do, we will make a difference. Your job will be to pick the things that suit you and you feel like you can sustain. Deal?

There is no pressure on anyone to do all of the things I will cover, but if you can make a few small changes, then you will be doing something very real and tangible in the effort of preserving our earth for future generations to come.

So from now on, every week I will introduce a sustainable sustainability task, that you can choose to join me in.

I’m in no way perfect, but I have a will to get better and if we all can make the journey together then we can support and encourage each other.

So let’s decide to give “Sustainable sustainability a go” and see where we end up? 

Please do also feel free to leave updates on your progress, your own sustainable sustainability tips and ideas and any thoughts you have on the subject on the “Sustainable sustainability” Facebook page. Let’s get talking and sharing.

Photo – Ida Zander. Location – The amazing no-plastic shop “Common” in Clapham Common, UK.

There are soooo many memes online about how horrible Mondays are. All I can think of is how people must hate their jobs!

Of course, it’s amazing to have the weekend off and to be able to spend quality time with our friends and family. But personally when Monday comes around I feel pretty ready to get going again. I’m excited for the new week and what it will bring. I used to have Monday-anxiety in the past, but these days it’s completely gone.

Now I can really look forward to getting to sit down with a nice cup of coffee in a café and just get to tap away at my laptop for a few hours. Maybe it’s because I have a kid and feel like my work time also double us as “me-time” or maybe it’s because I really love my job.

No matter what, it’s a great feeling to be excited and happy on a Monday.

I didn’t blog much last week, my goal is at least 3 post, preferably 5. I failed miserably last week with only 2…

But to my defense, I have 2 great reasons.

At first, I spent 48 hours at Soho Farmhouse with Facebook (I will make a post on the whole experience this week so you can see exactly what I have been up to. It was epic!). Then I caught a flight over to Stockholm to have meetings, see friends and family and go to a beauty awards gala. I was in the jury, so I felt like I really should make the effort to go. It was another great 24 hours. But now I’m so ready to just stay in London and get back into my normal routine.

Are you ready for my focus, vision, goal, & affirmation this week? :

My mantra this week – “Keep my eyes on the prize and don’t look back”. It’s always a bit scary to do something new and different. But if the situation has gotten old and too comfortable, then it’s time to challenge myself again. I won’t get anywhere if I only do what I always have done.

My affirmation this week – “I believe in myself”. I realized last week that there are people out there that believe even more in me than what I believe in myself. Even though it’s, of course, amazing to feel like I have such support. I should probably be the one that has the strongest faith in my ability. So from now on, I will believe even more in myself. I need to be my number one cheerleader in life.

My goal this week– Now when I have set a few exciting goals to reach in the near future, it’s time to plan and structure my time. When should I work on what? What can I do less of so I can do more of the new things that really excites me? How do I harness and distribute my energy in the most efficient way?

My dream of the week  – My dream is to “make money in my sleep”. We already have a rental income that does exactly that. But my end goal is to never have to work for money, only for passion. If I know I have money coming in then I can confidently focus on what really matters to me.

My vision this week – On my deathbed, I want to be able to 100% honestly look back and say that I have done something good for the world. No matter if it’s something small or something big. I want to have made a difference to other lives than just my own. It would make me very happy. It’s a totally selfless and selfish goal at the same time.

My focus this week – Structure. If I’m going to be able to work on and launch my new project and still keep working on the blogs, go to castings and be an involved mom at the same time. Then I need to be really good at planning my time. I have already started by getting ready a bit quicker in the mornings and today I sat down 30 minutes earlier than usual. During this start-up phase Netflix nights with Garth will be only on Friday nights and the rest of the time I will either organize or read to collect inspiration. If it all goes to plan I would like to have Ace in nursery another half day a week. At the moment I have only 16 hours of childcare every week. 20 work hours would make more sense.

The event of the week – I’m on standby to do a shoot for my portfolio with a great photographer. I need some new fresh photos to bring to castings, so I’m really hoping I will be able to get a spot within the next few days.

My lesson from last week – I will end up in all different kinds of situations with all different kinds of people. It’s a part of what I do and I love it. But I have to make sure to be careful with my energy. I cannot keep changing my intensity to suit other people but need it to stay consistent and suitable to my own pace. Otherwise, I will end up drained very quickly.

My everyday-luxury this week– I was out for drinks with a bunch of lovely people last night. And even though I didn’t stay out particularly late, I only got 5 hours sleep before “Olive, Olive, milk, milk” started this morning. (I should just get Olive a little harness and attach a milk bottle to it so she could be the stand-in dog-mother when I’m tired). So my luxury today is going to be to nap when he naps this afternoon. Sleep is like gold dust when you really need it.

My inspiration this week  – I’m reading “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook) at the moment and I’m finding it terribly inspiring. Especially as a woman with a desire to have a life-long career I find her advice invaluable.

Have you got your focus, vision, goal, & affirmation set for this week?

Photo – Ida Zander. Location – Brickwood Clapham. Jeans by Morgan (on sale!), Asos top  (also on sale) & faux fur from New look (unfortunately sold out). – Adlinks

Valentine’s day. Incredibly romantic, just like any old day or a big fat heart-shaped reminder that you are SINGLE?

To be married is totally practical. I have a date on valentines no matter if I believe in celebrating it or not (we most likely stay on the sofa watching Netflix like most other nights anyway). I have someone to wake up next to every morning and a kiss-account that never goes into overdraft.

We are conditioned by society to see marriage as the ultimate end-goal. You start off single, you do your best to meet someone and then you race to the finish line and boom you are married. 2.5 kids, a mortgage, a dog and you live happily ever after…

Single people are sad. They are very far away from the coveted end goal in life. They deserve our pity.

The poor single person who is all alone on Valentine’s, who goes to bed all on their own at night, who wakes up in an empty bed, that doesn’t have anyone that farts loud enough to wake them up at night, nobody’s socks to pick up from the kitchen floor for the millionth time and no one to answer to . Who can wake up when you feel like it on the weekends, have ice cream for dinner in bed and do whatever you bloody fancy.

To be single is not only really nice, but it’s also incredibly important.

It’s the only time in our lives when we are totally alone with our thoughts. When we have the opportunity to dig deep into what we want and even more importantly don’t want in life. It’s the time to experiment, explore and experience life. We only have the responsibility for ourselves and if we make a mistake, most likely it will affect only us.

It’s when we are single that we figure out what we don’t want in a partner. We meet loads of new people and realize pretty quickly that some personality traits are more compatible with ours than others.

It’s really easy to lose yourself in a relationship. So it’s incredibly important to have good self-knowledge from the start. To be a part of two people is a lot harder work than to be only one single person. Independence quickly becomes compromise and freedom is exchanged for responsibilities.

Of course, it’s amazing to be married and to have someone that loves you enough to want to spend all that time with only you. But it’s just as amazing to be single and care-free. And totally not sad in any way! If anything it’s the total opposite.

I’m so grateful for the times I was single in the past. It gave me the time and space to get to know myself, my likes and dislikes and I got to try on all different kinds of situations and people. In the end, it made me a better person and a much better wife to Garth.

So all you singles out there, celebrate that you love yourself enough not to settle before you are done getting to know yourself. 

Foto – Ida Zander for my #MINDFLUENCING campaign on Instagram. You can find my Whistles dress here  (adlink)

Another Mindful Monday on a Tuesday. But it’s my favorite post every week, so I rather post it late than not at all. 

The reason why I didn’t blog yesterday is that I had the great honor of joining Facebook and Instagram at the gorgeous Soho Farmhouse for a creator day. There were supercool influencers from all over the world present and we got all the latest information from the Facebook/Instagram team. I feel like I’m vibrating with positive energy.

The creativity and passion in the room (barn) was incredible. It was by far one of the most interesting and exciting things I have ever done. Soho farmhouse was buzzing with amazing energy and creativity.

I’m going to post a more in-depth post about the Facebook Creator day later in the week. I have so much to share and it deserves its own post.

What I want to mention today is that I after some time of searching think that I found what I have been looking for. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do with my voice on social media, but now it’s like the fog has lifted and I can see the right path. It’s an amazing feeling and I can’t wait to start creating.

Here is my dream, vision, goal, and affirmation this week.

My mantra this week  – “Positivity is needed for creativity and inspiration”. I want to harness the amazing energy I have been left with after these two days. The best way is to keep things really positive and feed my creativity. My goal is to stay in the flow and just get going.

My affirmation this week  – ” I’m on the right path”. I have no doubts, so now it’s time to gear up and get stuff done. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime feeling.

My goal this week  – I have a few things I want to get done whilst I’m feeling inspired. I want to write two scripts, film a bit, and do a shoot with Ida. I’m also going to put together a new plan for social media.

My dream of the week – I think I have found my Ikigai. A dream that’s becoming a goal! It’s a really cool feeling.

My vision this week  – In the future I want to look back at this time and say “that’s when it all happened when stuff just clicked into place and the journey of doing what I’m passionate about truly begun”.

My focus this week – I want to spend my time doing the right things. I need to let go of some old ideas and work on some new, tweak a concept or two and just listen to my own heart and gut feeling. It’s really important that I keep going and don’t get distracted before everything is in place.

The event of the week – I’m off to Sweden and Daisy Beauty Awards tomorrow. I was in the jury this year so I’m really excited to see who wins. Also, I’m going to have a meeting with my agent United Influencers and of course also see my family. It would feel like a waste to go there and not see them.

My lesson from last week – I’m amazed at how quickly change can happen and how efficient inspiration can be. I’m also very happy that I’m a social person who loves talking to people, it has really served me well this last week.

My everyday-luxury this week – To sleep another night without waking up. I’m staying over in Stockholm one night and I feel like re-charging on the sleep account need to be a priority. I have had months of broken up nights and my body needs to rest.

My inspiration this week  – The incredible Jay Shetty who I had the honor of getting to listen to at Soho farmhouse. And even better I actually managed to sneak in a couple on one-on-one chats. He is an incredibly positive and generous person who just brings out the energy in the room. I have always liked this message, but now I also really like him as a person.

Come on guys, get in on the Mindful Monday movement. Write down your dream, vision, goal, and affirmation this week. I promise it will be super motivating. 

Photo – Ida Zander. My blouse is sold out and is by Forever new. 

I have this on-going quest to figure out what really makes me happy in life. To find the equation for happiness.

Some people want to get rich, others want to get famous. I want to be happy.

I think people assume that if you are rich and famous, you must automatically end up happy. That you have to be the first two to end up with number three. But it’s really not a given. There are plenty of rich and famous people out there that are deeply unhappy.

I actually think fame is an antidote to happiness. A soon as people know a lot about you, they will have opinions. And often these opinions are not of the nice kind. So you have to grow a thick skin and be careful not to aggravate the people that are constantly scrutinizing you. It’s exhausting and won’t bring you any happiness.

Sure it’s nice that people know your name. You feel important and validated. But you pay the price with your privacy. So fame is not a part of the end-goal for me.

Also, fame doesn’t have to equal money. To have fame and no riches is the worst possible outcome of this equation. It’s expensive to be famous, you can’t move about like normal people. Everything you do have to be managed in a way or another.

Fame also doesn’t have to equal power. You can be famous for all kinds of reasons and not all of them will make people want to work with you or know your opinion.

So to have fame without money is probably the least likely part of the equation to end up in happiness.

So do I have to be rich to be happy?

I mean it would be nice to have loads of money, especially if no one knows who you are and won’t hassle you for it. You could buy whatever you want, but in the end, you can’t buy happiness.

Sure there are some pretty happy rich people out there. But they are probably not happy just because they are rich. Their happiness is more likely to come from their journey of self-realization, their passion, and purpose in life. They have most likely built their wealth from scratch and it’s the journey that has made them happy, not the end result.

If they would have won the same amount of money in the lottery, I doubt they would have felt the same way.

Because happiness isn’t at all an equation of wealth and fame. It’s about passion, love, self-realization, friends & family. About living a fulfilling life filled with laughter and love.

All I keep thinking is, why detour off to fame and wealth when we already have what we need from the start?

It’s really pretty simple. Work to feel fulfilled, spend time with people that make you feel loved, live a life you enjoy and that you yourself are proud of. That is the true equation for happiness. Money and fame have nothing to do with it.

It’s almost too easy, right?  

Photo – Ida Zander. Location – Metro Garden Clapham Common. Find my dress by Frock & Frill here (adlink).