When I was a freelancer a few years ago, I had to figure out how to charge my clients. Being totally new to the freelance arena of life, I decided to charge per hour and though I never worked hourly, per se, the way I handled it was to take the scope of the project and make an educated guess as to how many hours it would take to complete the project.

Having practiced that and looking back, it's always better to overestimate than to underestimate (my charge per hour) because time goes by way quicker than you think and it's the one resource that you can never ever get back. In that sense, time is invaluable. Yet there have been many days where I just get lost watching meaningless hours of YouTube or having Netflix binges that last all weekend (thank you United States of Tara). And I know you, dear reader, can totally identify.

To really value your time, here's a great mind trick:

Put an actual dollar value on your time as if you were living your life as a paid per hour freelancer. You're a freelance life-liver, let's say, and you are your own client. Ask yourself, how much is an hour of my time worth? If I was paying me to do anything in my day on an hourly rate, how much would I want that rate to be? Even if you put a dollar for every minute of your time, well damn, that's $60 dollars. For me, that seems like a lot of money (that's, like, a week's worth of Whole Foods groceries, and like 2 weeks worth of Trader Joe's groceries. I digress.) If you spent 3 hours watching a marathon of Full House re-runs, would you say that was $180 well spent? 

Think of your biggest habits. How much time do they take up? Is it worth all that time or can you cut it down (or even eliminate it) so you can do something that's more worthy of that hourly rate? Do the things that take up your day equal the value you'd put on your time? If not, you gotta make some changes and get really particular on what you spend your time on.  

Often times, I get all perfectionistic about stuff and so I tend to put things off. For instance, I procrastinate in responding to emails because "it's not the right time" or I procrastinate in paying a bill because "I have something else to do that's more important." And though these things can be true — I really do need time to think of my response to an email and I do have a more important task to do instead of pay that bill at the moment – putting them on the back burner robs you of mental energy (the oh-yea-I-still-have-to-do-that thought). My old strategy was to make a simple to-do list. It's helpful to keep things in mind but there's another element of productivity missing. And that's the question of: "when?"

A strategy I'm now practicing is simply scheduling it in. If i need to do a task, I ask myself, when? When will I do it? And how long will it take (or how long will I make the time to actually do it). Then I go on my handy google calendar and pop in the task on the day and time I need to do it. It's a bit of getting used to but it's so simple. If I miss the time that I schedule the task for, I simply reschedule. This also helps me visualize doing the task and figure out if i need to break the task in parts. Like, honestly, I have so much laundry I have to break it up in different times because i just don't have time to do it all at once (not on the weekdays anyway). 

A second strategy is to just script your day. This means to know all the tasks you need to do and write them out on a time schedule and stick to the schedule. I often do this in the mornings because I've been having a problem of feeling frantic while getting ready for work and then getting to work late. So now my morning are scripted with a time frame for everything. This might be a little overkill for some people, but it definitely helps with time management. You can even put timers on your phone for every time your next task needs to be done. 

I did that thing again! You know, the perfectionism/procrastination thing. It's been a while since I've updated. Well.. hmm now that I'm updating i don't really know what to talk about. I just listened to a coaching call by Kristen Morelli and she recommended, that whenever you feel stuck, just take action in ANYTHING. So that's why I'm here typing away. So if you ever feel like that (particularly right now) and you feel just STUCK, take action in something and FAIL  and when you fail, just giggle about it. Failure isn't bad. It's the non-action of getting back on the horse that's the bad thing. So my message for this is: Fail spectacularly and fail harder because it will propel you forward. 

Often times, and I think I can speak for a lot of people here, is that there's so so so much I want to get done before I leave for work in the mornings. It may not be the mornings for you guys, but I'm sure you can relate. It may be a desire to get everything on your to do list accomplished by the end of the work day. For me, it's doing all the personal stuff I want to do like meditate, exercise, shower, take care of my skin (I can talk about that later but I have some skin issues), do my hair and make up, eat a healthy breakfast, make lunch to take to work, etc. Ultimately, I'm running out the door (already late) stressed out and frazzled. 

So now, I've been repeating a mantra to myself in the mornings which is: "I have enough time for everything that is important." 

Hello friends. Last time I wrote in, I finished a 21 day clean eating challenge. I felt so proud about accomplishing it and got a lot a results from it (stronger will power, quicker to catch wandering or defeatist thoughts and change them, stronger creative and strategy thinking), and though those results were awesome, I didn't get the smooth and clear skin I was hoping for. I've been having these skin issues for over a decade and for the most part of that time, I suppressed those skin issues with lotions and potions that didn't get to the root of the problem. So now I'm considering a new protocol to get to the root.

Looking at the 21 day challenge as a first step, I'm deciding to follow a protocol meant to repair leaky gut syndrome. I learned about this syndrome a few years back in college but didn't think that I had it because, well, I suppressed my acne and eczema so much that I forgot that I even had them as problems. If you haven't heard of leaky gut syndrome, it's when the lining in your digestive system is weak and spaces between the cells of your gut lining get big enough for food pieces, toxins, and other things to get out and into your blood stream. In response, the body's immune system goes into alert. You know that you immune system is at work when your mosquito bites get swollen and red — that's inflammation. In the case of a mosquito bite, inflammation is good, but in the case of leaky gut syndrome where inflammation is everywhere and chronic, it's super bad. So skin issues like acne and eczema can occur with leaky gut.

After publishing my last post, a fellow blogger added me to her tumblr that addressed eczema and leaky gut. This blog is great and it has me considering leaky gut as the culprit to not only my skin issues, but for my poor digestion, and bad memory too. Considering her story is somewhat similar to mine (chronic eczema), I figure I'll try her strategies on eating and living to heal the gut. I've been taking a good probiotic everyday, eating more probiotic-rich foods, and steering away from foods that could hurt my stomach (nuts, grains, gluten, dairy, etc). So in a way, I'm doing another clean eating challenge, except I'm not going to be as strict (there are only so many days I can go with restricting myself 100% of the time) and I'm not going to put a time limit on it. I'm just going to do the best I can do to in each moment. Anyways, that the update on me.

It's now been 22 days since the beginning of the challenge. Woohoo! I did it! I'm very satisfied with everything I did to keep myself steadfast and unexpectedly learned a lot about myself. I'm proud, astounded with myself, and moved by how much potential I've uncovered which leaves me wondering how much I can actually do if I just focus to stay with a goal. 

To celebrate, I made a raw cacao (chocolate) smoothie for breakfast and in the first sip, would you believe, I was totally underwhelmed. Yea, underwhelmed. Kinda a bummer, right? I thought it'd be like fireworks. And this makes me question, "did I ever like chocolate? or was I just addicted to it? Or just a slave to the habit?" Currently, I don't know. Maybe I made the smoothie wrong (doubt it though).

Also, I began the challenge in hopes of easing my health issues (eczema, acne, and poor digestion). Unfortunately, I didn't see any improvement and if anything it got slightly worse. Again, bummer. But considering that this was like an elimination diet, I have assumptions that I may be allergic to that new tahini dressing that I've been eating pretty much every day for the passed 2 months. Or maybe its just because of seasonal allergies. I'll figure it out and report back to you guys.

Despite my underwhelmed-ness, I'm overwhelmed with what I did to stay the course, say no to all the junk stuff I supposedly loved, and really listened to myself. In the beginning, I brainstormed ways to stay the course (see my blog post I made on Day 9) and doing all those things really helped keep me accountable and thinking about how to replace my bad habits with good ones. I think it was so effective that I believe my habit changed within 2 weeks instead of 3. One of the best habits that I put in place was just being mindful. Whenever I felt the need to get some junk food, I took note of it, then did something else. And boy did I take note of those junk food cravings — several times a day. It was crazy. How long had that been going on? Anyway, now that I have made it a habit to be more mindful, I can't wait to see what else there is to uncover about myself.

Now it's been over 2 weeks of this challenge and I'm proud to say that I've dropped some bad habits and developed some really good ones in place of them.

I'm noticing that I'm no longer craving chocolate like I used to. I used to have it everyday in the form of a breakfast smoothie, and then in snacks as cookies and hot chocolate. Chocolate was the most painful things to let go but in doing so, I've become more mindful of how I feel (both physically and emotionally). It's only when you give something up do you realize how much you're addicted to it. Also, because of this, I'm no longer tired in the middle of the day. I think I would get only a little tired after lunch so I'd have a hot chocolate that would wake me up for maybe half an hour, but then I'd crash and be even more tired afterward. Also, I've noticed that eating a salty bag of chips would spur me to eat a sweet bag of cookies or vice versa. It's was like eating junk food opened a gateway to more junk food. Like attracts like.

In place of the "junk" habits, I've become more mindful of how I feel when I have these cravings. By being mindful in these times, I realized that I was just stressed out or overwhelmed about something minor. Instead of grabbing a snack, I'll go out for a walk or simply sit and breath and be with the physical feeling (not really fun but it gets easier in time). I pretend I'm breathing into the place where I feel anxious which is my belly and this has helped tremendously.

I've learned the art of saying no to junk food offerings. My work place is straight up awesome, but at the same time, a battle ground for healthy eating. There's a slew of chips, cookies, granola bars, etc always available in the kitchen, and often people bring in donuts, cookies, and candy. We even make pancakes on Fridays. Again my office is awesome and treats are abundant. This environment makes or breaks a person's willpower and in that sense, because I'm living with it around me, it's made my willpower much stronger than ever before. In the beginning, it was tough, but because the junk food was everywhere, it spurred me to talk about this 21 day clean eating challenge with my co-workers and in turn, they spoke positively with me which was so helpful for me to keep going.

As like attracts like, I've developed other healthy habits while doing this challenge. After a week of eating clean, I decided to do a liver cleanse that required the person to eat clean for two weeks; what perfect timing. It's my hope that the liver cleanse will help out my acne situation (every little bit helps, so that's why I'm doing it). Another habit is that I've been exercising at home and running in the park more (at first as an outlet for dealing with my emotional and physical pain from cravings, but now it's just a habit). I've been waking up early in order to exercise. I used to do this a few months ago but fell out of it when I moved, but because I started exercising again, I decided to start getting up early again in order to do it. Also, I've been meditating every morning — an on and off habit that I had a hard time pinning down, but because I was struggling, I decided to take it more seriously. Simply 10 minutes of meditation in the morning lead me to become more mindful throughout the day. And because the purpose of this challenge was to help my skin, I continually researched ways to help my skin. From that research, I've started taking a probiotic supplement and started eating probiotic rich foods (like sauerkraut) to help my digestion. All these habits all in exchange from one bad habit. Cray cray.

It's only been two weeks and I've gotten way more positive results than I had ever imagined: resilience, stronger will power, more mindfulness, steady energy throughout the day, waking up early and not feeling drained, exercising more habitually, better digestion, and a healthier body.

It's been a little over a week and so far so good with the clean eating. It's day 9 and I feel like I'm getting more and more used to this. And while I haven't really noticed any changes in my skin, I have been noticing a lot of internal changes in my thinking. I started this challenge knowing that I had to muster a lot of will power. However will power can only get me so far and knowing that my will power can implode with enough stress, I decided to brainstorm ideas on how I can stick with my clean eating challenge. Here's a list of my ideas:

• Make this challenge fun (and not stressful) by making pretty whole food dishes and posting them on Instagram

• Meditate and be mindful when I have cravings for junk food

• Pray and ask the universe for help

• Say affirmations like "you can do it" and "my will is strong"

• Tell everyone to get support! Posting pics of my food on Instagram will help.

• Blog about it

• Keep a journal on what you're going through

• Exercise and do yoga to keep your mind health-oriented

• Extend the challenge to friends

• Set up a weekly reward for every week completed

• Bring "emergency" whole foods in purse wherever you go. In case you get food envy

• Watch clean eating recipe videos

• Make green juices

I think one of the most helpful idea was posting pictures of my meals on Instagram because It was a gateway for me to talk about the challenge when I was around my friends. This challenge isn't just an eating challenge, it's definitely a social challenge. So far I've been to 4 parties without drinking alcohol or eating anything "unclean" and I got through all of them by talking about this 21 day clean eating challenge and by being mindful, which was another helpful idea on the brainstorm list.

I meditated and paid mindful attention to how my body felt on when I had a craving for something. This was and still is tough but I'm getting better with sitting with my discomfort and riding through the emotional (and even physical) pain. By being mindful, I analyzed when I would get cravings and why. It was mostly in the mid-afternoon when I was feeling tired or stressed or both. So now that I discovered my "weak" time, I've set up scenarios in my head of what to do which are:

• Take a walk

• Sit with the discomfort and meditate

• Journal about what i'm feeling

• Or if I truly was hungry, grab a whole food snack like fruit, nuts, raw vegan crackers, etc.

Lately, I've been wavering on a principle that is important to me: The food and drink I consume affect my health, therefore, eating and drinking clean, unprocessed, natural food and drink will positively affect my health.

I've been wavering by eating chips, cookies, processed food and having the oh-so-easy to access hot cocoa from the work kitchen (the kind with the not so great shizz in it like hydrogenated oil, dairy, etc). And more and more I've been getting relaxed about processed foods saying something like, "oh once and while I'll eat yadda yadda". And I've been saying that phrase more and more often. There are some people out there that are totally fine with eating these foods and they're at the peak of health — good for them. However, I'm just not one of those I-can-eat-anything-and-nothing-adverse-will-happen kind of people. 

Yesterday was a turning point when I had a conversation with a friend. I said to her that even though I think I'm eating pretty well (no meat, and a good amount of fruits and veggies), I'm still experience a lot of health problems like acne, eczema, and poor digestion. She challenged me to changing my eating habits to be 100% clean (as opposed to the 75% that I've been doing) for 21 days. Initially, I said, "on no I can't do that for 21 days, maybe like a week I could." In reply, she said "no. 21 days. It's a challenge but if you do it, it would change you at a cellular level where it really matters. If you want to see results, you gotta go for the gold." Or something like that. I she something super inspiring like that so now I'm doing it. 

The interesting thing is that I knew intuitively from the get-go that she was flat-out right and yet I said, "no I can't." There were so many times I've done this. Ignore what I already intuitively knew about what I had to do in order to change for the better. I just didn't want to because I believed it would be uncomfortable. So now part of the challenge is to find the comfort in the discomfort. Another inspiring thing another friend said the other day was, "even though you feel uncomfortable, make it kinda like a game and ask yourself 'how far can I push this?'" I just love that question. How much further can I go sitting in discomfort to come to find that I'm still alive and well? The answer is pretty damn far.

Anyways, I'm doing this 21 day challenge to clean eating. Imagine how much more healthy, not to mention how much more slender, I'll be at the end of it. So basically I'll just be focusing on a eating style centered toward mostly fruits, vegetables and natural grains like rice, and no dairy, gluten, and processed sugar. To make it fun (and not uncomfortable) I'm going to post the pretty pictures of my food to share with the rest of the social networking world. Also, I'm going to keep a log on how I'm feeling, what I'm eating, what's going on with my body, and whatever else I feel like.

Sometimes people believe that they have to give up their favorite foods in order to lose weight. However, this way of thinking ultimately leads people down a path of hardship and overall unhappiness with their lifestyle. I'm here to say that you don't have to give up anything. Here are some tips for healthier eating habits:

• Tip 1: Find a healthy food and include a little bit of it at a time to the food you already eat

When I was young, I mostly had meals with some kind of meat and rice. When I was in college, I made a tiny change and I added mixed vegetables to the rice I had. Not a big change but it definitely added more nutrition to my life when this was a daily habit. Eventually there was more and more mixed vegetables and less rice. Then I got used to it and had mixed vegetables entirely instead of rice. This took months, but I got to that habit in time.

• Tip 2: Substitue a healthier item for a less healthy item in your food

Sometimes you just don't notice the difference when you put in a substitute. For example, instead of eggs and butter in a cookie recipe (which was gluten free and delicious), I substituted the egg with ground soaked chia seeds (a quick google search brought up how to do it). And instead of melted butter, I added coconut oil instead. The cookies were just as delicious and my friend was in astounded that these cookies were completely vegan.

It can be easy if you let it. All you have to do isa simple Google search of "healthy substitute for _____". It can be the word "soda" or "cookies" or whatever you want. It will give you an awesome amount of stuff that you can add to or replace to the foods you already currently eat.

Happiness lies within ourselves always. It's not out there, it's already within and it's easily accessed. How? By simply shifting your focus from what's going not so well to what is going well. Not to sound cliche, but simply by looking on the bright side — the side of what went right and what is going right — we can find a source of inspiration to feel a little lighter. This is appreciation. 

Moreover, by simply appreciating what you have, the ability to become happier get stronger and at a quicker rate. Think about: the shoes on your feet, the light overhead, the technology at your fingertips, your ability to read this, your ability to see at all, your ability to sense at all, your ability to comprehend. And the list can keep going if you keep digging deeper. And if you keep going, you'll see that there's boundless amounts of things to feel appreciation for. 

Some things to do to strengthen your ability to feeling happier in any moment:

• Create an appreciation journal. Doesn't have to be fancy. Could be a notebook, a personal blog, or even a text document on your computer. Again, doesn't have to be fancy.

• Write in it everyday. The best time would be before bed so that your appreciative thoughts seep further into your subconscious as you're falling asleep.

• Write about all the things you appreciated that day. Or maybe just three major things. The point is to write in it the amount you feel is most sufficient.

It takes one small decision to tilt the scales of your life. One decision moves the trajectory of the direction you take in life. It's a minuscule, almost invisible, seemingly meaningless change, but that tiny change leads to paths that you would have never taken, and brings you to places you never would have imagined.