What do you want to accomplish this year? If learning something new is on top of your priority list then it is a lucky accident that you are reading this right now. ⁣ ⁣ This year I want you to try, do and experience new things that make you happy.⁣ ⁣ And this is why I created the #huddlechallenge2020: it is a promise to yourself to make the most out of this year by learning something new.⁣ ⁣ This challenge is about discovering and experiencing new skills, hobbies, and passions. It is about figuring out what you are capable of. And it is your opportunity to become the best version of yourself.⁣ ⁣ As learning something new is an important step in becoming the best version of yourself and also one of the core values of The Girl Huddle podcast, I’m super excited to root for you during your personal growth journey this year.⁣ ⁣ How can you become part of it all?⁣

⁣Use and follow the #huddlechallenge2020⁣

Follow The Girl Huddle on Instagram (if you aren’t already)⁣ 👉 @thegirlhuddle

Wake up early : Running late isn’t cool. Wake up at a reasonable hour so that you have time to get ready,eat a healthy breakfast,exersice etc.

Make your bed : You should start your day by doing something productive. Something that ‘’gets you going’’ . Making your bed is a great option.

Try yoga/meditation : Take some time to reflect and de-stress. You can do this by trying yoga and/or meditation. There are several yoga ‘’flows’’ in pinterest and great meditation apps to try out! 

Gratitude Journal : Happiness is about wanting the things that you already have. Take some time of your morning to write down the blessings that you’re grateful for. Learn to count the small wins in life.

Plan / visualize : Write down a simple to-do list with all the tasks that you want to finish that day. Visualize your short or long - term goals. Whether they are monthly or yearly goals. Remind yourself what you are working towards.

Affirmations : It could be just a simple phrase like ‘ I am powerful ‘ or ‘ I am healthy’. Affirmations are those little (or long) phrases of positivity (like mantras ) in present tense that motivate you throughout the day.

Breakfast : I MUST include this to the list.Make yourself a nice breakfast. Don’t have to be big just something healthy. It is the most important meal of the day. Don’t skip it!! 

Take care of yourself : Do your hair,put on some comfy clothes that make you confident or out on makeup if you feel like it. Other acts of selfcare can be : taking a shower, having a skincare routine, brushing your teeth. 

1. Studying what you’re good at

It can be quite tempting when studying, to study what you know, rather than what you’re not so good at. It’s okay to sometimes study something you know to give yourself that little confidence boost, but don’t forget to go over the things you are weakest at. Make a list of the topics you struggle with - you can identify them perhaps by doing test papers. It’s quite likely that those topics will come up so make sure you understand them

2. Underestimating work loads

When i had my GCSE exams, i went over what i had to study before i had the exam in February (exams in may), and made a timetable for studying; it turned out i had so much more to study than i realised and so little time left. I was glad that i checked at that point in the year and not any later, because my timetable brought me right up to the first day of exams, and that was just to study things once. I really recommend at the start of this school year or now (depends where you are in the semester/term) to check what work you have and make sure you don’t run out of time.

3. Passive studying

If you’re like me, there’s no way information can go in your head just by writing it down. It may work for some people, but chances are, just copying down notes straight from a textbook isn’t going to get you that A*. There are plenty of other ways to study that are effective - flashcards are great, as long as you condense the information - quizzing yourself and getting others to quiz you - trying to visualise things rather than read them, perhaps draw pictures related to processes to help you understand them.

4. Focusing too much on memory

Memorising is vital, yes. However, it isn’t any good if you have no idea what the things mean that you are memorising. Your brain works best when it can make connections to things, so if you try your best to understand what you are memorising, you’re more likely to remember it. I found that when i read something that i didn’t understand and then re-read it and tried to make sense of it, it was one of the things that i never forgot, because i took the time to go over it. 

5. Cramming

We’ve all done it. Sunday night up until 11pm. It’s not nice. You wished that your past self had done some work. Your brain can’t handle cramming, especially late at night. If you do find yourself in this situation, don’t study everything; pick out the biggest topics, the ones your teachers emphasise the most, and the ones you don’t understand. Leave the rest behind and pray it doesn’t come up lol :)

1. Remind yourself that you are not who other people think or say you are.

2. Remind yourself that everybody makes mistakes at times, has areas of weakness, and things they want to change.

3. Remind yourself of ways in which you’ve grown and changed with time. You’re not who you once were - so celebrate how far you’ve come.

4. Also, the ending isn’t written and the future isn’t fixed. You’re free to change your image, and an old identity.

5. Identify the lies you have believed about yourself – and work on changing them so they’re more accurate and true. Also, don’t reinforce those lies by acting like you think they’re true.

6. Remember that your feelings are not the same as facts. Don’t live based on your feelings … as that will keep you trapped.

1. Allow and accept the different feelings you experience – knowing these will change throughout the day.

2. Don’t judge yourself for having negative feelings.

3. Don’t believe every thought that pops into your head. Some of these are true, but many will be false.

4. Slow down and take life at a manageable pace.

5. Stay in the present; do one thing at a time.

6. Let go of the need to control everything.

7. Practise being curious; notice little things.

8. Use your 5 senses to become more aware of what is happening all around you in the world.

9. Nourish and take care of your body and mind.

Hii. I found out this method recently and want to share it with you. It seems pretty easy, but it is really working. 

If you ask me what is the main reason of all failures I would answer — absence of patience. The reality is success takes time. And the bigger success takes more time. Richard Branson didn’t become a millionaire in one night. Madonna didn’t wake up being a queen of pop. David Beckham didn’t turn into the one of the best footballers in a few training.

However, there is a trick that working for everyone and every time. Most of the people know about it very well, but never use it. It’s called a 30-minute theory. 

Try to spend 30 minutes on something every day and once you get used to it make it 40 minutes, then 50 etc. One of the advantages of this method is it suits absolutely everyone. For example, you want to read more books. Find 30 minutes in your day on reading. Easy, isn’t? Therefore, in one year you can read almost 24 books.

Use 30 minutes every day to create a dream come true. Get more information about what you must interested in. Always wanted to learn Spanish? Or maybe want to know French? Do what you have always been putting off. In six months you will look back and remember what you have started with. You will be amazed how you succeed because of the 30 minutes in one day.

Don’t blame yourself if you deviate from schedule and missed a few days. Just go back to studying and continue where you stopped. Remember: you are doing more than a lot of people.

Be patient. Don’t expect the results on the next day. You need a time. The more ambitious goal you have, the more time you need.

P.S. Happy New Year to everyone !! I hope 2019 will bring all of you happiness, love, success and happy memories. 

If you’re like me you might be familiar with that strange sense of anxiety that you feel every sunday night : tomorrow a new week will start, you’ll have plenty of stuff to accomplish and you’re just here thinking about all of this and getting more and more anxious ! 

Even if I think  that we all experience that and that it’s completely normal, here are some few things you can do on sundays for you to face the new week ahead in the best way possible : 

Do something productive : this could be finishing some assignments, cleaning your sheets or going for a walk !

Pamper yourself : I think sundays are the best days to do this ! Wash your hair, take a bath, put on a face mask or paint your nails, you’ll feel better after taking care of yourself :) 

See some friends, go take a walk together or hang out in some coffee shop! Seeing people is a good way to distract yourself a bit from everything that’s making you anxious 

Plan your week : fill your bullet journal, right down the important appointments/deadlines you have this week 

Meal prep : I’m not really good at cooking, but when I do it, I know that it relaxes me a lot and I actually have fun when doing it! Try some new recipes, watch some cooking tutorials. I absolutely LOVE watching PickUpLimes videos because they are so simple and super healthy! 

Meditate : really a big life changing habit for me, I just put on Headspace app and go for a 5 min meditation just before bed! 

Read : On sundays I like reading a few chapters of the current book I’m on, like inspirational books about medicine or self-help! Fictional books are also a good option if you like them! It’s a good way to relieve your anxiety and gives you that little kick to get you through the week 

Also, try going to bed at a reasonable hour : this one goes with n. 6 and 7 points. Getting a good night of sleep will actually make you feel more refreshed the day after and will help you start the week in the best way possible :)  

Don’t be too hard on yourself : and I think it’s the most important. You binge watched 25 episodes in a row on Netflix? It’s ok, maybe it was the only way for you to unwind that day! If you feel bad after doing it just get up and do anything on the list above! It’s ok and IT HAPPENS ! Don’t blame yourself, it will only stress you more and that’s not what we want on a sunday ;) 

So what did you do today? Do you have other tips? I would love to know more of you guys! Feel free to send me an ask telling me something about you :) 

Hope your weekend was good though ! And sorry for my imperfect english grammar, I try to do my best! 

good night X 

1. Practice mindfulness

2. Play, laugh and enjoy the simple things.

3. Develop an attitude of gratitude.

4. Invest in, and nurture, your relationships.

5. Give up your attachment to outcomes.

6. Decide to be adventurous and try new things.

7. Choose to live life at a slower pace, and don’t be driven by a sense of urgency.

8. Give up the need to be in control.

9. Accept that you are human and life won’t be perfect.

- do more things that make you forget about your phone

- do not compare yourself to other people: trust that you are progressing in your own way

- keep your heart soft, remember that there are genuinely kind people & good things in the world

- finish what you start

- be consistent, and do not be swayed by temporary moods or criticisms from people who don’t matter.

- smile more often

- be okay with being bad at something

- do not blame yourself for people who make you feel unworthy. find new people to talk to and don’t isolate yourself even if you feel awkward or unlovable. don’t convince yourself that you’re better off alone.

- go outside more often and find beauty in small things

- read more books

- be the kindest person you can be

- be so busy you have no time to be bored or dwell on the past

- learn to be patient. don’t rely on instant gratification, wait for the sense of accomplishment after completing a daily goal or achieving a long-term goal

- see bad days as a chance to start again

I believe in free education, one that’s available to everyone; no matter their race, gender, age, wealth, etc… This masterpost was created for every knowledge hungry individual out there. I hope it will serve you well. Enjoy!

FREE ONLINE COURSES (here are listed websites that provide huge variety of courses)

Alison 

Coursera

FutureLearn

open2study

Khan Academy

edX

P2P U

Academic Earth

iversity

Stanford Online

MIT Open Courseware

Open Yale Courses

BBC Learning

OpenLearn

Carnegie Mellon University OLI

University of Reddit

Saylor

IDEAS, INSPIRATION & NEWS (websites which deliver educational content meant to entertain you and stimulate your brain)

TED

FORA

Big Think 

99u

BBC Future

Seriously Amazing

How Stuff Works

Discovery News

National Geographic

Science News

Popular Science

IFLScience

YouTube Edu

NewScientist

DIY & HOW-TO’S (Don’t know how to do that? Want to learn how to do it yourself? Here are some great websites.)

wikiHow

Wonder How To

instructables

eHow

Howcast

MAKE

Do it yourself

FREE TEXTBOOKS & E-BOOKS

OpenStax CNX

Open Textbooks

Bookboon

Textbook Revolution

E-books Directory

FullBooks

Books Should Be Free

Classic Reader

Read Print

Project Gutenberg

AudioBooks For Free

LibriVox

Poem Hunter

Bartleby

MIT Classics

Many Books

Open Textbooks BCcampus

Open Textbook Library

WikiBooks

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES & JOURNALS

Directory of Open Access Journals

Scitable

PLOS

Wiley Open Access

Springer Open

Oxford Open

Elsevier Open Access

ArXiv

Open Access Library

LEARN:

1. LANGUAGES

Duolingo

BBC Languages

Learn A Language

101languages

Memrise

Livemocha

Foreign Services Institute

My Languages

Surface Languages

Lingualia

OmniGlot

OpenCulture’s Language links

2. COMPUTER SCIENCE & PROGRAMMING

Codecademy

Programmr

GA Dash

CodeHS

w3schools

Code Avengers

Codelearn

The Code Player

Code School

Code.org

Programming Motherf*?$%#

Bento

Bucky’s room

WiBit

Learn Code the Hard Way

Mozilla Developer Network

Microsoft Virtual Academy

3. YOGA & MEDITATION

Learning Yoga

Learn Meditation

Yome

Free Meditation

Online Meditation

Do Yoga With Me

Yoga Learning Center

4. PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMMAKING

Exposure Guide

The Bastards Book of Photography

Cambridge in Color

Best Photo Lessons

Photography Course

Production Now

nyvs

Learn About Film

Film School Online

5. DRAWING & PAINTING

Enliighten

Ctrl+Paint

ArtGraphica

Google Cultural Institute

Drawspace

DragoArt

WetCanvas

6. INSTRUMENTS & MUSIC THEORY

Music Theory

Teoria

Music Theory Videos

Furmanczyk Academy of Music

Dave Conservatoire

Petrucci Music Library

Justin Guitar

Guitar Lessons

Piano Lessons

Zebra Keys

Play Bass Now

7. OTHER UNCATEGORIZED SKILLS

Investopedia

The Chess Website

Chesscademy

Chess.com

Spreeder

ReadSpeeder

First Aid for Free

First Aid Web

NHS Choices

Wolfram Demonstrations Project

Please feel free to add more learning focused websites.