Happy New Year! Check out my Resource Library which I will be updating. It has many different printables: Resource Library.
This weeks Cheat Sheet is ideas in Setting goals. I am not made really any new ones. I am working on being more organised, with my homes. I live with my husband and Son and with my Mum and Step dad.
I still decluttering and tidying different places, but that is it really. I have created visions boards and I have room ideas as I have been working on changing it. I am more changing my focus. I am not going to have many commitments for myself and focus on my son, homes and walks. Along with more radio shows and visiting many different places.
I loved that last year and want more of that. I loved our lodge we stayed in and this year we are going to the Isle of wight and Edinburgh. Visiting Windsor was good fun, so on this years wish list, is to go to St Albans, Guildford and Crystal Palace by train or bus and doing trips throughout the year.
Yes set goals, manifest, create a Vision board and get a new diary or planner, but what is around you right now? I have gotten in a place where I am okay by how it is now. I have clothes, my son, my homes and my writing and at this moment, I love all these things.
So I am open to what 2026 brings and just let life be more present and leave part of my life to fate and yes I believe in God. There are changes and transitions, as I am moving, as I live partly with my mum and step dad but with my husband and son too, and they are the things I am focused on now.
There is still a lot to learn and going to do more courses as I love doing that. I loved my reading and completed 20 books this year and my challenge for 2026 is 21 books. I will be updating site, My Books and Stories.
I am watching a Video by Carter Sullivan on Youtube and is on the same mindset as me and that is to see what happens in 2026. Its a relief to me and letting go off the girl who feels I have to map it out all the time and mind maps are good, but you don’t have to set up your whole year but where your are now.
So January it is getting back in to learning mode, for me working on my book called When Mothers Are Real and setting up my watch for measuring my steps and sorting out the home.
I have begun No Spend January and set up my planner which I plan to film and it doesn’t mean I can’t spend anything. Its only essentials and stock up on them so I don’t need to go and buy. It means doing a spending plan and what is not a priority.
I have regretted things. I have really punished myself over them. Life is about moving on and going as the times goes and letting things go: Autumn Reset Day 5: Letting things go If there is a photo that makes you unhappy delete it. If there is a piece of clothing or furniture that makes you quiver and upset you then addressing your feelings can help aswell as letting them go.
There are certain songs that can trigger it and so I will play a song that makes me happy or change the thought because of that song. Listen with fresh ears and the same with films or certain TV.
Time is not going to wait and as humans we grow from our mistakes. I have said the wrong thing. Can I turn back and correct? Not I can’t.
Life is full of lessons and we need to forgive ourselves and stop obsessing. If you can imagine being constantly being hit on the head or anywhere with a mallet how would it feel? It would get on your nerves and that is what regrets do.
It is up to you to of how you want to keep pestering yourself. Cut yourself some slack. You can’t fix what’s gone and so why should you? Will the person you have a regret about or an incident that happened involving someone, be restless about the regret you have? Do they still talk to you?
What is it that is bugging you? Write it down. I when my son was doing some tutoring, went through my fears and past worries and why they were bugging me and it just made me come to my senses of it all and felt ten times better. I have begun to realise that somethings are meant to be, because that is how we learn about relationships, good communication, living better and building our inner self to be the better person you are and reinvent yourself and start a fresh.
No being rude to someone is not good, but I wonder how bothered they are and teaches to stop regretting and just learn. Think of all the good things you have done and how is your life now? So stop regretting and start living.
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I was fired by an employee back in 2008 and it really affected my confidence. I couldn’t wait for #Christmas to have a break. The people where I worked, was so rude that I wondered if they would be that rude to their family? Snapping whilst on the phone as I would be doing what a company should do, give Good Customer Service and they hated it. The guy who ran the company, was awful.
There was no morale and when I reported the bullying to him he blamed it on me and yet it all the people who were there, were all really unpleasant and so going back after Christmas and start of a new year I was fired. I feel they did the right thing, because I didn’t walk out, which some would have done and so I am glad he did fire me now because then it made me decide my next path and did some temping for a bit, but was ready to go back home and my time living near the south coast was coming to an end.
So if it is too much then don’t let yourself feel as though you have to take it. There are organisations you can call for help and then I found job in Kingston and yes there were not very nice people there but I became resilient and they ended up leaving and I ended up being in a good team and so take action. It may be fate, meaning that its time to change and that can be the thing we fear the most, of what to do next so we can often feel that we have to stay. No, if it is stressing you out then leave and get support and life is about chapters ending to welcome new beginnings.
One person who was having issues in a job and she rang me unexpectedly because she felt she was being bullied and sometimes you don’t want to be rescued, or for someone to resolve it for you, its about able to speak to someone to make sense of it. So talk to someone. Also you have a right to leave and say that you are not happy and if things don’t change you will leave and it is okay to confront. I would not advise to do it without support for your own safety and not their word against yours, but ask for a chat and if you can have someone there with you.
I have come across many walks of life and met different kinds of people and those that carry out the bullying are actually the one that is vulnerable and perhaps they need help. I am not saying they should be getting sympathy, but that often it is not about you but about them and the using you as a verbal punchbag and so should be reported for their own sake.
I hope that helps you and as we head into a new year I wish you a Happy New year and if you like to read more of my blogs on this site then you can subscribe.
See above a blog I wrote in 2018 and still relevant because as there is always obstacles but I have learned to deal with them and not allow them to stop me in achieving my goals and dreams. I do a radio show and we have a new system to play music. I have found it challenging but rather than avoid, faced it head on and I know if I keep using it, the less of a hurdle it will become and challenges are there to help you.
Life has a way of keeping you on your toes and so allow the hurdles or doubts that come into your mind, and life and what you want to do. Do you want the voice of doubt bug you? Are you going to quit?
Quitting is fine, but if it ends up as a regret then take some time to reflect and does it excite you? Mel Robbins says that anxiety and excitement is the same thing. I love my show, I just finding the nerves overwhelming but I know this is what I was meant to do along with writing blogs, books and creating videos. I care so much and want to create my blogs, videos and show to help those. The Radio show is for my local hospital as it is a hospital radio station and I get so much joy.
What does a new year mean to you?
Is there something that gives you a burst of excitement?
I am going to see Bon Jovi once again. Yes it could end up being cancelled, I may become ill, but what ifs are just that. What if it all turns out alright? My son is going to a potential school option and finally get a placement. I have chosen to have less commitments for myself in 2026 to spend my time visiting different places I’d like to take my son to and want to explore more and continue what we did the year we are leaving and yes trains can have disruptions and the buses haven’t been reliable but we have got to where we wanted to be and plan less to do more.
Twenty twenty five has been a good year. Okay my son got sick at the beginning but we still had the meal we wanted afterwards, because he was taken to hospital and Henry was fine, he didn’t have a meltdown and just chilled until we could go home and just a bump in the road. Life will have bumps and as much as we don’t want our kids to be sick, their intolerances and immune system need to develop and so, he wasn’t fazed by it and so I am not.
When we went to the Polka theatre a lot and one of the shows we ended up getting drenched. The Radio event I did for the first time, leading to Christmas in 2025 finished early because of the weather and had issues with music and the choir shows, but we carried on and I enjoyed it and was a good experience and didn’t allow my nerves to talk me out of it.
So face the obstacle but don’t allow them to continue to grow, my word for 2026 and if you fall, get back up again and carry on.
So, I did a blog about how Bestfriends can help your health, but what happens when a friend turns out to be an enemy and can damage our health physically and mentally.
I am a friend for life, and so for me the relationship of friendship is important to me and what I see in a friend is someone who loves your company like you to with them, and there was a time thought it is about having things in common, but now I realise as I have experience life being in my 40’s that it is not, but about being comfortable and being able to chat about everything and anything.
If they start to be snidey, two-faced and change their tone towards you then what do you feel you should do?
1# Has the trust gone and how are they with other people?
If they are beginning to invite you to places, greeting you differently then ask them about it. I read a book called Brave New Girl and she says that it is okay to confront. Why allow them to treat you unkindly and you have the right to stand up and be accounted for.
2# Never see is as it is you, because it isn’t it is them.
Friends can make you worry about certain things that you didn’t like before, such as your body image. I was told by a girl at school that i was boring about, because I was talking about my favourite TV show The Bill and that i would talk about my holiday to America.
It did hit a nerve, but it was about her and that she liked her own voice, but not others. Now I see that that was her opinion and started talking about The Bill and she moved on.
3# Having boundaries is not all about being argumentative but allow the other to speak. The one thing I hate and I have done it myself, interrupting,
My mum always tells me off about this and so I do catch myself. If I want a good friendship then I have to step up and let them talk. When I feel myself wanting to jump in, I will move my body back so I go from sitting forward to upright and with my look at them to listen.
Even if they say something you do not like, doesn’t mean you have to talk over them or them talking over you. I stopped watching Jeremy Kyle because of the shouting and now as much as the like the ladies, no longer watch Loose Women because of an episode, where they had a lady who was in #Big Brother the celebrity one and I felt so uncomfortable that I stopped watching it, because it seemed they wanted a bust up for entertainment value and why I no longer watch Big Brother and so have boundaries but let the person talk and if you helping a friendship because you actually care, but if they gonna jump in at everytime you talk then what’s point on having a conversation and friendship.
4# If it is a group of friends turning on you.
I like having a group of friends. It is good because it helps for me, with my endorphins, but when they purposely agree with each other purposely then it is time to ask why are they doing that? How would they feel if you did it to them? Friendship is a two way street and not an excuse to gang up on someone.
5# if you don’t wanna lose a friends you have known forever?
So how I have done it, is through Social media like Facebook and Instagram but by sending a letter or a card occasionally. This can feel to them a warm hug to say I know we are not really in each others lives, you still love them and you are there should they wish to return to see you physically again.
It is all about what you value in a person? One thing I like to see is that they will be honest. Friends do fall out, but doesn’t has to mean, you can’t be friends. It is good to see things differently and not all have the same out look on life. I like to be friends with many different people. It to me, when having friends I worked with at Butlins for example opened my eyes and that I can be myself and they can be themselves too.
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HELLO! It is almost 2026 and so it is time to make those changes. For me I want more of what I had experienced this year (2025) and so don’t see it as starting a fresh. For me it means more growing as a person and focus on my son and on my own learning. I love to learn and listen to others that have had success as a author, right blogs and successful on Youtube and find out what works and what doesn’t.
My reading has grown so much and a habit I have stuck to. I enjoyed the walks I did, even when I was reluctant and trying out Park run and would like to try out more fitness clubs. I liked the trips we went on and met up with my eldest cousin. It was good to see family and wish it could be more often.
These are free to download and print. I post them weekly and thank you for those who have liked them and will post more come the new year.
Please check out my Vlog channel if you want to see more of my life, being a mum, writer and now do a radio show each week for my local hospital: https://www.youtube.com/@typicallondongal
It has a been a different kind of winter this year. Not that cold but wet and rainy, with a bit of frost in the morning. Yet riding on the bus in the mornings to take my son, Henry, to do his schooling, I have found myself boiling hot.
Picture I took from when I visited Windsor this year and so been setting my Winter, to enjoy the places we went to and so using this time of year, winter, to go through 2025 heading into 2026.
I like to have a nice iced coffee still, yet you’d think that that would be too cold and hot coffee all the way but no. So enjoy your take away iced coffee, is one tip. As I write this blog, gonna have an iced coffee indoors and I am looking forward to getting a perfect glass for a home coffee for 2026. So to gift to myself is going to be shopping for a better set of glasses and no more novelty mugs.
With the changes I want to make I want to clear out the kitchen before the start of the New Year. I decided to let my baking tools and equipment go; I know I may go back into it but I like cooking dinners rather than baking.
So second tip, find some home projects to do. I am trying to do more of my sons bedroom and mine and it really is making me use my Winter, to my advantage to concentrate on what I can let go of and making improvements to my homes. I live in two places and soon we, my parents, will be moving from Wimbledon and I feel positive about it.
I spent time yesterday creating vision boards for 2026. Organsing my birthday and Christmas gifts for family for this years Christmas and been organising my Notion. I went through my plans in terms of my finances for 2026, just got to put my planner together. I like to plan ahead when it comes to my finances I am going to do “No spend January” and try to do a “Low spend year” as I am going to call it, because I feel doing a No Spend for me, too unrealistic.
I am finding now that there are less things I want to change, but have more experiences. I liked the walks we did this year and the places we visited, my son, husband and I, with my mum and step dad and would want to visit more places. So rather than focusing on the low energy I usually get, I think well I am going to slow down. I am going to have a good set of books to read and just thinking about what I can do, not what I can’t. Normally I put my indoor workouts on hold but I have found that I like breaking up my exercise and do some through the day, rather than a set workout and I have a watch that I bought to wear at home and out to see how many steps I do when at home and outside as do like to potter around the home and tidy. I like to walk through the local parks and checking out the shops and can shop with out buying and going to continue and not act on impulse unless it is doing a bit of a workout and cleaning and tidying is still physical activity. Check my blog site on google: https://getfitgetactivewithme.blogspot.com/
I loved the walks we did even though I was reluctant at the time but it was good and loved Windsor, We walked from Kingston to Teddington and would love to continue to walk and visit different places within the UK, so using the Winter to think of all what we did this year and I love to plan my year and have things to look forward to. I have tickets to see Bon Jovi, plan to visit Scotland and the Isle Of Wight. Third is to get away. If you can get out and my son and I do bus rides and just good to be in a different environment and where my creative side of my brain gets active and I live rivers, lakes and the sea.
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Hello! So should I ask how the Christmas shopping is going and organising the food, presents and decor. My husband and my mum have taken care of the decor and the food.
It is good to delegate and I can take care of buying gifts and ordering bits and I am looking forward to the celebrations.
Then there is the new year. Twenty Twenty Five has not been a bad year for me and share the things I feel were good and worth remembering. Please check out my December Newsletter:
Hello! It is early I know but that what heartburn does. I am good nevertheless and had to get up.
So Christmas is upon us and so wanted to do a Cheat Sheet of tips of what to do after Christmas having leftover food, sales on Christmas products that are on sale and tidying up.
These are free to download and print. I post each Monday and to be kept and help you with tips and advice and we can have so much food, drink and it is good to be prepared for the following year.
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Everyone can build a castle 