Category Archives: Living

Do Your Own Thing

01 Monday Jun 2026

Posted by in Everyday living, Financial Living, having bad days, health and wellbeing, life coaching blog, Living, Personal Development, Planning 2026, Positive Habits, Printables, Summer Project, Weekly posts

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I like to be inspired about books, different fashion styles and planning etc but often enough it can have a negative effect.

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Watching Hauls when we are in debt. Feeling paranoid about our health and that we don’t have the perfect lifestyle so we stress over not having the next best pillow for the bed or people moving house and it can be a vicious circle.

You don’t have to follow, do your own thing.

I am no longer interested in Hauls, seeing kids with so many gifts given to them or people moving house.

It is nice to have the house you dreamed of. That is fine but it can often make us feel inadequate because of someone on Youtube for example has a big house, with a gym and don’t get me wrong I like to splurge but not to the point I have no money left and so I will make sure I have the money and have learned to switch off from impulse shopping because sponsored videos and just go into a store buying exactly what I had gone in there for.

It can be make up. I rarely do a full face. I sometimes just use face cream and face spray, others days may use a bit of concealer, eye liner and eye shadow it all depends on what I feel like on the day and what my plans are. My mum wears make up everyday and she has done this her whole life, so she will pay for make up regularly because that suits her lifestyle. It not about being trendy but what makes you happy.

I have friends who like a boy band still, a friend that loves rock music and I like all kinds. I am someone who loves many different things and I go through phases and again it all depends on my mood. I don’t read books because its new but is interesting to me and not because its a bestseller and a top read. I like books that take me into the past, crime, non fiction and chick flicks. Again it depends on what I fancy and why I leave the door open to my plans as I will often change my mind and seeing that that is okay. I take notice of my gut, mind and what I want to focus on and I now like to switch off from the noise of having to consume so much and scrolling all the time.

I rarely check Instagram all the time or Facebook. I will send a birthday message and like some posts but not all the time anymore and go for walks in the morning. For some people it can be the worst thing ever for some people and that is okay. Do what suits you and is safe of course but do what you want and not listening to others to decide for you.

Be honest with yourself and go through Youtube of what you are no longer interesting in, unsubscribe and go analogue. I like to write things down, rather than use Notion all the time. I like to use what I have already got. I find it stays in my mind better when I write things down. It helps to have good hand writing skills as they can be affected typing all the time and just listen to nature. I wrote a blog about how listening to the rain or the birds can be so nice and peaceful: https://mystylewayofliving.blogspot.com/2026/05/listening-to-rain-can-be-peaceful.html

I am not saying that you should shut yourself away but not being influenced so much we forgotten about what truly makes us happy. I don’t want the latest trainers. I not interested in upgrading my phone and think about what I truly want to watch, listen to buy and be who I am and what is important.

I like watching writing vlogs. I like to listen to those about finance and like to use Youtube for training my mind but not to see what the latest gadget is. So it up to you and just live. Be happy if not then it is time to change.

Check out this weeks Cheat Sheet:

Managing Your MoneyDownload

I also write book which you can on Amazon in Kindle and paperback under Carrie Challoner and Carrie Holmes.

My new one is called When Mothers Are Real: https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Mothers-Real-Carrie-Challoner-ebook/dp/B0GTYJS3S1

My Cheat Sheets are are full of tips and information and post every Monday and free to download and print.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Life Coaching Blog: Being Good At What You Do

29 Friday May 2026

Posted by in career building, Celebrating, health and wellbeing, life coaching blog, Living, Personal Development, Planning 2026, Summer Project, Weekly posts

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I have been watching many people rebuild or their hobby become a business. I think of this guy on Youtube Leonel Maxlhaisie and who started baking and selling sour dough bread and pastries from the boot of his car and now has an industrial kitchen and has a hut that he sales goods from and so inspiring. Watching Freddy Mercury was a baggage handler before becoming a super star and the vocalist for Queen. He also wrote music, but is up there with Elvis, Barbra Streisand and I often think what do they possess that I don’t?

Commitment, hard working and they stand out. They have a talent that is a gift.

In this picture I watching the Book Diaries by the sea and she started as a librarian and collecting books and now has her own book shop.

Visiting Wimbledon Park to play tennis the guy working in the café was miserable and had no Customer Service skills, yet visiting a garden centre the staff were really nice and made me feel welcome because they were good at their job and I worked in Customer Service and I was good at my job. Yes I still made mistakes but at the end of the day I knew what I was doing no matter who thought I weren’t.

I have carried those skills and love working on my blogs, books and radio show. I worked in Catering. Not for me. I worked in Housekeeping, not for me, but I am glad that I tried and that is what you’ve got to do. Try. See what it is like to then find out if it is for you and make the effort. I know Steven Bartlett worked in a call centre and he didn’t follow the rules and wasn’t for him but went on to create a podcast, wrote a book and now invests in other peoples businesses.

I am good at planning, I have a good knowledge of books and music. I love sport but my first love was music and reading. I love music and I love books. I was good at dance and no longer dance which I often wished I had, but I am glad of the direction I took because of building a life of my own and because of being a mum. I am good at choosing good music. I would know a lot of lyrics of songs and names. With books I love to write and I am glad I possess those skills. I am still learning and I read books to learn and every afternoon I will play some music and love listening to radio. It helps inspire me to do my show and come up with themes and song ideas to play.

You don’t need to be earning million dollars to be good at your job. Its putting in the hours, still showing up and I when was in fulltime employment would give it my all and it helped with my confidence to workout what I want to do.

Being a mum is a full time job and yeah, I don’t always get it right but again I am learning and with each day getting better and learning about my son and make sure he what he needs and that he is washed, got clean clothes and things that occupy his mind and is a social, happy social boy.

I believe you have to learn the craft and I do read different types of books. The only way to find out what your good at is to research and try them out.

If you are looking for a hobby or change of job, career or skill then do it. You only know by trying and the best way to learn is to just try.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Life Coaching Blog: Own the Stage

22 Friday May 2026

Posted by in Celebrating, Creating a vision, Goal setting, health and wellbeing, life coaching blog, Living, Personal Development, Summer Project

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Watching Live Aid, Queen the band, for the 100th time. They owned the stage and Freddy was out there and one of the best performers and every time I watch it, it still feels like it is the first time watching it and it was 40 years ago and if you want to change, own the stage. You are part of this world so you deserve to have the things you want, unless it is hurting people.

OWN THE STAGE!

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It is good to say “You want to be the best” OWN THE STAGE in whatever field or area you are interested in. Watching Robbie Williams film Robbie was treated like a pain in the arse but once he started to see that he was good enough to be a star and create fantastic music he shone and he OWNED THE STAGE and made people see, by getting help and facing his demons, a superstar and he is a up there with the best.

Your going to have setbacks, but it is how you manage them is the key. I wanted to win the trophy for the highest marks when I did dance and I got it and it was because I OWNED THE STAGE and athletes OWN THE STAGE. They do the work, they eat what their body needs and many have had struggles leading up to success but they see they are part of this world and so they have taken over the world by their determination and working on your strengths and their weaknesses.

So set some goals. Change a habit and write down what has worked out for you in your life and why and making the things that haven’t worked out smaller. I want to make you see your part of this world. You are important and you can achieve goals and change. I never felt good than I do now because I write thar blog, I write that book, I go for a morning walk, I worked in a coffee shop and I have made a good dinner. So OWN THE STAGE and yes their are hurdles but it can work out and when it does it feels fantastic.

Please check out my Pinterest where I post my blogs and on X too.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Does It Pay to be a Perfectionist

17 Sunday May 2026

Posted by in career building, Celebrating, Everyday living, having bad days, health and wellbeing, Inspirational TV, journal, life coaching blog, Living, Personal Development, Summer Project, Weekly posts

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Listening to a podcast and documentaries of Queen and Live Aid it made me realise that Queen were perfectionists and to Freddy he had a good attention to detail. A song had to make you feel excited and their Live Aid performance was out of this world and one that will always been remembered and when I spent time in a Mental Health Hospital it would be played and Bob Geldoff too putting it together and changed the music scene that not only can you write music but could create a master piece to be used and fame to make a difference. I have said “I am not perfect” but like my books and blogs to be perfect and have felt such an amateur when their have been a typo that I missed and reading my books and J.K Rowling her books had to be seen that this could be real, the same with the Hunger Games and The Lord Of The Rings.

Myself set up in Radio Studio that I’d like to perfect.

Yes mistakes do happen and can improve our focus and attention to detail as I can see that perhaps I need to do more of an outline on a book and not be in such a rush in publishing it but that my blogs and my message is put across. Its taking pride in what you do and I like my days now that I have had attention in making sure I have slept well, that my clothes are not super creased and that the home is tidy and that there are no crumbs all over the place, that the sink is shining and I am a perfectionist and I think now in observing people, we all are. We all want to have a home to give you comfort so spending time on the look of a home, like furniture, the perfect bed that we like to help have a good nights sleep.

It means you care. Yes you can get things wrong that is part of life but when you keep building and growing being a singer, dancer, writer or a Housewife you it perfect for you and for others you live with. Then there are things that you think are going to be bad, turn out to be a masterpiece. Boy George didn’t like his song “Do you really want to hurt me” and didn’t want it on their album and yet it changed his life and Culture Club, but again it is perfectionism. It can work against you like the example of the Boy George and Culture Club sometimes it can cause confliction.

You only know when something is good when you get feedback both good and bad. I have had criticism, but people will. It doesn’t mean you have to stop but may need to make changes and feedback is a must.

A chef will always want feedback. They need to know if people like their dishes to learn how to make a meal better and it depends who it is for. A child may not go for a steak that is within the specials. I do not like Liver because of school dinners but then I didn’t eat Tuna but had Tuna Steak, which made me realise it could be tasty. So it was perfection for me. It was cooked well, it was flavour and that is where it pays off and so when you do something check it, taste it and makes us succeed by being consistent and attention to detail, which is the key and what you like. What puts you off? What could you make that you can master that will help build a website and what outcome using the Worksheet I created in first blog: https://everyonecanbuildacastle.com/2026/04/29/introduction-to-my-yearly-programme-summer-project-2026/

I like to see things develop and watched how they put together Bohemian Rhapsody. It was really clever and every bit of was important in the making of it. Seeing Strictly Come Dancing live. Being there was such an thrill, because how much work goes into to making it. It was different the clips that they had to do and film and so much goes into it and it is perfectionism because if the presenters can’t talk, the cameras not working it could all have been a disaster so again it is attention to detail and consistency.

So what do you want to focus on?

Focus on what result you want. Who could help you perfect a skill or if its your weekly routine you have been working on?

Dig deep and be honest. It was journaling that helped me put this is blog together and by journaling each day has really been a great. It has helped me to slow down and keep going. Writing a book is a hard process, because how I see it the readers will see it differently and its making it understandable, engaging and that they will read more books I write. All to down with perfectionism and tip you toe in the water to start and learn the craft that you want to perfect.

I do a radio show for the local hospital and its not just pressing buttons, but choosing songs that the patients or family of patients may be listening to and like. Making sure the last song fits in with the news and not cut half the song and playing the Promos and not playing the same songs, it is a whole process and you have to enjoy it and music that may be personal to people. I have made mistakes, but the more I do it the more I will perfect it and try different themes and what a song makes me feel when I hear it.

So having good attention to detail and consistency means you are a perfectionists and now as I become aware of the world as I grow in age, it is okay because its about using to build your skills and abilities and let work for you not against you.

You can Follow me on Pinterest aswell and X.

https://x.com/typical86285

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Life Coaching blog: Setting Your Goals Too High

08 Friday May 2026

Posted by in career building, Creating a vision, Goal setting, having bad days, life coaching blog, Living, Summer Project, Weekly posts

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How high are you setting your goals?

How often are you changing your goals because they seem impossible to achieve?

What one thing do you want to focus on?

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Life is full of decisions and paths. It is full of challenges and when we set goals we are told to manifest and visualise. This can help but what is the outcome you want and write a list of goals and then ask yourself, what are realistic, what is important to you right now and what is giving you the strongest feeling that is you don’t do it, because you jumped in with both feet.

Been so guilty about doing that too and so to avoid what one step can you do today.

I write books so the first thing I focus on is putting the first draft together and how many pages can a right that I know I can do to begin with. Once I have completed the first draft, then next edit ready for the second draft and so it is about gradual steps and taking your time.

Changing my diet and be more healthy and I say I am going to have salad all this week, I know that that is impossible for me as often I don’t want the same meal each day and focus on what do I want now, do I have the food I want? How much money will it cost me and will it satisfy me? I am not one to prep meals for the week but set ideas and do it day by day now. I would write down meals for the month and I’d change my mind. I like to decide more or less on the day.

I do plan but this year I wanted what I wanted last year. Right now my goal is to grow and continue with my blogs, write and create books, my sons first year of his new school and educating myself on writing and growing my content.

So what one thing can you do today that will help you to your ultimate goal. So my books the outcome is to get it published to the work on the next book and let them “Grow”. My word for this year.

Check out my blog I did that I attached my Worksheet for this programme Introduction to My Yearly Programme Summer Project 2026 I as I write this blog looking for something to listen to whilst I write this blog and came across this short by Jennifer Lopez about skincare https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q7MdZPUBFu4 It is being consistent and doing daily rituals and how we organise our lives.

So take it each step and in the worksheet it asks about the outcome and so workout what you want to happen in your life by focus on one thing as it comes and planning as you go.

I hope you find these blogs are helpful and if you want to be notified when I post on this site then please subscribe.

Please check out my Pinterest that has more content: https://uk.pinterest.com/carriechallonerholmes

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Life Coaching Blog: Lets get started with having a System

01 Friday May 2026

Posted by in Everyday living, having bad days, health and wellbeing, journal, life coaching blog, Living, Personal Development, Planning 2026, Positive Habits, Printables, Reflecting

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Hello! So it is the beginning of my Life Coaching programme Summer Project 2026 check out previous blog: Summer Project Introduction to My Yearly Programme Summer Project 2026 I included a worksheet which is free to download and print.

So to get started I suggest to create a plan. So I journal every morning and it helps me with my creativity and whilst I listen to an audiobook or music. Develop a playlist. I have one for podcasts, videos about writing as I have books out, for my different books and Parenting videos and so it is good for getting the mood to change and learn.

I train my brain everyday. I like to educate my mind and the first thing in the morning once my son has gone off to school.

So to make a change by going through the worksheet:

Good Systems:

Plan, Plan Plan = Have a good set up and create one that will help you focused on and inspire you to make a change. If there are particular things that you are interested in. #so start with developing a plan and do a list, but concentrate on one area or item at a time.

Ask for help, who can help you or what will help you So my husband always cleans the kitchen and the bathroom, so I will do the areas such as the windowsills, put m sons clothes away and my mum has helped with gardening.

Do you have a quiet time of the day or space you can plan? I love to use the sofa or my desk and in the garden.

Drink? Water, tea and Coffee. I am having a glass of juice each day for Vitamin C and especially in the summer life a fizzy drink but only have one and Zero Sugar.

Is there a time where you feel more energized? I like to work in the mornings and then chill in the afternoon and have time off such as the weekend.

I find spending time planning helps to reset, asking for help as we are not built to do everything and my husband loves to clean and only he is allowed to use the vacuum and the iron. This has helped me to function concentrate on other area so I can then move to onto others.

So sit down with a drink and lets make those changes.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Introduction to My Yearly Programme Summer Project 2026

29 Wednesday Apr 2026

Posted by in Celebrating, Everyday living, having bad days, health and wellbeing, Joural, life coaching blog, Living, Personal Development, Planning 2026, Summer Project

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Hello! It’s that time of year when I start sharing blogs about things I’ve done to feel good about myself and my life.

This is all about focusing on abundance and recognizing what’s working in your life.

Make one change at a time and concentrate on what’s important to you.

I have a free worksheet for you to download and print. If you want to stay updated on my posts for this program, please subscribe.

As you work through the worksheet, take time to reflect. I suggest journaling every day, like I do. You can get a smart journal or use an app to track your progress. Begin by focusing on one thing and keep using the worksheet. See Below.

This isn’t a test; it’s an opportunity to face your fears and improve your relationships with yourself and others.

The program will run from May 1, 2026, to August 14, 2026.

I invite you to join me in making positive changes to feel better about yourself and your life. Please share your thoughts in the comments on my blog. I’ll also create a board on Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/carriechallonerholmes/ and update my X account: https://x.com/typical86285.

Thank you for reading,

Carrie X

Worksheet:

Summer Project 2026Download

Weekly Cheat Sheet Doing Joint Tasks

27 Monday Apr 2026

Posted by in Cheat sheet, Everyday living, having bad days, health and wellbeing, Living, Planning 2026, Printables, Weekly posts

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Hi all! I hope you didn’t mind me taking a break from posting on this site. Please check out my last blog of my Monthly Newsletter: April Newsletter 2026

It is a new Cheat Sheet today and it is all about doing Joint Tasks and it can become a ritual and now I am listening to a podcast whilst posting this blog.

To Do Joint TasksDownload

These are free to download and print and there won’t be one next week as it is a bank holiday but will be the week after.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

I Got the wrong train

15 Wednesday Apr 2026

Posted by in Everyday living, having bad days, health and wellbeing, Living, People, Personal Development, Positive Habits, Reflecting, Weekly posts

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Writing in my Journal I realised that okay I got on the wrong train, but in the end it was good timing, because if I had got on the right train to Epsom from Wimbledon I would have been waiting a long time to meet my mum and step dad, so it worked out well.

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I thought I’d got lucky getting on the train and realising it was going to Surbiton and not the route to Epsom. I do believe in God and so thought, great thanks god only to realise I should have waited but no, I thought smugly only to be taught a valuable lesson, not everything is about me being lucky as he has to look after others and who am I to be the one that gets lucky all the time?

I had felt that I’d make this mistake, so it was okay “So it was today” and shows that I wasn’t paying attention which when I say to Henry to pay attention, that I need to do so too and that I needed to have a taste of my own medicine.

I feel I have learned some real home truths this month (April 2026) that I can be the person that I dislike. Holding up my guard to much. A guy getting on the train and two boys today, I gave them a dirty look. Yet today I moved over when walking to the train station and the girl gave me a dirty look. So what you put out there you will receive back to see that I prejudged these people not knowing who they are and the images of what they could in some way harmful was just me being irrational and need to get a grip.

My laptop broke trying to download some random software to be able to post a vlog on Youtube. It gave me focus on enjoying my Easter Holidays and not be tied to my laptop. I was rude to someone in Tesco’s, I need to manage my anger and annoyance and today, stop being in a rush. Rushing causes mistakes and the true me is having patience and take my time.

I am polite and hate it when like today, I thought my coffee was ready when it was for someone else and the person who was the one that made the order, didn’t look happy but I didn’t take it and I made a mistake. I think we expect too much and people get things wrong. This is how we learn and I know the difference between a real annoyance to a minor, not on purpose, but a general mistake.

We are human and we should be more acceptable of each other and the mistakes we have made.

No one is perfect and I know I am not alone in getting on the wrong train and now will not worry if I miss a train. I had plenty of time so I needn’t have rushed.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X