I never believe people when they say they have no regrets. I mean, really, you’ve managed to make it through life making winning decisions every step of the way? I’m sure you’ll say you learned something from everything you went through and yeah, yeah, I hear you, absolutely, there is value in that. But surely, you can still wish that teachable moment happened without you having to make an ass out of yourself to get it. I for one can say I definitely regret a few things, one thing in particular in fact.

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We all have fears that hold us back. I call them ‘emotional fears’ – it’s not a fear of spiders or snakes or something tangible, it’s the big fears like public speaking, going to a networking event alone, that kind of thing – so many people struggle with them and in order to fully step in to your badassery, you’ve gotta get to grips with it. Easier said than done, right? How are you supposed to overcome something that genuinely scares you? Essentially these kind of fears lie in fear of being vulnerable or embarrassed. Overcoming them is all about baby steps. Here are my top five tips to getting back in the game.

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Ever find your evenings out have become a little boring? A dinner here, a cinema date there. I mean, how many Fast & Furious movies can you watch in this lifetime, really? After a while, it can be a total yawn fest. So, it’s time to shake things up a bit.

Be Real Talks are holding an event on June 4th entitled ‘Why Size Doesn’t Matter – Be The Best You’, an evening of talks from entertainers, stylists, comedians, artists and psychologists who will entertain you and get you thinking about this topic in new ways. It’s an inspiring, uplifting event designed to motivate you to make positive changes in your life, sans the Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky cringey motivational speaker nonsense.

And because I’m all about positive shenanigans that empower and uplift, the folks at Be Real Talks have said my readers can have a discount on tickets. SUH-WEET!

Have a little looksee here to get more info on what the event is all about, then head on over this way to get your discounted ticket using the promotional code BG0406.

Enjoy!

I love clothes. I really do. I went to the London College of Fashion, I studied fashion journalism, my mother was a weaver who had her own clothing line when I was younger – it’s pretty much engrained in me to be one stylin’, profilin’ mofo. I love checking out other people’s style (unless it involves Uggs), I love fabrics, patterns, discovering designers from distant, foreign lands. You get the point – I love this shiz. And so, it has been with increasing despair over the past year that I have stared at my wardrobe and bellowed the words ‘I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!’ Oh sure, we’ve all done that. But I really mean it. I’ve reached a point where I hate all my clothes and am completely flummoxed as to what to do style-wise.

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I love me some Instagram. So, just in case you’re not following me on there, here’s a quick update, via the art of photography and shameless selfies, about what I got up to this week. Read on for pic descriptions:

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Madonna called it years ago – we’re living in a material world. I’m not necessarily with her on the being a material girl thing, but she got that other bit right. Social media amplifies it, of course. See something you like online? Pin it to your Pinterest board. Bought something new? Take a pic of it and upload it to Instagram. Want some more stuff? Make a ‘wishlist’ on Amazon and hope people will get the hint. The more stuff we have, the more stuff we appear to want and with more ways for us to see more stuff, it seems the cycle is just never ending. We own all these things and our dedication to materialism of late makes me think that for a lot of people, their stuff has started to own them.

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We all have things that hold us back. There are situations and emotions that we can get snagged on. Sometimes we find it genuinely hard to move past them, sometimes we barely even try to. They become excuses, convenient reasons we can give for why we haven’t moved on, why we won’t try things, why we firmly believe there are things we can’t do. But imagine what we could do if we did. Better still, don’t imagine – just get on with it. Take active steps to move past whatever it is that’s got you caught up. In a nutshell: get over it. Here’s my top 5 things everyone needs to get over:

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I decided at the beginning of the year I need to reconnect a bit (well, kind of a lot) with real life. My whole life is online and while I love that to an extent and enjoy communicating through that medium, last year I just felt that something was missing. I really just felt an intense need for reconnection to the real, if that makes sense. So, to me that means getting tactile and exploring different avenues of inspiration and creativity. Having a pin board as a visual stimulus was one of the first logical steps for me to start experimenting with that.

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Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the Bangs Brand Consultancy. Whether you’re new online and floundering about trying to figure out how to get your word out, or you’re a seasoned internetter who wants to take things in a new direction, I’m here to help you do just that. Having been doing this behind the scenes for quite a while, I’ve decided to put it out there and make it one of the main parts of my business. So, if you need some help building your personal brand online and shaping your business identity by upping your social media game, get in touch!

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I spend a lot of time talking to people about blogging or fitness. I’m often told that my own blogging journey or fitness journey has inspired others. I’ve coached people about their blogs, talked them through how to start one and keep it going. A common theme I encounter from people time and time again in both blogging and fitness is the ‘when’. When I’ve done this, this and this, then I can do that. When I’ve gotten through this really difficult time at work, then I can start getting fit. There are a whole lot of people who live for putting things off. Whether I’m advising people about their blogs or how to get started with fitness, my advice invariably starts out with: JUST DO IT!

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