Tag: creativity

Design Your Life

Published on by Amy D LuxLeave a comment

If there were no limitations, how would you design your life?

This is a question only YOU can truly answer, and with all of the pressures of modern life, not everyone is genuinely honest with themselves about what they truly want. People can have a complex relationship with their hopes and dreams, and it can vary from person to person. Some people may be very honest with themselves, while others may struggle to be fully honest with themselves for a variety of reasons such as fear of failure, social expectations, lack of self awareness, or difficulty with introspection. Any one of these can make it challenging to identify and articulate one’s deepest desires.

It’s essential to be aware of these potential barriers and work to overcome them to gain a better understanding of what we truly want in life. Once you break past your own barriers, you can start to forge a path that is fully aligned with making your dreams a reality. Below are a few ideas to help you start brainstorming!

🎨 Pursue your passions! Without any limitations, many people would devote their time and energy to pursuing their passions, whether it be art, music, sports, or any other activity that brings them joy and fulfillment.

🗺 Travel the world! If there were no limits, you might choose to explore the world, visit exotic locations, experience different cultures, and immerse themselves in new experiences.

👯‍♀️ Build meaningful relationships! Focus on building and maintaining meaningful relationships with friends and family, as well as seeking out new connections with people who share similar interests and values.

🧚🏾‍♂️ Focus on personal growth: In the absence of limitations, you might choose to devote your time and energy to personal growth, whether it be through education, self-reflection, or other forms of self-improvement.

🫶🏽 Make a positive impact: Many people might use their unlimited resources to make a positive impact on the world, whether it be through philanthropy, activism, or other forms of social or environmental change.

Of course, these are just a few examples of how people might choose to design their lives without any limits. The possibilities are truly endless. Are you ready and willing to dig deep and allow yourself to discover how you would design YOUR life without limitations?

Listen, life’s challenges and limitations are VERY real, and can feel overwhelming at times, however, it’s essential to remember that not all limitations are insurmountable. By recognizing and accepting our limitations, we can work to overcome them and STILL achieve our dreams. Here are some tips to help work through life limitations to live a life of your dreams!

🥅 Identify your goals: Begin by identifying what you truly want in life. This can involve setting specific and achievable goals that align with your values and interests.

⚠️ Prioritize: Once you have identified your goals, prioritize them based on what is most important to you. This can help you focus your time and energy on the things that matter most.

📝 Plan and Take Action: Create a plan for achieving your goals, breaking them down into smaller, more manageable steps. Take action and begin working towards your goals, even if progress is slow.

🧘🏽‍♀️Be Flexible: Be prepared to adapt your plans as needed. Life is unpredictable, and circumstances may change, but being flexible can help you continue moving forward towards your dreams.

🚨 Seek Support: Don’t be afraid to seek support from friends, family, or professionals when working towards your goals. Surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people can help you stay motivated and overcome challenges.

💆🏽‍♂️Practice Self-Care: It’s essential to take care of yourself physically and emotionally as you work towards your goals. This can involve getting enough sleep, eating well, and engaging in activities that bring you joy and relaxation.

With some elbow grease and grit, you can work through any challenge to live a life of your dreams. Make dream setting a daily practice and you may just end up closer than you think to designing and achieving the life of your dreams. You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to. I believe in you. xo, DLUX

🗞 FI BOOK CLUB NEWS 📚

Published on by Amy D LuxLeave a comment

YES, YOU

Published on by Amy D LuxLeave a comment

Wherever you are on your journey

even if it is day 1

or just starting to take your first step

whatever your journey entails

you are not too late

you are not too far behind

you are not inferior

you are deserving

you are amazing

you are love

you are a force

you can do anything

Dlux Staple Groceries…& Mindset

Published on by Amy D LuxLeave a comment

I planned to do a zero waste and no spend year for 2020. I was moving into my own place near Lake Merritt in Oakland and ready start the year fresh with goals I had been taking baby steps on and was now ready to fully submerge myself into.

Like all well laid plans and new years resolutions that year there was a bit of a disruption to most people’s plans when the pandemic hit and we went into quarantine. I tried to stick to my goals but the first few months was such mental gymnastics that I decided to focus on less lofty goals and just focus on my mental and physical health until I could concentrate on how much waste I was producing with a clear head.

Despite the fact that the media was reporting a few weeks of quarantine, I knew immediately in my gut that it would go much longer than that. While I still knew very little about the nature of the issue at hand, it was just that gut instinct that told me I needed to focus on my mental health and emotional wellness and prepare to be in quarantine until the end of the year.

Of course we ended up with more than my instinct could’ve bargained on by the end of 2020, and here we are about to enter the last quarter of the year of 2021 and I’m just attempting to consider some of these former goals. I’ve been steadily chipping away but I’m ready to go all in again.

In order to organize myself, I wanted to put some focus on the area where I notoriously break my budget. I am still nuancing the numbers between groceries and take out to create a budget that is realistic but still frugal enough that I can put that “extra” money towards savings and investments.

Before you judge me for being too harsh on myself I’d like to point out that this is exactly how I finally became consumer debt free in August 2020. I find frugality challenges to be fun and healthy and I don’t deprive myself. I always make sure to budget for fun and flexibility. A budget isn’t a punishment and.in fact, it gives you way more financial freedom than life without a budget which only results in endless debt. Debt is the real prison. Let that ish go. Becoming debt free is liberating AF and 100% worth the sacrifice, speaking from experience.

In addition to controlling finances, I also want to have zero food waste in my kitchen. Currently I compost and am pretty good at doing “pantry challenges” when things are getting close to expiration, but I still have let some food rot by not being mindful and intentional of all of my purchases.

The other perk to using this staple grocery list as my guide is that I have found that I was getting burnt out on trying new recipes all of the time, and instead have been leaning into creating mouth watering versions of my favorite recipes. For example, I started making overnight oats last year and fell in love with this easy, quick, and healthy recipe. I tweaked and perfected it for a year and a half and now it is so incredibly easy and delicious, and works great for breakfast and for snacks. I want all of my main recipes to be that yummy that I would desire it for any meal any time.

SO for the categories – the ones that are a general category, like “fruit”, can be rotated as long as I have 1 in inventory at any given time, like “strawberries”. If it is shown as a specific food, like avocado, then it means I must have avocado at all times and can not be subbed for any other food in it’s category. Yea, I have a few obsessions, avo being one of them! A slash means “or” at time of purchase, but if I already have one and I am still within my budget for the month, then I can purchase the other on my weekly shopping. For example, Stubbs BBQ lasts me a while since I only make BBQ Tofu occasionally, so that doesn’t prevent me from gettings Salsa on my next shopping trip.

Surprise! Turns out I can not pick only 5 vegetables and have double that on my rotation. What are rules for other than to be broken! The good news is these never go to waste. I am obsessed with all 10 of these foods. Plus I am just not going to skimp on the most important food group. Fiber, micronutrients, macronutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals – all inclusive, what’s not to love? I’ll take this category in abundance thank you very much!

While most of these are year round staples for me, there are a few wild cards on there that are seasonal so I’ve focused on preparing for the upcoming fall and winter season for those types of warming seasonal foods. Perhaps I’ll update this going into next spring and summer where something like watermelon tends to be a staple for me in the summer season as opposed to root veggies and pumpkin everything.

What do you think? Are there any items on this list that you think are gross, excessive, or downright must haves for your list? What are your die hard staples that you can’t live without?

EARTH DELIGHTS

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Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

Let there be spaces in your togetherness.

Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

Work is love made visible.

If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.

Khalil Gibran

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT: DLUX TATER BOWL

Published on by Amy D LuxLeave a comment

Lock me in a kitchen for a year and some interesting choices are bound to be made….

Introducing the DLUX TATER BOWL!

GIRL. Lemme just tell you. This bowl was 2 servings but I licked the damn thing clean. SUPÈRYUMZ

Vegan. Whole30. Paleo. Grain Free. Gluten Free. Dairy Free. Organic. #allthethings

9 times out of 10 I’m eating a #YAM but once in a while girlfriend needs a white ass potato, mmkay?

Bake the baby in the #instapot. If you don’t have this GET IT NOW. My #1 minimalist friendly kitchen tool.

TBH, #1 is tied between IP, Immersion Blender, + Juicer, but you get what I’m laying down, right? I’m a #minimalist; I only have 3 tools; they are all #1.

While the #tater is baking, sauté: onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushrooms, broccoli. Put big ole tater in a bowl a top with #nutritionalyeast, olive oil, salt + peppa. Then load on the sautéed veggies and top with #sauerkraut, #olives, & #avocado. Add Olive Oil Drizzle.

Yes. I said olives. OLIVES ON EVERYTHING.

Don’t challenge me. It’s dope. #saltfatacidheat

All of this from #PlanetEarth. How amazing is that?

Next, pretend you will save half for lunch tomorrow + devour every delicious morsel.

YW. 💕, DLUX

YOU, Superhero

Published on by Amy D LuxLeave a comment

First order of business: You literally are a superhero. You have SO many powers to create your fate. Law of Attraction, Quantum Physics, Alchemy – whatever you want to call it, we have the power! Don’t talk yourself out of it – try it today! ✨❤️✨

Second, If you want a superhero collage with your face, I can do that for ya! Just let me know. Hang it on your mirror, on your fridge, make it part of your vision board – whatever you want to remind yourself and give yourself a little boost. YOU’RE AWESOME. Don’t let anyone make you feel any differently.

~ FIN ~

“You are stronger than you believe. You have greater powers than you know.”

—Antiope to Diana, Wonder Woman Movie

Credit Score Goals

Published on by Amy D LuxLeave a comment

As a goal oriented person, I always love setting New Year Resolutions, or New Year Goals, every year. I know alot of people that are adamantly against this. People say, “why bother if you’re just going to fail.” I see their point (kinda), but I have always followed the ideology of it’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you get back up. Fear of failure isn’t an option, but what’s more, it gives me something to work towards, as well as an opportunity to set an intention.

One of my New Year Goals for 2020 was to raise my credit score to 800. This one was tricky because I knew so much of this achievement would be out of my hands. First of all, there are 3 credit bureaus calling the shots and they don’t even agree with each other. Second, it’s a mystery to me how it even works. There is a lot of bait involved in this credit business. For example, my credit score would slowly tick up as I paid off debts and kept lower balances, but when I had a car emergency and had to take out a car loan, I was stunned to see that my credit score shot up several points after taking on this new large debt. Why? I didn’t feel I should be rewarded for that, but it’s some weird formula to encourage you to keep spending, and most people spend beyond their means when it comes to credit. Third, it took me years to get to 700 alone. I got my first credit card in college, along with the school loans, and promptly threw my score in the gutter for over a decade at just over 300 points. To say I was irresponsible with my credit is an understatement. I came from extreme poverty with a subzero financial IQ before I turned this ship around.

So, as you can see in the image, I did not achieve my goal of 800 points, BUT I did gain 89 points from the year before. In December 2019 before I made this goal I had just hit 700 even. Is this a failure? NOPE. This goal gave me mindfulness. Every month I recorded my updated score. I was encouraged because I was actively paying down debt, learning to live within a budget, and watching the score go up. I’ve been working on my budget for years but it takes a long time to master! Having this goal made me focused and vigilant to get the best results possible by persevering and course correcting as needed. I’d call this a win.

A credit score of 800 or higher is considered perfect and I was able to get so close that now I can definitely have it as an achievable goal for 2021. Even though it will take me a little longer to get there, I’m stoked to have stayed the course and to keep reaching higher.

What financial goals are you setting for yourself in 2021? Remember, it’s never too late to start anew. I re-evaluate my New Year Resolutions every quarter to make sure I’m on track and make updates if anything has shifted. It’s not written in stone, it’s your life novel to write and edit as you deem fit. You can do anything you set your mind to. I believe in you!

If you can believe it, you can achieve it.

~ Napoleon Hill