Motivation Monday: Make Extraordinary Decisions—Decisions You Are Proud to Make

"Don't just let life happen. Make extraordinary decisions. Decisions that lead to living a life you are proud to live." 

Decisions, decisions, decisions. They occupy almost every moment of our lives. They can be big and small. They can be simple and complicated. They can be quick and drawn out. No matter the type of decision, you will inevitably face it in your life.

I'm not always a great decision maker. Sometimes I'm afraid of making the wrong choice. Sometimes I don't want the pressure of knowing an outcome is directly related to a decision I make. Sometimes I really don't care. Sometimes I'm downright lazy.

There are, however, several big decisions I've made that I find myself feeling super proud about making.

A recent one is the decision to move into an apartment by myself.

The other day I was simply washing my dishes and mentally calendaring other household chores I needed to do.

Then I stopped.

And I thought "I am so proud that I decided to live by myself."

This might not seem like a big deal to some. But I love it. I've talked half heartedly about doing it for a while. I'm just the type of person who really enjoys having a whole place to myself and not walking over a roommate all the time. Nothing against the roommate (although I've had a couple, let's say, interesting ones), but there's something about it.

Right then,  I thought, "THAT's how I want to live my life."

I want to more actively DECIDE things in my life rather than waiting for things to happen or accepting the ways things fall. I want to take some risks that lead to more satisfaction in the outcome. I want to actively move forward on dreams and goals. I want every decision to contribute to my living a life I'm proud to live.

Lost...But Never Found

I was putting away some items in my bedroom today and could not stop thinking "Where in the world did all of my baskets go?"

You see, I have this skinny shelving unit and used to have a basket on every shelf. Three shelves are behind a door and THOSE had baskets. For a total of six baskets.

Since I moved, I can only find three. All of the ones I used in the doored shelves are gone.

And it's driving me crazy.

I can not come up with any idea as to where they might be. And this got me thinking about the other random things to go missing from my life.

Like a long black maxi skirt that I wore all the time last year? Nowhere to be found.

I'm hoping that by some miracle I find both of these things again. But have you ever lost something like that and found it much, much later? What's the story? Let's share!

This One Time...We Had a Garage Sale in The Rain

This one time my sister Susie and I decided to have a garage sale. This was in the middle of May when I had just moved, and she was about to move. We both had quite a few things to get rid of and decided that the work of a garage sale was worth it...plus we thought we'd have fun! (Yea, we are kinda crazy like that. 

Well the morning of the planned garage sale (I guess technically it would be a yard sale) turned out to be quite cloudy—with what looked like very high chances of rain. 

We decided to go ahead with our plan anyway. 

I had printed tons of signs with cute phrases like "A gal's dream yard sale" or "Scrapbooking supplies galore" or "Come one, come all" and, uh, "Yard Sale." 

I taught a Zumba class that morning at 8 am, so Susie and I met up early to get everything ready and hang up the signs, and I took off while Susie held down the fort. Our set up quite literally turned out to be a fort. 

The rain definitely came. And it was quite a chilly day. 

All of our stuff ended up huddled together under a large tarp. 

We didn't sell MUCH that day. But I had fun. And I'd probably do it again...and hope for better weather. 

The "This One Time" series is a new thing I'm doing to share some random stories and experiences from my life. One of my projects this past week has been to go through and organize a lot of old pictures and documents. That project inspired this series. 

How to Use #Hashtags (Properly)

It started with Twitter, but you'll see it everywhere these days: Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and—oh, oh—even Facebook. The hashtag. Oh wait, I meant the #hashtag. I already had most of this post outlined, but when Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake's Late Night skit exploded via social media this morning, I knew today was the day to post on this topic. (I'll also just say that I love Jimmy Fallon. I really do.)

I hope you enjoy the following video, which pokes fun at the current hashtag mania. And to throw my linguistic viewpoint out there, the practice of verbally saying "hashtag"in spoken conversation seems to have started in a comical, almost ironic usage but is actually becoming more common. Raise your hand if you've heard someone hashtag something verbally. Oh, and look at me using "hashtag" as a verb...


The video is funny. I can't get over "Hashtag I'm the real cookie monster. Hashtag Nom nom nom nom nom."

I've found it interesting that so many blog posts and articles reference the skit as a reason to stop using hashtags and why they are pointless or make us seem dumb.

I don't agree.

Don't get me wrong, I completely get that hashtags CAN be misused and CAN be quite annoying. Do a quick Google search on the top social media pet peeves, and hashtags are likely listed in every source.

But, hashtags DO play a very powerful role in the social media world. They are a great tool when used correctly. So take a quick read below and stop performing hashtag faux pas. (Full disclosure, I also misus hashtags.)

Understand Hashtags:
If you know why people are supposed to use hashtags, you'll understand how YOU can and should use hashtags.

Hashtags are used to organize information. Using a certain hashtag allows people who might not see your original pin, tweet, or post, to find it later. Specifically when they are interested in the topic associated with that hashtag.

Use Sparingly To Categorize Your Posts:
Hashtags are super powerful for businesses, events, or even social trends. If you want more exposure to your posts, choose one or two categories to hashtag.

DON'T OVERDO OR ABUSE THE SYSTEM. Don't use a hashtag your post is not related to. Don't go crazy. And don't be the person who hashtags every word. A single word does not always classify as a category. Which brings me to my next point.

Use the Hashtag Within The Text:
You can typically tell if you are overusing hashtags if you have to clump them all together at the end of your post. Say you have a vegetarian recipe you tried and would like to share. Instead of following your post with things like "#vegetarian #recipe #spinach #mushrooms #yumyum #icantgetenough." Try incorporating that in your text. Maybe use "I just tried this #vegetarian black bean enchilada #recipe."

Have a Reason to Use a Hashtag:
I support being creative and making your hashtag usage your own. For example, I personally tend to post a lot of feet pictures via Instagram and use #theplacesmyfeethavebeen to organize those photos together. I also use #siblingtime for posts related to activities with my brother or sisters. And there are others. But the point is, I use those hashtags to help me organize my social media activity. My purpose is organization. (Yes, I am the type who looks back over my past activity.)

Only Use a Hashtag That Could Be Used More Than Once
There is no point to using a hashtag that you or anyone else will NEVER use again. There just isn't. So don't do it.

Don't Hashtag Your Whole Caption
Most likely you can't use that whole caption again, but this faux pas happens enough that it needs to be addressed separately. Again, just don't do it.

Happy Punctuation Day: A Quick Review

Today is National Punctuation Day. Even though I have known the date for weeks, somehow this day has, once again, snuck up on me. I simply can not let such a day pass by without honoring it with some discussion of punctuation here on writedreamsweat.com. I'm going to keep things simple and share some quick rules and tricks for just a couple punctuation marks. (Come on, we all know when to use a period, right? Right???)

Question Marks
Question marks are pretty simple when we are writing a straightforward question. "How are you?" Simple. What about an indirect question?

"I wonder if she went to the gym." This is a statement. I see people use question marks in that usage all the time. Although a question is tied in, the sentence is not actually asking a question. It's actually stating the act of wonder.

Semicolons
Just remember that semicolons join two COMPLETE clauses that could stand alone. In my experience editing, the semicolon is probably the most commonly misused punctuation mark. My advice—don't use it unless you are 100 percent sure you know how to properly use. An improperly placed semicolon screams incompetence as a writer. I'll tell you now that most CEOs and business professionals do not know how to use this punctuation mark. I guess that's why they need editors by their side.

Three things to remember:
A semicolon must be used with two complete clauses.
Use a semicolon to indicate that information is related.
Use a semicolon as a style choice to add variety to your writing.

Colons
I'll say it right away: when you use a colon in a sentence, it is only used after statements that are complete sentences.

Please make note of the previous sentence. A colon is too often used incorrectly to introduce a series of items. The following example is incorrect.

"The items on the table are: plates, napkins, fruit, and yogurt."

"The items on the table are" is NOT a complete sentence. That example does not need a colon (or any punctuation mark) at all. If you really want to use a colon, try adding "the following." That phrase makes the introductory phrase a complete sentence and makes the usage correct.

Space
One thing I love about Chapter 4 in Grammar Girl's "Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing" is that she officially recommends to use—wait for it—one space after a period. If you don't already do this, make the change now. Using two spaces is outdated. (Its usage started to accommodate typewriter spacing. Find more info in my post "Double Spaces—Wrong?" back in 2009.)

Some other articles to check out:
"What's Your Punctuation Mark?"

"Celebrate National Punctuation Day by checking out the big punctuation fails"

"6 Common Punctuation Mistakes That Drive Us Crazy"

"16 Unfortunate Misuses of Punctuation"

An App You Should Get: Google Keep

The time has come. I'd like to introduce you to Google Keep and tell you why you should use this new Google product.

Google Keep was announced in March and made available to smart phone users in the following months. I have personally been using Keep for a little over a month. I admit, I was skeptically at first. I currently use Evernote, Dropbox, Google Drive, Tasks, Pinterest, Blogger, and even Gmail drafts as options for saving and storing information. I wasn't sure if there was a place for another program in my life. I've been trying to streamline where I store information and figured Keep would prove to be just another distraction. That is not the case. I currently choose Keep above every other option. And let me say, Keep is actually an entirely different tool. Keep is a tool I use each and every day to stay organized, record random thoughts or ideas, manage a to-do list or shopping list, save recipes on the go, and many other things. I use Evernote as a more long-term database for a lot of information and records. For any overlap between Keep and the other tools I listed above, well I think Keep is a much better option.

Things I Like About Google Keep

Android Widget
I love the widget on my Samsung Galaxy S3. It allows me to easily scroll through my past notes or quickly add a new one. I can also attach photos and add to existing notes. This is all available right now my screen. I love being able to see it all right there.

Syncs to Google Drive/Other Devices
Anything I type on my phone, tablet, or computer will sync to my other devices. So I have access to that information no matter where I am. Like other Google products (Hello, Gmail), you can archive notes but still search for them. All notes are organized into your Google Drive, plus Keep even has an offline options. (For example, I have written blog posts on my computer while I'm without internet access. Those posts sync once I'm reconnected.)

Photo/Voice Notes
Your notes can be composed of photo or voice. Or both. That's great.

Checklists
Yes, checklists. I love my checklists. This is actually a feature I didn't find until recently. Ok this week. I had actually found myself thinking, "Man, I wish I could make checklists with Keep." And magically, I seemed to find the feature. It's the best thing ever. I currently make a checklist each day. And have a checklist for each week. And have a checklist for the month. I love it.

Reminders
You can attach a reminder/alarm to any note. You will receive a notification or alert via Google Now. This stuff is cool.

Customize Options
Pick the colors you want, rearrange the notes how you'd like. Make this app your own. Use it to simplify your life.

I suggest downloading Google Keep now and putting the widget on your home screen (or a main screen...). Make it an option and explore how you can use it.

Motivation Monday: Do It Now—A Little Effort Now is Better Than Any Effort Later

The thing I personally love about these Motivation Monday quotes is that I keep thinking about them from week to week and see them playing a role in my life.

Today's Motivation Monday carries on from something I've been working on last week.

"Do it now—A little effort now is better than any effort later."

It's simple. But to make it even more simple...now is always better than later.

Throughout this last week, my sister has been awesome at helping me prioritize what I need to get done and keeping me accountable for actually doing it.

As I stated time and time before, I'm someone who likes to THINK about thing a lot before I actually DO those things. In some cases (like big decisions) this is a good thing. But in other cases (like putting bananas in the freezer or putting shoes away in the closet), this process is not a good thing.

Why keep your mind cluttered up with countless items on a to-do list when you can actually...just...do them! Wow, totally new information huh?

I did pretty well this last week. But I know this is something I need to keep working on. I'm hoping to make this habit a permanent part of my life. If I think about something...I just want to do whatever I can for it right then and there. I'll share more on this later.

So when something pops into your mind...DO IT NOW!

Just take out the trash.

Just call that friend.

Just start reading that book.

Any effort counts. If you don't do it now, how likely are you to actually do it later? I know my percentage goes WAAAAY down.

Try it. See how you do.