January 2020 Playlist

So ready for all the music that 2020 has to bring. Ever since Halsey's 'Manic' album released earlier this month, it has been mostly on heavy rotation. However, plenty of other tracks have made its way to my radar and I gave those a good listen as well.

2020 // Great Good Fine Ok
you should be sad // Halsey
Changes // Lauv
Me & You Together Song // The 1975
me & ur ghost // blackbear
Underdog // Alicia Keys
Queen // Loren Gray
Renegade // Niykee Heaton
Cut You Off // Selena Gomez
Black Swan // BTS
I HATE EVERYBODY // Halsey
Selfish Love // Mabel x Kamille
Paranoid // ASHS
Catching Feelings (Dennis Blaze remix) // Inigo Pascual x Moophs x Ruby Ibarra x Dennis Blaze
killing boys // Halsey
On Somebody Else // Ava Max
Kiss Somebody // Julie Bergan x Seeb
Healing // Camden Cox
U DO U // Yung Scuff x Jakkyboi
Liquid Courage (Love Me Better) // Cierra Ramirez
if we never met // John K
Hello My Loneliness // Delaney Jane x Call Me Karizma
Let Me Know // clear eyes x Drew Love x Lauren Jauregui
What Do I Do? // Georgia Ku

♥ What did you listen to this month?

What are your favorites? ♥

January 2020 Gratitude

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Gratitude is an important avenue for growth and part of self-care.

Here I share a peak into my monthly gratitude journal each month.

While 2020 got off to a rocky start personally, there was still plenty to be grateful for.

☾ A mostly sunny and relatively dry month. It was nice to see blue skies and sunshine again.

☾ Getting to work and home safely while my car had the radiator leak and overheating signals going off again.

☾ Finally getting my car fixed with new pipes, so no more overheating or breaking down on the side of highways anymore.

☾ Pay raise at work.

☾ Cool ass managers who surprised us with a pizza party and bringing us coffee.

☾ America's Tires rotating and balancing my tires free of charge. After spending (an extra $360+) on my car repair, my poor bank account needed a break -- and I know that the labor that goes into car/tire work is no easy feat, so for that I am eternally grateful.

☾ Reusable makeup removing cloths and Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap. This helped kick my waste impact a bit by not using disposable facial wipes. Small steps for the sake of the environment (and storm drains/waste pipes).

☾ Reusable snack bags and produce mesh bags. These were more helpful than I thought. You never realize how many ziploc and plastic bags you go through until you use reusable mesh bags for produce in the supermarket.

☾ Shampoo bars (like soap bars). Lifesavers. Space savers. Money savers. Travel friendly. Eco-friendly.

☾ Automatic bill pay. This saves my ass a time or two.

♥ What are you grateful for this month? ♥

I Tried 5 Online Personality Tests and Here's What I Learned

With the Myers-Briggs personality tests as well as other personality tests floating around the interwebs lately, I decided to try the well-known and free personality tests to learn what they say about me and if the results are consistent.

The personality tests I tried were, as listed:

Enneagram
5 Love Languages
Six Human Needs
16 Personalities (aka Myers-Briggs/MBTI)
DISC Assessment

16 Personalities/Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

My personality type is: INTP.

I for introvert (53%), N for iNtuitive (which is what I found surprising because I'm more of an observer), T for thinking rather than feeling, P for perceptive rather than judgmental.

On this test is a 5th result called "identity" which the website describes as "trait that underpins all others, showing how confident we are in our personalities and decisions" and shows two results on opposite ends of a spectrum. On one side is assertive and the other, turbulent.

My results showed more turbulent than assertive.

Enneagram

My result is: type 6 / 6w5

There are nine types of personalities. According to the website, it labels Type 6 personalities as "The Loyalist." Each personality from this test is based on fears, beliefs, motivations and emotions. I'm not quite sure what type 6 personality types mean exactly, so if anyone knows please share some wisdom and knowledge in the comments.

Six Human Needs

This test is based on the theory that there are six human needs such as certainty, love, contribution, growth, connection, variety and significance. After a series of multiple choice questions, your personal results will list your six human needs in order from most to least. The top four being the needs of your personality and the bottom two are needs of your spirit, your inner Self.

My six human needs:

1. Growth (13.5 points)
2. Certainty (11 points)
3. Contribution (8.5 points)
4. Love (7 points)
5. Significance (6 points)
6. Uncertainty (3.5 points)

5 Love Languages

The 5 love languages test helps you understand how you receive love and how you connect with others on your own personal level. In this test you discover whether your love language is Acts of Service, Words of Affirmations, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts and Physical Touch. You can take it either as a single or as a couple if you're in a relationship.

I join in the foray of twitter by saying my love language is growth and gratitude, but my actual results from this test are: Words of Affirmation and Quality Time.

Daily affirmations are in integral part of my self-love and wellbeing so words of affirmation is pretty much on-point.

DISC Assessment

DISC assessment measures (and stands for) dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance to predict your behaviors to others and especially in work environments. This assessment can help you have a better and deeper understanding of yourself in the workplace, and can even help you engage and be a better teamplayer with your coworkers in a beneficial way.

Although the "C" stands for compliance, my results showed: Caution (aka The Analyzers).

I am a pretty cautious worker, so the result needs no further explanation.

♥ Have you taken any personality tests?

What are your favorites? ♥

Intentions for 2020

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Happy New Year and new decade! With everyone making resolutions this time of year, I want to instead set intentions for this year and forward.

Mindfulness and intentionality has been such a huge and integral part of my life and growth over the past few years. Part of living mindfully and intentionally (aka minimalism) is to live and choose to do what ever tasks with intention. Intentions focuses on the present, the journey and manifestation of long-term goals, keep yourself accountable, and encourages self-awareness and alignment with the inner work to either become a better version of yourself or help make the world a better place. Intentionality is to experience moments fully present, mentally as well as physically, and to make a lasting and meaningful impact. It's also a commitment. 2020 will be the year of change, awakening, growth and evolution. Set intentions, not resolutions. (Sorry, I had to ;-P)

These intentions I set is not only for 2020, but for all of the new decade ahead.

☽ Rather than closing my heart to things or people that may hurt me, I will instead work on redirecting its energy.

☽ Continue manifesting on personal self-growth and bettering myself.

☽ Contribute more to people/animals in need and organizations that help underprivileged communities, marginalized folks, indigenous communities, survivors, and the environment.
☽ Work towards donating 10% of my income to charity/organizations every year.

☽ Live more ethically, sustainably and eco-friendly.

☽ Utilize my time and energy wisely and guard my energy better.

☽ Don't be afraid to say 'no' and say it when I really feel/need to.

☽ Reaffirm my boundaries and maintain them.

☽ Let go of toxic people whose values don't align with mine and who holds me back.
☽ Stop putting up with peoples bad/toxic behaviors just to "keep the peace."

☽ Remember to periodically take breaks, rest, recharge, hydrate, take care of my health to prevent burnout.

☽ Shift my mindset and mentality to a more healthier, open, conscious and more positive outlook.

☽ Accept blessings with open arms and without doubt or guilt.
☽ Take time to volunteer and donate more and invite people to come with.
☽ Be more aware and work harder on respecting cultures, religions and sexualities outside of my own. More listening. Remember to be mindful to not use ableist language.
☽ Continue to work on kicking the rest of my bad/toxic habits, negativity, unnecessary anger and toxic traits.

☽ Forgive myself for past mistakes, hurting myself, others who hurt me and for hurting others. And remember that forgiveness does not equate to saying what they/I did was okay, but that forgiveness takes the hook out of your heart and allows you to move forward and grow without it holding you back.

☽ Reclaim my worth and never settle less than I deserve.

☽ Rise above pettiness, revenge, retaliation, toxic behaviors and unnecessary negativity.


Sorry it's so long but I have a lot of shit to work on.

♥ What intentions are you

setting for 2020? ♥