Reflection Wednesday

Hey Loves ! I trust you babies are good good. Today's blog post was meant to be fashion related but I woke up filled with gratitude and started to reflect on my life.

For the past week or so, actually months, I had been so focused on achieving the goals I have set for myself for this year and getting my life together that I forgot to take time to look at what God has really done for my life. I am not the kind of person that pats herself on the shoulder when I achieve a goal or reach a milestone, for example I graduated last year in Events Management (and as much as i was proud of myself, I wasn't over the moon as one ought to be.)but I was not as proud or happy as one should be.

This lock down has kinda given me the opportunity to reflect on the things that I have learnt in the last 22 years but i will be sharing with you guys only 10.

1. Family is EVERYTHING - I don't know about you guys but my family is everything to me. I will never ever compromise their happiness or trade them for anything. Every good thing I do they are the motivation behind it.

2. Don't ever shrink yourself for the comfort of other people - I hate to admit this but sometimes I can be a people pleaser. I love to make people around me feel good and comfortable about themselves that I will let certain things that make me feel some type of way slide. At times I don't speak my mind because i don't want to make that person uncomfortable.

3. Save - Guys please save ! I am not proud of the way I handle money it is something that I am working on till this day. I know what it's like to go to bed without food and I do not want to experience it again in my future, therefor baby girl must act right akere.

5. Don't let your emotions get the best of you - As an Aquarius I am an emotional being but I had to learn to not act on them because Wheeew!..

6. Choose your friends wisely - I've had my share of great friendships and worst friendships. What I can tell you is that choose your friends wisely, listen to your gut, stand your ground and don't accept or excuse unacceptable behavior. Friendships are like relationships, they cause heart-aches and you have to choose wisely on the kind of friendships you want.

7. "You are doing good Sweety!" - One of my favorite things about me is that I am not afraid to dream and chase after my dreams but my problem is that in the process I sometimes tend to doubt myself and my capabilities. You need to be your biggest cheerleader not the other way round, stop judging and criticizing yourself the world is doing that for you.

8. The world doesn't owe you anything , Your success is your responsibility - Exactly that ! people do not have to support you or help you ( I am so grateful for my support system and people who actually take their time and utilize their resources to support me) it is your responsibility to put in the work and do what you must for yourself, Vuk'zenzele.

9. Forgiveness - Forgiveness can be one of the most rewarding experiences you can give to yourself.

10. Live - I am a perfectionist I want things done a certain way and I always want to show people the best version of myself and those who are around me say I am always too "serious" and overthinking things which might be true. Well I can't help it, but I will admit that, that behavior does hinder me from living in the moment or loosing up. I make one small mistake next day I will crucify myself. So I am learning to forgive myself and to live a little because life is short.

What are the lessons you've learnt in your life?

PS: Catch me live on Friday 09/04/2020 Live @13:h00 with a friend on IG @teydablogger

How to grow your Instagram following

Hey loves! i trust you loves are good, keeping safe and you are entertained. A lot of us have set goals for ourselves for this 21 days of lock down, if you are one of those people I hope you are killing those goals. If you feel a little demotivated just remember how happy and proud you will be when you see the results you desire.

Today i will be sharing with you guys my guide or tips on how to grow your Instagram following. Disclaimer: I am neither an IG guru nor have thousands of Instagram followers but I just want to share with you how I grew my account from 500 followers to 1 277 followers.

1. Have clean and desirable feed - I wrote a blog post about how to have a clean Instagram last week do check that out. I will put link to that blog post below. Instagram is all about selling yourself therefor you want people to love what they see and to click on that follow button. I can not stress this enough, you need to be intentional when you post.

https://teyshaq.wixsite.com/teydablogger/post/how-to-have-a-clean-instagram

2. Engage with other creatives and your followers - Reply to people's comments on your posts, comment on other people's posts (people in your niche). Don't just be a "ghost" follower ( just liking posts). When you comment you put yourself out there and best believe someone will take an interest in seeing your feed and end up following you.

Tip: Encourage people to take action ( Ask a question or ask them to go subscribe or follow you)

3. Use relevant hashtags - I used to underestimate the power and importance of hashtags. To be honest, I wasn't too fond of them either. Hashtags are important they makes it easy for people in the same niche or interested in content similar to yours to find you. But you have to use hashtags that are relevant to your content or post.

4. Stories - My favorite. Your Instagram stories draw traffic to your page. The more people view your stories, the more likely they will go to your page and follow you. I would advice you to be consistent with your stories, post all day meaning full content ( take people through your day or show them the behind the scenes of the project you doing). Your feed is just a representation of your brand but your stories just show your personality so you can be as creative as you want.

Tip: Check out Unfold, Canva, InShot and StoryArt apps for cool Instagram stories.

5. Consistency - This is something that I'm still working on as well. Try to post at least twice or four times a day. The more you post the more you appear on people's timeline and the goal is for people to not forget you or get bored and un-follow you. "There is plenty of fish in the sea" yeah Sweety ! everyone is replaceable because there are a lot of people doing what you are doing so you need to stand out.

Tip: always check your analytics to see when a lot of people view your post. Pay attention to your analytics to see which content people love from you ( selfies or full body pictures, beauty or fashion and so on)

How to deal with anxiety during this pandemic

Hey loves ! i trust you loves are doing good and are still in doors, adhering to the president's orders.

The number of Covid-19 infected cases is increasing everyday. News and updates about Covid-19, both real and fake, is being spread all over social media which increases anxiety levels of everyone. In 2019 I dealt with severe anxiety, but with the grace of God, in December i was able to 'overcome' it. However, last night I caught myself creeping back to that dark hole because I was consuming a lot of negative news that I started thinking about the worst.

I know anxiety is the pits especially during times like these. I want to share with you guys things to do to keep your anxiety levels low. These tips can help you whether you are dealing with severe anxiety or this pandemic is just making you anxious.

1. Pray - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."- Philippians 4:6. I believe there is nothing prayer can't fix

2. Not everything you read on the internet is true! do not just believe whatever you read always make sure that the source is credible.

3. Be mindful of the type of content you consume - If you are constantly reading about something or things that make you anxious you will become more anxious. Stay away from things that trigger you. Take a break from watching news or social media if those are your triggers.

4. Be Positive - Things will not always be like this and panicking will not change anything. Be positive and grateful that God has been with you and your loved ones till now, things could have been worse.

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” – Henry Ward Beeche

5. Do things that set your soul on fire or make you happy. Make music, write, knit, call a friend, re-watch your favorite series/movie, take a bubble bath, put on a mask and make yourself a cup of coffee/tea or have a glass of wine (even in the morning...its the evening somewhere else lol) , clean, make tik tok videos, read a book, dress up or cook. Take care of yourself.

I hope you know that you are not alone and everything will be OK trust in God. You cannot be anxious about something you have no control over, take necessary precautions to protect yourself, your loved ones and those around you. Be safe and stay at home.