Too much information?

I received a great reader question, and I’m sorry, I did not save the name of the sender:

‘I think my biggest barrier to leading a chic life is being inundated with too much information.  Which diet, which skincare product, which exercise, what habits.  I wish someone would come up with a top 10 for leading a chic life because there is so much information out there that I don't know what to focus on!’

I can totally identify with this!  Sometimes it feels like I am squirrelling all this information away, in my mind, on my computer, in my clear-files and all over the place really.  Then, do I ever take it in, or am I just gathering data?

I have become a lot better about this though, and I think the main thing it all comes down to is knowing that I already know everything I need to know inside – and you do too.  Having this thought in mind helps with that panicky feeling that comes up when you start trying to sift through all the information you’ve come across to see what you need to take in and what you can let go by.

With anything we want to find out available at the click of a button today, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the choices available to us.  But stop and think to yourself ‘what is good for me?’ ‘what would I like to do’ and ‘what feels right to me’.

These days I stop myself when I think ‘I should do that’ and now think ‘what do I want to do’.  Of course, I still have to go to work and honour commitments like that, but in my free time I can please myself.  Even with little things, like thinking I ‘should’ read that book because it’s due back at the library soon (even though I’m not in the mood for it), it feels so deliciously rebellious to read something else entirely.

Or choosing to wash the sheets tomorrow instead of today.  I usually wash them the same day I change the bed, but if I’ve been out and busy, what difference is one day going to make?  It’s only when I used to put them off and put them off and then find it was the day before sheet changing day and they were still in the hamper… and we do have a third set but then I’d have piles of sheets to wash.

But back to the information quandry of our chic reader.  My first thought is to come up with your own top 10 for a chic life.  Note down ideas you want to try and stuff that’s worked well for you.  Diet-wise, when I tried strict South Beach (no carb, I think?) many years ago when it first came out, I found myself weak and dizzy on the first day so I abandoned it, guilt-free and not saying I’d failed another diet.

But these days, I like being low-carb-ish, it just feels lighter and more nutritious.  So I know that works for me.  I know now that I enjoy using inexpensive mass-market skincare and cosmetics.  I love to try new brands and products.  I tried going high-end and sticking with one type, but I got bored plus I don’t think my skin looked any better.

Make all this your work of a lifetime, working out what works for you, custom-tailoring all your choices to suit your lifestyle, your wallet, your values.

Instead of thinking ‘I don’t know what to focus on’, change your thought to ‘I am finding out what suits me’.

It’s finding that balance between being too rigid – only sticking to one thing forever – to too loose (‘I don’t know what to focus on’).  Sometimes I feel like I am being flaky because I change my mind fairly regularly on things I like and don’t like, but it feels better (and more true for me) to know that I am following the breadcrumbs along the path to find out more about myself and enjoy my life.

After all, wouldn’t it be boring if we never changed?  Never grew?  Imagine if you ate the same foods as twenty years ago, wore the same clothes, same perfume.  I do feel like I haven’t changed that much, but when I see an old photo (sometimes not even that old) or read an old journal entry, I’ve changed heaps!  And that is a good thing I think, that I haven’t noticed day to day, it mean the evolution is gradual, plus it’s there.  It’s still fluid and consistent, not non-existent or at a jerky speed.

So let’s look upon all those choices as opportunities to evaluate and choose what is right for us.  As I said at the beginning of this post, we do know inside, it’s just that often-times we are too busy to notice.  And I say all this as much to myself as I am to you, because I am also someone who loves to take in information and learn new things and every so often find myself full up and fed up, saying ‘Stop! Stop with the information!’

That’s when I know it’s time for a rest, time to stop Googling, time to start opening my journal instead and asking questions of myself.  There are also different times too – you will happily be going along absorbing everything you find, and then you instinctively know it’s time to pull back and listen to yourself.

Does this ring true for you too?  Do you feel like a crazy person sometimes with all the words in your head?  Is it must me then?  I’ll say one thing though, life is never boring when you have an inquisitive mind.

Fiona

PS.  My newest book came out this week!  'How to be Chic in the Winter: Living slim, happy and stylish during the cold season' is now available in Paperback and on Kindle.  You can see it here.

PPS.  Have you see my latest video yet?  I recorded it on Monday and it is on YouTube below:

How to be Chic in the Winter

New book out now on Amazon

My newest book has just been released on Kindle and in paperback!  It is called 'How to be Chic in the Winter: Living slim, happy and stylish during the cold season'.

I wrote this book for myself initially, because I found I kept doing the same unhelpful things over and over each year to cope with the cold weather - eating sweet and stodgy fattening foods, feeling lazy and unmotivated, being grumpy and generally an unfun person.  I started gathering all my thoughts on living an ideal chic winter at the beginning of our New Zealand winter earlier this year.  I then lived all my principles and ideas throughout our winter and have been finishing the book up in our spring, which is now.

I am happy to say that they work (or else it wouldn't make a very good book would it!) and I almost feel like I have cheated, having experienced a very easy and pleasurable winter and now it is spring already.  Yay for that.

Included are my favourite winter recipes, because that was my biggest hurdle - coming up with meals that felt comforting and hearty, but which were also healthy.  They are all very simple to make, but also very importantly they don't take too long to put together.  I like to keep prep time to a minimum because I would rather go for a walk or read a book than spend too long fussing around in the kitchen.

Below is a description and list of all the chapters and recipes so you can get an idea of what's inside.  You probably already know this, but you can preview the book on Amazon by clicking on the cover image, and read the first few pages there (I think they show you approximately 10% of the book).

I really hope you enjoy 'How to be Chic in the Winter', and would love to hear your thoughts!

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'How to be Chic in the Winter: Living slim, happy and stylish during the cold season '

Late summer heading into early autumn/fall is a such beautiful time of the year. You can feel everything growing still and soft; nature is slowing down and people are getting cozy. The most stunning colours can be found outdoors at this time.

Despite the natural beauty, despite your looking forward to the coziness of winter, you find that a few short months later yes, again, things have gone awry. You have ploughed headlong into winter without design or plan; you are wearing the same clothes as last year because you have not put thought into your wardrobe; you have put on weight from indiscriminate eating and you are complaining in your head, or worse, out loud that ‘it’s cold today’. This was me!

Many warm-blooded creatures hibernate when it is cold out and go with their natural instincts by doing so. They do not enter the spring season stressed out; rather, animals waking up from hibernation are coming to sleepily, well rested and ready for the warmer season; so, why don’t we?

We would not go to sleep for months on end, but perhaps we can take a leaf out of their book and make each winter a mental spa time of rejuvenation, beauty and pleasure.

I decided to write this book as a kind of insurance, to remind me of my exciting winter plans. It is easy to be enthusiastic about the winter season when the leaves are turning. Fall fashions are always fun to look forward to, even for a non-fashionista like me – the September issue of Vogue! I can rekindle my love for the colours of plum, navy and camel at this time of year. But a few months later the novelty has already worn off.

This book is also a toolkit of all the ideas that have worked so well in previous winters, as well as new ideas I want to capture. I started this book in autumn, and am now finishing it up in spring. I am so pleased to have tried all my ideas out in a ‘test’ environment!

Read ‘How to be Chic in the Winter’ to discover my strategy for not just surviving, but thriving this winter; on how to have a chic and beautiful winter season and emerge, like a butterfly ready for a gorgeous spring and summer.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Know that winter is a different season

     Start winter with a goal

     Be ahead of the game

     Look forward to winter

Chapter 2. Create a winter menu plan

     Breakfasts that are warming, filling and healthy

     Lunches for work and home

     Dinners – tweak the winter classics

     Snacks

     Fiona’s favourite winter recipes

        Red Lentil and Tomato soup

        Pumpkin Soup

        Vegetable soup

        Spaghetti Bolognese

        Savoury mince

        Shepherd’s pie

        Roast chicken

        ‘Bangers’ (sausages) and mash

        Parmesan chicken

        Crumbed chicken

        Pasta Bake

        Rice Bake

        Apple and Boysenberry Crumble

        Bliss Balls

Chapter 3. Break up the long winter

     Learn something or have a project to complete

     Keep active

     Be social

Chapter 4. Work on feeling good

     Home as your winter sanctuary

     Dress in clothes that make you feel good

     Be cozy when you are at home

     Take care of your grooming

     Keep well

Chapter 5. Keep your motivation up

     Do things quickly

     If you are a summer person

     Make plans for the next six to twelve months

Chapter 6. Create your ideal chic winter season

     Bonus journal questions

     To finish

About the author

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You can order 'How to be Chic in the Winter' here on Amazon.  Thank you for reading down this far!

3 top tips to create your own chic décor

Lovely readers of my Facebook page, Gretchen and Gemma recently asked if I’d share my décor tips.  I had a think about them, and here they are; I hope you enjoy!

Ask yourself what the vision for your home is

The wonderful Peter Walsh has a question for his clients that I’ve heard him use over and over in his books and audiobooks, and that is ‘what is your vision for this room?’  It really helps to articulate that, and also note down the feelings you want to get from a room.

For the master bedroom my answers would be something like:

Soft textures, serene, boudoir, luxurious, hotel-like, clean and clear (clutter-free), relaxing, soothing, etc

This probably goes for the whole of my house actually, so I choose warm neutral tones to feel soothed and calm, I declutter and tidy on a regular basis so it feels organised and peaceful.

If you tear out magazine pages (or pin on your Pinterest board) bright coloured rooms with a statement neon sign, my style is going to sound so boring to you, but for me I couldn’t do with all that stimulation.  The thoughts in my head which never stop are quite stimulating enough, thank you!  So I choose a tranquil colour palette at home.

Go looking for your style

If you have magazines you can tear pages out of (not library magazines for example), tear out pictures you immediately warm to, even if you think they aren’t your style (‘too modern’, say).  Let them pile up a little, and one day go through them.  You might find certain colours or styles coming through.

When I did this I found I was drawn to warm neutral tones, with smokey glass, deep ochre and gold or bronze metals.  It was quite illuminating and helped me realise why the few shabby chic pieces I had in my home never felt right.  Integrating these elements into my home bit by bit really zazzed up the neutral décor; there wasn’t much cost involved either – a Salvation Army lamp, candle holders, cushion covers, a gold tray on our coffee table and different runners or cloths to dress the tables made from fabric remnants.

Update – don’t stay stuck

One very good reason why I like to keep a streamlined home with not too many possessions, is I can then update my décor on a semi-regular basis without feeling like I’m wasting money.  One lady I know of, has a highly decorated home with a lot going on in each room.  She told me she’d love to declutter for a more modern look, but she’s afraid to let go of the stuff ‘because it all cost so much’.  If you have collections and lots of things and enjoy them, that’s fantastic, but if they are weighing you down, that doesn’t sound like much fun!

It’s the same with clothes for me too.  I like to have just enough, because then I’m happy to update seasonally when required because I’ve worn a few things out.  It’s a far nicer feeling to shop when you need something than if you’re bored and know it won’t even fit into your overstuffed closet.  And having the opportunity to replenish your wardrobe on an as-needed basis means you are always tweaking your look and remaining current.

I love the saying ‘the way you do something is the way you do everything’, so issues you have with your closet (or eating, or money) are likely the exact same issues you have with your home possessions/decluttering, just showing up in a slightly different way.  It’s strange but true!

I know with large items such as sofas, dining suites, you’re likely to have them a long time; I think I’m more talking about smaller items – it’s nice to refresh your overall look.

If you wanted to describe your ideal décor look (and feel) in ten words or less, what would those words be?  Don’t think about them too much, just write down the first words that come to mind (please share in the comments!)

I’ve written a couple of other décor posts too, here and here, if you’re interested.