naturalledrea1 Comment

On A Personal Note….

2019 has started out on a good note so far. I’ve been so busy with so much and can’t wait to share. I’m so happy to be seeing another year and my birthday later this month. I can’t believe I’m turning 35 this year!! How Sway?? I’m grateful for looking so much younger than 35 but I’m just thinking about how old I’m getting lol.

I’m also happy that 2018 is behind me. I’m thankful for all the lessons learned and all the people I left behind that no longer benefit me. I am ready to move forward in a more positive direction. I have to keep reminding myself to tackle things one at a time so I don’t get so overwhelmed and stressed out.

I feel like 2018 was a real teaching moment for myself. My eyes were open to so much that I did not see before. Last year came with a lot of challenges, tears, fears, meltdowns, chaos and so much more. I felt like I was walking around most of the time lost with no direction. I felt so all over the place and couldn’t figure it out until it hit me one day. I’m just so thankful for that light bulb that finally went off.

I was trying to do too much at once and push too much. I got so overwhelmed and drove myself crazy. I had to realize I can’t do everything at once. I know things will flow better once I manage my time better and have a better daily schedule. I’ll get myself back in the gym, have better eating habits, make time for my family and friends and much more. I can do it all….in moderation lol!

I don’t make resolutions anymore but my theme for 2019 is Level Up and my word is consistency. I’m ready to be a better version of Drea and stop living in fear. I’m just ready for what the rest of 2019 has in store for me.

What is your focus for 2019? What are planning to improve on this year?

naturalledrea2 Comments

Will Blogging Be Dead in 5 Years?

It is the first post of the new year! I hope everyone started 2019 on a good note.

I was listening to a podcast one day and there was the statement of blogging will be dead in 5 years and I heard the same statement on another podcast. I have been thinking about this ever since I heard it. Will blogging ever die? Will it be obsolete in the next 5 years?

It honestly made me think about it and I honestly don’t think so. People enjoy different platforms for their own preferences and I believe there will be a need for actual blogs. I know there are audio books out now but I still enjoy turning actual pages and visualizing the words as I am reading them. I would give an audio book a try but to me, I don’t think it would be the same. I also love listening to podcasts. I just started listening to them last year and just fell in love with all the inspirational and motivational messages. You would think that it is a like an audio book and I kinda contradicted myself but I feel that they are different. What do you think?

I like to watch Youtube for different hair and makeup tutorials, vlogs and so on. I know there is a lot going with the “influencer” community now and a lot being exposed but there are people still out there producing quality and honest content. I purged through my list of people I was following and if I felt they were not influencing me in there right way, I had to unfollow them. If they didn’t practice the messages of self love and respect that they were preaching to their followers, I unfollowed. I feel so good not seeing them on my feed or watching their videos and I would encourage you all to do the same.

There are people out there who like to genuinely love to read and will read just about anything. I feel that blogs are full of amazing product reviews, motivational thoughts, tips on how to navigate through life and so on. There will always be a need for blogs and that is why I think they will not be dead in 5 years. There will be people like myself who will still be reading them and people that will be coming out with amazing blogs to read.

Blogging to me is a platform where you can express yourself through words and thoughts. You want to connect with others with like minds and just build your community or following. I started my blog as an outlet to talk about things I loved and it has grown and evolved so much. Just when I wanted to stop or give up sometimes, I would get a message or comment from someone telling me how much they like my content. It is kind words and encouragement that keeps me going. I find this platform as an expression of myself and a place where I can be happy to talk about the things I love so much.

Do you agree with the statement? What are your thoughts? Comment below and let me know. See you guys tomorrow!

naturalledrea3 Comments

2018 taught me…..

I just can’t get over that it is already December and it will be 2019 before we know it. I did start my Christmas shopping but still need to finish up and actually wrap stuff lol. 

I am so excited for the new year and what it has to bring. I am always thankful to see another year and learn from the lessons that the previous year taught me. 2018 was all about learning about myself and getting to really know who I am. I spent most of the year stressed out, overwhelmed, just over everything and it was driving me crazy. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me until one day, the lightbulb turned on. I realized what was really going on and found the source of why I was feel this way. I just felt so relieved and thanked GOD for showing this to me. 

I would make these impossible “To Do” list that I never completed or even got to, made all these goals I knew I could not get to in the time frame I set and asking for too much when I prayed. I just got so frustrated and upset with myself all the time and just wanted to figure out why I could never get to anything or accomplish anything. It just drove me crazy until I realized I was doing way too much. I needed to take a step back and slow things down. I needed to tackle things one at a time and just go from there. I needed to focus on doing one thing at a time and not praying for so much at once. I started to feel so much better about myself and how I was going to move forward. 

I also learned the importance of having a tribe that supports, motivates and uplifts you. They are always there to hype you up, call you out on your shit and always wanting to see you succeed. You would do the same for your tribe. I always didn’t have that and started to realize it with some people I associated myself with. I would often get super frustrated when most of them wouldn’t support my side hustle and I saw other people promoting and reposting their friends. I wondered why some people didn’t do that for me. The tribe I’m starting to build are people that benefit me and I get positive vibes from. We uplift each other, always there for each other, bounce ideas off of each other and so on. It just feels good for once to be around others who want to see you be great and I want to see be great as well.

2018 also taught me that I need to be more fearless and bold. I attended The Fearless Conference ,BlogHer and The Bold Experience which really motivated me to be a better version of myself. I was holding myself back and feared that things wouldn’t work out. I started to doubt myself as a blogger due to being influenced in the wrong way and always looking at others. I didn’t think I was good enough in any aspect of my life but hearing from some bad ass, confident, strong women motivated me to think different. I realized that I can do anything I put my mind to, that I am everything and more proud to be a woman. I needed to stop doubting myself and down playing my potential. I know what I am capable of and needed to refocus and find my motivation again. Plus, I met some amazing blogger friends. 

This year taught me so many eye opening lessons that I am so grateful for. I am so happy I found the source of my stress and learning to take things one at a time. I am learning to let go and just take the leap of faith. I am learning not to hold myself back anymore and be in my own way. What have you learned this year? What do you hope 2019 brings? Comment below and let me know. See you guys Thursday!

naturalledrea4 Comments

Is Social Media Ruining Our Life?

When you hear the words social media, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it a place where you share your life or a place where you are trying to become “instantly” famous or a place to promote your business?

I feel like social media is driving everything and somewhat ruining our lives. I remember one day last week YouTube went down. I didn’t know anything about it until I logged into Twitter(which I am struggling to utilize lol) and saw the commotion. Like what would everyone do if YouTube went away? What would you do if all social media went away? Would you still be able to promote your business by word of mouth or the old fashion way before social media took over? Would you be able to function in society without being glued to your phone?

I remember being out one day and I saw a family out to eat and all of them were on their phones. No one was talking to each other, they were checking emails, sharing memes, taking pictures of their food and so on but no actual interaction. It made me think about how much social media has changed this world. We have to capture everything on our phones but not live in the moment. I am guilty of it when I’m out eating, out with my husband, out with friends, at a concert, at an event, I am capturing stuff. There are times where I will live in the moment and not be on my phone but I am still trying to capture those moments.

I use social media myself to promote my blog, my brand and just for fun but I feel some people just overshare their entire life online, like everything. I feel that you should keep some things to yourself. I personally don’t share everything and feel there are things that you need to keep private. There are people who hide behind the keyboard and write hateful comments all day which I don’t understand why. Why waste your time following someone you don’t like just to post ignorant comments? I honestly will never get it. There are people on social media that I do not care for and I just don’t follow them or pay them any mind. It is that simple if you don’t like someone, there is a thing called an unfollow or block button. There are people who use social media to try to be the next big thing after seeing other people do so. Success does not happen overnight and if it does, it was by luck. I have been working so hard on being successful at what I do, trying to get brands to notice me and just chasing those goals that I have been working for. Sometimes it is posting the right thing at the right time or having those right hashtags and so on. Sometimes it can be too much trying to get noticed for the right reasons.

I feel like social media is kind of ruining things. You can become consumed in trying to be like those #Goals you see and stop being in touch with reality. There are people on social media who front and pose like everything is perfect, they have it all together when they really don’t. The biggest thing I have learned is just to be yourself and be authentic. You should not try to live outside of your means just to be noticed on social media and be famous. You should not act like something you are not just to “fit in” with the social media norm. You should be your genuine self and I have seen being authentic work in the right way.

What would you do if social media disappeared tomorrow? Would you be able to survive?

Have a great start to your week and see you guys Thursday!

~**Drea Notes**~

My family and I finally went apple picking! We had so much fun and I think we got too many apples lol!

It seems like we skipped over Fall and Winter is here! It has been so cold and windy lately.