2 years to change my life - Part 1

2 years to change my life.

A few weeks ago I had the sudden realisation that I wanted to change my life for the better, I'd had a sit down meeting with my doctor where she'd ordered me to lose weight and it really shook me up, first of all, I became an unintentional influencer on the subject of weight stigma on TikTok! Around the same time I realised the boutique was no longer working as it had been, its purpose was to get me through the lockdowns but as we are opening up and shops are open all the time again, it's really deflected from online shopping for small businesses. We will get it back again in the autumn however but something needed to change.

Here's my plan to change my life completely over the next 2 years -

1. I want to change my health and fitness for the better, I've already lost half a stone over the last month and I can walk up Dean Street in Newcastle without getting out of breath. I've just signed up to walk a virtual NC500 so 800km, I've given myself 90 days to do it but want to do it quicker, I just didn't want to put too much pressure on myself. I also want to state that your weight does not equal your self-worth and I'm doing this for holistic self-improvement.

2. I want to make money selling my art and turn this into my main stream of income. I've committed to trying to shoot 30 weddings (if I can get the bookings) in 2022 which should give me some savings to help achieve this. I'm also keeping Philomena's Boutique and I'm selling brightly coloured things to help people live a life of glorious technicolour. I find it incredibly easy to get enthusiastic about colour as I've lived a colourful life forever and even more so since I've been single, I love colour and I think if you're constantly surrounded by it, it makes you a happier person.

3. I have ditched all of the dating apps, I am so happy in myself, probably happier than I have ever been and if I am going to meet someone, I want it to happen organically so I'm leaving it up to the universe. Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, they never really sat comfortably with me anyway, I am older and old school I reckon. All I want to do is see someone and they see me and we like each other and we go on a date, I don't think that's too much to ask for.

4. I want to travel with my camera more often looking for the most colourful places in the country (and possibly the globe eventually). Doing this really does depend on if I can sell my art from my first collection. If other people love my art then I'll know I am on the right path but I feel it in my bones that there are others just waiting to fill their walls with gloriously technicoloured fine art photographic prints.

So far, I have social media, I have my ko-fi.com/mandycharlton I have my websites and I have my blog so between those it's got to be possible to make a proper income again and that's why I'm doing this now, I've come out of the pandemic with not much more than I had in 2007 when I started my first business. I've nothing to lose really and as I'm going to be 50 in just over 2 years it's really very much a case of "if not now, when?" I've also started a monthly subscription through my coffee account where you get postcards of my art every month for just £3, it's all part of the grand plan to support myself through art and photography.

I don't want to seem entitled and I'm not asking for anything but I firmly believe that if I make one small change every day that puts me on the path to where I want to be then I'll get there and if I can help and inspire other people in my life stage then that's a bonus.

The last 18 months have for the most part been absolutely bloody horrible but I have worked on myself so much and I believe I'm a wholly better more intuitive, more stable and all-around calmer nicer person than I have ever been. I don't think I've got a single toxic person in my life now and I guess shedding the last of those was where my grand plan began because if you choose to surround yourself with only positive people you can achieve anything!

If you have enjoyed this article or found it useful and would like to support my writing I'd love a virtual coffee

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Oh and of course, you could just treat yourself to something lovely from Philomena's Boutique, my gift boutique

which is diverse, sustainable and totally lush!