Author: Haydee Montemayor

3 Ways To Grieve Your Ex-Friend That You Lost During The Pandemic

There are many things that the pandemic opened our eyes to such as:

  • Who has empathy and who doesn’t
  • Who is willing to sacrifice to protect their kids from the virus and who isn’t
  • How much we care about the people who are immunocompromised
  • How much we care about ourselves and are willing to protect ourselves from the pandemic
  • How fast we can learn lessons about life, loss, selfishness and genuine care for others and science 
  • Who the people around us really are
  • And the list could go on and on and on

Buuuuut there is ONE thing that (other than the loss of life of our loved ones from this pandemic) hurts THE MOST and that is realizing how insignificant we are to people who we thought for months, years and decades that were our friends.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a couple of people who communicated with me in 2019 but haven’t written or called me in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

And having talked to other people who also experienced this phenomenon, I know I’m not the only one. And chances are high that you’ve experienced this, too.

So today I want to share with you 3 ways to grieve a wonderful friendship that was and no longer is and reduce the hurt you feel every time you think about those ex-friends who don’t remember that you even exist anymore.

I know what you’re thinking “I could have died during the pandemic and they wouldn’t know.” 

Exactly!

That’s my point!

That’s something I’ve also thought and it hurts like hell.

And I know how ironic it is that some of those people would be people whom we have wished were at our funeral when we die (before any of us ever experienced a global pandemic).

And the fact that they are so uninterested in whether you’re even alive or not is a little bit humorous but painful.

 

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5 Reasons You Need A Raven Scanner Especially If You Have Children But Even If You Don't by Haydee Montemayor from Love and Treasure blog

5 Reasons You Need A Raven Scanner Especially If You Have Children But Even If You Don’t

Are you someone who had a paper clutter issue before you had kids but whose paper clutter problems became worse after you had kids?

You’re not alone.

It’s almost natural that this has happened to you because even if you have your files in filing cabinets with your Freedom Filer method, your tax documents organized in boxes and your frequently accessed files in binders with sheet protectors, from the time kids get a hold of their first crayons or first pencil until they leave the nest, there will be a cascade of paperwork that they create at home and at school.

And a lot of their stuff is precious, it really is, but keeping EVERYTHING they create in paper format is impossible, unrealistic and inconvenient.

Therefore, today I want to share with you 5 reasons why the Raven Pro Document Scanner is the best scanner for your household to process your children’s paperwork and yours.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but if you use my links, this blog will benefit monetarily. Read More

What To Do In Case Of An Evacuation

What should you do in case of an evacuation? The short answer is to get your family out of that area as soon as possible. But it’s easier said than done, isn’t it?

I know it’s tempting to say that because you have a lot of faith or hope that the situation is going to get better, that you would prefer to stay and not leave. Everybody would like to stay in their home sweet home. Having hope, in this case, is often just an excuse to not leave.

It’s VERY tempting to be in denial and think that nothing will happen to your home, BUT when it comes to keeping your family safe, it’s best to evacuate when the authorities tell you to evacuate than to be sorry later. Being sorry in this case can be devastating. Being sorry can mean being sorry forever.

So regardless of how much you like your home, how much of a homebody you are, how shy you are or introverted you are— when you have to go, you have to go.

YOUR life, your family’s life is MUCH more important than your home. Your four walls are replaceable. Your children aren’t.

In my last post How To Avoid a Fire and Prepare Your Family In Case OfFireI shared the importance of preventing a fire, preparing in case a fire does occur and having a plan for how to exit. Feel free to read that blog post after you read this one given that it’s another circumstance for which you should be prepared to keep those you love and treasure safe.

Today, I want us to talk about evacuations and how to better prepare for one.

I will be sharing some resource links to help you prepare for an evacuation. The product links that you’ll find here are links that will take you to Amazon, where you can learn more about and purchase the products I share. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but if you use my links, you will help support this blog.

 

 

Double Check Insurance

Before we get into the specifics of how to plan for an evacuation, I need you to PLEASE double-check your home insurance coverage.

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How To Avoid a Fire and Prepare your family in case of a fire

How To Avoid a Fire and Prepare Your Family In Case Of A Fire

None of us even want to imagine a situation in which we have a fire start in our home. The idea of experiencing a scare like that is almost too much to handle and it’s something that we naturally push away and don’t want to think about. However, for your sake and for the sake of your loved ones it’s better to be prepared. So today, I want to share with you what to rescue in a fire, how to prevent a fire, and resources that will help you keep your home and your family safe, and if Heaven forbid, there is a fire, what you can do to be better prepared.

The links that you’ll find here are links that will take you to Amazon, where you may want to learn more about or purchase the products that I share. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but if you use my links, this blog will benefit monetarily.

There are two other links of services that I share with you that are also affiliate links.

 

Keep The Number One Thing The Number One Thing

In case of a fire or an evacuation, the MOST important thing you should take with you is your family.

Pretty much everything else is replaceable. And even if it’s not replaceable, it isn’t as valuable as your family members.

The first thing you’re probably thinking of is your pet.

If you can, make them come out with you on your way out. By calling their name or swooping them right before your exit BUT, as much as it hurts to say this, if you’ve made it out, don’t go back in for your pet. I think we’ve all seen way too many shows and movies where this move is not a good idea.

As a pet owner myself, I understand that eat pet has a personality and is unique, but don’t leave your children orphaned when you can adopt or rescue another pet. Pinky promise?

Remember, you’ll already be a hero by taking your family members out. You have nothing else to prove at that moment.

Prepare Your Family In Case of A Fire By Having A Family Plan

Talk to your children ahead of time

  • It’s up to you when you want to have this conversation, but have it by age four. Max by age five.
  • Make it a game (meaning as pleasant as possible) so that your kids can use their critical thinking skills to tell you all the different doors that there are in your home (make sure you don’t forget the garage door) and also let them know that there are windows that sometimes will be needed to escape a dangerous situation like a fire.
  • Tell them that you will do ALL you can to get out of the house TOGETHER. Tell them that they’re your priority— and the number one thing you want to get there.
  • But that in the event that the fire is right outside door and you can’t get to them or they can’t get to you because they can’t get to the door—  that it’s important that they know that exiting through the window is an option in this one case.
  • Ask them to open the window and yell for help
  • Ask them to open the window if they can or knock on the window (as if they were knocking on a door) if they can’t open the window.
  • Reassure them that firefighters want to save them and that they will be looking to rescue them if they see them.
  • Tell them that no toy or anything else in the house is more important than they are so that they should be trying to be rescued because they are your treasure and you will be wanting to see them again.
  • Explain to them that they might get help them if firefighters use a ladder to help them down or that they could potentially be asked to jump onto a trampoline. Ask them to trust the firefighter and to be brave so that they can be reunited with you again.

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Amazon Favorite Things That Brought The Most Joy During This Pandemic

If you’ve been following the word of the wise, you should have been socially distancing, staying at home, wearing a mask and washing your hands for the vast majority of the past year. During this past year, you’ve learned to value the big things like health, life, family, home, job, income and love. You’ve also learned to value the teeny tiny little things — the things that are a pick-me-up to these endless days that we are blessed enough to be home. THAT’S what this blog post is about. In it, I’ll share what my favorite Amazon purchases have been during the pandemic.

 

The links that you’ll find here are links that will take you to Amazon, where you may want to learn more about or purchase the products that I share. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but if you use my links, this blog will benefit monetarily.

Let’s Focus On the Important Things First

And before we go on, can I just send you a virtual high-five and a virtual hug letting you know HOW proud of you I am for making it THIS far? REALLY! It’s no easy thing. There are so many we’ve lost along the way. But YOU are HERE. And I’m proud of you and how you’ve been the Super Woman that’s taken care of yourself and your family.

If you’re a mom, instead of being LESS busy (like everybody else says they are as a result of the pandemic), you’re MORE busy than EVER. So these blessings, which in this blog post refer to the Amazon purchases, go a LONG way in bringing us joy. I’m not a materialist. After all, I named this blog what I named it, not Amazon blessings. 😉 However, when we couldn’t control the world, being able to open Amazon and have things shipped to us in 2 days, while still social distancing, truly was a blessing. = )

My Amazon Favorites During The Pandemic

Here are the things that have brought me the most joy during this pandemic and I hope they bring you the most joy as well.

Earrings That Say on You 100% of The Time


I LOVE earrings. I’m the type of girl who felt wasn’t wearing any clothing if I didn’t have earrings on when I went out. My outfit NEVER seems complete without them.

To me, earrings are more important than makeup and even how you do your hair and nails. Heck, they’re even more important than clothing itself.

 

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Love and Treasure Holiday Gift Guide 2019 from Love and Treasure www.loveandtreasure.com by Haydee Montemayor

Love and Treasure Holiday Gift Guide 2019

Sovereign Silver Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol for Kids for Immune Support

First of all, can I just take a moment and give you SQUEEEEEZY holiday hug? Pretty please?

 

Thanks! That felt good. 😉

 

Friends, OMG, we’ve made it to the end of the year! What an absolute blessing it is!

 

And I don’t know about you, but it seems like I’ve been waiting for 2020 for YEARS (if you know what I mean) and it’s literally right around the corner!

 

This will probably be my favorite transition from one year to another. Maybe even more than how we thought we had to party back in 1999 😉 and we lived to get to the year 2000 without the Y2K (whatever that was 😉 ). Going from this decade to the next decade will be my favorite decade transition. For sure.

 

I can just feel that 2020 will be our year. SOOOO many positive things will come for us. It’s like a fresh breeze. A year where we say WOW… life is starting to look up again… and I can’t wait for it to get here.

 

HOWEVER,  before we get to the first new year I’ve been this eager for, we have to experience my favorite holiday CHRISTMAS!!!

 

And I know I have to share this holiday with a whole bunch of people whose favorite holiday is Christmas, too. Including, you probably. 🙂

 

So, without further ado, I bring to you, the 2019 Love and Treasure Holiday Gift Guide!

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The Irony About Self-Confidence Blog Post Title Graphic for Love and Treasure by Haydee Montemayor - www.loveandtreasure.com

The Irony About Self-Confidence

Usually scrolling through social media can be a waste of time.

However, this morning I heard something on social media that made me say! Yes!!! Finally, someone gets it!

And that someone is Simon Sinek…. who happens to have given the 3rd most-watched Ted-Talk Ever.

He externalized what I’ve been thinking all along, but I have felt unsafe to say out loud.

Essentially, he said that self-confidence is not what people think it is.

When you tell someone to improve upon their self-confidence, everybody thinks that you’re essentially asking them to go within and work on something inside themselves so that they’re more confident.

Yet, asking them to go within… is asking them to go in the wrong direction. Because the irony about self-confidence is that in order to increase it… the more natural place to look is OUTSIDE ourselves and to the people who are part of our life.

Simon Sinek says that self-confidence is not a battery that you by yourself can charge and all of a sudden be self-confident.

He is basically saying that self-confidence is like a battery that is charged… but it’s by OTHER people.

The example he gave is that when you are a kid, your self-confidence doesn’t go from 0 to something. It is merely a reflection of the approval that other adults and people in your life give you.

If you have parents who praise you, support and love you as unconditionally as possible… then your self-confidence will blossom. Knowing that other people are happy with what you’re doing makes you want to continue doing that thing.

Throughout his work, Simon Sinek emphasizes the importance of community… and this novel concept of seeing self-confidence this way makes SO much sense.

But in order to have more self-confidence, one can argue that the world needs to be better educated about what self-confidence is, especially men.

 

My Own Struggle With Self-Confidence

Throughout my life, I have struggled with self-confidence. Both with the word and with actually having it.

The people around me and even the experts would emphasize the importance of being able to just go from lacking it to having it… but it’s not something that I could create at will… 99.9% of the time.

But I know what self-confidence is. I’ve felt it.

From birth up to age five, I was beaming with self-confidence because I was surrounded by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and even my parents’ friends who couldn’t get over the cute things I would say and do. I had what people would call charisma.

But then… after a couple of shifts in my life… I started losing my self-confidence from that point until after I graduated from college.

Before listening to Simon Sinek… I would have continued to think what I’ve thought for all these years and that is:

“What is WRONG with me?! Why can’t I get this self-confidence thing down?”

Now it gives me a bit of relief to know that it isn’t 100% my fault that my self-confidence reservoir is as empty as it is.

Simon Sinek’s words aren’t an excuse for me to throw my hands up in the air and just blame other people.

But at least it’s comforting to know that I do have more of an uphill battle than other people do when it comes to self-confidence.

 

Do Not Mix Up Resilience With Self-Confidence

It’s important NOT to assume that just because I didn’t have any self-confidence from age five until age 23 that I didn’t accomplish great things.

I did.

And I’m a hard worker, a workaholic, really. A dreamer and an achiever.

I may not get everything in life that I want to get but at the very least, I WILL die trying.

Resilience is that magical power that has gotten me through the tough times.

When Were You Self Confident?

Can I make a confession?

I knew that I had struggled BIG-TIME with self-confidence but I never fully understood why… and I CERTAINLY NEVER counted how many years I wasted lacking self-confidence.

For me, it was 18 years. I had to pause after typing that last sentence to really soak it in. And it still hasn’t fully. It’s impactful. Anyway, back to you.

How long have YOU lacked self-confidence?

Most importantly, when did you get it back?

Was it when you started doing something meaningful in your life, in your self-development, in your volunteering or when you were surrounded by people who looked up to you?

For most of us, our greatest degree of self-confidence comes when we feel like we’re truly contributing to our household, to a workplace or to society.

It’s not that we’re not capable of doing great things. It’s just that we’re doubtful pretty much every step of the way and it would be nice if we could have some reassurance at some point.

After 23, my self-confidence has been a thing that goes up and down. Now it’s clearer than ever to see why.

We all go through different stages in life and it’s not always possible to be everything to everyone so that they praise you and therefore boost your self-confidence.

 

Validate Your OWN Feelings

Part of the reason why we lack the bit of self-confidence we can produce is that we aren’t the audience to ourselves that we can be.

we numb with business, social media, projects, food to not allow us to feel what we feel.

I feel so ______________.

Whatever that is for you, it’s okay.

You don’t have to change those feelings. You don’t have to feel ashamed of those feelings. You simply can just acknowledge them.

And have a good cry if you need to.

 

Who Chips Away At Your Self-Confidence?

If, as Simon Sinek says, people around you GIVE you confidence, it’s also important to know who takes it away from you.

Not to blame… but to be extra, extra cautious around those people.

I’m sure you know who they are… but in case you don’t…

Want a super-easy way to spot them? Yeah, like the plural version of them?

What is your love language?

Meaning what makes you feel MOST loved?

  • Words of Affirmation
  • Gifts
  • Acts of Service
  • Quality Time
  • Physical Touch

The person who is chipping away at your self-confidence is … giving you the opposite.

For example, if your love language is:

  • Words of Affirmation— they’re insulting you and using the nastiest words that anybody in your life is giving TO you. Not about your mistakes or actions but about your being.
  • Gifts- Gifts? What gifts?
  • Acts of Service- Umm yeah, they do some things for you, but nothing exciting. Nothing meaningful. Not even something basic. They CERTAINLY don’t reciprocate all of the things you do for them. If they do… it’s only about 10% of the things you do for them, MAX.
  • Quality Time- You’re the one who initiates quality time with them. They can live happily ever after without you. And making you feel bad is one way that they get more quality time.
  • Physical Touch- It’s few and far between… if it exists at all. And if they’re messing up in other areas… maybe you don’t even want physical touch.

So were you able to spot them?

 

What Is Self-Confidence Anyway?

If I were to ask you what is self-confidence… your answer will vary GREATLY from the ten other people I ask.

The reason for this is that self-confidence is an umbrella term that encompasses many other terms that we associate with self-confidence. Some of them are:

  • strong
  • trusting oneself
  • appreciating one’s value
  • Positive
  • Optimistic
  • Like they can rule the world.
  • Believe in our word, our value and ourselves
  • strong presence

It’s not easy to feel like:

  • Valued when you’re not heard
  • Heard when you receive no meaningful responses and you might as well be talking to the wall
  • You have friends when you’re always the one that needs to contact them
  • Your friends value you when they only answer what you ask them but they’re not interested enough to ask you any questions including asking you how you are
  • Beautiful when nobody compliments you
  • Strong when nobody supports you
  • Important when washing a dirty spoon is more urgent to the person you’re talking to
  • Optimistic when everybody doubts you
  • Positive when other people drag their feet to participate in the positive activities you suggest… and Heaven knows that you reaching your dreams doesn’t make them happy at all… but they don’t have any lofty dreams of their own.

So as you can see self-confidence is like a whole bunch of disconnected gears that kind of want to work together in this big machinery called this world. Self-confidence is complicated. It’s inconsistent.

“Self-Confidence is a projection. And how bright it is depends on the light that others in our life transmit to us.”

You’ve heard of the phrase “fake it till you make it.” And if you come from a background that’s so in shambles… that you’ve been faking that your life is everything BUT shambles for most of your life… then faking self-confidence DOESN’T have the same power. Because you’re using your faking juice for many other things in life. Or maybe you just plain and simple ran out of juice. Or don’t want to fake one other damn thing.

So whenever other people say what the unkind things they say about you to your face and otherwise… let them talk. They CLEARLY don’t have the empathy to imagine standing in your shoes and feel the way you do. Besides, empathy is more important than self-confidence… so if you have empathy, you’re golden.

 

Self-Confidence Has Been Made Out To Be More Important Than It Needs To Be

Some people have finished their cup of self-confidence and they’re VERY gung-ho about it.

If you’re reading this and you’re disagreeing that other people influence your self-confidence… well… (excuse me while I move my lips from side to side)… all I can say is good for you.

If you’re one of the people who were born with the ability to self-charge their own battery and can be at 100% self-confident… awesome.

Really. It’s so cool you can do that.

But not everybody can.

And if you really think you can be self-confident without ANY other input, validation or hurray… you should write a book about it or make an online course. Many people could apparently benefit.

 

So What Should You Do If You Lack Self-Confidence?

Look.

You got dealt the people around you you got dealt.

You can’t turn back the hands of time and swap people around.

Soooo… I have two things to offer you as advice regarding what to do if you lack self-confidence.

1) As Nike’s motto SO often is SO valuable I’m gonna tell you… “Just DO IT!” Pursue your dreams like if self-confidence didn’t mean a thing, had no weight and didn’t even EXIST.

You and I know it does exist… but for those of us who struggle with it… the lack of self-confidence can feel like a shackle holding it back.

The wonderful thing is, though, you’ve gotten to where you are in life even without a daily dose of self-esteem. That means that you can get even further in life without it.

“Self-esteem is nice to have, but as you’ve proven to yourself, it’s not actually vital.”

Try to convince yourself that you’re going to do what you want to do WITH or WITHOUT self-esteem.

Stop making self-esteem your why you move forward or why you don’t.

Make the benefit of doing what you want to do your driving force.

If you can and have to switch out the world self-esteem for self-motivation.

“The strength of your self-esteem depends on the response of others. The strength of your motivation depends on you.”

2) Even if we minimize the role that self-esteem plays in our life…. to almost nothing… for your sanity, happiness and just joy of living… do this: Be less tolerant of the BS.

For you, it might mean that you make other snarky remarks from other people just slide.

Or it may mean something else.

Whatever it is, you aren’t someone else’s trash can. So don’t let them feed you B.S..

If the person in your life isn’t going to be someone who helps increase your self-esteem then they certainly shouldn’t be the ones who take the self-esteem that you have left away from you.

 

What Makes Me The Most Upset About Self-Confidence

Most successful women in the world have a veeeeeery solid relationships.

Like the kind that movies are made of. Where privately nobody in the world could love and support them more than their current spouses. It’s like a perfect match. And it’s actually a match made in Heaven.

So if Heaven created that relationship for them… why didn’t Heaven create a relationship like that for everybody?

Oh, I see, it’s another form of injustice right? Or maybe it’s a form of settling. Or craving attention from the missing figures in our own life.

 

This Is The Gist

Yesterday I had this aha moment:

“The reason why more men are further ahead in life is because there are more women that support men than men who support women.”

Ladies, it’s not that they’re better than. No. That’s not it.

It’s that you, I, your mother, your aunt, your grandmother, your sister, your female friend and coworker, the old lady from the Italian hillside, to the new mom in New York is willing to put themselves last again and again to support little boys (and little girls).

And little girls grow up to care for others… but little boys? Not so much…. unless you really, really train them to do at least the little things, like say:

  • “Good morning” when you see each other in the morning.
  • “Bless you.” when you sneeze
  • “Are you okay?” when you hurt yourself.
  • “Do you need help?” when they see you struggling.
  • “Goodnight” when you go to bed.

This is empathy 101. This is very basic human decency. But at least it’s something.

So ladies… when you question why the world is tipped in the favor of men. You know the reason. It’s THANKS to females like YOU.

Without you, even a simple cold could wipe them out.

Men Show You Who They Are Every. Single. Day

Maya Angelou famously said,

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

And yet most of the time, we’re so loving… we are so wired to want to see the good in others and be so quick to support them… that we dismiss the proof that men give us regarding what their personality is like.

If they don’t say bless you because you sneeze four times and they don’t have time to wait until you’re done sneezing to say bless you, they’re showing you who they are.

If they pretend that you didn’t remind them of ______, or said ______ because they want to justify not doing a favor for you, they’re showing you who they are.

If they let you talk and talk and not say anything but a sentence fragment or a word here or there… they’re showing you who they are.

Often, we are so needy of getting a specific quality in our life… that we want to insert a specific quality we’re craving into one of the people we most value in our life… as if it were a computer chip. It doesn’t work that way.

Men, and people, in general, should be decent not because you ask them, but because it’s the decent thing to do.

 

The Ripple Effect

Some men. have an issue with female-empowerment.

They think that keeping women feeling small and playing small is a win for them.

They certainly don’t believe that women are superior to them in ANY way… and they don’t believe that women are even their equals.

They may not verbalize it… but their actions and treatment towards you show it.

And that’s unfortunate, but what’s even MORE unfortunate is that they don’t realize that by willingly withholding your empowerment… by making you basically feel like crap… your ability to mother your guy’s children is negatively affected. And since your children lacking all the presence, love, and full-minded attention that you could be giving them if you had a more supportive relationship because you feel incomplete, broken or less than, your negatively (without wanting to) affecting their childhood… and then when they grow up and have children, the childhood you unwittingly affected … will make them be less capable parents than they would be if you, right now, were able to TRULY give them your parenting All.

That’s the ripple effect. They are not holding women back… they’re holding their children back. Their community back… and the world back. For decades and centuries.

If they only knew that they could really help change the world for the better by simply being more present, more kind, more receptive, more empathetic and more loving.

Their coldness is not helping anyone. It’s not helping anything… except maybe their advancement in life… which will feel pretty less important if they had no women to share that experience with or to brag to.

 

Simon Sinek’s Solution To Self-Confidence and Life

But don’t worry, there is an easier and more philanthropic way of boosting your self-confidence.

Intuitively I know this, and you probably do too, but we hadn’t put it into words.

And that is, that in order to boost your confidence you actually have to focus on serving.

The word “confidence” starts with “co-” like comingle, conspire, codependency… etc. all those words imply that there is more than one person involved.

The “fid” part of the word usually means to trust.

So if you want to feel like what you have to contribute (also another word that starts with co-)… you have to help others out of the kindness of your heart.

In this conversation, Simon Sinek introduces a concept known as the infinite game.

And in it, he teaches us that life is an infinite game. That there are no winners or losers. Simply people who are ahead of us and who are behind us.

And in order to “win” this game (which there aren’t any specific predetermined times to play, rules for, or even pre-specified goal)… you don’t have to beat someone else… you just have to outlast them.

Don’t be jealous of people who have that shiny thing called self-confidence. Don’t be jealous of men who think they’ve dominated the game with our help or of women who have a magnificent husband that probably understands that it is an infinite game and that it’s okay for women to be empowered after all. Instead, use your energy to motivate yourself and for once go after what you really, really want.

 

Where Can You Listen To Simon Sinek’s Talk

If you want to listen to Simon’s talk visit this link Simon Sinek: The Power of the Infinite Mindset hosted by Lewis Howes, whom I had the good fortune of seeing speak a couple of years back.

The portion about self-confidence starts on 35:40 (35 minutes with 40 seconds).

If you want to read what I got from Lewis’ talk… you can read about it here. Who Were The Best World Domination Summit 2015 Speakers? | Love and Treasure

Or you can also open The Podcast App that I taught you how to use… in these two blog posts:

My Favorite Apps Of All Time | Love and Treasure

and

The 5 Lessons I Learned in 2018 That Can Help You And Me Squeeze The Most Goodness Out of 2019

and open up The School of Greatness Podcast to listen in on this conversation that talks about other interesting topics, as well.

 

Now It’s YOUR Turn

In the comments below, answer this question:

Do you consider yourself to have a strong sense of self-esteem? What things have helped you along the way?

 

I’d love to know.

My Favorite Apps of All Time by Haydee Montemayor on Love and Treasure that you can find by visiting www.loveandtreasure.com

My Favorite Apps Of All Time

❤️

 

We all love our phones.

 

But what we love more than our phones themselves are the apps on our phones. They are the spice of our phones. With them, our phones transform themselves from merely being a device to call on to a device that we can enjoy.

 

So, today I want to share some of my favorite apps, that even though I’m sharing them in this time of year, they’re actually some of my all-time favorite apps.

 

Please know that some of the links below are affiliate links which means that if you purchase something through my link, I’ll receive a small commission without costing you any extra.

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Top 5 lessons I Learned in 2018 That Can Help You And Me Squeeze The Most Goodness Out Of 2019 by Haydee Montemayor from Love and Treasure blog (www.loveandtreasure.com )

Top 5 lessons I Learned in 2018 That Can Help You And Me Squeeze The Most Goodness Out Of 2019

First of all, Happy 2019, my friend!

Sending you a big hug 🤗!

There’s something amazing about being able to live one more year.

Regardless of whether last year was great for you or not, what we can ALL agree on is that this year, 2019 CAN be a better year than last year.

And if you’re already starting to doubt that it CAN be a better year, watch it! 😉

How great 2019 is, LARGELY depends on your attitude, so keep it in check.

 

My Top 2018 Lessons

A lot of people have published their review of 2018 and shared their New Year’s resolutions for 2019. I want to go beyond that.

Today, I want to share with you 5 lessons that I learned in 2018 that can help YOU squeeze out the most goodness in 2019. To make it more positive. And to allow you to have the most amount of joy.

 

Lesson 1: Despite The Challenges You Made It To The End Of Last Year And The Beginning Of The New Year

That ☝️ in and of itself is a blessing.

We can simply start from that frame of mind, and suddenly, things become more positive.

Last year may or may not have been the perfect year, but you’re here. Alive. Today. In a country, with internet, on a device that you were able to purchase because of everything that you have to contribute to the world via your talents and skills. Or if you were gifted your device, you had/have someone in your life who was this generous or who has a good job that allows you to have a device to read this blog on.

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Love and Treasure Holiday Gift Guide 2018 for holiday and Christmas gift guide 2018 on Love and Treasure www.loveandtreasure.com

Love and Treasure Holiday Gift Guide 2018

Somebody recently asked me if I love Black Friday.

I do, but I think I prefer Cyber Monday. 

And even though I like shopping, the things that bring me the MOST JOY lately are those that are the most useful for me — and that I actually use. 😉 

I call buying these types of things “mindful shopping.” It allows me to make mindful purchases that save money and provide an extra personal touch when it comes to gift giving.

 

What Type Of Gift-giver Am I And what type Of Gift-giver Do I Encourage You To Be?

Sometimes, I wish my income was so unlimited that I could give iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and iWatches to everybody and call it a day.

Why? Because I know that pretty much everyone would enjoy one of these products.

But, since I don’t have unlimited Christmas funds, I do the next best thing, which is to give people gifts based on who they are, what they like AND what could benefit them.

In other words, I’m a practical gift-giver.

Which is kind of ironic, come to think of it, because I’m a very sentimental person. But I would like things to last, be used over and over again and make me feel loved, every day, if possible.

For example, if I were to get a romantic gift… and I had the choice between flowers and jewelry… I would go with the jewelry— regardless of how expensive or inexpensive the jewelry is.

Not because jewelry tends to be more expensive in general, but because that piece of jewelry will be something that I could use for years and decades.

The roses, on the other hand, won’t last forever… although I do like to take pictures of the flowers I get in order to prolong their lifeline and remember the joy they brought me because I do like them.

Buying Thoughtful, Practical and Lasting Gifts For People Is The Key To Gift-giving.

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