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First up, this isn’t my original idea. I totally copied my lovely friend Carrie who did the exact thing: 40 to 40. I did ask if she’d mind and she said she’d be honoured 🙂 So thanks Carrie!

The idea is to do 40 things before I turn 40 in November 2020, 20 months from now. The list isn’t complete yet, so I’d happily welcome contributions. Nothing ridiculous though, I’m not shaving my head for example (hair is my one thing! ) :).

I’m also not going to beat myself up for not doing them all. This isn’t a competition, just a few (well a lot) of things I want to do for myself and others before I turn 40. Some of these are actually already being planned while some may be a little far fetched. Some are really little lifestyle changes and some are quite vain but some are hopefully a little more altruistic or family focused.

1. Start a happiness jar (again copied from Carrie)
2. Speak more openly about mental health, starting with number three –>
3. Stop my anti-anxiety and anti-depressants gradually
4. A week with no coffee
5. A week with no chocolate
6. A week with no gluten
7. A week with no TV
8. Go to Paris
9. Go to New York
10. Go to South America
11. Go visit my niece and nephew in Israel
12. Get a (very small) tattoo
13. Get something pierced
14. Sky-Dive
15. Read 10 books
16. Watch less TV (one night a week without!)
17. Run 5K
18. Raise money for 2 charities
19. Learn a new skill for my business (see here)
20. Organise a (or two or three) 40th bday celebration
21. Go to bed before 11pm on week nights (at least 4 times a week)
22. Go to the gym more (aim for 3 days a week)
23. Spend more time with people that raise me up instead of people that put me down!
24. Go to Belgium more to see my Oma <3
25. Cut my hair shoulder length
26. A week without social media (contribution from my sister)
27. …

So the list definitely isn’t complete yet and things may change but as above, feel free to contribute ideas or even do a few with me if you want. I’ll keep sharing this post every time I update it.

Wish me luck,
Bx

When I finished my graphic design course, I promised myself that I would always continue studying. While I don’t want to sit any more exams in my life, I do love learning new things. And to be honest, we live in such a fast paced world – especially when it comes to tech and the world of marketing – I have to at the very least, keep up to date.

Over the last year or so I received a few regular requests that I had to turn down because I don’t have the confidence, skills or time to do. One of my ‘2019 business objectives’ this year however, is to learn at least one of those new skills so I can keep offering my clients a variety of services. (BTW I’ve got a couple more business objectives, which I’ll cover in a future blog).

The first skill is Advanced Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop was a big part of my course and I know my way around it. I can’t however do very advanced photoshop projects. Someone recently asked me for example to create an image by changing an existing picture and adding and manipulating elements i.e. from a gun to a hosepipe (!). I hate turning down work at the best of time but when it is because I’m ‘not good enough’ I feel challenged and therefor want to start studying again.

The next skill I’m looking into is GIFs or animations. I get asked a lot about animated logos or online banners. Again, Adobe Animate was part of my course and while I passed the exam, I really didn’t enjoy it and never really practiced it. The phrase ‘jack of all trade…’ crossed my mind and decided to focus on the other design aspects like Illustrator and InDesign. However, there’s a way to create gifs without Animate now and therefore something I may consider studying.

Lastly (well not really lastly, but there’s only so much studying I can do) is Shopify. As you may know, I currently only develop websites in WordPress. However there are some e-commerce businesses who swear by Shopify. While WooCommerce is a fantastic plug-in to turn your WordPress website into a business, it’s not very user friendly in my opinion.

So, I’d love to know what you think? First of all – are you learning a new skill this year? Is ‘up-skilling’ part of your business plan at all? And secondly, which skill do you think I should focus on this year? Photoshop, Gifs or Shopify?

Let me know,
Bx