Holiday & A New Direction With My Blog

So I realized that my last few posts have not really been what you'd call 'uplifting' or 'happy' and I want to change that. I didn't start this blog to complain or be sad. I started it to be myself and to have a place where I can write how I feel. This turned out to be sad and full of anxiety and that is not the full me. The full me is also very happy and cheery. 

I had in mind to be posting regularly every Monday with a new post, so there would be a regular 'postingsystem'. 
Then I remembered that I am going on holiday upcoming Saturday, so I won't be home next Monday to post, since I am going to take a break of the internet. 
I will be in Mallorca for the next 6 days to relax with 2 other friends, since, here in the Netherlands, we finished our final exams which means that we have a 3 month break. Then I'll be going to London with my aunt until Tuesday which means I'll miss another Monday (please don't take this as bragging about my holidays, I just want to explain why I will be gone for 2 weeks). 

Therefore my goal to post every Monday is starting in 3 weeks and then I will try my hardest to post every Monday. 
My next post will probably be filled with photos of my holidays so keep an eye out for that!
And from then onwards I will be mostly posting happy, cheery and funny posts to make your day a bit better and maybe a more serious post here and there ;).

I hope you will still be here when I'm back.

Let me know what plans you have for your upcoming break/ summer in the comments below.

See you in 3 weeks!

X

P.S. The same is for my Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.

A Letter To My Future Self

The idea of this post came from this video from Troye Sivan. I loved it a lot and it inspired me to write this. 
I hope that in a few years time I will be able to say "I have done these and I'm proud of them".

I am not one that writes goals in the beginning of the year, because I already know I won't be able to achieve them. However, this way is different. For me, these aren't goals to achieve, they are motivations or drive. I hope they will keep me going and achieving my longterm dreams.

So here we go:


Dear Laetitia of 2020,

Have you graduated? How was living in Bolivia? Have you spent more time with friends and family (because Laetitia from 2015 wasn't very good at that)? Have you started studying International and European Law yet? Have you finished your master? Have you found a job that pays your rent? But most importantly, have you found a job that you love? 
Have you made some new friends? Have you been resting enough? 
Are you eating healthy? What's the name of your boyfriend? 
Have you turned off your phone for a week? 
How was Asia? How was Australia? 
And last but not least:
Have you stayed true to yourself?

Hopefully you will read this and think about these questions. If the answer is yes, write a blogpost about what you experienced. If the answer is no... What are you waiting for?

All the love,
Laetitia of 2015


I inspire you reading this to do the same. To make a list with things you like to achieve, but give yourself a realistic time frame. 
There are many ways of doing this; by writing a blogpost, by making a YouTube video or by making a list in a diary. Choose your own way and make it happen!

I hope you liked this and that it encouraged you to make plans for the future too. And as always, let me know if you liked this and send me links if you did the same. I'm sure I can learn from you guys!

X

Finals Stress

Today I wanted to talk about something I have been and pretty much still am suffering with, stress for exams. 
Tomorrow my final exams start and in the Netherlands they count as 50% of your final grade for a subject, so pretty important I'd say. 
And, being my very stressful self, to say I'm stressed is an understatement. 
Obviously being stressed is not really healthy, so I discovered a few things that, either make studying a bit easier or help you calm down. 

1. If you have to take an exam for a subject you find very hard, it is really important that you rest enough between taking test exams or repetition. If you are stuck one a certain topic, just take a quick break for some food. When you come back you will have a clearer mind. But also, if you are in the right flow and things are going good, try not to get distracted by your phone or laptop, that way you will gt more done and feel good when you stop. And very important, celebrate when you give a right answer to a hard question. That way you'll stay motivated.
2. It is very important to eat and drink enough during studying or your exam. We are allowed to bring some food and a drink to our exam and that gives you the opportunity to take a short break to drink a bit or eat something small. It also gives you the energy to continue and will help to clear your head. 
3. When I start a test I always look at the number of questions I have to answer before I start, so I won't miss any of them. That way you also know how many questions you should have answered when you're half way.
4. QUALITY BEFORE QUANTITY! This one is very important. It is better to answer the question completely right and then maybe skip a few, instead of answering all the question in a rush and making mistakes. 
5. In addition to number 4, if you don't know the answer right away or in a few minutes, just skip the question and continue with the next one and you can come back to it in the end. 
6. If you get really stressed before your test, I wrote some tips for calming down at the end of my post about anxiety and panic attacks ( you can find that one here).
7. And last but not least, it doesn't matter if you fail once or twice. You are allowed to find a subject difficult and you are allowed to fail a test. It isn't the end of the world. I wish someone had told me that a few years ago, because it would have calmed me down a lot. 

Please tell me if you have any more tips or tricks for taking an exam or stress in general and leave them in the comments below. 

I hope it helped some of you coping with stress.

And for the people who are taking them right now: Good luck, you can do it!

X