At the end of every blog post, I challenge my readers to something that will encourage self-growth and learning. While it is helpful to read the entire post for context, the challenges can stand alone and still be impactful. I have compiled all challenges I have created, so far (it is a lot) and tagged each blog post in case the challenge sparks your interest on why it was written. From now on, I will be posting these seasonally.
I tried to organize the challenges into categories and then put them under subcategories of where the original post came from. The categories are:
- Do Something For Others
- Fun, Creative, Shopping & Outfit
- Self-Growth, Character & Outlook
- Make A Change
- Self-Care
Do Something For Others
Fashion Posts
- Donate, Educate, & Advocate for the LGBTQ+ Community, not only during June, but all-year round. – Full Post
Lifestyle Posts
- Do something for someone else today that you may not enjoy. – Full Post
- Find a charity to support or a way to volunteer during this time. – Full Post
- Create a playlist to share with friends, families, or yourself when you need a little sprinkle of joy. – Full Post
- Identify someone in your life that would benefit greatly from a surprise party. The most common type of surprise party is for a birthday, but it could also be for an anniversary, milestone, or just a “we love you” party. – Full Post
- Take a moment to recognize all of the “thankless” tasks that you or a loved one does. Thank them. Thank yourself. – Full Post
Fun, Creative, Shopping & Outfit
Fashion Posts
- Find a piece of inspiration from something in the room you are in right now. How do you see it differently? What aspect of the design intrigued you? I am fascinated to hear what you come up with. – Full Post
- Consider buying jewelry, besides diamonds and pearls, outside of your birthstone. I know I will. – Full Post
- For the times when you don’t want to wear a belt, but your jeans are too big, try this trick. Take your button and put it through the closest belt loop and then fasten it. What do you think? So far this trick has worked on most of my jeans. – Full Post
- Try to put together outfits with nods to past decades and see which decades inspire you the most. From this challenge, I have learned that I need to find more 60s inspiration to bring into my current style. – Full Post
- Get dressed for a week straight. In COVID, sometimes it feels like there is nothing to look forward to. No reason to get dressed. You can be the reason. You can create something exciting. The only person holding you back is you. — Full Post
- Online shop from smaller or local businesses instead of big companies. You will find more unique items and you will be supporting businesses who need our help. – Full Post
- Look at your own closet. What is your white space? What do you have a lot of? Do I own enough layering pieces? When I was doing my rainbow monochrome challenge, I realized how much of each color I own. Do I own enough of the colors I look best in? Do I own enough seasonless colors? If you want any input on your white spaces, send me an email at pearlselaina@gmail.com — Full Post
- Try shampoo and conditioner bars. They have changed my life. – Full Post
- Watch Emily in Paris. Make sure you have good binge-watching snacks and wine readily available. – Full Post
Self-Growth, Character & Outlook
Fashion Posts
- Identify a layer, that if for some reason did not exist, your life would be altered. Had you recognized its importance before now? – Full Post
- Let’s do one now. Stand up shoulder-width apart. Put your hands in fists. Put those fists on your hips. Look up to the sky like superman. Stand like this for at least one minute. You will conquer the day. You will conquer the task. You can do this. – Full Post
- Define what victory means for you in each category of your life for 2022. Everyone will have different categories, but in my mind, these relate back to the resolution categories: Health-Related, Self- Awareness, Financial, Friends & Family, and Career. – Full Post
- Try to master the art of adapting. It is important to constantly remind ourselves that goals are aspirations. They can bend and shift and morph into something even better than we could have imagined. As a very organized person (some would argue too organized), I graduated college with a very specific life plan. Now, I am trying to expand my criteria to let in other potential wonderful experiences and learning opportunities. – Full Post
Lifestyle Posts
- Take this time to reflect on what makes you happy. Make a list. Is there a trend? – Full Post
- Figure out your first step towards positivity and pep. – Full Post
- Write out your emotions when you have a stressful day. Even though a journal is paper and not a human, writing down my thoughts helps me feel heard. – Full Post
- Try something new. This is the best time to find a new hobby. – Full Post
- When you find yourself having an ethical debate with someone, take a deep breath and use it as a moment to grow. – Full Post
- Try to go a week without alcohol. A cleanse never hurt anyone. – Full Post
- Make sure you have open communication with your partners. – Full Post
- Be productive today. – Full Post
- Take today to indulge your prideful side. Be proud of your accomplishments. – Full Post
Road Trip Posts
- Lean into the moments where you feel outside of your comfort zone. Feeling a little uncomfortable is a sign of growth and if you give it a chance, you’ll start to feel comfortable in more spaces. – Full Post
- Listen to your gut. When big decisions come up in your life, don’t do what you think you are supposed to do. Don’t do the thing that will make everyone else the happiest. Do what will make you the happiest and the people who truly love you will offer support. – Full Post
Make A Change
Fashion Posts
- Choose confidence in 2021. Name your style and stick with it. I will try to express my road to confidence in my future posts, but there is more than one path. – Full Post
- Allow yourself to go with the flow a little more. I was so set on taking my green picture in Central Park and would never have taken these awesome pictures if I did that. – Full Post
- Take time to plan something out. While this color challenge has been difficult, it is also really rewarding to see my hard work come to life. – Full Post
- Don’t be afraid to tag your inspiration. I could not have done most of my looks without the Internet. – Full Post
- Make a decision and stick with it even if it proves to be 10x harder than you originally planned. The effort and persistence will be worthwhile when the sense of completion and pride sets in. – Full Post
- Stick to a commitment that is hard by adjusting and adapting to your new circumstances. The reward feels more impactful when you have to work for it a little more. Once these challenges became harder for me to schedule, I took a step back and evaluated how I was spending my time. With more planning and awareness of my routine changes, I was able to move tasks around to create a wide open window for my Elaina Pearls looks. – Full Post
- When at first you don’t succeed, try again. This post was hard to write because this photoshoot and images did not turn out anything like I wanted them to. I am sure in my next attempt, the post will center around the need to fail in order to create something beautiful (or so I hope). It may also be about failure in general, we will see 🙂– Full Post
Lifestyle Posts
- Spend one day without complaining, only seeing the positive and see how it affects your overall being. You will be amazed. Please reach out with your findings, I’m curious. – Full Post
- Put down your phone. Look around. Engage in the world. See how it impacts your life. Do you feel better? I know I did when I started doing this. – Full Post
- Implement birthday resolutions. Start with adding 1 extra time of year to think of adding 1 more resolution to your plate. – Full Post
- Create 5 new resolutions: Health-Related, Self- Awareness, Financial, Friends & Family, and Career. – Full Post
- Create sub-category resolutions after 3 months of working toward your 5 main resolutions. – Full Post
- Do not waste a single day in 2021. The time to feel sorry for ourselves should be left in 2020. – Full Post
- Stop comparing yourself to others. – Full Post
- Figure out what you want to be known for. Own it. – Full Post
- Create a routine to start this Sunday. Pick one thing from the to-do list that you must finish each day. – Full Post
- Write a running list of everything you accomplish in the hours you would have spent getting ready. Read it every time you doubt yourself. – Full Post
- Take your jealousy and turn it into motivation. If you see that someone has something you do not, make a plan to get it, too. – Full Post
- Forgive someone or something you have been holding a grudge against. Hint: The “someone” can be yourself. – Full Post
- If a conflict arises at work, ask your manager if you can handle it. Suggest your plan of action and see how it goes. I am hoping that we can start to change the culture one manager at a time. – Full Post
Road Trip Posts
- Take a look at your work-life balance. What are you happy with? What would you improve? Now, set a timeline for when you’d like to improve. Goals that are tied to time frames are more likely to be successful. – Full Post
- Create a routine for packing, including a detailed packing list, for your next trip. Make it a goal to become an efficient traveler, even on small trips. This way, when the big ones come along, you can be stress-free. – Full Post
Self-Care
Lifestyle Posts
- Make fun more of a focus in our lives. – Full Post
- Brainstorm places that you can scream for relief, outside of a waterpark. – Full Post
- Crack up for a few hours in one day and see if you have sore abs the next. Please report back. – Full Post
- Take a bubble bath. – Full Post
- Sit on the couch. Binge watch a new show. Do nothing tonight. – Full Post
- Treat yourself to a special dessert today. – Full Post
- Take a deep breath. Lie on your bed, awake, just thinking for 10 minutes. It really helps you relax and clear your mind. – Full Post
- Do not change for anyone. There is a difference between growing and changing. You were created exactly as you are for a reason. Do not let anyone steal your sparkle. I am for sure done with that part of my life. – Full Post
- Take a moment to recognize all of the “thankless” tasks that you or a loved one does. Thank them. Thank yourself. – Full Post
- Listen to your anger. Go outside and scream. Don’t bottle it in. – Full Post
- Try to stop worrying about something that may happen in the future. Focus on what you can control now. – Full Post
- Take today to indulge in your greedy desires. Is there a designer item you’ve had your eyes on for a while? Treat yourself. – Full Post
- Forgive someone or something you have been holding a grudge against. Hint: The “someone” can be yourself. – Full Post