I embarked on the challenge of all challenges. The journey of a lifetime… the epic adventure that I would conquer and claim as my own.

No, I did not climb a massive mount every day for 30 days…nor battle the worlds deepest problems and issues… I *drum roll please* made breakfast for myself every single day *gasps* I know right?! Amazing…

So, you might be asking why I’m so proud of myself, or why I would even decide to do a challenge that seems like it should already be a basic human skill one is accustomed to.

Well, let me just be blunt…I wake up late, rush out the door, and completely forget about the importance of actually fueling my body for the day… almost every day!

I’ll get to school and in the middle of an English lecture (which are typically very, very quiet) my stomach will let out a roar to alert every one of my failed adulthood (lol).

So I made it my mission (literally) to ensure I had breakfast made before I left the house.

How Did I Do This?

Have you ever heard of overnight oatmeal?! If you haven’t… you’re welcome! That stuff is and was my lifesaver during this challenge! Click here for the recipes I used.

The website I found introduced me to all of these amazing flavours and combinations. My personal favourites were peanut butter and jelly, apple cinnamon, almond joy, and strawberries and cream. They have a bunch of other flavours too if those don’t appeal to you!

I found this so much easier to be consistent…simply because I’d make this the night before.

It took the stress away in the morning, all I had to do was grab the mason jar from the fridge (yes, I bought mason jars for this challenge)  a spoon, and maybe a coffee on my way to school.

I could even eat breakfast in class! That’s awesome in my opinion!

Did I Fail?

Oh boy, did I ever fail? I’m human… I make mistakes, okay?! Overnight oatmeal is fantastic…I love it now and will do my best to keep making it every single night.

However, life happens… I got busy…forgot some nights…and I even ran out of oats one night. So yeah, it was a 30-day challenge but I probably made oatmeal…22-25 times I’d say.

I’m still impressed with myself though. I really tried to stick at this and for the most part, I did!

What Did I Learn?

Overnight oatmeal is one of the best inventions, ever. I’m serious! The strawberries and cream one tastes like dessert but it’s really healthy…and it’s socially acceptable to eat it for breakfast!

I learnt the importance of actually eating breakfast. I honestly felt more awake and ready to conquer the day when I had the oatmeal in the morning.

I feel you’d have similar results with any breakfast…as long as you eat something before your day.

Oatmeal worked for me though, probably because I could prep it the night before. I’m not about to get out of bed early to make breakfast…sleep is important to me!

Another plus of this challenge is I came to realize how easy it is to meal prep and make better eating choices. I was always under the impression I couldn’t really do it…but I did!

If I can do it…so can you!

Seriously though, try overnight oatmeal! It’ll change your morning!

Until next time,

Emma

I love to sit down every once in a while and reflect on where I’ve been, where I am, and essentially where I’m going.

It may sound slightly cliche (I realized I’m a very cheesy person) but it is a super helpful exercise to make time for. It gives you the perspective you may have overlooked, a time to take a step back and breathe.

So, that’s what this post is all about. What knowledge have I gathered, what am I going to do with that knowledge, and how it’s going to push me forward.

I think the biggest thing I have taken away from this course so far is realizing there is always a way to be more successful. It may sound strange to admit I didn’t know that before, but it crystallized for me in the last months.

There is always going to be a better way to speak to your audience, curate content for your brand, write a little more clearly, and present yourself as a whole.

We have focused on the details in this class. By that, I mean the underlying pieces that make you more successful in general. If you know how to write well you will attract more attention, simply because people can understand what you’re saying/ offering.

Before coming into this course I knew I liked learning about how things worked. I liked understanding the reasons behind companies success, or why they weren’t successful.

However, I couldn’t fully grasp how to go about learning how all those pieces fit together. This course gave me a door to step through, those pieces are fitting into place a little at a time now!

Along with all this new knowledge, I have also formulated a few new fears. Fear that I still have so much to learn and understand when it comes to life and business. I worry that I won’t be ready by the time I graduate.

I know this is something all undergraduates face at some point, and I do think it’s an alarming fear. However, I also have faith that I’ll probably never be ”ready”. Which, again, may sound odd but it gives me the courage to learn, enjoy, and then jump when the time comes.

This course gave me fear, but it’s also taught me to trust in myself a little more. I’ll figure it out, we all will.

I think that’s the main thing I really want to put out there today. Life/business/relationships/school can all be so overwhelming, but if you take the time to do things to the best of your abilities…you’re doing great! (There’s that cheesy side of me coming out again, oops!)

Anyway, I think moving forward in this course I want to open my hands to all the knowledge, challenges, and opportunities left to discover. Let go of my overthinking, overanalyzing, and just soak it all in.

Before we know it we will be out in the ”real world” and this time of study will be something we wish we could go back to. I intend to enjoy every second of it with a grateful and appreciative attitude.

Thank you for reading, and please share with me one thing you’ve learned so far!

Until next time,

Emma

I have a dream. It involves writing a blog for a living. A fantastic blog that holds my reader’s attention every single week. It reaches great depths of emotion, sparks huge levels of creativity, and inspires a change in the world.

Well… that’s rather ambitious. Isn’t it?

I’m sure it’s not impossible! I read lot’s of blogs like this…but, none of them are mine.

That’s beside the point though. I really struggled to try to come up with my ‘Dream Blog’ this week. It should be a relatively simple question to answer (or so I thought). You pick something you’re passionate about, and then write about it!

My biggest hurdle was coming up with a niche, especially when I started thinking about the PAIBOC model. What would I be offering my audience? What would my content bring to the table? Why would anyone spend time reading the words I wrote? Why would they care?

I think it’s a solid reminder. In order for people to invest in your work, you must first take great pride in making it awesome!

If you don’t think it’s great, why would anyone else? 

So this ultimately led me to do a lot of research on the blog/niche I’d like to write about. I was so hesitant to settle on a Lifestyle blog, but it always seemed to come back to me.

I put it to the PAIBOC test, and I think it passed! So…here are my thoughts for why my dream blog would be a Lifestyle oriented one.

What would be the purpose?

I have always loved writing to help and inspire others. That would be my main purpose at the end of the day. However, I am in no way an expert in all things lifestyle… is anyone, really? So, I would write with my experiences at the forefront.

Perhaps it would be a 30-day fitness challenge and my results, or I would try a new vegan chocolate chip recipe, or maybe I’d review a new makeup product.

Whatever it is, I’d want to help people by either inspiring them, offering some creativity or by making them smile.

Who Would Read This?

I would aim my content for women between the ages of 16-35. The type of content I would create would naturally draw that audience in.

I may also appeal to an older audience as I grew older myself. I think I would be definitely into the ”Mommy Blogging” when I eventually became a Mom!

Benefits?

The blog would be a safe place to try new things, fail, try again…maybe even fail again. I would want to foster a community that was built on being comfortable with yourself and where you fall short. We’d learn together that life (and each other) will never be perfect… but that’s okay.

The reader would benefit from a community.

Why Would My Blog Be Any Different?

I thought about this a lot. It’s partially why I was so hesitant to pick a Lifestyle blog. Yes, there are so many blogs focused on this topic, but, there are none that are exactly like my style/writing voice/ personality.

By this statement, I simply mean that no one is like me, and no one is like you either. We all have our own individual spice to add to life…so that’s what made me decide to just pick it  (Lifestyle).

Would There Be Haters?

Well, in today’s world of social media and everyone’s opinion being factual (sarcasm)…I bet there would be at least some haters.

Hopefully, this would be kept at a minimum, but I’m sure at some point something in a blog post would be controversial or offensive to someone out there.

I think you need to ignore the negativity if you want to keep going. It’s so easy to get down on yourself because of people’s opinions…but if you love what you’re doing and you’re finding a level of success, who cares?! Write your heart out and delete, delete, delete those nasty comments!

So, there you have it! I’d be a Lifestyle, Blogger.

Did you struggle coming up with a niche too? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Until next time,

Emma

Oh, writing. How I love to hate thee.

I’m kidding! Most of the time…

Writing and I have had a long journey together. We’ve been through a lot over the years, and I can honestly say we’ve become friends. We’ve gone through painful essays, to public blog posts, poetry Instagram accounts, to this very piece you’re reading now.

I’ve always enjoyed writing for pleasure. Since I was ten years old I always had short stories, poems, and many diaries to bounce between when I grew bored of television. I liked to write out my feelings, especially when it came to pink diaries that contained my secret love letters. I know that’s cliche, but I really was that preteen.

Writing took a dark turn when I got older though (dramatic music).  The essay’s suddenly made writing a whole lot less fun, and a whole lot more work. I didn’t understand why I had to cite, research, and actually type within a word limit. That just seemed uncreative, and frankly a little tedious. I grew out of this though, and I actually don’t mind writing essays anymore.

Well… there was this one political science essay that sucked the life out of me…but let’s just pretend that never happened.

When I turned sixteen I was suddenly struck with this desire to post a blog. I had no idea what I was doing, or where this desire came from…but I bit the bullet and made one.

I wrote about topics I felt passionate about. Relationships, health, beauty, and fashion. It was a pretty generic blog, but again, it was something I was proud of.

I was so proud that I decided to post the blog on my Facebook account. Most people were very encouraging and enjoyed my content. Others felt the need to tell me they didn’t like my content…or me for that matter. It took courage to keep posting after that, but I kept going.

I wrote on this blog for close to five years! It’s still out there on the internet, but I don’t post anymore. That chapter of my life is closed (for now).

Side note: I should mention too that this course has re-inspired me to write again! I really need to be more consistent with content. I always find that’s where I lack professionalism and ultimately trips me up regarding goals I set myself. Does anyone else struggle with this? Or better yet…do you have any tips on beating this mindset?!

So in December of 2017, I found a poetry account on Instagram. I found another one, and another one, and another one (you get the point). I had no idea that there were so many people on Instagram who loved modern poetry!

I was thrilled and decided to make my own account. Again, I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I wanted to be part of this community and I already loved writing poetry…so why not!

This infused my love for writing AND my love for social media. I posted my first poem with 0 followers and in four months that number grew to over 5,000 people following my account.

I connected with people all across the globe! I had musicians asking me to write songs for them, online poetry magazines publishing my work, and I made so many great like-minded friends.

It was a crazy ride for sure! I still have this account (@e.d_poetry) if you were interested in checking it out. I don’t post as frequently as I once did, but I still enjoy posting here and there!

Anyway, this all boils down to my crazy journey with writing. I love it, but I need to practice it more. Does that make sense? I wish I was better at keeping my drive, as opposed to a flaming passion that consumes me in an instant… and then leaves me a little dried out. I jump head first into projects but I need to work on my endurance to keep going when the initial flame dies down.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this post! I know writing and I have a long journey ahead of us, but I’m excited to see where we go! (Cheesy I know, but who doesn’t like cheese?!).

Until the next blog,

Emma

PS: I use E.Dupuis as a writing pseudonym.

All photos within this post belong to me.

I have a very unromantic story for you.

It isn’t filled rose petals, a musical featuring my love life, or an earth-shattering first kiss. It’s one that involves an app called Tinder, and an amazing man called Brett.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton