How To Find Personal Growth and Development During Quarantine

If you’re anything like me, I’m sure this quarantine has brought on some unprecedented anxiety and depression into your life too. It’s easy to get bogged down by these hopeless feelings, wondering if and when your life will ever return to normal. Maybe you’ve lost your job, had to move back into your parents house, or haven’t seen your friends in months. Whatever it is you are going through right now, I want you to know that you aren’t alone, and these things are fixable! Here are my top 3 tips for coming out of your anxiety and depression during this quarantine, and instead finding growth and development in your life.

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1. Manifest- I know this sounds silly (and maybe repetitive if you’ve listened to my past manifestation podcast episodes) but manifestation is truly something that gives me so much hope every single day. If you’re feeling stuck in a life that doesn’t make you happy, guess what? You have the ability to change it all. There are so many ways you can go about manifesting your dream life, but I’ll give you a few ways that I do it every day. First thing I do when I wake up is usually reach for my phone. You too? Well, instead of jumping straight onto TikTok or Instagram, try going on Pinterest instead. I know, you’re probably thinking ‘Olivia, isn’t Pinterest like, dead? Does that even still exist?’ I’m here to confirm that Pinterest is still alive kicking! Create a manifestation board, and pin at least 5 images that look like your dream life. It can be a yard, a house, a city, a dog, a mans, or anything that sparks a little fire and desire inside of you. Put on a little inspirational music while you’re pinning. Sometimes when I’m feeling sad, I literally just open my Pinterest and look at my manifestation board and admire all of the beautiful things I see for myself! Check out my Pinterest here for some inspo. Some other manifestation techniques you can try are manifesting meditations, the law of attraction, or the 17 second rule.

2. Take Inspired Action– This may sound obvious, but taking action toward your dream life is always a step in the right direction. I believe that manifestation and inspired action are the dream team. Manifest, meditate and let the universe do its thing. But also look at new jobs, do research on new cities and apartments, and almost act out the dream life you want. When I moved to New York City, I didn’t have a job or an apartment or even roommates lined up. I just knew I wanted to go there! So I applied for jobs, spoke with people I knew who lived there, researched, etc. I even called apartment buildings and reached out to realtors with questions about rent, walls, etc! I literally acted like I was moving there. I even went online and found roommates when I had no plans of living there. Well guess what? I landed a job in NYC through a mutual friend, I had the roommates lined up already, and had apartment buildings saved on Zillow ready to go view. It all happened for me so quickly after that, but I lived in NYC for 3 years and loved it. Sometimes I can’t believe I actually made it happen!

3. Anxiety & Depression Techniques– Sometimes no matter how much manifesting or action you take toward your goals, life can just be anxiety inducing. It happens- we are in the midst of a pandemic after all! But there are ways to cope. I know it’s hard to see a therapist or your doctor right now, and it can feel like there’s no one around to help you. But trust me, it’s going to be ok! These techniques I’m going to talk about are ones you can do from the comfort of your own home, on your own time. Let’s start with Tapping. EFT Tapping is basically an exercise where you tap on different pressure points of your face, while saying statements out loud. Let’s say I’m anxious about a job interview. You start by tapping with your fingers between your brows, then your temple, then under your eye, then your collar bone. Each place that you tap you will say a statement out loud aligning with your fear, then the contrary. So tap between your brow and say I’m worried about this job interview. I am going to mess up. Then to the next point- this job interview will be ok. I will succeed. I will succeed, I won’t succeed. Either way, I’m going to be ok. Then at the end of your tapping you will squeeze one wrist and say “Peace”. Keep going for a few rounds, and after every time notice if you feel the same anxiety, more or less. For me, tapping helps to confuse my brain and my emotions by saying contradictory statements. It also helps to numb me out until I don’t feel much about the situation anymore. For my other anxiety technique, you’ll have to listen to my podcast below!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1KFrhgvnCtaZdF3C3Fl4vh?si=CkC9JTfcSdanJK8Vee5GLg

Easy Ways To Stay Healthy From The Inside Out

During this quarantine, it’s been really easy to feel sluggish and not take care of myself. From my body to my hair, skin and nails, let’s just say I’ve put my glow-up on the back burner a bit. But I’m getting back on track thanks to a few easy tricks to staying healthy from the inside out (for the lazy girl, a.k.a. moi).

Skin- Taking care of my skin has been so important during this quarantine, especially in making sure that my hormonal acne doesn’t come back in full force (which it totally would if I didn’t make the effort to take care of it every single night). My favorite gentle cleanser is this one, it’s expensive but effective and makes you feel super clean! Another thing I love to use is a facial roller. I put this one in the freezer and rub it on my face when I’m feeling fancy after my skincare routine. It not only helps to push the product further into the pores, but I’ve found that the cooling and rolling affect is great for my anxiety, especially when I have stress headaches. I couldn’t recommend it enough! It even just feels good to roll on your face when you’re bored honestly. Finally, my favorite skincare tool that I’ve been loving is this NuFace Mini. It’s pricey, but if you’re a skincare junkie looking for a fun new toy, this is it. It tones your face and makes it look more contoured over time. I’ve also noticed that it’s enhanced my jawline, making it look more defined and less like I’m a rooster with a floppy underchin (don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about!) It’s also $50 dollars off on Amazon right now so I would hop on this deal if you’re interested.

Hair- In all honesty, something I’ve been really self- conscious of is my dry scalp, especially with dandruff against dark hair. NOT CUTE! I’m currently trying out this shampoo and this conditioner and my hair feels amazing! I’m one of those girls that gives into buying cheap drugstore shampoo and conditioner, but let me tell you that once I used this one my hair I noticed a huge difference in the overall shine and my scalp doesn’t feel itchy or dry! This is my favorite hairbrush for after the shower, it’s honestly my favorite and I didn’t think I cared about hairbrushes either. This hair oil I tried today and let me just say I’m obsessed!! I’m not one to have shiny, healthy looking hair but it really made my hair look that way.

Mind- I think mental health should be everyone’s number one priority, especially during this quarantine. If your mental health is lacking, then so will the rest of you! I honestly believe that. That’s why I’ve hired a life coach to work with me on a lot of my emotions that I’ve been going through during this life transition. It’s easy to rely on your family, friends or significant other to lift you up when you’re feeling down, but there’s something so nice about being able to talk to someone who isn’t a part of your life and doesn’t have their own personal reasons for helping you make decisions. Another thing I love is manifesting! Focusing on what you want in your life and working toward your goals is a great way to direct your energy during this time. This meditation is my favorite, it’s relaxing and happy! It also only takes 10 minutes, which is perfect for the lazy girl.

Body- It’s so important to be taking care of our bodies, and especially our immune systems! Some of my favorite dietary supplements are Vitamin C and MaryRuth’s Organic Liquid Elderberry Immunity. Supplements are so important for boosting immunity (not to mention this particular one tastes great). Obviously, another way to take care of your body is working out, but lazy me hasn’t been so good about that one lately. One thing I have been doing a bit is 12/3/30 on the treadmill. Incline of 12, walking at a 3 speed for 30 minutes. Let me tell you, it gets the thighs and butt burning, as well as the calories! It’s good for someone lazy like me because you can walk it fairly easily and listen to music or watch Netflix/YouTube and it’s still semi-enjoyable.

I hope you found this post helpful! Sending you all love and light during these times.

What It Really Means When You’re Being Judgmental

Have you ever been that girl? You know what I mean… that girl. The girl who can’t be happy for anyone else whether it be on social media or in real life, because she’s too busy judging and hating on everyone else? I think we’ve all had our moments!

e.g. “Ew, did you see her new boyfriend? I heard he’s under 6 feet tall. And he took her to Olive Garden for their one month anniversary. How tacky.”

I can honestly say I’ve been this girl about one too many times to count. Sometimes it feels so much easier to be mean and judgy than happy for other people. But what does it say about us when we act this way?

Well, I’m here to tell ya! This can actually give us so much insight into what we want in our lives when we are judgmental toward other people. Yes, maybe you think Olive Garden is tacky for a monthiversary. But in actuality when you’re judging and being rude to that couple, it speaks volumes in another way. You want love in your life! You wish you had a boyfriend who took you out to dinner. You wish you had someone to go on dates with and share bottomless breadsticks. And thats OKAY! When we can admit that we’re judging other people out of jealously and want, then we are able to take our lives to a whole new level.

Let’s go with another example. Let’s say that you follow a girl on Instagram who gets to travel for work, makes lots of money, and gets clothes sent to her for free. You might have thoughts like “Who does this girl think she is? She doesn’t deserve all of these nice things. HA! Must be nice to not have to work for anything in your life.” I’ll be honest, I’ve heard the phrase “must be nice…” about one too many times, and I literally hate it. It actually makes me cringe and gives me chills down my spine. Because guess what…

It is nice. It’s really nice, and looks nice, and you probably wish you had those nice things too. Guess what’s even better? You can. You have the ability to have whatever you want in life. You are where you are right now because of decisions and choices that you have made, whether you like them or not. So if you don’t like them, then change them! I could pick up tomorrow and decide that I want to sing on a cruise ship or move to the middle-of-nowhere Nebraska. We have so much more power over our lives than we realize. So when you’re feeling jealous, hateful or judgmental toward other people, take a deep breath and think. Realize that these feelings are coming up because they have something you wish you could have too. (Because let’s be honest, you wouldn’t comment on it if you didn’t care). So why not turn those negative feelings and emotions into something productive, positive and useful?

Step 1 is realizing what you’re jealous about in someone else, and acknowledging that you’re being jealous/hateful/angry because there is something there that you want too. Acknowledgement is key! If you can’t acknowledge that you’re being jealous then you can never move on and be productive in your life, because you won’t be able to get to Step 2, which is realization of desires. So I realize I hate this girl, because she gets to travel and not work and have financial freedom. Step 2 would be then acknowledging that I actually hate her because I also want to travel, not work and have financial freedom. So then Step 3 would be coming up with plans of action to take to get there.

Ah, plans of action. I could go into a whole other ramble about this. Some people say manifest and pray and things will happen for you. Some people say that’s a bunch of B.S. and you have to work hard to get things you want in life. I say…both. And neither! The best way I can put it is this: If you want something in your life, go after it. Because you do have the ability to have whatever your heart desires. And if you aren’t sure how to go after it, first start with clearing your mind and doing a manifesting meditation like this one. Once you are perfectly clear on what you desire, then start taking baby steps to get there. Apply for jobs in that new place, research apartments in that area, reach out to acquaintances you know who live there. Make a vision board. Meditate again. Go for a run. Visualize. Plan a trip. Plan a move. Whatever you want, you can have. I believe in manifestation mixed with inspired action. If you are taking action from a clear and inspired mind, the world is your oyster.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3YyTydCAwfHN5Xd9fENvqu?si=0fz5YEyJQ7Wl4wV1zXD2IA

For more information on this topic, check out my lastest podcast!

How To Attract & Manifest Love Into Your Life

Ah, love. Sometimes it feels like a miracle, sometimes it feels like death, and sometimes it feels like the world’s greatest mystery. Have you ever wanted a relationship, but were afraid to admit it to yourself? Or maybe you know what you want, but you don’t know the next step to take. Here are my best tips to bringing the greatest love into your life.

1. Be what you are looking for- If you’re looking for a guy who’s charismatic, kind, warm and helpful, be that in your life! If you’re putting that energy out there, you’re bound to attract a similar vibration.
2. You’ll always be lonely until you become friends with yourself- if you don’t love yourself, then how can you expect someone else to love you? Get to know YOU- your interests, what makes you happy, and what you want. Then you’ll be ready for someone else.
3. Change your relationship with yourself, and watch the world change around you- again, this is about loving yourself. Once you get to the place where you’re fully content with you, you will see a huge change in your world. Your relationships with friends, family and significant others will improve drastically (because it was really about you all along).
4. Make a list of what you want- and get specific! This sounds silly, but if you get so specific even down to the color hair the guy has and his occupation and his personality traits, you’ll start getting clear on what exactly you want. Then the universe will be able to deliver!
5. Make a vision board…on your phone. Let’s be real, what do we look at more than our phones every day? If you have a vision board of relationships you look up to and want in your life (pics of cute couples, your grandparents, whoever!) then you’ll be subconsciously absorbing and visualizing that everyday until it becomes your reality.

These were just a few of the many points I made on Saturday Night Liv Podcast this week about manifesting love into your life. If you want to hear more, listen below and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Let me know what you think in the comments below…did I miss anything? Sending you all lots of love!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2EfZbqbOl7OITKjaCLH4yf?si=TAU2rVr9RHyqstDxzvHaEA

How To Manifest Your Dreams

Hey guys! I hope you’re all staying safe & healthy during these times. I’m sending everyone lots of love and light! Today I wanted to talk about manifestation, following your dreams and passions, and finding the light even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

I think it’s super easy to get bogged down right now by all of the craziness happening in the world, because duh. This is heavy stuff! If I can find one light in all of this darkness, it’s this: we have time that we didn’t have before. Am I right?

I think time is one of those things that we use as an excuse to not follow our dreams. “I would love to start my own business, but I don’t have the time.” “I’ve always wanted to take up that fun hobby but I don’t have the time.” Time. It’s a powerful thing that truly controls our lives, especially when we feel like we’re lacking in it. The one (and probably only) thing Coronavirus has blessed us with is a little extra time on our hands. What will you do with yours?

I have so many dreams for my life, and lately I’ve had extra time to think about them. I’m someone who’s always felt a bit lost in life, whether that be with my career, where I live or my relationships. I’ve had all of this extra time to reflect on my life, my goals and what I want. After listening to the Manifestation Babe podcast (I love her!!) per her recommendation, I watched the movie The Secret the other night (it’s on YouTube for free here) and I feel like it helped me so much to get clear on my life and be unafraid to be myself and pursue my interests. And then The Secret got me into manifestation!

My podcast this week is all about manifesting your dreams in life. Whether it be love, career, health, or some other path on your life’s journey, we as humans are actually capable of manifesting whatever we want into our physical reality. It sounds crazy, but it really does work. I have subconsciously manifested so many things in my life, I wonder what it would be like to actually consciously and actively choose to manifest something! I’ve decided that I want to manifest my dream life all around. I’m not sure how that looks yet, but I’m working on doing meditations daily and visualizing myself in different dream scenarios. There’s actually a free guided meditation that I lead on my podcast Saturday Night Liv Podcast that I would love for you to listen to.

Anyways, I would love if you gave the podcast a listen, but I will make future blog posts and podcasts on manifesting specific things in the future too and I would love your feedback. Much love and light to everyone out there and I hope you’re staying safe!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6GuQn5yILBzAZia8w58uFw?si=eufdaZWrRHmMspbOA3f3Rg

Saturday Night Liv Podcast: How To Manifest Your Dreams Hosted By Olivia Lagaly

How To Start Your Own Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5p5Ihi8WKdGRUDPJDXn59B?si=vKifnr7kTCa6Y6hpkVeA5g

Click if you want to listen to my episode on how to start your own podcast!

So today I want to teach you guys how to start your own podcast! In full transparency, it’s super easy. I started my podcast in under 24 hours for basically FREE. If you want to learn how to start your own podcast follow these steps…you could seriously have your own podcast by tomorrow if you follow along 😉

1. Podcast Name & What It’s About: This is the most fun! Coming up with the name of your podcast and what you want it to be about is always fun because you get to be creative with it. What topics are you passionate about? Is there something you feel that you could talk about for hours? And for coming up with the name of your podcast, think of fun plays on your name (that’s what I did!) What words does your name rhyme with? Are there any puns having to do with the topic at hand? This may take awhile to get the perfect name, but bounce some ideas off of your friends and see what sticks 🙂 Even comment on this post and I can help you too!
2. Create Your Cover Art: I think this part is so fun too! Creating your cover art that will be featured for your podcast is way easier than you think, and it’s also another fun way to express yourself and get creative. Go to this website to create your cover art super easily, and FOR FREE! They even have podcast templates to help get you started.
3. Get Your Equipment: This is where you may need to do some Amazon shopping! I’m going to assume that everyone has a computer, so we don’t need to invest in that. But something that you may need is a USB microphone. I use this one and it was cheap and works perfectly fine! If you don’t want to spend the money, you can try recording with just your computer microphone and see if that works well enough for you. If not, order the mic!
4. Recording Software: Again being fully honest, I use a completely free app to record my podcast! Download it here. It’s super easy, free, and user friendly.
5. Record Your Intro: You’re going to need some cute music for your intro and outro on your podcast! I found my free music from this free for use music website here. It was super easy and quick!
6. Find Your Podcast Host: You will need a podcast host to basically house your podcast. This is how you get featured on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. The easiest and only podcast host I’ve ever used is Buzzsprout. Sign up with this link to receive a free $20 Amazon Gift Card when you sign up for a paid plan! (Basically getting your money back plus more) 🙂 They also have the option for a free plan, but I pay as little as $12 per month with my plan and it is 100% worth it for the amount of podcasting time I am allowed to upload per month.
7. Have Your Guests Call In: This is my secret sauce to having podcast guests call in from all over the world, for free! But you’ll have to listen to the very end of my podcast episode to find out what it is 😉 Click above to listen!

Let me know if this helped any of you to start your own podcast! I have been podcasting for almost one year now and I am so proud to share how much I’ve learned along the way ❤

How To Get The Fall Feels

Hi guys! I’ve been battling with a bit of seasonal depression lately. (I know, such a fun way to start off the blog post, lol!) Every year, once summer fades and chillier winds start rolling in, so do my poo-poo attitudes and negative thoughts. I will admit, winter in New York is super depressing, especially considering the amount that you have to walk outside in this city.

But this year, I’ve decided to take a different approach. Instead of resisting it, I’ve decided to dive right in and embrace all that fall has to offer. I’ve always been so jealous of girls who love fall and dress their apartments with decorative gourds and drink spiked apple cider. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! So I came up with these top 6 ways to fully embrace fall instead of dreading its return:

Candles– Who doesn’t love a good pumpkin spice candle? I mixed these two scents together and it immediately made me so happy and nostalgic. Go through the fall candles at Marshall’s or TJ Maxx and mix two of your favorite scents together to get the perfect fall smell going throughout your house!

Fall Flavors– Even though I’m currently trying to do Whole30, I’ve found that one way to really embrace and enjoy fall is to get some fall snacks. Trader Joe’s has a plethora of fall themed foods that I wanted to buy (so badly), so if you aren’t on a diet you should definitely check them out. I know that there are fall flavored Oreo’s, pumpkin spice pretzels, and more. One healthy option that I eat is sprinkling cinnamon on a chopped up banana or apple. Cinnamon flavors always give me fall vibes!

Open Windows– This sounds silly, but literally opening my bedroom window and sitting near it while the cool fall breeze rolls in feels so refreshing. Fall has a certain smell to it, doesn’t it? It’s so nostalgic to me. It reminds me of the beginning of the school year back in Ohio.

Music– A fall playlist is so important to get those fall vibes going in your room. Music can set a mood like nothing else. Autumn Leaves by Ed Sheeran is my favorite fall song, but if you want to hear more nostalgic fall favorites then go listen to my playlist here. (Trigger Warning: These are mostly angsty teenage acoustic songs. You can get to know high school Olivia through this playlist).

Lighting– This is actually the silliest thing ever, but changing the lighting in my room made a world of a difference when it comes to fall with darker days and nights. I bought new lightbulbs from Target (“soft white”) and my room immediately feels warmer, brighter and friendlier. BTW, never ever in your life get those bright white LED lightbulbs. They are the worst and will make your room feel like a hospital! Anyways, even playing around with turning one lamp on and putting my candles on the other side of the room can really set the mood and create the best vibes for fall.

Movies– Watching fall movies and TV shows gives me literally ALL OF THE FEELS. Sitting in my room smelling the fall breeze with my warm apple cider candle burning and eating my cinnamon bananas while watching fall movies is literally the warmest and happiest and coziest feeling EVER. My current fall favs that I’ve been watching are You’ve Got Mail, Gilmore Girls, and Riverdale. Gilmore Girls especially gives me fall feels because it’s so warm, nostalgic and comforting. Their quaint little town is picturesque autumn. What fall movies and television shows do you enjoy?

Trust me, I know a lot of this sounds trivial. But when you’re dealing with depressive thoughts and feelings that come along with the colder weather months, sometimes treating yourself to a couple of cute candles, a fall snack, or renting a movie can really change your attitude and mindset. Don’t forget to take your Vitamin D and let’s tackle this fall together!

We’re An Official Domain!

Welcome to my blog with an official domain, OliviaTheBlog.com! I’m SO excited!! Coming up with an official domain name was super daunting and tricky. I have some tips for people trying to choose a domain name, and I’ll give some reasons why I chose this one too!

I knew I wanted a simple domain name that would be easy for people to spell and remember. Olivia’s blog was taken, blog Olivia, etc. A domain with my last name would have been too tricky, since mine is so complicated. Finally, I randomly tried OliviaTheBlog.com and it was free!! I thought it was super cute, mostly because it reminded me of Olivia The Pig, which happened to be my favorite book growing up. I really resinated with her for some reason 😂

I also think that you should consider what the domain name sounds like when said out loud. I kept trying to think about what I wanted to say if someone walking by said “Do you have a blog? What is it?” I needed something simple, easy to say and easy to remember.

I also wanted to make sure the domain name was under 15 characters. This makes it easiest to remember, and less of a chance for people to misspell anything when typing it into the address bar!

This is my third blog I’ve ever made (third times a charm?) so I also wanted to make sure that this name was a brand that would fit me for a long time. You can’t go wrong with your own name, because I feel like you can never “outgrow” that. I can always change my color scheme, logo, etc. But I don’t want to have to deal with a whole new blog name and branding for a long time. So I figured that OliviaTheBlog.com kind of encompasses everything that I wanted in a name, and it’s hopefully something that will be around for awhile!

Thanks again to everyone out there who has read my blog and is supportive of it! This is truly one of my favorite things to do, so thanks for just being here and being you ♡