Hello hello!

I have returned from the Whitsundays & I have to say it was a seriously amazing holiday. After almost a year of no holidays, all I needed was a breakaway with no internet reception and no laptop and I loved every minute of it.

‘It wasn’t me, it’s not my fault’

I cannot tell you how much I dread this phrase. It makes my eyes roll at every turn. Its probably because more often than not those saying it are responsible for their behavior and yet they are blurting out a phrase that’s highly inappropriate given their actions.

In 2009 I began my traveling adventures with a cruise, today I continue it ready to embark on my second cruise and I am just as excited as I was all those years ago. When I first decided to take a cruise I was positively peer pressured by my parents who had already enjoyed the experience, so I hit up my friend Toni to join me and off we went, on 7 nights around the South Pacific cruising with P&O. It’s 100% fitting that 9years later I am going on a cruise to the Whitsundays with the same friend from all those years ago.

Most of us know by now that Facebook does what it can to get information about us and then deliver interest-specific content. But do you know how this defined information can impact your mindset?

Many people believe that full confidence comes when you have the svelte figure, the romantic relationship, and a fabulous career but they would be wrong. Full confidence comes when you have the capability to forgive yourself.

Gratitude is something that has been proven to improve happiness. It is a practice that is readily encouraged all over the internet and in countless self-help books but how do we do it?

Have you ever been sick and just thought 'when will this all end?' Sometimes you can get so hung up on what isn't going right at the moment that you forget to count your blessings. This is why I adore gratitude. To take nothing for granted though we need to appreciate things in the present. This post is a short and sweet reminder to do just that.

There comes a time in the book creating a stage where you look at your manuscript and say ‘write yourself already.’ At least there was for me. I have always loved writing and found it easy to do however sitting down to a self-imposed time guideline changes the way you write, it brings about urgency, extreme desires to finish, a hypersensitivity to perfection, and an increased inability to to be patient. You know you can change the end date but you simply don’t want to, finishing your book later would mean a more drawn-out process of late writing nights, imagining the need for punctuation marks in places 77 times before actually deciding you’ll place them there and looking at your food and getting angry at it for not cooking itself. Don’t get me wrong, writing a book is fun, the moment you complete is euphoric but boy does the journey test your mindset.

Life is full of little hurdles. No one can expect that life isn’t going to throw them a few bumps along the way, the way we deal with them is totally dependent on our mindset. So, what are effective ways to deal with these mental hurdles?

Is your legacy something that can be seen or is it only something that is talked about?

Society is SO focused on SPEAKING we forget the reality that actions have always been louder than words.

When I lived in London and worked as a teacher the holidays were the worst. You heard right. Instead of relaxing, I found myself stressed constantly about finances. The concept that contract teachers didn’t get rewarded for their 15hour days really bothered me, it simply wasn't like that in Australia. A 2 week holiday always resulted in 4 weeks of stinginess because you were 'paid in arrears' and essentially had to wait 2 weeks before a decent pay would show up. This was stress that never went away

Are you just starting out your time as an international traveller? Not sure what are the best pieces of advice? Becoming a little overwhelmed from all the travel tips out there? I understand. I recall the first time I traveled overseas to London. I took notice of hundreds of different pieces of advice, so much so that I ended up carrying all bar the kitchen sink with me. The lead up to my trip became an extremely stressful series of extended checklists. Now with 26 countries under my belt, I have created my own pieces of advice that help the journey from planning to execution less stressful.

It's been 2 years since I gave teaching up full time for my passion-fuelled business of life coaching and 3 years since I started building this beautiful business and I have no regrets. The past 3 years have been exciting, stressful (at times) yet truly incredible. There is so much I have learned since I began equipping myself with the skills to make this business possible. Today I wanted to share part of this beautiful rollercoaster ride of been on.

I started building my business in 2015, bit by bit the Julia Trask brand was created. I had successes and failures, amongst it all, I learned how different the business mindset is compared to anything else. You move from epic highs to epic lows and all the while you never lose your passion because you know 'this thing I'm doing IS what I am meant to be doing.'

Loving someone who doesn’t love you back is the most painful thing. You see the good in them, the potential for something great between the two of you but there’s always this catch. The catch is they don’t like you. It’s a super harsh reality to face but one you must look at otherwise you end up constantly feeling less, hoping, and praying for a lost cause.

'You should be making me successful!'

This phrase makes my eyes roll repetitively. Unfortunately, it isn't an infrequently heard phrase. It’s used by many individuals across a variety of generational age gaps, races, religions, and socioeconomic wallet sizes. 'You should be making me successful' are the kind of statements that prove to us that entitlement exists and responsibility and accountability have gone for a holiday. Sadly this relationship with entitlement leaves individuals with an inability to own their own success leaving them consistently frustrated at life, struggling to develop responsibility and personal accountability. To experience the success we must not give our responsibility for it away, here's how we can stop the entitlement and begin being happy little Vegemite again.

How many of you would say that your life is jam-packed full of fun? How many of you would say that you excel at ‘adulting?’ Personally I believe that adulting is a super wanky (excuse my French) way to say ‘I am super responsible and fairly boring’. Life isn’t about proving how responsible you are, life is meant to be enjoyed. Life is meant to be FUN. How are you enjoying your life?

For the past six years friends, colleagues, the public have always assumed I was 6 to 7 years younger than I am. I know that society, particularly women, are on a constant search to determine the elixir of life that keeps them looking young and youthful so I am letting some of my simple yet effective ways to look consistently half a decade younger out of the bag.

Let's be real the world of personal training is oversaturated. Everyone will say they are amazing, 99% of personal trainers will all have clients, 95% will all market themselves the same yet a far smaller percentage will be worth the time or money. When it comes to investments, your health, your body is the most worthwhile investment you will ever make so it’s important to get the personal trainer selection down pat. The post gives you some go-to identifiers to select the right PT for you.

The latest fitness craze is Fasted Cardio where you essentially choose not to eat before you exercise, you simply get started. I'm going to be totally honest, I don't know why there is all of a fuss about it all of a sudden. I've been doing fasted cardio for a decade. It isn't a new concept. Here's why I enjoy working out on an empty stomach for those who might be considering jumping on the Fasted Cardio bandwagon.