This week’s blog post was written by the amazing Laura (@brunchinpairs), an enthusiastic foodie. She shares her story about how she managed to build her own career and also shares a few tips on what you can do to be able to do more of what makes you happy! #yourstory

To all of you that have stumbled across this post… Hello, I’m Laura! I’m the founder, food explorer, blog enthusiast and ultimate foodie behind the platform @brunchinpairs … and to all of you that just read that as Brunch in PARIS… don’t worry you’re not the first – it is infact P A I R S (it gets the best of us).

My mission starting out was to document and celebrate all of the hidden foodie gems that I had discovered around the world… especially LONDON! The real trick is to get lost, walk down lots of back streets and stumble across some of the best brunch ever. It’s as simple as that, and I love it. Food, brunch in particular- genuinely brings me so much joy! All I have to do is walk into a café, find a cosy corner, order a cuppa and I ultimately feel 10x happier than I did moments ago. So, fast forward 1 year my brunch adventures grew, then from this I started to experiment in my own kitchen to find ways of making amazing brunch from home with little ingredients but all the goodness. All whilst aiming to find balance and achieve fitness goals at the same time… phew. In my spare time; I’m also a freelance photographer, actor, dancer and tutor… SO that’s me in a nutshell!

When I sat down to write this, I wondered what it was that I really wanted to say – did I want to share how to make the best pancakes, where to find the tastiest French toast or even just rant on about my love for food … but if you wanted to know all that, you could just check out @brunchinpairs on insta! I figured, why don’t I actually share something that I feel has changed my life! Something worth sharing and that may or may not be worth your time out of your day to read… but that I feel has impacted me greatly.

And that is my discovery of doing ‘MORE of what makes YOU happy!!!

Before you roll your eyes and sigh with despair, I’m not going to preach at you to add a 2+ hour morning routine to your day, or tell you to read self-help books, or coax you into my latest fitness craze (although that is all super helpful). I want to tell you about the day that I decided to lose the stresses that kept me up at night, but instead shape my days around all the good things in life that actually make me happy. Sounds simple, but yet we all find it so hard to prioritise ourselves…

I was so sick of getting up every day to work jobs that I hated, stuck in the same old routines and generally just neglecting to give myself 30 seconds in a day to breathe.
I always thought, money and security will make me happy; If I stick to my master plan, I will reach my career goals and achieve big, right?! Funnily enough the opposite effect happened… I worked so so so hard to achieve my goals, and pushed myself so much so that I physically drained my body and mind of everything it had- I was a nutter. Eventually, when you work this way for so long you start to forget what you’re doing it for! Then covid-19 happened… ahh yes, that little curve ball!

Finally, after years of go go go I had no alternative but to actually STOP for a second. Not only did I feel like a new woman but I actually put all my time and energy into work that I was genuinely passionate about. I escaped into my blog, I created, I drew, I put my time and energy into things that did nothing but bring me happiness. When I started doing this, everything changed. My level of “success” skyrocketed, because I was fuelling all my decisions with passion. After a solid few weeks of doing this, I actually managed to make a career out of doing what made me happy – and all of this from simply making choices for myself. It hit me. When you need inspiration or need to speed ahead in your life or your career, the best thing to do is slow down. Give yourself that space to think and pay attention to the smaller things, the things that make you want to get up in the morning.

I think it’s so easy to forget yourself, and why you’re doing what your doing – ask yourself, what is your why? Why are you getting up and showing up? If it’s not something that gives you that fire in your belly, I simply encourage you to make more time for just that, the fire – shall we say! That thing that makes you excited to jump up first thing in a morning, and just see how much difference it makes. See what you can achieve from doing MORE of what makes you happy, and most importantly ask the people around you to notice the changes in you to.

Here are my 5 Top Tips on how to start:

1) If money wasn’t an issue – what would you want to do?
2) Who lifts you up in your life with positivity?
3) Make a playlist of songs that make you happy – make it the soundtrack of your life
4) Make time for the smaller things – baking, walking, listening
5) If you find that thing that gets you up at early hours in the morning, do more of it! Your intuition is often your greatest too!

Don’t worry, be happy!

Written by Laura Dawn Pyatt – Brunch In Pairs