Today is a BIG day, a day I have been looking forward to for the last few years – a day that is the foundation of #BlissfulForties, a day I enter the second phase of my lie – THE day I turn 40! Yay!

I must admit, I had all these goals for my 40th birthday. I would be at a certain weight, I would earn more money, I would be fit and toned, I would . . . the list goes on. BUT instead I decided to count my blessings and create a gratitude list instead + there’s a #FREE gift for you at the end of this post (scroll down).

My 40th birthday

Gratitude means thankfulness, counting your blessings, noticing simple pleasures, and acknowledging everything that you receive. It means learning to live your life as if everything were a miracle, and being aware on a continuous basis of how much you’ve been given. Gratitude shifts your focus from what your life lacks to the abundance that is already present. In addition, behavioural and psychological research has shown the surprising life improvements that can stem from the practice of gratitude. Giving thanks makes people happier and more resilient, it strengthens relationships, it improves health, and it reduces stress.

Obviously starting with what I am grateful for today; which is celebrating my 40th in Paris! I posted the below on Instagram 19 days ago – the message here is to listen to yourself and do what makes you happy!

For over a year I have been wanting to celebrate my 40th in Paris, I even wrote it down in my ‘Life Plan Journal’, I was flicking through it today to write down this month’s highlights and I saw the ‘note’. For weeks I have been thinking about booking a ticket and just go, but life happened and celebrating my birthday wasn’t made a priority. I looked for tickets tonight and kept hesitating until @Khushi_k_kaur gave me a ‘lecture’; “Mum, you have been wanting to go Paris and celebrate your birthday for a very long time, I have given you so many ideas of things you can do during the day until I come back home from school, and so far you have turned literally everything down. The truth is that your heart is set for Paris, that is where you are happy and feel alive, that is where your heart lies so just go. It’s not every day you turn 40, and you have been looking forward to this for the last couple of years. Go and live your dream, go Paris, have a lovely time, eat French food, travel around Paris, go shopping… whatever you want to do, just do it.” So after this rather cute ‘lecture’, how could I NOT follow my heart’s desire? Paris … here I come! You and me both ♡ #MyParisianLife #inspiration #motivation #empowerment #PersonalDevelopment #Lifestyle #Abundance #DesignTheLifestyleYouDesire #growth #reflection #LifeCoach #gratitude #selflove #selfworth #success #mindset #goalsetting #selfgrowth #dailyinspiration #personalgrowth #BlissfulForties #Over40 #Soon40 #40s #TheMindfulLife #livebeautifully #theeverydayproject #liveauthentic #BlissfulFortiesLounge

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 40 things I am Grateful for (in no particular order apart from the first 5):

  1. My gorgeous daughter who’s my life and my pride (+ an Award Winning Blogger)
  2. Everything I AM and everything I HAVE
  3. Second chance to build up my life from scratch
  4. My Life Coach, Mindfulness Via, Law of Attraction, Self-confidence and Counselling Skills Diplomas
  5. Values my Mum & Dad taught me
  6. My 11 awards (!!!!)
  7. My freedom
  8. Having the ability to help, inspire and empower others
  9. I have a great and supportive family
  10. Finding a shop that actually sells heels that fits me (believe me when I say this; I have struggled with this most of my life!)
  11. Being Indian, born and brought up in Norway and living in London
  12. Being able to Design the Lifestyle I Desire
  13. The knowledge that I can make a list like this and I’ll start to feel WAY better!
  14. Being Petite! (A posh way of saying small & short)
  15. The way I have grown in the past few years
  16. My even more conscious relationship with my body
  17. My ‘Never give-up’ attitude to life
  18. Khushi doing amazing at school
  19. The smell of fresh bread every morning (No, I don’t bake every morning, but walk past our local supermarket where they bake bread daily)
  20. M&S Earl Grey Tea (my FAVOURITE)
  21. Fresh flowers on my table every week
  22. My willingness to go beyond my current limits
  23. Walking along the canal and river every day
  24. My passion for creativity
  25. My ability to visualise things (and my clients’ dreams)
  26. Internet and WiFi!
  27. My planning and organising skills (I am pretty good at it actually!)
  28. The possibility and ability to expand my knowledge
  29. Coming up with ideas to expand my business and improve my Life
  30. Having countless Media appearances over the years for the work I have done – check it out here
  31. Super proud of my Baby for being a Junior Bake-Off Contestant in 2015 and the Youngest ever Youth Ambassador for The Eve Appeal – Gynaecological Cancer Charity
  32. All the knowledge and resources we have access to via the wonderful internet
  33. Planning on moving to Paris in August 2022
  34. Having self-published two books
  35. My weekly Podcast Show
  36. My newly launched Online Magazine
  37. Being able to invest in me and enrol on to Marie Forleo’s B-School & Robin Sharma’s Personal Mastery Academy
  38. Living on the gorgeous countryside of Hertfordshire
  39. My clients, readers, tribe 🙂
  40. Having had the opportunity to work with many amazing well-known brands on my blogging journey

A gift for you from me today – My ‘Yearly Round-up Planner 2018‘ (just enter ‘oct17’ when checking out)

*Don’t forget to download my #FREE Lifestyle APP Live a Well-Designed Life