1. Define your goal: What is it that you wish to achieve? This can be anything from a workout you’d love to try, to a job you’d like to acquire.

2. Be realistic when you set goals: Whilst we’re all about dreaming big, sometimes a big goal requires achieving lots of little goals before it’s able to become a reality. Make sure to always take the process into account.

3. Embrace the process: As mentioned above, reaching a goal can be a long (albeit satisfying) process, that like anything in life worth having, requires a journey to get to. Whilst it’s easy to get carried away in thinking you’ll only be truly satisfied once you reach your destination, there is a lot of happiness and beauty to be found in the journey too – embrace it.

4. Surround yourself with like-minded people: When you’re trying to achieve a goal there’s nothing better than surrounding yourself with people who understand what you’re hoping to achieve, or even better, people who have achieved what you have your mind set on – the ultimate motivation!

5. Track your progress: If you’ve attempted to set goals and achieve them before, you’ll know that sometimes it can be hard to notice the small changes that occur along the way, those which can often be the most encouraging! With this in mind, one of the best things you can do to keep tabs on how you’re progressing is to make sure you track your progress. A surefire way to stay motivated and inspired throughout your goal-getting journey, choose the most suitable form of tracking for whichever your goal may be and enjoy recording your journey!

6. Learn from the slip-ups: Let’s face it, when it comes to changing behaviours slip-ups are inevitable, but they don’t have to be a setback! Change your mindset to perceive slip-ups as a valuable learning tool to help you get back on board more motivated and eager to succeed than ever! Whatever you do don’t wait for the next day, or even Monday to start over. Take a moment to breathe, reconnect and get back on board immediately.

8. Practise the art of positive thinking: If you’re not familiar with the art of manifestation, get acquainted. One of our favourite modes of self-encouragement (and just a little bit magic), manifestation comprises of visualizing yourself having achieved your end goal. Try doing this every morning when you wake up and every evening before you go to sleep, and remember: what you think, you become.

7. Don’t look back: Whilst at times it may feel like you’re going nowhere, like all your hard work is not paying off and that maybe you’re not even worthy of achieving the goal you’ve set out for yourself, it’s time to revisit your self-love letter. Hip & Healthies NEVER give up, and just by reading this you have made a pledge to yourself not to! So stay positive, embrace the challenge and know that we believe in you 100%! Happy goal-getting!

Words by Zsa Zsa Vella

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1. Figure out what you it is you desire

The first and foremost important step in deciphering just what job it is that will set your soul on fire, ignite a fire in your belly and see you jumping spritely out of bed every morning excited for what the day will throw at you is figuring out what it is you desire to do. Whilst this may take some time, especially if you’re so used to thinking of work as something separate from your passion/s. If you’re still unsure of what it is that you want to do, write down a list of your strengths, next to it write a list of things that you love to do in your pastime. This way you should be able to start to make connections between what you love to do and where your strengths lie. If this alone doesn’t give you a clearer idea of possible dream jobs, turn to your friends, family and those who know you best for advice. Chances are, they’ll have a few great ideas up their sleeves based on the strengths and passion they see in you! If you’re still lost for ideas, ask yourself this question: What would I do if money were no object?

2. Perfect your passion

If you’re someone who can easily decipher your dream job, you probably already spend your down time working on your passion which is great! As we all know, practise makes perfect! If you already spend a lot of time learning all there is to know about the area your interested in and practicing regularly, trust us when we say you’re closer than ever to making it a reality, all it takes is a leap of faith! If you’re dream job aspirations aren’t as clear or have only just become apparent to you, start to put aside a few hours each week to work on whatever it may be. If it’s a fashion magazine you dream of working at, spend time looking at footage and photos from fashion week and create your own trend reports. If you have always dreamt of becoming a yoga teacher, try and attend as many different yoga classes as you can and work at developing your flexibility and agility. If you’ve always loved cooking, plan a few nights per week to recipe test and post successes on your own blog and instagram. Whatever you love to do, start doing more of it!

3. Create your own opportunities

If you have a vision of yourself working for a particular company or brand, reach out now! Don’t waste your time waiting for a job opening to be announced. Get your CV in order, write a cover letter explaining why you’d love to work for the company and which part of the business you believe your expertise could benefit and how. This way, even if the business isn’t even thinking of hiring, when a position becomes available requiring your skillset or strengths, you’re more likely to be considered as opposed to somebody whose CV is simply lumped in amongst the hundreds of others come job opening.

4. Never give up

Sometimes it can seem daunting when you feel like you’re putting yourself out there and not getting an immediate response, but trust us when we say that your hard work and perseverance WILL pay off. Here at Hip & Healthy we NEVER give up on the things we love, and you certainly shouldn’t either! We believe in you. So go out there, chase your dreams and choose a career path that inspires you to shine.

Words by Zsa Zsa Vella

MORE: How To Boost Your Instagram Following 

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Get adequate sleep

Sleep is seriously undervalued in our society. Getting enough shut eye (we recommend 7-8 hours of precious beauty sleep per night) will make waking up early far easier, so you have more time to get things done!

“Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it” – Richard Whately

Try to switch off electronic screens an hour before bedtime to enable optimum sleep quality as these bright lights can interfere with your natural body clock as it tries to wind down. Many studies show that the key to productivity is waking up before everyone else’s alarms go off. We know this might sound a little daunting but fear not, February is here and spring is on its way so our days will be longer, lighter and brighter!

Try to manage your stress levels

In this extremely busy lifestyle we lead, little time is left to truly focus and appreciate ourselves. In order to perform well and stay on top of things, we really need to manage our stress levels. We would recommend a relaxing yoga session, some stretching before bed or when you first wake up, or take a warm bath to ease muscle tension. Don’t forget to breathe deeply – try focusing on your breath for a few minutes per day as this can really restore our sense of calm. These tips will allow for a more positive outlook on life and allow you to take on anything life throws at you!

Keep a list of things you need to do

Achieving our goals and making our deadlines can sometimes seem really daunting. Yet keeping a running list of things you need to get done either on paper or on your phone can make your life significantly easier. Visual lists will allow for a clearer sense of what you need to get done, and allow you to prioritise the most important things first. Not forgetting the most obvious, a list will keep you from forgetting what you are supposed to be doing in the first place! We do urge you to keep these lists as simple as possible though – try not to take on too many things at once and learn to say no. Too often in our busy lifestyles, we are so concerned with solving other people’s problems that we neglect our own priorities and push them to the side.

Set yourself goals

Try writing a list of goals you hope to achieve in 2016. By actually writing these down or telling your friends and family, these goals are way more likely to become a reality. Trying to stick with your fitness regime this year? Schedule in weekly classes with a friend so you have no excuse but to go, or book a series of classes. We love yoga as it strengthens our bodies, reduces stress, not to mention its benefits for our mental health. We all know how good exercise makes us feel, and enjoying it with a friend only adds to these benefits.

With regards to healthy eating goals and staying on track, yet again keeping a food diary proves to be a tried and tested way to ensuring you’re sticking to your healthy eating plans. Reflecting on our daily intake really heightens our awareness of exactly what we are consuming, making us more mindful and more inclined to choose nourishing whole food options as we go about our day.

Words by Flora Crichton

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1. Consistency is key

The best instagram accounts are those that have a consistent theme or colour scheme throughout that inspires you to keep scrolling. For example, accounts that focus on healthy eating and fitness or on style and fashion, or that have a colour scheme – check out @basebodybabes for this – all their pictures are light, beautiful and focused around health – a winning formula (they have 578k followers and counting!).

2. Take the Aussie’s lead

It is no secret that the BEST accounts out there belong to the Australians. So beautiful are their accounts that we want to live in them, and often find ourselves wondering if they all took classes in instagram as part of their syllabus. Well, we have an Aussie in our office and she confirms they did not. So what is it that makes them so great? Three things… 1.Their feeds are consistent (see point one!), 2. They never post a bad photo – nothing is out of focus, pixilated or lit badly, and 3. They are not afraid to play around with cropping and framing… which leads me to…

3. Top of the Crops

When it comes to framing your subject try thinking outside the box – instead of placing a smoothie bowl in the centre, try it slightly off centre and maybe not fitting in the whole frame. When taking selfies, don’t assume you need to get your entire head, face, neck and shoulders in – some of the best selfies have the subjects forehead cropped out – check it out next time you’re scrolling insta.

4. Go Pro with Props

Never underestimate the value of a prop. It can turn a mundane glass of water into a refreshing jug of hydrating goodness (enter lemons, mint, beautiful jug and marble surface). Stock up on props that you think will compliment your photos – and you don’t need them to always appear entirely in the frame, props work best when they look natural and don’t steal the limelight.

5. The power of the #Hashtag

When used wisely, the hashtag can be a powerful thing. Instagram now includes the number of times a certain hashtag has been used when you search for it, and lists other popular similar hashtags below. This is brilliant as it helps you understand which hashtags are particularly popular and therefore, most searched for. Plus it also shows you a few that you hadn’t perhaps realized were searched for yet totally relate to your type of feed.

Now, whilst we know we have a strong insta-following, we quizzed our friend Mckel over at @nutritionstripped who currently boasts a whopping 193K about her top tip for insta-success…

“Be you. Simple as that! Find your unique style, content, and post just that- own your uniqueness! And remember, it’s just social media. Don’t take it too seriously, real life always trumps social media.”

Happy posting!

Words by Sadie Reid 

Follow our favourite top healthy Instagram accounts here 

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