Was anyone else obsessed with the Chicken Soup for the Soul books? I used to always use any time I could get at the library to snag one and pour over the tragic stories that ended happily (and sometimes not). I wanted to start sharing some of the articles, blog posts and photos that lift me up, make me think and better me so you’ll always find it under “soup for the soul.”

The Pros and Cons of Loop Giveaways by Dressing Dallas

Lauren does a great job of touching on her experiences with being a part of loops and why she’s careful when selecting which ones to participate in. One of my favorite points from her is this, “The more loop giveaways you do, the more followers are only there for the giveaways, and could care less about your content! That is horrible for bloggers and shops because it never converts to real readers and real sales.”

At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to do their own thing; being able to connect with readers and companies is something that makes me happy at the end of the day. Having the ability to communicate with my followers is more important than immediately increasing the quantity.

10 Takeaways from “Terrible Things Women Do to Each Other” from Oprah’s life class

I’m certainly guilty of some of the things this warns against doing – oops, but it’s a good reminder on focusing on bettering yourself and living to lift others up instead of tearing them down.

One of my biggest struggles so far in my 20s has been dealing with friends who only know how to speak badly about other friends. It’s natural to be annoyed with someone’s behavior or how they handled a situation, but when all you can talk about is the negative feelings you have on someone else’s life, you’ve become toxic, in my mind.

This gets tackled as well as the destructiveness of negative self-thinking and talk. One of my favorite nuggets of wisdom comes from Iyanla Vanzant, “Comparison is an act of violence against the self.”

The Comparison Game by Chelcey Tate

Chelcey talks about getting so caught up in getting inspired that you get discouraged. Creating content should be fun, but sometimes you do get a creative block and sometimes it’s disheartening when it seems like no one else does. The online world, social media especially, allows us to handpick which angles, stories and experiences we share. Things aren’t usually quite as perfect as they may seem from the outside.

My favorite tidbit, “your story is good enough to tell, and you’re good enough to tell it.”

Kate Spade Everpurse Partnership

If you follow me on Pinterest, you more than likely already saw this but holy game changer! While the purses aren’t cheap — the fact that it wirelessly charges and then holds battery charge for your iPhone with no plugging in, is pretty amazing. I want to learn more before I invest, but this is definitely an item on my wish list.

What’s inspiring you this week?

xo, Nicole