There’s Still Time To Set Your New Year Intentions (Win!)

It may be February, but we’re still feeling that New Year glow and looking to keep 2022 rolling with our best foot forward—trusting our intuition and cracking it open when we need it most. Two-time author Shantelle Bisson has recently expanded her Without Losing Your Cool brand with a 90 Day Journal that intends to uplift, encourage, inspire, heal and motivate readers to live more freely. The journal is another way Shantelle imparts daily exercises that she found has made the most profound impact on her own personal growth—to become the best version of yourself is by creating consistent positive habits. This is where the 90 Day Journal comes in. We chatted with Shantelle to find out more. —Vita Daily

Hi Shantelle! Please tell us a bit about yourself to start.

I’m a two-time author that was born and raised in Toronto, splitting my time between Toronto and my marina in the North Kawarthas. I am also a mom to three incredible daughters and a very recent grandmother to my grandson, Rory. They’re the reason for this whole Without Losing Your Cool brand, starting from my first book, Raising Your Kids Without Losing Your Cool to my second bestselling book, Parenting your Teen Without Losing Your Cool. As an extension of my brand, I’m excited to share that I’ve released a new 90 Day Journal that is intended to uplift, encourage and motivate others to live more freely. I’ve also just recently launched Affirmation Cards for Littles, Tweens, and Teens which is a pack of 52 inspirational messages, and 10 blank cards to help parents motivate and uplift their kids as well!

Congrats on the launch of your new 90 Day Journal. We love a good journal! How is this one an expansion of your Without Losing Your Cool brand, and what is its aim/intention? 

Thank you so much! I love this journal, and not just because it’s mine. It was my own love of journaling that inspired me to create this one for my readers. It expands from my WLYC brand by encouraging readers to focus on daily habits that make keeping your cool that much easier. There are so many things in life that can cause us to lose our cool, both internally and externally like our jobs, our intimate relationships, or even the state of the world. All of these things can weigh heavily, especially in the last two years. This journal is to help us get recentered and break down the mental patterns that get us stuck in the loop of losing our cool.  My journal is available on Amazon.

Who is this journal for?

Journaling creates awareness. For me, it became a way to clear my head, make important connections between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. After these last two years, I think we can all benefit from that! This journal can be for anyone, whether they’re new to journaling or are just looking for ways to set up a solid pattern of self-care. Each entry is meant to only take up to five minutes of your morning and night. This journal is also helpful for anyone who feels stuck—stuck in the way they think about themselves, stuck in fear, stuck in their jobs—and are feeling as though they are being held back from living their lives to full potential. This journal is meant to help break those negative patterns, allowing you to live a life of joy and hope.

What does it include?

It includes weekly prompts to select a word of the week. This word will then be the focus of each and every day and night. Choosing the same prompts repetitively is what creates and solidifies new thought patterns in the brain. In turn, this exact repetition is what will rewire your brain to think and respond differently.

What makes it a) different from other journaling experiences b) perfect to kick off 2022?

I believe it is the fact that the entries are intentionally repetitive that makes it different from other journaling experiences. It is structured specifically for the user to keep entering their specific fear or challenge until it is released. This consistent messaging to the user, written by themselves and to themselves, truly allows them to connect to those blocks and eventually break through them. Why I think it’s the perfect way to kick off and continue 2022 is because not only does it call the user to focus on loving themselves and having faith in their own inner ability to grow and evolve past their limiting beliefs, it also calls the user to focus on gratitude. It all goes back to rewiring your brain into thinking more positively and being more mindful as to why you think the way you do, or why you have a pattern of reacting the way you do when the same life lesson occurs in your life.

What are some of your favourite ways to or top tips around facilitating personal growth?

I’d have to say that my favourite tips to help facilitate personal growth are to always give yourself grace. Be gentle with yourself and meet yourself where you are at. So many of us are so focused on where we are going, or who we want to evolve into, that we neglect taking care and nurturing ourselves where we’re currently at. We either talk down to ourselves or constantly beat ourselves up for not being where we want to be. My entire brand is all about loving yourself and appreciating yourself right now where you are, even if it’s messy and difficult. We need to learn to carry on and love ourselves, even more, when it’s messy and difficult. Have fun in life, find joy in everything, and always express gratitude. I’ve come to find that focusing on the good makes the bad so much easier to bear.

How can this journal help us create consistent positive habits?

It helps create consistent positive habits through the repetition of the prompts, allowing you to break up with old negative thought patterns and habits.  It also helps by allowing you to think outside your box of mental possibilities, by asking you daily, “If failure weren’t an option, I would try … ”  This is intentional because so many people are held back by their own fears.  My journal is meant to help people break this thought pattern.

We know that your community work, with Childhood Cancer Canada and other orgs, is very important to you. Does this journal draw from those experiences in any way?

Thank you, yes my philanthropic work is deeply meaningful and hugely important to me. This journal doesn’t necessarily draw from these experiences, but the prompts in this journal are certainly meant to help others come out of their own internal shadows and step into the gift of being grateful, which in turn makes us naturally more charitable.

Final, personal question: What does your daily journaling ritual look like? We’d love some tips to help make daily journaling stick in our lives!

My daily journaling ritual is 80 per cent exactly like this these days: wake up, walk the new pup, have my two glasses of hot water, feed the dogs, do a guided meditation, and pull two cards.  One card is abundance focused and one card is centered on my spirit.  I read these and then I sit down to journal. I’m committed to not stressing myself out with “what I should be doing” so if I don’t feel the need to journal, I don’t. It perhaps sounds hypocritical to create a journal where I’m guiding people to do it every single day for 90 days, but keep in mind, a lot of people don’t take even five minutes out of their lives to do self-care. Many don’t journal at all, or don’t have the means to help their mental health as easily! This journal is meant to help people get on a solid habit of starting their day off focused on nurturing themselves. I’ve been journaling for YEARS, so I’ve got the “fill up my cup” habit down pat! 

Anything else that we can look forward to?

It’s been a long time coming—I’m excited to announce that I officially launched Affirmation Cards for Littles, Tweens, and Teens this month. It was the perfect timing with February being love month and Valentine’s Day around the corner!! The idea came to light years ago, I used to write my daughters little love notes all the time that I would keep in their lunch boxes. It was a great way to remind them that they are loved and they are much stronger than they know. I wanted to share this with other parents to encourage others to spread love and kindness daily within their families. There are currently 60 available for preorder on my website, and more will also be available on Amazon in late March! I also have my third book in my WLYC series hitting shelves in late May. This book is all about self; and titled Loving Yourself Without Losing Your Cool, which is all about dealing with trauma head on and getting to the bottom of why you’re not living the life you’ve always dreamed of, and how to make the shift to do so.  This journal and 3rd book are going to be the “one-two punch” so many people need to get to the next level in their lives.

shantellebisson.com

Win! 1 of 3 90 Day Journals!

Congrats Karine C. of Terrebonne, QC, Jen O. of Ottawa, ON, and Nicole B. of Lacombe, AB, who will each receive Shantelle Bisson’s 90 Day Journal plus some Without Losing Your Cool merch! To enter, follow @shantellebisson and @vitadaily.ca on Instagram and follow the entry rules on our corresponding post. Contest opens February 16, 2022, and closes February 23, 2022. Rules and regulations here. Please note: if you are the winner, you will receive a DM (direct message) in Instagram directly from @vitadaily.ca. Please be wary of fake accounts, which often use similar handles with an extra or missing letter, number or symbol. We will never ask for a payment or for your credit card number, and we will never ask you to click through a link. If you are unsure whether you have been contacted, via Instagram, by us or a fake account, email us before responding.