You can find me on Pinterest here. As well as my quotes board here.

Every month, I make a list of some goals I'd like to achieve before the end of the month. For the last three months, I was sure to make one of those goals the development of a new habit. Something I'd tried to get the hang of before, but was unsuccessful in keeping it up after the month was over. However, since adding it as one of my goals, I've been successful in both developing these new habits and doing them every day since, without fail.

For August, it was drinking more water and doing the 30-day water challenge, which you can read about my experience with, here. For September, I took up yoga to help relieve stress and get some more activity into my routine. For October, it was working on something I loved but didn't always have the time to work on. For me, this was filmmaking. I spend at least 30 minutes every day scriptwriting, editing or storyboarding,  just generally working on improving my skills and work in that area.

Your habits are responsible for how you live your life. Bad habits can prevent you from becoming the person you aspire to be. Habits are responsible for your happiness, your health, how successful you are, just to name a few.

I first started wanting to develop new habits when I got back into health and fitness. I was curious to see how much water i was drinking, which led to me doing the 30-day water challenge. This then fuelled me to look into other areas, where I knew I could improve both myself and my lifestyle.

There a few ways to develop new habits; one of which is a habit tracker. You can find these all over the internet, I personally used Tumblr to find the one I used, or you could make your own. These are amazing for tracking multiple habits at one given time, especially if your main goal is something little like making your bed every day.
In order to make one of your own, you need to number 1-30 or 1-31, depending on the month you're starting, with the name of your goal down the left hand side. As I said before, habit trackers are the best at tracking multiple habits at one given time.

Credit: http://www.lifeonwaller.com/free-printable-daily-habit-tracker/

In order to develop and track a new habit you need to do a couple of things:

I know millennial's will rather watch and stream movies through services such as Netflix, Sky and Amazon Prime, just to name a few, instead of going to a cinema nowadays. You can't really blame them. With the click of a button, you can have endless amounts of movies at your fingertips- in the comfort of your own home, on the go and at a much cheaper price. A monthly subscription can cost the same as going to the cinema once a month. Personally, I prefer going to the cinema to see a film, maybe because I'm a little more traditionalist in that aspect, but general viewing and experience of a film can differ a lot between whether I watch it at home or in the cinema.

So far this year, we've had some pretty good films be released with some hopefully more good ones to come. With some of this years main winners at film festivals making their way into the cinemas in the next couple of months, I wanted to do a little-roundup of the films coming out in November, that I am most excited for, in order of release.

A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS- 1ST NOVEMBER 

THOR: RAGNOROK- 3RD NOVEMBER 

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS- 10TH NOVEMBER

DADDY'S HOME 2- 10TH NOVEMBER

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI- 10TH NOVEMBER

JUSTICE LEAGUE- 17TH NOVEMBER 

WONDER- 17TH NOVEMBER 

COCO- 22ND NOVEMBER 

DARKEST HOUR- 22ND NOVEMBER

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME- 24TH NOVEMBER

Credit: Pinterest

Over the month of August, I did the 30-day water challenge, in aim to keep my hydration levels up and out of pure curiosity, what drinking more water would do for my body and skin. It was hard but it was so worth it at the end. I drank over 4.5 litres a day and I did stick to it after but then I had one crap day and I stopped.

One thing that came out of the challenge, was me becoming more aware of how much water I'm drinking each day, not counting any other form of liquid, such as lemonade, fruit juice, hot chocolate etc. Just pure water.

On average, I drink around 2-2.5 litres a day. After a little bit of research recently and a little consultation with my doctor, I found out that I should be drinking around 5 litres a day, 5.3 litres to be exact. And that's a lot of water.
This month I wanted to partake in the challenge again, drinking just water, for 30 days. This time around I'm challenging myself to hit the 4.5 litre mark every day, yet again. Which acquaints to 135 litres of water at the end of the month. Now, that is a lot of water.

What is the 30-day water challenge?

The aim of the challenge is to drink between 64-150 ounces of water, per day. This equates to between 1.8-4.2 litres.

How do you do it?

You can start the challenge at any time, but personally I think it's best to start it at the beginning of a month as it helps you to keep track and stay on target. Before beginning the challenge, I'd measure how much water you drink daily, over the course of a week, to find out your average intake. If your drinking about 2 litres a day, like I was, then I would recommend trying to drink around 3-4 litres per day, during the challenge.


What are the benefits of drinking more water?

Just to name a few:
- Increase in energy and relieves fatigue
- weight loss
- flushes out toxins
- improves skin complexion
- maintains regularity with digestion
- headache remedy
- boosts immune system
- prevents cramps and sprains
- mood booster
- prevents cancer
- less joint paint
- helps maintain the balance of body fluids
- helps to control calories
- energizes muscles
- helps your kidneys

Before and after results (from when I did it in August)

Like I mentioned earlier, I first did this challenge over the summer in August. I first started noticing results 3 days in to the challenge, my skin cleared up and became smoother and I was generally feeling much more energized than I was before the challenge, when I was drinking around 2 litres a day.

I have sometimes problematic combination skin, with dry spots prone to eczema, especially in the colder months of winter, whereas in the summer it becomes very oily. After the challenge, my skin was very smooth, and I no longer had any trace of eczema and/or dry spots on my chin, around my eyes and cheeks.

Not once over the course of the month did I have a headache, which was very rare for me. I normally get at least one or two when I'm stressed. In addition to this, I was more energized, I was waking up earlier naturally, and I was getting through the day with less sleep, and I had never felt better.

One of the things that attracts people to this challenge is the benefit of weight loss. Yes, this did happen to me, but it wasn't my reason for doing the challenge. The reason for weight loss when you begin drinking more water, is because sometimes your body is unable to tell the difference between hunger and thirst. Drinking more water makes you less hungry, your appetite goes down significantly. I lost five pounds over the month, with no increase in exercise, purely from drinking water and as a result eating less.

I would recommend this challenge to anyone, especially if they were wanting to drink more water. Obviously, not everyone will be able to consume over 4 litres per day, every day, due to a lot of factors, so please don't feel pressured to try and do so. Start drinking a little bit more every day to help you ease yourself into it, it helps I promise.
I shall be back at the end of the month to update you all on doing this the second time around and to see if there were any more changes in my body.

Credit: http://www.mykindabook.com/blog/october-2016/book-of-the-month-the-lie-tree-illustrated-edition

I can pinpoint the moment when I fell in love with reading as a child. I owe that to Roald Dalh, his books never failed to make me laugh. I would constantly re-read them once I had finished and as time went on, it inspired me to start writing stories of my own-which later led to my love for scriptwriting and filmmaking. 
When I was a kid, it would take me a week to read three new books. This was a little habit of mine until I got to secondary school where reading loads of books wasn't 'cool'. At the end of last year, I made it my goal to read 50 books by the end of 2017. At the time of writing, I have read 35. I worked out a couple of weeks ago, that in order to hit fifty books, I would need to read one book every 3 days. Which averages out to 3-4 books per week, depending on the length of the book. At the moment, a 250 page book would take me two hours to read in one sitting, while a 400 page book would take me two days, over two sittings. Over the summer, I got very bored one day and read 6 1/2.  books. Yes, you read that bit right. Six and a half. 
This month it's my goal to read 5-10 books. 

THE LIE TREE by Frances Hardinge

THE LOOK by Sophia Bennett

LOVE SONG by Sophia Bennett

She’s the new assistant to the lead singer’s diva fiancée, and she knows it’s going to suck. She quickly learns that being with the hottest band on the planet isn’t as easy as it looks: behind the scenes, the boys are on the verge of splitting up. Tasked with keeping an eye on four spoiled rock stars, Nina’s determined to stick it out – and not fall for any of them …

YOU DON'T KNOW ME by Sophia Bennett

THE YOUNG ELITES by Marie Lu

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all. 

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen. 

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt

THE RISE SOCIETY by Marie Lu

Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she flees Kenettra with her sister to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.

But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good when her very existence depends on darkness?

THE MIDNIGHT STAR by Marie Lu 

There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.

Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained.

When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.