starting at square one


This week I am starting at square one of a new practice. Every Sunday I will sit down and write out 2-3 small goals for the week. Ideally, these goals should build on one another from week to week until they are full grown, big-girl goals set to whip my life into shape!

Here's an example...This week I will strive to wake up by 7:30am every day. Then, next week I may change that to 7am. The week after that...maybe even a little bit earlier. Eventually, with the extra time I am gaining before work, I will go for a morning walk or kick start my creativity with some morning pages. (For those of you who don't know what "morning pages" are, it is a commitment to journal a few pages every morning.)

With the completion of each goal, small adjustments will be made to my daily habits until I am living the lifestyle I truly want. The lifestyle that I keep envisioning, but then tell myself I will start somewhere down the road...you know...when I have more time, when I lose weight, when I figure out how...

I simply want to stop making excuses and be the person I want to be.

(Don't know what I mean by that? I suggest this blog post by Dani. She hit the nail on the head!)

But when faced with the list of all the things I want to change about my daily routines and the way I move through this world (eat breakfast, go to yoga, take my vitamins, lose weight, clear out the clutter), I quickly feel o!-ver!-whelmed! And in trying to tackle them all at once I would automatically set myself up for failure.

Instead, I've settled on simply adding a few goals every week (we've talked before about breaking goals into bite sized pieces) and leaving room to change my mind if something just isn't quite as great/helpful/magical/enlightening as I dreamed it would be.

So, for this first week I'm going to start by taking the following daily steps towards (my definition of) living a joyful life.

1. Get out of bed by 7:30am
2. Make smoothies for breakfast
3. Purge unwanted belongings and rearrange furniture

Simple, right?

Funny how most of these things - at one point in time - were part of my daily routine, but eventually gave way in favor of more time for something else. You would think that getting up before 7:30am would be an easy change, but regardless of what I tell myself when I go to bed at night, or that the label on my alarm says "Seriously...get out of bed!", I still struggle with this every single day.

So this week...that all changes.

I would also like to extend a sincere invitation for you to participate. Each week (or as you can),  I hope you will pledge your weekly goals in the comments section. OR, if you are a blogger, I encourage you to write out your goals (either before you start or in review of your efforts) and use the link up feature below to add a thumbnail link to your blog post. By sharing your pledge with others, you increase your chances of follow through. And for you bloggers, this is a chance to increase your traffic AND improve your day to day life! How's that for a win/win?

Ok...so here we go...

Let's get this show on the road, shall we? Next stop... the joyful life.




5 comments

  1. Love this post!
    I like to make goals and plans, but still working on the action taking step. Good idea to share them.
    Thanks for sharing and a beautiful day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I learned that somewhere...a leadership class once, I think...that sharing your goal and stating it to the world gives you better chances of completing it. Personally, I like to break my goals down so they don't feel so overwhelming. I find I make more progress that way. I have to say...you are completing one giant goal in BFTH and smashing it!!! Love reading your posts.

      Delete
  2. A fresh start - how wonderfully exciting! I blog about this - a lot! After all I am a coach and therapist so this is what I do, right? But it is also who I am. Every day is a fresh start - an opportunity to learn, to grow, to change.... I have quite a few posts on similar topics (linkies are here, in case you wanted to sneak a peek http://juliettenolan.com/category/coaching-2/baby-steps/) But GOOD LUCK - intention is the start of everything. Keep going, create a tick chart to record your progress, reward yourself for the good days and forgive yourself for the others x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Juliette! I'm excited that I finally chose a day to be my "fresh start". I've been passing them all by thinking nothing ever changes. No more of that! I'm very inspired by you and many of the other beautiful bloggers in our course. Looking forward to where this road (long past 6 weeks) takes us.

      p.s. I'd love to hear more about a "tick chart" and how to track my progress best.

      Delete
  3. Thank you for this post! I know a close friend who gets up at sunrise because as she said, sunrises are sacred. I would love to do that too, but I always sleep too long. I love sleeping. I think I will see if I can get up a little earlier each day, and also go to bed earlier.

    ReplyDelete