Well, it's been a while since I've posted, so I decided to give you an update on my last post. Last time, I challenged anyone who wanted to join me to replace one bad habit with one good habit for the rest of the year. Even though I didn't have any takers, it did not deter me from working on my plan. My bad habit to drop was after-dinner snacking and I wanted to replace it with a bedtime routine with my son.
As life goes, I got sick a week ago. Up to that point, I was making good on my bedtime routine and doing a great job of not snacking after dinner. But then when I got sick, I really didn't feel like eating, so snacking wasn't a problem. However, my son's bedtime routine went out the window since Momma was collapsing into bed every night as early as possible!
Now that I'm feeling better, I plan on reinstating the bedtime routine. The nights I did have one with my son, we enjoyed some awesome bonding time. He would snuggle up against me in our comfy glider and I would choose a short book or two to read. Landon really enjoys being read to and I hope it's a love that lasts as he grows up.
On a positive note, as a result of not snacking (and being sick), I have dropped four pounds this month and the jeans that I was wearing well at the beginning of the month are now almost falling off of me! Something is working! I'm going to keep on working my plan and dust myself off when I fail and try again. It's not the failures that count. It's the number of times we keep going after we fail that bring the reward!
Friday, November 22, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
End of Year Habit Challenge
Can you believe that the end of the year is so close? It really hit me today when I started listening to Holiday music in my classroom. Before we know it, the midnight countdown will begin for 2014. Many people might consider the next month and half to be a time to get relaxed on goal setting and have another slice of pumpkin pie. But not you and me. Not these GMG's! This is the perfect time to take the End of the Year Habit Challenge. If you're just the least bit curious on how to "Carpe Diem" for the rest of 2013, read on...
I've seen different numbers on how many days it takes to establish a habit. Some say 21 days. Some say 28 or 30. Regardless, we're going to use the last 49 days in 2013 to strengthen one habit. Just one is all it takes to establish some great momentum for the upcoming year. You can so do this!
Whenever you drop a bad habit, you will always replace it with something else whether that be a better habit, or another bad habit. Time is a vacuum and whenever you have extra time, you are going to fill it with something. So this is the challenge:
In the next 49 days, replace one bad habit with one positive habit.
That's it! It's not too complicated that you can't accomplish it within November and December. And by January, your old bad habit will be history and your good habit will be firmly established! How's that for a win-win situation?
I wouldn't challenge you to do something without taking it on myself. Here's what I am going to do. A bad habit I have is snacking after dinner. That's not such a bad thing except that I like to snack all during the day too. I'm sort of a grazer. But since I'm trying to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, the snacking-all-day-thing is not really working with my diet. So the habit I'm getting rid of is snacking after dinner. I will still allow myself to snack during the day, but I am declaring dinner to be my last food for the day.
Since time is a vacuum, I have to replace the time spent snacking with something else, non-food related. So my replacement habit is establishing a relaxing bedtime routine with my son. I've decided it's going to be: feed, read, change, and swaddle. I'll give him his bedtime feeding, then read him one of his books or even the Bible, then change his diaper for the night, and finally swaddle him in his blanket and put him to bed. Research shows that babies are comforted by the same routine around bedtime. Not only is this good for him, but it gives me some great bonding time with my son as well!
So have you figured out what habit you are going to replace and what habit you are going to instill in the next two months? If you're up to the challenge and will commit to being my buddy on this leg of the journey, do me a favor and comment below on your two habits. Or you can comment on my Facebook link. I'm really excited to hear from you and find out what good habits you're going to try and which ones you're going to kick to the curb for good! We're all in this together!
I've seen different numbers on how many days it takes to establish a habit. Some say 21 days. Some say 28 or 30. Regardless, we're going to use the last 49 days in 2013 to strengthen one habit. Just one is all it takes to establish some great momentum for the upcoming year. You can so do this!
Whenever you drop a bad habit, you will always replace it with something else whether that be a better habit, or another bad habit. Time is a vacuum and whenever you have extra time, you are going to fill it with something. So this is the challenge:
In the next 49 days, replace one bad habit with one positive habit.
That's it! It's not too complicated that you can't accomplish it within November and December. And by January, your old bad habit will be history and your good habit will be firmly established! How's that for a win-win situation?
I wouldn't challenge you to do something without taking it on myself. Here's what I am going to do. A bad habit I have is snacking after dinner. That's not such a bad thing except that I like to snack all during the day too. I'm sort of a grazer. But since I'm trying to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, the snacking-all-day-thing is not really working with my diet. So the habit I'm getting rid of is snacking after dinner. I will still allow myself to snack during the day, but I am declaring dinner to be my last food for the day.
Since time is a vacuum, I have to replace the time spent snacking with something else, non-food related. So my replacement habit is establishing a relaxing bedtime routine with my son. I've decided it's going to be: feed, read, change, and swaddle. I'll give him his bedtime feeding, then read him one of his books or even the Bible, then change his diaper for the night, and finally swaddle him in his blanket and put him to bed. Research shows that babies are comforted by the same routine around bedtime. Not only is this good for him, but it gives me some great bonding time with my son as well!
So have you figured out what habit you are going to replace and what habit you are going to instill in the next two months? If you're up to the challenge and will commit to being my buddy on this leg of the journey, do me a favor and comment below on your two habits. Or you can comment on my Facebook link. I'm really excited to hear from you and find out what good habits you're going to try and which ones you're going to kick to the curb for good! We're all in this together!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Trying to Do it All (Doesn't Work)!
This post is for those of you out there that attempt to tackle your day with a vengeance. When your alarm goes off in the morning, you jump out of bed like there is a fire under you and are immediately awake (ok, well maybe it's more like after your second cup of coffee). You save your to-do lists just so you can admire how much you're able to accomplish in a twenty-four hour period. You are a type-A, gotta-get-it-done now kind of person.
Just like me! Only that way of life doesn't seem to be working for me anymore. This week I returned to work. I am now a part-time teacher and a full-time mom and that means that time to run my household is a precious commodity. I am lucky if I get a shower and dry my hair by bedtime.
Unfortunately, my personality lends itself to trying to achieve perfection, so if I happen to go to bed with items left on my to-do list, I somehow feel like a failure for the day. And that's really ridiculous because I am taking care of another human being! I've never had to do that before, so I need to learn to cut myself some slack!
The point I'm trying to make is that trying to do it all doesn't work and will often leave you more frustrated than if you had chosen a few key tasks to accomplish in a day, week, or month.
Do you ever have so many goals floating through your head that you never make progress on any of them because you're trying to "do it all"? This happens to me. I want to publish a book, write a song, drop five pounds, and try out four new recipes-- all in the same month! It's no surprise when the month comes to an end and I haven't made progress on any of them because I couldn't choose just one to focus my attention on.
Goal-setting and time management experts have a great technique for combating the "do it all or nothing" mentality. They recommend asking yourself, "If I could only accomplish one thing all day, what thing is most important to get done?" Then you complete that one thing BEFORE you do anything else (like mindless channel surfing: guilty as charged!). Only after it's completed, you ask, "If I could only accomplish one other thing all day, what would it be?" This technique allows you to focus on one thing at a time and achieve the most important tasks. Then you can go to bed at night knowing you handled first things first and didn't waste as much time on unimportant tasks.
I've recently discovered a cool app called "Balanced". I have the free version on my phone and it allows me to enter and track five different tasks that need to be accomplished for me to feel balanced. One of my tasks is to drink 8 oz of water four times a day. What's cool about the app is that it will remind me when I need to do something. Then after I've completed the task, I can check it off. I've really enjoyed the app and how it is helping me put things in perspective.
I hope you will try the above technique if you are struggling with a massive to-do list. Simply choose your most important tasks and don't do anything else until they are finished. Then, and only then, can you indulge in mindless channel surfing completely guilt-free!
Just like me! Only that way of life doesn't seem to be working for me anymore. This week I returned to work. I am now a part-time teacher and a full-time mom and that means that time to run my household is a precious commodity. I am lucky if I get a shower and dry my hair by bedtime.
Unfortunately, my personality lends itself to trying to achieve perfection, so if I happen to go to bed with items left on my to-do list, I somehow feel like a failure for the day. And that's really ridiculous because I am taking care of another human being! I've never had to do that before, so I need to learn to cut myself some slack!
The point I'm trying to make is that trying to do it all doesn't work and will often leave you more frustrated than if you had chosen a few key tasks to accomplish in a day, week, or month.
Do you ever have so many goals floating through your head that you never make progress on any of them because you're trying to "do it all"? This happens to me. I want to publish a book, write a song, drop five pounds, and try out four new recipes-- all in the same month! It's no surprise when the month comes to an end and I haven't made progress on any of them because I couldn't choose just one to focus my attention on.
Goal-setting and time management experts have a great technique for combating the "do it all or nothing" mentality. They recommend asking yourself, "If I could only accomplish one thing all day, what thing is most important to get done?" Then you complete that one thing BEFORE you do anything else (like mindless channel surfing: guilty as charged!). Only after it's completed, you ask, "If I could only accomplish one other thing all day, what would it be?" This technique allows you to focus on one thing at a time and achieve the most important tasks. Then you can go to bed at night knowing you handled first things first and didn't waste as much time on unimportant tasks.
I've recently discovered a cool app called "Balanced". I have the free version on my phone and it allows me to enter and track five different tasks that need to be accomplished for me to feel balanced. One of my tasks is to drink 8 oz of water four times a day. What's cool about the app is that it will remind me when I need to do something. Then after I've completed the task, I can check it off. I've really enjoyed the app and how it is helping me put things in perspective.
I hope you will try the above technique if you are struggling with a massive to-do list. Simply choose your most important tasks and don't do anything else until they are finished. Then, and only then, can you indulge in mindless channel surfing completely guilt-free!
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