It's official. Tomorrow is June 1 and I start my 30 Days Better challenge. June is "workout" month which means that 5 days a week I have to work out for at least 20 min and the 2 days I don't work out I have to stretch for 20 minutes (full dance cycle stretching I used to do in all my dance classes)...it may be more like 10 min, but it's still a full cycle.
I've been reflecting today. It's amazing how much the little Devil of doubt creeps into your brain before you begin something. If this had only been half of a thought, I bet he would have sat there saying things only half-heartedly, knowing I wasn't really committed. Now, all day, he stood up shouting "Why are you doing this?" "You know you give up on everything eventually" "You work out already. Why do you need a 'plan' to do that?" "12 months? Really? You're going to do this for 12 months?..." and so on and so on. It was exhausting actually. And you know the even stranger part? It didn't sound like my voice I was combatting. It was a full on different person. If you have read Outwitting the Devil you may know what I'm talking about.
I get the voice a lot when it comes to my business and working to convince myself of the things I have to do to make it work. Part of that is because it requires me to seek out clients. However, because this project is mainly 'just me' and I can do it whenever and without the need or reliance of anyone else, I half assumed the voice wouldn't make his presence known.
*sigh* Not quite. He was very much present. In fact, the fact that he showed up without fail and almost 'on the clock' actually made me laugh. It's amazing how what you learn from one area of your life can prepare you for another.
But seriously, tomorrow we're really starting, and I'm only kind of, sort of, ok maybe a little more than 'a little' nervous. Twelve months requires stamina. So here's to taking one foot over the starting line. "Workout" here we come.
I'll be sure to keep you posted.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Decisions Decisions
Approaching 31, things are starting to click. All the hard work I put in in my 20s is paying off, and I find that, for the most part, I'm more or less where I wanted and hoped to be when I turned 30. The "more" is the pride I have more my accomplishments: money saved, retirement started, house mortgages, married, have dog, travel often, live in a city. The "less" is that I still want to work from my cell phone and not be tied to a geographical or time-based job. I also want to be debt-free completely. Those two things are still in the pipeline.
However, it got me thinking, "where do I want to be when I'm 40?" Most people my age start having kids and will begin measuring their lives by the grades of their children and the number of after school activities they have to run. They will begin to forget that they had dreams or start to think that 'they can wait until later', at which point, it would seem to me, is when we start discussing mid-life crises come 45 and 50. Since I don't want to be one of those people, I have to re-evaluate. What do I want to accomplish and have by the time I'm 40?
And you know what? I have no idea. I know I want to keep up the discipline I learned in my 20s and build my nest eggs even more. I know I want to still find a way to live a life where I work completely from my cell phone. And I know I want to travel. Otherwise, I have been so busy working 2-3-4 jobs at any given time just to stay ahead of my bills that I don't actually know what it is I like to do. At least, not really. I never had much down time, so when I did I would binge watch shows I liked like Project Runway or House of Cards, finally read a book or see a movie, or spend time with my husband and dog and go for a walk. Sadly, I don't know much about what else I really enjoy, or what brings me peace and serenity, what helps me focus, if I'm really 'good' at anything else because, quite frankly, I didn't make them a priority or make time for them.
So here's the plan: spend 12 months doing something new every month to test out my likes, my grit, and general 'how to I build a better me'? When's this all starting? June 1st. Stay tuned, 12 months of '30 days better' is about to begin.
However, it got me thinking, "where do I want to be when I'm 40?" Most people my age start having kids and will begin measuring their lives by the grades of their children and the number of after school activities they have to run. They will begin to forget that they had dreams or start to think that 'they can wait until later', at which point, it would seem to me, is when we start discussing mid-life crises come 45 and 50. Since I don't want to be one of those people, I have to re-evaluate. What do I want to accomplish and have by the time I'm 40?
And you know what? I have no idea. I know I want to keep up the discipline I learned in my 20s and build my nest eggs even more. I know I want to still find a way to live a life where I work completely from my cell phone. And I know I want to travel. Otherwise, I have been so busy working 2-3-4 jobs at any given time just to stay ahead of my bills that I don't actually know what it is I like to do. At least, not really. I never had much down time, so when I did I would binge watch shows I liked like Project Runway or House of Cards, finally read a book or see a movie, or spend time with my husband and dog and go for a walk. Sadly, I don't know much about what else I really enjoy, or what brings me peace and serenity, what helps me focus, if I'm really 'good' at anything else because, quite frankly, I didn't make them a priority or make time for them.
So here's the plan: spend 12 months doing something new every month to test out my likes, my grit, and general 'how to I build a better me'? When's this all starting? June 1st. Stay tuned, 12 months of '30 days better' is about to begin.
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