Week 4

I have to give a big shout out to my friend JC in Seattle. Thank you for the encouragement to keep writing and thank you for reading this blog too. Your recent comment put a big smile on my face. :) And you too, JW. This past fall when I went through a rough patch with a surgery, JW, was completely there for me. She dropped off dinners, walked Kirby, and even spent time watching TV with me when I would have been home alone. Best of all, she knows I have a hard time asking for help and so I didn't even have too ask. Friendships are the best.

So, this week is going to be about celebrating friendships for me! Living my best year is about spending time with friends and making sure they know how important they are to me. I hope you will join me too and reconnect with friends from the past and foster new ones too. Let's pass it on.

Week 3

Hola! It's week 3 and I have to admit that I almost didn't reach my goal of 210 minutes of exercise last week. I was so close to being 20 minutes short but at 9:00 pm last night I finished it up. If it wasn't for this blog, I probably would have started "next week." That's always a good excuse for me. I'm always going to start next week. I need to keep the same goal this week, 210 minutes of exercise. To do this, I plan on walking at lunch, walking the dog, using Wii Fit Plus, and Wii Just Dance. And now my hubby has joined in on the Wii Fit Plus too, so we will be able to exercise together and hopefully keep each other motivated.

Last year, I read a really great book called A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen. According to Bowen, the average person complains 15 - 30 times per day which of course is contradictory to health and well being. In fact he states that if 1% of humanity focuses on and speaks about how they desire things to be rather than complaining about how things are it would be revolutionary. He has an action plan for individuals: 21 days of complaint free living. He suggests using a bracelet as a daily reminder. Here's how it works:

1. Begin to wear the bracelet, on either wrist
2. When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping or criticizing (it’s ok, everyone does) move the bracelet to the other arm and begin again.
3. If you hear someone else who is wearing a bracelet complain, you may point out their need to switch the bracelet to the other arm; BUT if you’re going to do this, you must move your bracelet first!
4. Stay with it. It may take many months but when you reach 21 days you will find that your entire life is happier, more loving and more enjoyable.

In December, I purchased a few easy to slip on and off bracelets but have halfheartedly been working on this. To live my best life, I want to challenge myself for week 3 by starting this plan and counting approx. how many times I have to move the bracelet. :) If you care too, try it and let me know how it works for you too.

Adios!

Week 2

What a great week. I successfully implemented my goal of watching no more than 7 hours of TV, in fact, I went under. Yeah. I have to admit it wasn't easy because I really, really wanted to watch both Badger basketball games but that would have been 6 hours. I also love the best year labels. When I see the labels, I reaffirm my commitment to the process and it just makes me happier. One of Ford's tips is to remind yourself of your intention daily.

My goal this week was going to be about Feng shui but I've decided to wait a few weeks. I need to look over good resources first. If you know of any good books, websites, tips, on Feng shui please post.

So week 2 is about getting healthier. And it's probably good that I'm starting this goal earlier because I'm going to need lots of energy to have my best year. My goal is 210 minutes of exercise this week to meet the minimum guidelines by Mayo Clinic of 30 minutes daily. So that's that. I'm going to log my time and post on Sunday. It should be easy to do, right? :)

Have a great week!

I woke up this morning and thought oh no what did I start, how embarrassing. It took me all day to get up the nerve to login and I'm so happy I did. Thank you for all the support!!! Goodbye ego, hello to quieting that little voice and being fine with both perfection and imperfection.

It's day two and part of the action plan is placing reminders around the house. I got out the handy label maker and created 20 labels with best year yet on it. I've placed labels on TV remotes and phones and plan on putting them on the fridge, car dash, computer, mirrors, etc. Right now I'm visioning myself coming home from work picking up the TV remote and putting it right back down after seeing the label. :) I think the labels are going to be really helpful. According to Ford's book, it takes 28 days to break a habit and I have several that are not good for me starting with watching too much TV to zone out. So my goal for this week, starting tomorrow, is to watch no more than 7 hours of TV.

Thank you again for all the support!!

The Best Year of Your Life: Debbie Ford

I woke up this morning and started reading The Best Year of Your Life by Debbie Ford and just a few days ago watched the movie Julie and Julia and felt inspired to bring those two ideas together. This blog is dedicated to creating my best life along with family and friends in 2010. Plus what could be a better way to keep committed to the process then by blogging about it. I admit I'm scared to death that this will be a bit corny and self-absorbed. So bear with me on post 1 as I feel I'm off to a shaky start with the hope that this could become something better.

So here is the plan: 365 days of creating a better life day by day.

Start Date: January 2, 2010
End date January 2, 2011

Today, I'm going to ease into this process. I'm going to read more of Ford's book and find out how to "Dream It, Plan It, and Live It."

See you tomorrow!