Congrats to Jeannette Cholach of Thorhild AB who is the January 10 in 2010 draw winner.
We’ll be sending Jeannette a journal to help her keep track of her 10 in 2010 journey.
Subscribe to the free 10 in 2010 challenge and your name will be entered into our monthly draw.
Remember….
Thomas à Kempis
What habit do you need to replace with a better one?
Here’s an interesting headline:
That’s according to a researcher at the University of Iowa based on what happened during the Depression.
His theory is that as people’s hours are cut at work during the current economic down turn, they will have more time for leisure activities.
Well sure. That makes sense. But actually creating more work-life balance?
It’s one thing to say that when people have more time they will use it for non-work related stuff. If you have six more hours available to you because your shifts have been cut, then of course you will likely spend them with your family or on your own fitness or volunteering in your community.
It’s a completely different thing to say that people will consciously choose more work-life balance.
It’s about knowing your priorities and then aligning your actions with them. It relies on the same principles whether the economy is turned up, down or inside out.
I’m sure if you could add an extra 2 hours to the day – stretch it to 26 hours – you’d think that there was more potential for work-life balance. But what would likely happen is you would go back to your unbalanced ways once you got used to the extra 2 hours. Unless of course you starting making decisions about how you spend your time based on your priorities.
People are considering all kinds of life changes – simplifying things, getting back to basics, enjoying their leisure time. But they will return to old habits once the economy picks up unless there they make a concerted effort to do something different. During this recession people are reacting to the circumstances, rather than being proactive about creating the kind of life they want.
You can take this opportunity and begin to create more life balance. You can be proactive. You can begin to do the things that will help you sustain this balance once the economy starts rockin’ and rollin’ again.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
I love my clients – for a whole bunch of reasons but one of the most delightful is that they say such insightful things. Yesterday I was coaching with a client who was looking at ways to let go of some holiday obligations. You know how it is – the usual running around like crazy, caught up in old habits and feeling overwhelmed.
Then she said:
Insightful! During the holidays…
My client’s little insight reminded me of the Zen saying:
Chances are if things are a little out of whack during the holidays – overwhelmed, overindulged, over spent, over committed – then likely in some form they are that way during the rest of the year as well.
Give yourself a little gift.
Stop and consider how the holidays are a microcosm for your life. Think about the activities that are a good reflection of you and your values. Think about the activities that don’t align so well with what’s really important. Now’s a great time to begin planning what simple changes you’d like to make in the new year.
Today is day 30 of the 30 day challenge.
Congrats!You made it. Today is the day to begin your celebration. It’s been great accompanying you on this journey.
You now have the tools to create a new habit. Use what you have learned this month and apply it to a new habit that you would like to master. Building a series of personal success habits begins just like this. Get one habit working, then add another one in.
Please share your success stories by posting a comment.
Cal is one happy dog. He’s loved getting out on a regular basis and doing dog stuff. He’s a clever guy. He watches carefully to see what I’m wearing and which shoes I’m reaching for. Not sure how he knows what “walk clothes” are, but he does! It used to be that he could hear the jiggle of his leash from anywhere in the house. His hearing is not so good anymore but his eyesight is just fine. It’s been great for me to remember all the things I loved so much about our walks. I really look forward to my daily dose of dog wisdom and am grateful to have re-created this habit.
Today is day 29 of the 30 day challenge.
Take time today to plan the celebration of your 30 day challenge. Too often we deny ourselves celebrations because we think, “I could have done better.”
No matter how well you did, celebrate your successes this past month. If you held fast to your commitment, bravo! If you stumbled along the way, celebrate that you were on a learning path.
Consider what you would do for or say to a friend who had been participating in this challenge. Be that nice to yourself!
Tune in tomorrow as the celebration begins.
Today is day 28 of the 30 day challenge.
In two days you will come to the end of this challenge to create a new habit. Now’s the time to think about the next step – a beginning rather than an ending.
Plan for day 31 by deciding how you will keep the momentum of the last month going. Build on what’s been working. Tweak things that haven’t been working. Have coffee with your buddy and design a new or continuing game plan.
If you’ve stuck with the challenge all month, then you are well on your way to having a new habit that will stick. But it won’t happen all by itself. Planning what comes next is the key to your continued success.
If things haven’t gone as well as you had hoped, day 31 is a great time to begin again. Go back to the first posts on the challenge and recommit to your new habit.
Tune in tomorrow as we begin to celebrate.
This is day 27 of the 30 day challenge.
Thanks to Deb for sharing her role model, an 88 year old woman named Gwendolyn who made a commitment to healthly living in her 50’s. Read Gwendolyn’s inspiring story and see that she’s a leader we can all follow.
We’ve almost come to the end of the 30 day challenge. Now is a good time to evaluate your progress.
How successful were you in meeting your goal?
What worked well?
Where did you get stuck or distracted?
What was the key to your success?
Is your new habit beginning to feel like part of your routine?
Take a few minutes to think about how far you’ve come in the past month. Check in with your buddy for some objective feedback.
Be honest with yourself. Did you stick with it or did you let yourself off the hook? Remember evaluation is just a place to pause before you take the next step.
Tune in tomorrow when we plan for what’s next.
Today is day 26 of the 30 day challenge.
Whether it’s an old habit or a new one, one of the keys to success is to recommit to your priorities on a daily basis.
Life has a way of tossing you all kinds of distractions – some wonderful and some not so much. Taking a few minutes at the beginning of each day to refocus and recommit to those things that matter most to you is a great way to give the distractions less power.
Today is the only day you have. Being in a place of conscious choice about how you will spend your time and energy lets you be consistent with your new habits and keeps old habits part of your daily routine.
List your priorities & commitments at the beginning of the day.
Practice affirmations.
Look at your visual reminders.
Plan ahead and schedule.
Success comes day by day, and sometimes hour by hour. When you make it a habit to recommit to what is at the top of your list, you’ll find that you spend less time reacting to other people’s priorities.
Tune in tomorrow when we’ll check in with how you are doing.
Today is day 25 of the 30 day challenge.
Perhaps it’s someone who has already included your habit consistently in their own life. Perhaps it’s someone who has overcome some kind of adversity or someone who holds a particular outlook on life.
Rely on that person to be your role model as you continue to build consistency in your routine. If it’s someone you know, ask what success strategies they use.
If it’s someone who you don’t know personally, imagine what advice they might give you. See if they have a website or read their book. Look for a tidbit of wisdom that can become part of your visual reminder or affirmation.
You don’t have to re-invent the wheel. It’s okay to follow the leader.
Tune in tomorrow and recommit.
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