Prioritising Myself

I had a check weigh and measure at the gym this week....my moment of truth!  As I said in my twitter post, I was quietly confident about my impending results.  As it turns out, I had every right to be!  I had lost centimetres off everywhere and 1.5kg of body fat. I didn't think that sounded like much (not when there are a few more kilograms to go!) but the trainer at the gym all but did a back flip with excitement with the timeframe in which this 1.5kg had removed itself.  She even got the rubbery fat chunk examples out to show me how much 'fat' I had lost!  So pretty chuffed was I as well.

Where I am thrilled with my results so far, it has been the other added benefits that I am finding have (re) entered my life that get me all happy as well.

Whilst I have chosen to put less on my food plate, I have also put less on my 'to do' plate. I have found that week after week, I have achieved all that I had on my daily list of things to do.  I have not overwhelmed myself with grandiose ideas of thinking I had all the time in the world on my days off to achieve a grocery list of 'to do' items.

I have widened my wardrobe selection and the feeling is so exciting.  I would previously - and by that I mean only a few weeks ago - scan my clothing selection for what didn't need ironing and what would fit.  I am now finding that I am standing looking at my clothes wondering what I feel like wearing.  There are still items that are in the 'don't fit into' section that I am working towards adding to my repertoire of fashion, but having more choice has been very uplifting for my spirits.  

I have begun to take more time with my makeup before leaving the house.  I usually, and still will on occasion, do it in the car at a red light.  I am talking eyeliner, mascara and lipstick.  That's it.  It can pretty much be all done by the time the light turns green!  Now however, I have found that I am adding in a few other bits and pieces whilst I am getting ready and again find myself feeling really happy at the seemingly less effort of putting in a little more effort.

I am still mindful of my food choices and really loving it.  I can very clearly see the effects on my body with my energy or how I feel physically if I slip in a food group at the wrong time of the day.  Mainly a sugar or a carbohydrate.  It hasn't happened often, but stands out like the proverbial when it has.

Speaking of energy, my energy levels have increased hugely.  Just yesterday I was amazed at how 'alive' I felt for the whole day.  Not an afternoon slump in sight!

So what is it that has changed?  What has really changed is that I have prioritised myself. I have pushed me up the list of what is important in my life and the pay off has been nothing short of wonderful. A shift in attitude about me, and Newport Skinny Tea, was all it took.

This is how good I feel

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!

Photocred: imgarcade.com

Upgrading My 'Normal'

The day of reckoning has arrived.  

I gave myself a gradual grace period up until my Newport Skinny Tea arrived, to eeeeease myself into my new self.

Now my Newport Skinny Tea has arrived along with my moment of truth.  I am super excited.

Tea Diffuser - check
Commitment - check
Discipline - check
"Before" measurements done - check
"Before" weight done - check
"Before" photo done - check

It will also take a consistent and conscious thought process in my food choices which will also mean regular planning.

It is so easy to fall back into old patterns.  Timely as it is, I re-read recently, a saying that was first said to me years ago:

You can't keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.

Seems logical doesn't it?  But I suffer from blindness to the obvious at times.

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit.  Funnily enough, my Newport Skinny Tea supplies happen to be in an amount that will last me for 3 weeks.  Coincidence?  I think not!

I am looking forward to having more energy, to having clearer skin, better nutrient absorption, less brittle nails and fitting into the loads of clothes that I have waiting for me.                                                                Exhibit A here ->

(and they don't include the ones I have hanging!)

I have to create a 'new normal' for me.  Creating a 'new normal' has been a term that I have used several times, as required, over the past 7 years. It would have been relevant earlier than that, I just became aware of and coined the term then.  I wasn't thrilled with my 'new normal' at the time.  However, it is better if I am in control and create my 'new normal', than it be created for me.  It is when it is created for you that you tend to be less happy with it.  In the instance of living healthier, I would rather create a 'new normal' of health, than my health deteriorate and subsequently dictate a 'new normal' to me.  After all, my organs have been working for me for 44 years now and for them to last the distance, I need to do the right thing by them.  I am very aware that I am in the age bracket when 'things' can start to go wrong.  And no, I am not being paid for how many times I can mention 'new normal' in one paragraph!  But thank you for your tolerance anyway.  7 times.  It will save you going back and counting.  

The buck(wheat) stops with me.  Thankfully though I have all of you to help keep me on track and accounted for during this transition to my (say it with me) 'new normal'.

If you are doing your own journey towards a healthier you this summer, or fall for our northern hemisphere friends, feel free to share your progress, tips and stories with us in the comments below.  And good luck!  Let's re-define our "normal's" together.

Goal Update - Something's Missing...

August!  We are now fairly well entrenched into the second half of the year.

Whilst I must say I am proud of my goal-awareness efforts this year (I have continually thought of and about them which is more than I can say for prior years) I have fallen a little off the bandwagon of having my finger on my goal-pulse.

I pride myself on being organised.  I am sure I appear it mostly!  But behind the scenes, in fact, just in our back room where my office is, would tell a completely different story.  I am hoping that by later this afternoon, it will tell a different story again.

I am a putter-offerer.  Someone who often says or thinks "I'll do that later."  

There, I have said it.  Out loud.  Ok, it's on paper, but it is the same thing really.  It's out there!

But where is 'later'?  You can see from the photo, 'later' failed to turn up.

I am someone who will deal with what must be done because I naturally gravitate towards deadlines.  

I plan, sometimes.  I wish it were more often.  In fact, daily. And that I worked towards it, daily.  I admire organised and planned people.  Oh to be so disciplined.

I on the other hand, am someone with a free spirit when it comes to planning and schedules.  I love the idea of it, but I fail to stick to it.  My naturally "oh that would be fun" trait tends to kick in.  It wouldn't be such a problem if I wasn't trying to achieve anything, but I have lots on my 'to do' list that I would like to tick off, and quite a few big goals I would like to achieve.  I'm also busy with kids, working, household duties etc, the list goes on and tend to fall prey to dancing to the beat of other people's drums.  

At the end of the day, I realise it all comes down to planning.  And discipline.  Cue Chicago's song, Something's Missing, In My Life, Maybe It's You (planning and discipline).

As I said in my last post, honed skills of the successful include planning and discipline. I have also learned that I tend to find goals easier to get my head around when I think about other smaller tasks, backwards.  It sounds weird to me too, however, to give you an example:-

This weekend we have two birthday parties for my son who just turned 4 - a family one and a friends from kindy one.

My usual way: float through the week aware that it is on, doing what I usually busy myself doing and then freak out at what I need to buy and prepare on each of the weekend's mornings.

My backwards way: think about the parties on the weekend and what times they are on, make a list of what needs to happen for them, and what other commitments we have on as well all week.  Work out when each item can happen and what its deadline is. 

In doing this, it allows me to plan in the best time to do the things that need to be done, in a timeframe that keeps things orderly and stress free.

To sum up my goal update, when I think of years gone by, I have achieved more this year than previously purely because of the thought processes I have had.  I've previously listed the goal early in the year and then hoped for the best.  This year I have deliberately thought about my demeanour towards goals.  What I find challenging and why, and how to turn that around. I have ticked a few things on the list but business-wise I am not as far as I would liked to have been by now.  Still, I have 4 months of the year left.  With discipline and planning, my end of year goal update should be an interesting one!

What are your secrets for achieving your goals?  Details please....

Just an "I'm Back" Ramble Really!

Wowzer!  Nearly two months since my last post!  That's crazy.  And not in a good way.

We were away up in Cairns in early June for my husband to compete in the Ironman with the Shining4Sharn team.  If you have not seen Sharn's ahhh-mazing story, you can watch it here.  Despite the relentless rain, I would live that day again and again a million times over, it was so inspirational and SO emotional to see Sharn and the team fulfill her dream to become an Ironman.

I have read a lot of late that planning and organisation are two very well honed skills of 'successful' people.  I put that in inverted commas because I understand success is different things to different people.  It is even many different things just to me.  My point being that I can say I have been busy over the last couple of months, hence my absence, but it is really just a lame excuse.  Yes I have been busy.  However, I could have planned time into my schedule to blog, and just haven't.  Even though I have missed blogging terribly and wanted to.  Go figure.  I know, my mind amazes me as well!  I really do feel like a slow learner at times, but at least I am getting there...I think.

I find I can plan and feel oh so organised when I do and even prouder of myself when my days go according to said plan.  Like yesterday.  Bliss.

Then comes the goals.  Of course, successful people also set goals.  Mine?  I am still working on the execution.  I am going to do a separate post offering an update on my goal setting (now that we have reached the halfway mark of the year) and the challenges I am finding, so stay tuned for that one!

Just a short and sweet post today.  I'm happy to let you know I haven't dropped off the perch, I'm still loitering about the place.

It is time to head off however, my schedule for today says so!

Have a great day y'all!

What Is The Cost Of Not?

I have begun this year with much enthusiasm in my approach to my goals and commitment to actually achieve them.  If you refer to earlier posts of mine on goal setting, you'll learn that I am great with the initial idea but slack on the follow through!  I know we are only at day 23 of the year, but trust me, by now I would usually have handed the responsibility of achieving my goals over to the universe and have set about the remainder of the year waiting for the universe to provide.  You know, the old 'put it out there'?  Yes, I did that. I believe it has relevance, don't get me wrong.  I just continually 'put it out there' way too soon without giving it a helping hand.  I now have this concept in perspective. 

What I have become aware of in these last 3 weeks though is the 'putting if off' demon.   I will often think or say "I will do/take care of/get to that later."  I have come to realize that my 'later' never comes.  Ever.  I can't therefore say I have perfected working around this, however I am aware of it and have become a lot better at either doing something immediately or scheduling it in to be done.  A simple yet good example is the mail.  I open it and then put it aside to get to it later.  I now have a rule that the mail gets opened when I know I will deal with it right then and there.

In being (I would say) reasonably focused on my goals and therefore aware of thoughts and behaviours that may sabotage my achieving them, I have come to regularly ask myself this question:

What is the cost of not?

What is the cost of not doing what I had on my (short) list of things to do today? What is the cost of not getting up early to get done what I had planned for the morning? What is the cost of not pre-planning the night before?  You're getting my drift.

I am firmly fixed on the outcome and life changes of accomplishing my goals this year.   This means I am also firmly fixed on knowing the cost of not.  It is helping me to remain that bit more organised and remain focused on the job at hand.

What are the questions you ask yourself in order to keep you on track with your goals? Please share - this rookie goal setter is wanting to learn.

Is Goal Setting An Art? Part 3 - Leaving the Comfort Zone

In order to assist me in achieving my goals, I have a dream board: a board with pictures of all the things I would like in my life, the people I would like to meet (yes, George Clooney, I'm coming for you!), charities I would like to support and other bits and pieces I draw inspiration from.  This has extended beyond just the board and now takes over a wall.  The wall also has my list of affirmations...and my son's baseball competition draw! 

I surround myself with these as reminders of the 'why'.  I believe it is one thing to know the 'what' - what am I wanting to achieve?  Understanding my 'why' keeps that fire in my belly alight.  I do all of this for one summed-up reason: options.  Options can give you the choice of many things from time to money.  Having options to me means having freedom to choose.

Having made that profound statement, I was journaling recently about my goals for 2014 and came to realize (why I hadn't before I don't know) that to achieve my goals next year, and I mean really achieve them, will mean leaving a comfort zone that I have known for 25 years.  The security of an industry that I have worked in for a quarter of a century! Put simply, I just don't have a passion for it. I do it and do it well.  Gosh who wouldn't after that long? The first 10 years were great.  After that, I knew I wanted out, I just didn't know where I wanted to go.  More importantly, I didn't know what I was passionate about.  Now I do. The industry has served me well and vice-versa.  It is not that it is time to move on.  That time, as I said, was actually a long time to go.  It is just that now, the comfort of staying there is outweighed by my own desires to go forth and finally achieve what I have been wanting for a long time: to work for myself, in businesses I enjoy, that give me the life that I want for our family.  A life with options.

May the new year bring you many things, all good of course!  I look forward to sharing the journey with you all as we set sail into 2014, leaving the comfort zone of 2013.  For some, it will be great to close the chapter on the year and embark on a fresh start, for others like me, it means getting down to business and turning what's been on paper into my way of life.  Happy New Year everyone!

Is Goal Setting An Art? Part 2: What Myself At 25 Saw For My Life At 40+

OK, so it is a little longer than 10 years since I was 25.  

The fact of the matter is, the age of 25 was a wonderful time in my life. I was together. 

I had moved to New Zealand for work and was absolutely loving it.  I was getting back on my feet financially after an ordinary break up had all but leveled my financial ground.   I was training regularly, I was on track with my money, I was making good use of my time and my life, all around, was just fantastic.  I had used my time in New Zealand to really take stock and think about what I wanted for my life.  I think because I had been so set back financially in the break up and so awakened by it, it became my focus to re-build bigger and better. What I wanted was to set myself up and I thought I had contrived a smart plan to do this.  I was single with no debt. I could pay my credit card off entirely every month. I was budgeting and saving like never before and had planned to purchase an investment property again, learn about the stock market and buy shares.  

Then I returned to Australia.

Rather than commit myself to these projects I had set, I really enjoyed my life to the full. In hindsight, that is not a bad thing.  I don't regret it at all.  I did a lot and did it all paying cash.  My natural short-sightedness (where goals are concerned) took hold and my newly acquired post break up aversion to mortgage commitment reared its ugly head. Yes, that is my technical term for it!  What I should have done though was still aim to achieve the plan I had set for myself whilst back in New Zealand.  Because both living it up and achieving my plan could have been done.  I just couldn't see it at the time.

I did invest whilst in my thirties and was very proud of myself for doing so.  It was very long-sighted of me to plan ahead for my distant future.  However, I stupidly took the advice of a financial advising 'friend' who I trusted and opted for other investments aside from property and shares.  Interestingly he 'retired' at the same time they went belly up but not before lining his own pockets with commissions on my dodgy investments and building a house with them!  To that I say two things a) lesson learned and b) karma takes care of people like that!

Here I am in my forties with young children and can absolutely see the benefits of having an investment property and shares had I executed my master plan at 25 and not been swayed from it.  What I have realised though is that it is never too late to start again. Just because I didn't kick my plan into gear back then, does not mean I can't kick start it  now. It will take a bit more creativity than my straight up original idea now that my situation is different, but it is not impossible.

If I am honest, the life I envisaged for myself in my forties when I was 25 is not the same picture as now.  For a start, I hadn't planned on being financially leveled twice in my life! The picture though is not bad.  At all.  That is not to say I am settling for less.  On the contrary and hence this sequence of posts.  I had contrived, but my drive went off in another direction. Having children has given me the drive and much needed fire in my belly to commit to my plan for setting and following through on my goals for next year.  It is as much for me as it is for them.  I am looking forward to proving to myself (both my present and 25 year old self) that I will do this.

Does your life look like your younger self envisaged?

What did you plan for your life and has it worked out?

How are you at goal setting?  (I am open to any tips anyone can offer)

Is Goal Setting An Art? Part 1 - Growing From a 'To Do' List-er to a Goal Setter

It is that time of year when many of us move into reflection mode on the year that was and ponder our thoughts for the upcoming year.  Granted, it is a skill to run this reflection alongside the buzz and chaos of the festive season, but as natural multi-taskers I have faith in us all!

So in my not-necessarily-quiet reflection, I have chosen my goal for 2014: goal setting!

Let me explain myself...goal setting does not come naturally to me.  'To do' lists do.  I seem to have one growing 'to do' list and I want to learn how to actually get those items marked off.

I am rather short-sighted when it comes to planning and long-term goals because my long term is 3 months.  Life to me is much more fun when lived on impulse.  I do however love to be organised yet become uncomfortable very quickly with structure because it often involves repetition.  I have children though so understand that structure (I like to call it 'pattern') is important for them so we have it.    

In my reflective state this is what I have observed and learned about myself: 

• because I am a 'to do' list-er, I will give myself a daily 'to do' list.  The time to complete each item may vary from 5 minutes to 20 minutes but if there are about 5 items on the list, I can guarantee that list will be incomplete at the end of the day. Why?  Call me crazy but the list becomes overwhelming.  Let me point out that these are items in addition to my usual day to day activities so it is finding that extra time or more aptly, thinking I will have the extra time in the first place, that is actually the overwhelming element.  Did I mention I am an idealist so tend to think anything is possible?  Then the day happens!

• I have learned that I am better at having one item on my list for the day (even if it is a 5 minute one) because I am more than half a chance of actually completing it and marking that item off the list once and for all.

• have you ever heard the saying "You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time"?  I have come to realise that I am also better at looking at the end picture, or goal in this instance, and breaking it down into smaller, more achievable bite size pieces (even chunks are too big for me!).  

• I work best to deadlines.  Guaranteed, if I have a calendar year to complete a project, I will not look at it until October.  Again call me crazy, but my best work is done under the thrill/threat (your choice) of a deadline.  Giving myself a deadline that I know can be shifted does not work.  I will shift it.  The deadline must be absolute.  

I truly admire those folk who set goals, plan, focus, go forth and achieve.  I would like to have a crack at being one of those people in 2014.  My idealistic self believes it to be possible!  This is why I believe goal setting is an art - because not everyone is good at it. Mine is a little abstract at present.  Give me time.  I will present a masterpiece!

Stay tuned for next week's installment - Is Goal Setting An Art?  Part 2 - What My 25 Year Old Self Saw For My Life at 40+.

What A Child Can Teach You About Sundays

Sundays - be it in the Biblical or modern sense - are a day of rest, relaxation or just plain doing what you want to do.

Coming home last week from our family reunion, my 4 year old was crying because he didn't want to go home.  He and his brother had more fun than even their imaginitive minds could have constructed and his words to me through tears were "I don't want Sunday to end." 

I get it.  We've all been there.  Every week in fact I would imagine!  The only reason I don't cry (now) is that I have managed to rationalise with myself that Sunday will be there again in another 7 days. 

It occurred to me though that I now take Sundays for granted.  Sundays, to me, have become just another day for getting things done, usually around the house.  What was so special about last weekend was that there were no chores or other commitments.  The weekend was 3 days of Sunday: time devoted entirely to having fun and doing whatever it was we wanted to do, and undivided attention to the children.  How often does that happen on our Sundays?  I decided not often enough.

Life gets so busy.  We let it get busy.  Mine has become so busy I had, up until last week, almost forgotten how to have a Sunday!  The innocence and purity of my 4 year old making the comment he did struck me.  In essence, his life until school starts, is entirely Sundays.  The Sundays he is after though are the ones full of fun and not Mummy and Daddy being busy with 'stuff' around the house.

Though some commitments on a Sunday are unavoidable, I've realised that planning here is the secret - to schedule Sunday into our Sunday.  

How do you spend your Sundays?