Intentional October Update: Week 1.

It's time for an update and a check-in with you! How's your Intentional October going, friends? I'm going to be honest with you - mine has been hard. Harder than I thought it would be! I was so jazzed about this - but actually putting it into practice everyday has been really really challenging. I don't want to wake up early. And I really miss zoning out and watching TV at night. Discipline is hard!

I'll give you a rough overview of where I'm at:

My Tactics:
1. Wake up early.
5:30 AM to be exact. - Um, this has been challenging. Really really really.

2. Drink a Nalgene of water.
Right when I wake up, before consuming anything else. - This has been great. I actually crave my enormous Nalgene of lemon water when I wake up. It's hard to drink the whole thing so early, but I'm really trying to force myself to get it done within the first hour of the day. I feel so much better all morning long.

3. Have 10-20ish minutes of quiet time.
Reading, praying, journaling. - This has, surprisingly, been my favorite! I have paired it with some early morning stretches, and I am loving this time. I'm no yogi, but I feel exhilarated, stretching in the quiet morning hour. Making this action a part of my morning prayers seriously makes me feel like I am moving mountains here!

4. Exercise in the morning.
For the most part, getting myself outside to run has just been awful - I am wheezing and crampy and I feel like my lungs are going to explode. I guess that's what they call being out of shape, huh? But yesterday I finally had a break through run with my sis-in-law Lauren and I actually enjoyed the run. So, progress! But I've been at the gym a few times this week, too, and I am feeling good about getting back into some light weight lifting.

5. Eat a healthy breakfast.
This has been good. I'm still trying to figure out the best time to eat in conjunction with feeding my kid and exercising in the morning, but I am really enjoying a half a banana, sliced, on a buttered waffle in the mornings. Have you tried Kerrygold butter? I am obsessed. People are way too down on butter - this butter is so gooooood.

6. Tackle the biggest item on my to-do list.
This has been great. I feel so much more productive and accomplished by midday! My mornings are pretty full, especially with a baby in tow, but when lunch time rolls around I feel like I have tackled a TON. But I also feel like I need a nap, haha. I get jealous when I put Everett down for his nap and I have half a mind to just jump in the crib with him. Babies are so lucky.

7. Read in the evenings.
I am officially sucking at this one. I want to read, I SO DO, but I am not getting in bed early enough to read before I want the lights to go out. I read a few times this week, but a few times I also dropped into bed so exhausted, and later than planned. Which nixed the reading. I'm currently reading The Happiness Project, which is giving me some good tips for this intentional journey I am on.

8. Go to bed early.
Lights out at 9:30pm. - This has been really hard to do. Why is it so hard? Why are there so many bedtime activities that MUST BE DONE? I find myself at 9:15 folding laundry, picking up Everett's shoes that he has thrown in the bathtub, and decluttering my bedroom. 9:30 just comes around SO EARLY.

The consensus? I've still got my work cut out for me. I am not as disciplined as I would like. I mentioned here that the focus this past week would be on ourselves, and then we would expand from there. However, I am going to take another week to really hone in on the discipline aspect for myself. It's another self-focused week, to tweak the things that haven't gone right, and create a rhythm for these activities to thrive in my life.

How are you doing with your intentions? Have you hit any roadblocks this week? What activities are working for you? Any advice for the class?

My 8 Tactics (and #1 Goal!) for an Intentional October.

They say it takes 30 days to make a true habit change. I'm on a quest this month to make quite a few. Yesterday I gave a little overview about this Intentional October journey. This past summer was wonderful and wild and in some ways kind of like a wrecking ball. My family had a lot of excitement and travels and life changes and with all that adventure came quite a disruption to "normal" and routine. They say that babies thrive on routine, but I believe that we adults (or pretend adult, in my case) do, too. Not only am I feeling unfulfilled and frustrated, but I am craving some semblance of routine and normal, especially because I want to accomplish a few things. But first things first! I must get intentional and disciplined with each day.

The Goal:
To be healthy and overwhelmingly happy. Productive and fulfilled. Full of energy and strong. Every single day.

The Tactics to get to The Goal:
I am focusing on creating healthier habits and routines, and banishing some things that aren't currently working out too well for me personally.

I made a list of all the things I would like to do, and it seems like my mornings and evenings are getting crushed by non-essentials, which is eating into my ability to accomplish goals. I felt convicted when I read this article about highly productive people, because I want to be one! But in order to be productive, I've got to jump start some things and realize that other things are distancing me from my goals. What is holding me back?  

Things Holding Me Back:
1. Binge watching Netflix in the evenings. (Don't hate me for bashing on Netflix - it's probably an idol in my life so it has GOT TO GO. At least for a little while.)

2. Going to bed so late that I'm exhausted all the next day. (Thanks, Netflix.)

3. Forgetting to drink water so I feel sluggish and crummy.

4. Not reading.

5. Exercising infrequently.

6. Getting overwhelmed with my to-do list.

These aren't huge deal breakers individually, but when I add up all the things that aren't excellent, I can see that my margins for happiness are getting nibbled up. There is nothing wrong with watching shows on Netflix! Stevie and I love diving into a series together. But I want to be reading, and my only chance to do that is at night after my baby is in his crib. So, it's either Netflix or a book. And dear God, I need a book. I think I'm losing I.Q. points.

So, now what? I created a list of tactics that I am going to focus on every day for 30 days.

My Tactics:
1. Wake up early.
5:30 AM to be exact.

2. Drink a Nalgene of water.
Right when I wake up, before consuming anything else.

3. Have 10-20ish minutes of quiet time.
For me, this looks like reading my bible, scribbling in my journal, doing some stretches and praying. I might do one of these things or all of them everyday. No matter what, I know that taking a few quiet minutes for myself will help with my mindfulness for the whole day.

4. Exercise in the morning.
With Everett in the morning, that looks like taking him on a jog with me. When he's at "school", that can look like taking a class at my gym or lifting weights. I need to get stronger. And I need to stop whining about how I need to get stronger and just GET STRONGER.

5. Eat a healthy breakfast.
This is a no-brainer if I'm doing all these other things early in the morning. Gotta fuel! The good thing is I already have this one on lock-down - I've never been one to miss a meal.

6. Tackle the biggest item on my to-do list.
Whatever that thing is that I HAVE to get done, I'm just going to tackle it first. Then there's no room for dread. I hate dread.

7. Read in the evenings.
This one is really important to me. As a reader and a writer, I feel like I'm starving without dedicated reading time. It's time to dedicate some time :)

8. Go to bed early.
Lights out at 9:30pm.

Why am I sharing all of this with you? Because I'm an annoying blogging oversharer, duh. Just kidding! I don't have to be this ridiculously vulnerable. But I have this feeling that I am not alone. In fact, I know I'm not. So in case you're a little like me, and you would like to find a way to create more happiness and productivity in your personal world, I'd like to invite you to join me for Intentional October. This isn't a diet or some self-help plan out of a book. This is just taking the reins of your own life and getting serious about your intentions. Is there some area in your life that you want to discipline? Are there a few changes you know you want to make but you just need a jump start? And perhaps a community to cheer you along? Well, you've found it. Let's get intentional together!

So many of you responded to yesterday's post, through Instagram, Facebook, here on the blog and even via text! It's so encouraging to hear that I'm not alone on this journey, but you should know that you're not along either! Want some camaraderie as you begin your 30-day trek? You can start a conversation here on the blog by posting a question or comment beneath the posts, tag #intentionaloctober on Instagram and get a conversation going on my Facebook. It's comforting to have a community for accountability!

So today - make your lists!

Your To-Do:
1. Settle on a goal.

2. Figure out what's holding you back from that goal. List all the hindrances.

3. Set some attainable tactics to combat those hindrances you listed. You've got 30 days, the month of October, to re-set your habits. Habits create lifestyle!

3. Get accountable with someone. Tell me, tell your mom, BFF, sister, husband, whoever! They're going to cheer you on and remind you to keep going if you get in a slump two weeks from now. Tell instagram too, with the hashtag #intentionaloctober

Are you ready? We are getting started Thursday, Oct. 1!

Creating an Intentional October.

I'm going to get vulnerable with you.

I've found myself to be in a bit of a funk.

I'm not thoroughly unhappy with my life - in fact, I am far from that. But I find myself unfulfilled at the end of each day and I don't know why. I find myself frustrated as I clean the kitchen at night, annoyed while I brush my teeth, and unable to fall asleep because of all the to-do lists in my head. So I know that the problem is with me, and I need to make a change. Probably a few changes.

My Goal:
To be a healthier, happier me. So that I can give more love away to my family and so that I can create something special. Pursue dreams. Create areas for more fulfillment every single day. I'm contemplating right now - do I want to write a book? Do I want to start a small business? What do I want to do?? I'm not sure yet. But those things sure can't happen when I am frenzied and overwhelmed by menial to-do lists and exhaustion. So first, I must implement some changes and some discipline.

It's sort of like a diet. For the brain.

What's YOUR Goal?
Do any of you feel this way? Are there things holding you back in your personal day, perhaps habits or routines that are just sucking up your time and leaving you feeling underaccomplished? Are there things you keep telling yourself you're going to do, but then you just never get around to it?

I am proposing that you join me in this Intentional October journey.

What does that look like?
We all create our plan, and then check in each week with how the disciplines are going. You can post a comment here on the blog, tag #intentionaloctober on instagram and get a conversation going on my Facebook. It's nice to have a community for accountability!

How Can I Get Started?
Determine your goal. And based on that goal, figure out what needs to be done to help you accomplish it. If the goal is to be happier and healthier, then a tactic might be "exercise 5 days a week" and "have 10 minutes of quiet time everyday". Make your list. Take some time to figure out what might be holding you back from accomplishing these tactics. For me, I can never make myself wake up early enough to exercise when I stayed up the night before. So in order for me to accomplish the whole "exercise early in the morning" thing, I also have to make sure to get a ton of sleep the night before, which means going to bed earlier, etc. So one positive change leads to another and another. But I think I can do it. I know I can. And if you're with me, and you're ready to make some changes in your life, we can do it together! It helps to create positive change when you know there is someone else out there going after a goal, too :)

I wanted to share this a few days before the month begins so that we all have time to wrap our heads around what Intentional October means to us. I am getting really excited and motivated. Check back here tomorrow - I will share the things that are holding me back from my goal, and the 7 tactics that I will be addressing this month. So take some time to think for yourself today and let's check in again tomorrow!