I'm still not writing about 2015 Resolutions

In the last post about my expansion on Entrepreneur's article on the 8 daily habits that will make an explosion, I talked about the first four habits: getting up early, exercise, reading and practicing gratitude.

I really like those four habits because it's something that I've already had in my mind to change, and am on my way. Actually today I went to the first yoga class that I've been to in awhile and it felt (great). I think I'm motivated for awhile! At least for my next 4 "free" classes (thanks to Groupon). And actually, our new tenant-only fitness center at my office is opening on Wednesday, so I'm already planning out my workout regimen. The last time I had a gym this convenient is when we lived in the city after getting married and had a gym in the basement of our building. Ah, the days. We often talk about how much we loved living in Navy Yard, but that's for another day.

I also started reading this wonderful daily devotional, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, in addition to being about 60% through The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown, which I really recommend! It's a fun read, and I love it as my commuting book. I'm already on the prowl for my new one (hoping I can an email from my local library that the many ebooks I have on hold might be mine in the near future).

Waking up early is still working, except for yesterday when I drive Mr. K to the metro at 5am (my car is sounding a bit wonky, so we need his), and then proceeded to sleep for awhile longer. Whoops.

As far as practicing gratitude, I shared just about all my thoughts with you in that post. Not much has changed.

So, let's get onto the next four habits:

5. Schedule your day before it starts 
Try a daily to-do list each night, and then what I find helpful is scheduling out the week on Sunday. We have a chalkboard in the mudroom, which we see every time we come in from the garage. You can see it here, and we've started to outline the week starting on Monday. I'll include the scheduled evening activities that we have, something we need to get done that night, and if we're really organized, dinner ideas for each night (we're working on that this year).

This also applies to your workplace - before you leave for the day, prepare your tasks for tomorrow, outline what's important, and when you need to get things done. Which brings us to the next one...

6. Focus on high-priority tasks first 
I feel like this is most applicable for the workplace, so make sure when you create that to-do list for the following day, put your most important tasks in the beginning. We're all probably guilt of saving those for the end because it's easier to get the lesser important, smaller tasks out of the way. But why not get the big one out of the way and then cruise the rest of the day!? Try that for a few weeks and see how it might lessen your stress and anxiety about your work days.

7. Always go the extra mile
This is an important one, and probably one that's often easy to fight each and every day. Consider doing one extra task every day that may put you ahead of the game, either personally or professionally, or both. This will likely improve your motivation and satisfaction. Who doesn't love ending the day on a high note and thus enjoying the evening even more.

8. Improve in one area each day
This can apply to both professional life and personal. Whether professionally, you read one good article about your industry every day and apply it; or personally, you improve the number of push ups you do, decrease pace of your mile run by a few seconds, read one more chapter of a book to reach a yearly goal, etc. (check out Goodreads if you want to set a goal for number of books to read in 2015).

Don't forget to write these things down at the end of the day, especially how you improved each day. This will keep you going, and at the end of the week you can look back on that log and be motivated for the next week! I love this habit, I think it's one every person can get on board with. It's definitely hard to stick to, but keep it in your back pocket, even if you improve in three things over the course of the next couple weeks, that's a great start.

I'm not writing about 2015 Resolutions

I promised (myself) that I would write about what I was going to do better in 2015 because "everyone else" does it. But when it come down to it, writing it down helps keep you accountable, right? Right. So here we are.

I read a really great article on Entrepreneur about 8 daily habits that will make 2015 "explosive." So far, I'm buying it. I wouldn't call these things "resolutions" though. Because sometimes I consider those good for a year, even if I've said I would start to think positively more, or work out more. Again, it's the beginning of the year and we have the best of intentions. But, turning those "resolutions" into gosh-darn habits is what's really going to make them work.

New Year means the start of something good, forever... 

Today I'm going to share with you the first half of the daily habits. They're so good that I don't want to overcrowd one post with all of them. Try these on for size the next few days/week and see how it goes. Then, come back and read the next four and we'll see how we can all get better at those. 

Here are four of the eight daily habits: 

1. Get up early

This is actually something I decided to do after New Years, not as a resolution, but to start making a habit out of it. So far I've last 4 days getting up at 6:30 and I'm really liking it. Before I think I was getting too much sleep, sometimes waking up anywhere between  6:45 and 7:10. 6:30 isn't too bad anymore, especially when I know it's coming about 10-15 minutes after Mr. K leaves the room.

So how would I rate this on a scale of 1-10, me liking this idea: 10/10. It's working, and I'm excited to continue it. 

2. Read

Doesn't matter what, but read 20-30 minutes a day. For me, this includes the Express newspaper for the first 20 minutes on the metro ride in, and then the book I've downloaded on my Kindle Fire for the rest of the ride to and from work. I've got both the global intellectual read down and the "let me let my mind wonder for the next hour" down pat. 

Rating: 8/10

3. Exercise

Ahhhhh. This one. Gets me every time. I'm trying... so hard! I just bought a yoga Groupon yesterday in hopes of really getting my blood pumping. I tried starting Insanity a couple weeks ago, but got so discouraged because I just couldn't keep up. I'm not used to it being so hard. But that's what I get when I don't work out in 7+ months. What's wrong with me? I'm hoping yoga will bring me back and motivate me to at least do the recommended 30 minutes a day. SOMETHING at least. Stay tuned on this one. So far, my likeness score is 2/10, but my desire score is an 11/10. 

4. Practice Gratitude

Man, this can be a hard one sometimes, can't it? I've tried to do this a lot more recently, and when I catch myself doing the opposite, I bring myself back. But that's the beauty of this journey. Practicing gratitude is just that... practice. It's not going to become ingrained in you over one night. or even a week. You have to constantly be conscious of yourself and your thoughts. 

One thing that has started to work for me, or rather two things at that: one, try writing down one thing each night that you're thankful for before you go to bed. If it's one of those days and you're in a funk and you can't think of anything else except "I'm thankful that I didn't forget my winter hat this morning," than write it. 

Secondly, instead of asking your significant other, your parents, your children, "how was your day?" Ask them "what made you happy today?" or "what are you grateful for that happened today?" This stimulates more conversation, BETTER conversation, and a deeper sense of thought. Don't forget to ask yourself the same question though... what AM I grateful for today? 

December 15: We Have a Foundation!

So it's a little late, I know. But between Christmas shopping, packing, wrapping and Holiday travel, this post got written but not published. So here it is, the biggest news yet... we have a foundation!!

This is by far the biggest change we’ve seen, and we had no idea it had come that far yet! Upon scheduling our "pre-construction" meeting (finally) with the Superintendent of the contracting company who’d be building our house, our sales manager said “so it’s been awhile since you’ve seen the place, right?” I said “yes, I was the last one out there a few weeks ago (maybe even a month), and all I saw was piles of dirt.” He then said “well, you’ll be so surprised then! Lots has happened. I’ll send you a text with a picture this afternoon.” And he wasn’t kidding! 

I can’t tell you the excitement that I felt. I was literally jumping for joy when I saw that picture come through with the caption “You have a Foundation!” It’s actually  happening. It’s not just a figment of our imagination (or our bank accounts). That’s the start of our home we’ll be living in for the next 20 years… it’s so exciting, exhilarating, and scary at the same time.

Scary? Yeah. You better believe it. I think adulthood hits every one at a different point in their lives, and for me it’s hitting right about now. Or maybe when I handed over that earnest money deposit and signed the contract for our home... No. It’s when you start checking the mortgage rates every day, making sure your credit score stays where you need it to be and watch every.single.penny that’s spent.

But more on budget, money and all that fun stuff soon… let’s just get through the holiday and then I’ll drown my sorrows in *cheap* wine and Ramen noodles.

We'll be stopping by the house this Sunday, and by then it should be framed, if it doesn't already have a roof! How cool is that?! I'll check in next week. Until then... Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve! See you in 2014!!

See you at the Corner,

Krista