New Supplies: I go back to work two weeks from today. It's totally fine, and I'm pretty ready. Plus - yay! - it's time for school supplies. New pens, new notebooks, new Dixon Ticonderoga Black pencils. I bought some awesome Stabilo pens this morning at Dick Blick. Also, a Rhodia notebook specifically designed for tracking meetings. I go to a lot of those, and this tool will increase my happiness in several ways. First, my meeting notes will be uniform in style and easy to find. Second, there's a column just for action items, and I can check these off to be sure I've followed through. And finally, I can number the meetings like page numbers at the bottom. I feel like I go to meetings all the flipping time, and this will allow me to quantify and report back on the truth of that. I might also categorize the type and usefulness of each meeting with an exclusive rating scale. Buckle up!
Peanut Butter on Rice Cakes: Plus a drizzle of honey. I love this snack. I also love beef sticks. And no one's here at lunch time to judge my choices, so I'll eat those things as much as I want to.
Podcasts: In the last couple of days, I've listened to some great episodes of Happier with Gretchen Rubin, This American Life, The Daily with Michael Barbaro, and The Turnaround with Jesse Thorn. I think I myself would be an excellent podcast host. In my other new notebook (the one not for meetings), I plan to brainstorm some possible podcasting angles. I mean, it's really time for my media empire to really take off.
The Goodwill Closet: I have a closet where I keep items for the Goodwill. When it's more or less full, I go to the donation drive-through and gleefully chuck of all the things into the appropriate bins. Guess what? The closet's pretty full! I might stop by this very afternoon and unload. Such a wonderful feeling. Am I right?
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Monday, August 7, 2017
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Be Who You Are, And Be That Well
I went to a religious high school with two exceedingly quotable founders. One of founder Saint Jane de Chantal's best directives is, "Be you who are, and be that well." Like, don't try to go and massively change in order to gain favor from anyone, including yourself. Instead, hone in on your best, most authentic version, and let that goodness shine through.
That's kind of what Gretchen Rubin is saying in this book that I've become obsessed by, Better Than Before. In it, she talks about knowing yourself as the key to habit acquisition.
And who cares about habits? Everybody probably should. Rubin's premise is that habits are "the invisible architecture of our everyday lives," so your habits determine what you accomplish and, more importantly, how you feel.
I'm only a little more than halfway through the book, but it's already inspired me to try a few new things (or return to some tried and true routines) to invigorate the habits that I know make me feel happier and more successful. In the book, Rubin offers various strategies you can use to implement and maintain habits. Some of the most appealing to me as an Upholder (that's my tendency, according to Rubin's framework - what's yours?) are Monitoring and Scheduling.
Here's what I'm going to monitor this week:
- I've known for awhile that I probably missed a food when I stuck with some of the eliminations from the diet last fall that helped me lessen my symptoms of psoriasis. After several experiments, I'm pretty sure it's corn. So, this week, I'm going to monitor my food choices and make sure I'm not eating processed corn. I'm going to have a "no corn" item in my habits tracker in my little to-do list book that I carry with me.
- I'm going to make a list of the things I want to do multiple times per week - write my book (there are almost no new scenes left to write, FYI), exercise, and blog. I'm going to put a number of check-boxes next to each of these. When I fill the check boxes (four for blogging, for example), I can stop worrying about the tasks until next week. This is a combo of monitoring and scheduling.
- Finally, I'm going to monitor my supplement taking. I'm supposed to take a digestive enzyme thing and also probiotics, but sometimes I forget. If I put those things on my to-do list and check off the box, I do it.
And now, as a bonus, I've used the strategy of Accountability to ensure that I'll do these things by writing them here. Win-win-win.
The time that Gretchen Rubin helped me reconceptualize failure
Habits and attitudes to help writers.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Fire in His Heart, Light in His Eyes: Vacation Report, Part II
We shot the Class III rapids like champs and in the car on the way back to our rental, we sang along to John Denver. At home, Dan made me a gin and tonic after I returned from a walk along a picturesque Colorado creek. Tomorrow we're headed to the hot springs pool where I'm convinced my calm and optimistic mindset coupled with the healing sulfur waters will alleviate my psoriasis.
I have pretty much never been happier. I'm already planning next summer's out-west vacation. I haven't gotten 100% buy-in yet for Mount Rushmore, but I'm pretty sure that once I set an itinerary filled with adventure and family bonding, everyone will be totally pumped.
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