Happy First Week of February!!!

Since this blog is about wellness, one thing for certain is that when you’re disorganized, it causes stress in your life. Stress causes a negative ripple effect in your health and mood. Physical issues such as high blood pressure, risk of stroke and heart attacks, obesity and diabetes are just a few. In terms of mood, stress can increase a person’s level of anxiety and symptoms of depression. How to become organized is a part of the puzzle that will alleviate stress.

One tip that may help is the simple process of writing things down. For me, I use a planner to help manage my week, write down things that I need to do and specific things that I need to remember. Using a planner to map out what meals you want to make for the week or times to exercise can in itself decrease stress.

I actually have this one section in my planner that I’m thinking of using it for a brainstorming page for things for my business, my blog, new recipe ideas and so on. Other ideas include writing down short terms goals that you want to focus on whether it be for the month, the week or just for that day.

One thing to keep in mind is a great quote:

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill

So, here’s to getting your gel pens out and writing things down!!! 🙂

Finding Balance

I was sitting here today thinking how quickly time goes by. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve written anything for my blog and it seems at times that I can easily forget about writing. Part of achieving complete wellness is finding balance. In the hustle and bustle of today’s world, it is easy to lose sight of this. Think about what it would mean for you to have balance. What’s important to you? How do you spend your free time? For me, having balance incorporates having time for my business, being with my husband, having time alone with the Lord, having time to do things that I enjoy such as cooking, reading, exercising and of course, crocheting. 😊 Of course with that list, setting time in your schedule to do all these things is important.

So, how do you manage your time? How do you fit in what’s important to you and get the average day to day things done that we all need to do and still find time to do the things that you enjoy. Well, I have a little tip that has helped me with this and that involves mapping out my week on paper. Now I have fallen in love with the all the new planners out there in the local craft stores and how they can be used for multi purposes.

In other posts, I have mentioned that I’m a visual person, meaning that it’s easier for me if I am able to write things down so I can see it. Using a calendar or journal to write down the things you need to do in the upcoming week, things that are important to you and things you keep forgetting to do like exercise, spending 15 minutes cleaning out the junk drawer, spending time reading your favorite book and so on. It’s common to hear people say (and yes, I have said it too), “I just don’t have time to…..” Well, planning out your week, writing it down so you can visually see how you manage your time is important.

I hope this simple tip to help you manage your time and your free time helps! Here’s to achieving complete wellness in 2018!!!

The Journey to Success

I was sitting here having a cup of java and started thinking about how people define success for themselves. It is a subjective word when you think about it because you are the one who defines what is success for yourself.  Success to one may be creating a work of art, cooking an amazing meal, winning a race, getting a good grade in a class, losing weight, starting a new business, getting a new car and so on.  Of course, there are so many people or things that influence one’s definition of success including family, society and the media. Sometimes, a person’s definition of success has been defined for them and at some point in time, they realize the value in defining the meaning for themself.

On the journey to success, most people think that it is as simple as achieving a goal that they wanted.  The dilemma that arises for many is if they do not achieve their goal they see it as a failure. Feelings of self-doubt, fear and second guessing creeps in and at that critical point, a person may give up on their goal.  Oftentimes, the problem in that way of thinking is that you end up giving up on yourself and never learn that failure is a part of the process on your journey to success.

Now you may be thinking, “what….failure is part of the process???” Yes, that is what I am saying and trust me, I have failed at many a things on the road to something I wanted to achieve or I had defined in my mind as “success” but what I learned from those “failures” was key to dusting myself off and getting back on the horse (for lack of a better expression…lol).

The question then is how do you learn from your failures, charge forward in order to achieve your goal or become successful?

First, redefine the word failure for yourself. Instead of seeing it as a be all end all for something, learn to see each failure as a stepping-stone. The old phrase of one step forward and two steps back comes to mind as I write. The key is to then get back up, dust yourself off and start walking forward again. If you learn to see “failure” as part if the process on your journey to success, it will help you stay focused and move forward.

Second, create a vision board that includes your goals, dreams and your definition of success to you. Then in those moments when things aren’t going quite as you planned, take a look at your vision board and use it as a tool to motivate you to take the next step forward.

Third, surround yourself with positive, supportive people who will be encouraging to you in those moments of frustration. Having a positive person in your corner will help you and energize you to keep pursuing your dreams.

Lastly, make sure that you learn to think positively and catch yourself if you start to think negative. Remember, stinkin’ thinkin’ will only bring you down and cause self-doubt. So, learn to take any negative self-talk and learn to make it positive.

So, I hope that this motivates you to pursue your goals, your dreams and helps you move forward in achieving complete wellness!!!!

Belief Quote ~ A Little Food for Thought

“We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.”

– LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

Stepping Stones of Your Life

So, how do you get to Point A to Point B?  Is it easier to take the elevator up or is it better to take the steps?  Every day we are presented with options or choices and it is those little decisions that we make on a daily basis that impact our  lives.  The basic question today centers around, what steps are you taking to reach whatever goal it is that you want to achieve?

Now, all of us have goals and some of them are short-term ones or long-term ones.  The problem with goal setting is that having a goal is great….but writing down the steps that you need to do on a daily basis is sometimes the challenge.  When we are juggling so many things in a day, it can be hard to focus on something that you really want for your life. I have written in previous posts about the importance of mapping out your week in order to manage your time better and incorporate the things that you want to achieve into your weekly schedule.  Now, here are a few tips to help you not only set your goal but ways to work on it on a daily basis.

As an example, let’s say that your goal is weight loss.

1. First, carve out 5-10 minutes each day to focus on your goal.  Dedicating the time to reflect on the day and map out the steps that you are going to take that day is important.  Pull out your calendar too in case you want down things on it about the day ahead.
2. The next thing to do is break that long-term goal down and be more specific.  Instead of saying that you want to lose weight, let’s say that the long-term goal is to lose 20 pounds in the next 3 months.
3. Then write down what steps you are going to do on a daily basis to achieve your goal.  Be sure to write them down!! Some steps may include: drinking 64 ounces of water every day, journal what you eat at every meal, plan your meals in advance, measure what you eat in order to maintain appropriate portion control, eat more vegetables, incorporate more fiber into your diet, take a multivitamin with a high absorption rate and so on.  You may want to put these steps into a daily check list so you can actually see how you are doing each day.
4. Then write down anything else that you want to do that day to help you work on your goal.  If you have 30 – 60 minutes to walk or exercise that day, write it down.
5. At the end of each day, review your list for the day and see how you did.
6. Do these steps consistently for one month and watch how much you have achieved your goal.

The biggest thing about goal setting is writing down your steps and sticking with them.  I know that life can be hectic but if you write down mini-goals for yourself to help your achieve the larger goal, you will see positive results.

So, here is to the first step to achieving complete wellness!!

Making the Commitment!!!!

I hope everyone is having an amazing Monday!! When I begin a new week, I think about all the things that I want to achieve in the week ahead. My to do list is HUGE some weeks (as I am sure many of you can relate to).  Of course, thinking about things and turning those thoughts into action are two different things.  I have to laugh at myself because I have so many things that I want to do and then later realize that I barely got to the third thing on my list.

Part of the problem for many is making the commitment to not only doing something but putting that thought it into action.  Think about how many times you or a person you know have said that they have a long to do list and that they got nothing done on their list.  Oftentimes, the dilemma is finding time to do things on the “list” and actually designating time to complete the task.  That is the missing link for many.

So, part of the question lies in how do you put your thoughts into action.  Here are a few tips that have helped me along the way and may help you as well.

1. Get out your daily or weekly calendar or print one out for free online (there are so many out there to print).
2. Get out a couple of pens or highlighters of a variety of colors.
3. We are going to focus just on this week to start.
4. Assign different tasks with a different color pen or highlighter.  Example – I use orange for exercising, purple for my bible study, green for my business, pink for personal and blue for other (like gardening, crocheting, reading, baking….you catch my drift).
5. In your calendar, write down in the appropriate color, any current appointments or obligations that you know that you have to do.
6. Now, schedule time to do other things that you want to get done this week.  For example, if you want to schedule time to go to the gym on Wednesday night at 7pm, write it down in the appropriate color pen and put it in  your calendar.  If you want to spend time reading, put it in your calendar.   If you want to drink 64 ounces of water a day, put it in your daily calendar.
7. The next thing is to stick with your schedule.  Make the commitment and each week, spend time planning your schedule rather that letting your schedule get away from you.  On average, anything you commit to and put into action for 20 days will become a part of your routine.

Let me know how you are doing with this task.  In accomplishing this, you may feel that you are getting more things done in a week than usual which will give you a sense of accomplishment.  A little tip – that sense of accomplishment will also give you a self-esteem boost too!!!!! 🙂

Food for Thought

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.

~ Willie Nelson