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Fall Self-Care Challenge, Week Two:
LIFE BALANCE, Part 2

Howdy again, ya'll!

Yes, WEEK TWO of my FALL SELF-CARE CHALLENGE is coming to you a couple weeks late. Sometimes, life goes off the rails a bit and we have to take time to address much larger goings-on. In my case, my best friend's sweet baby boy passed away unexpectedly and that was a much more important focus than blogging. It still is, honestly. If I could cut myself in two and send half of me back to PA, where I was last week, I would do so. But I had to get back to Texas to care for my own babies and get back up to speed in my work life, so here I am...blathering to you.

So about this self-care stuff...

Well, honestly, I barely got started. So here's to new new beginnings, right? Because it's never too late or too early to begin again anew.

So to recap...

 The first three changes I wanted to incorporate in my life to create better balance were:
1. Stop Watching the Clock,
2. Stop Denying My Inner Clock, and
3. Quit With Arbitrary Rules.

Have you tried to incorporate any of those changes into your own life? I've been semi-successful, just in my short attempt at doing so. In fact, today I was so involved in work I was doing that I nearly missed getting to crosswalk (one of my volunteer gigs) this afternoon for school dismissal. So: I still need to watch the clock a bit. Or at least turn the reminder alarms back on, on my phone and iPad, now that I'm back in town.

As far as my inner clock having reset itself in the past year, turning me from an inveterate night owl to an astonishingly awake morning person...well, I've decided to embrace that wholeheartedly. More on that below...

Quitting arbitrary rules has been my biggest win so far. I was so programmed to "have" to do certain things at certain times, or in certain ways, that were just totally and completely unnecessary. Foolish, even. Beginning to ignore that in favor of simply getting done what needs done has been so freeing!

And now, this week...

WEEK TWO PRESENTS... 

KILL ALL THE UNICORNS!

How many of us experience unicorn wins versus actual habit changes?

Do I see a few hands out there, waving wildly in the air? I thought so!

A unicorn win is when you make an important change...and then forget all about it and go back to your old ways. In other words, your win is as elusive and fleeting as a unicorn sighting. Pretty, exciting, and gone before daylight.

So let's go ahead and kill all those dang unicorns in favor of true new-habit-embracing change. Let's really stop watching the clock. Let's totally embrace our inner clock. And let's quit those arbitrary rules so hard they shrivel up and die.

Okay, so really, I'm talking to myself here. But doesn't it sound so motivating if it sounds like I'm talking to you (whoever YOU are) instead?

For week two, I'm going to be working hard to really make sure I'm actually making sustainable changes to bring about better balance instead of continuing to chase unicorns.

I'm especially worried about backsliding on honoring my inner clock, so programmed do I feel to do certain things at certain times. So, I'm incorporating something new this week as well...

How many of you have heard of the Miracle Morning book by Hal Elrod?


When I was in PA, I got an email about an Amazon credit I had available to spend. So I hopped online and this book showed up in my recommended list. It nearly exactly matched its price to my credit, so a simple click of the button made it mine. I read it, cover to virtual cover, in its entirety on my plane rides back to Texas.

AND I LOVED IT!

It's all about shifting your perspective in how you approach mornings and completing a mix of six different things to get your day off to an absolutely fabulous start. The mix spells the acronym SAVERS - and you know I'm about to tell you what that means.

Silence/Prayer/Meditation
Affirmations/Mantras
Visualizing Goal Accomplishment
Exercise
Reading
Scribing/Journaling

Elrod suggests various ways of mixing up those steps - different order, different time alloted, etc. - but swears that spending at least a few minutes on each is what leads to a MIRACLE MORNING - in other words, living your best possible life daily because you get off to a great start.

The book also suggests some pre-/post-routine stuff like drinking water, washing your face, brushing your teeth, drinking coffee, eating breakfast, taking a shower...those cues your body needs to know it's time to WAKE UP AND FUNCTION.

So here's my plan for tomorrow, rather than lying in bed, waiting for minutes to tick past before I start writing for work at 5 AM.

3:55 AM - Alarm goes off, drink water, splash water on my face
4:00 AM - Prayer/meditation time
4:10 AM - Affirmations
4:15 AM - Visualization
4:20 AM - Exercise: 10 minutes on the bike, 5 minutes on elliptical, 5 minutes situps/pushups
4:40 AM - Reading - my next non-fiction book to tackle is The To-Do List Formula
4:55 AM - Scribing 3 gratitudes and 3 goals for the day
5:00 AM - Coffee & shower time.
5:15 AM - Start 1st hour of work for the day
6:15 AM - Wake the kiddos

So, for this to work, I'm supposed to solicit for an accountability partner. Any takers? I'm not super concerned about that, though, as I think I'll just use my blog for accountability purposes. Let's see how this MIRACLE MORNING routine works to create more positivity and balance in my life!

I'll be back next week for the next step in my self-care challenge: reprioritizing life with new 1-, 3-, and 5-year plans! Hope you'll be back to join me!
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