Time to Make Your List

SIMPLE LIFE SERIES DAY ONE



Mondays in the Simple Life Series are for YOU (and me). I will let you know what I am doing to make simple changes in my own life. I hope you follow along and try some of these steps yourself. Please let me know how you are coming along by leaving comments at the bottom of each post. Tell me what works, what doesn’t, if you are bored – whatever – we are learning and growing together. Hopefully by the end of this process, you will have a better view of your health, your money, your lifestyle, your dreams, your regrets and use these findings to make steps to improving your life overall.


To begin our series, let’s take a look around. What is it I want to accomplish? Do I need to clean house? Do I need new friends? Do I need to change jobs? Am I unhappy with my health? Do I just need a new start?


I personally had a really crazy 2011. I know that everything will not disappear now that its 2012, but I plan to use this new year to move forward from those experiences. I want to take everything I learned, no matter how bad it was, and turn it all around to make me a better wife, a better mother, a better friend – a better me. As I have read on many of the blogs I follow, this seems to be the year for ME. Maybe it’s my age. Maybe it’s everything I went through this past year, but I think it’s just time.


Looking at my past lists of resolutions, most have not changed – I still want to lose some weight. I still want to write that book. I still want to save for a trip to Italy. I still want a maid to all my laundry. Some things I actually can cross off my list: Paying off bills can be changed to maintaining bills - I spent this past year paying everything down, shopping less (and more wisely) and did not acquire any new debt. Focusing on my business can be changed to expanding my business as I put extra effort into my business and it is finally taking off. I no longer stress over every piece of dust in my house so the hopeful house-cleaner can go (just not the laundry lady, still hoping for her!) Then there’s the NEW list. Spend more time on me. Get rid of negative people in my life. Branch out and find new friends and activities.


What’s on your list? Is it the same list from last year? It is reachable? Your assignment today is to make a new list of 10 things you want to change/finish/do this year. The first 3 can be from last years un-resolved resolutions. 5 are to be totally new resolutions. Think out of the box. Be specific. Don’t say, “I want to learn something new.”Say, I want to learn to paint. I want to write a children’s book. I want to tell my sister she can’t smoke in my house anymore. The last 2 on the list are for something you think is unattainable. You want to go to Ireland. You want to have a baby. You want to be the Mayor. After we work through some of the steps in this series, I hope you will see that nothing is out of reach. You may not have a book published by the end of the year, but at least you will have started the process.


Don’t think too hard on this list. Warm up the tub, pour a glass of wine, take YOUR NEW NOTEBOOK and write it on the last page. We won’t be visiting this list for a while.


Come to think of it……I think I left my bath water running……..


Next Monday, starting a Life Audit.