The first 100 of my 1001 actions

It took me a little longer than I thought and it stopped me from blogging but if I will carry on feeling like I have been feeling, this is so worth doing and I will do it in other parts of my life.

Keeping track of my actions towards my goal works much better for me than affirmations (actions speak louder than words??). I am scanning my day for positive things I have done so I can record them and I will actually think about my next actions because I like seeing the numbers go up. Twittering works great for the recording part and I can see them under search.twitter.com #1001actions

The result of the first month is simply stunning. I feel AMAZING – not all the time but right now and that is good enough. Not everything has gone to plan and there is room for improvement but as I am only 10% into it, there is much space & time to get better. If it gets any better I am going to burst and that won't be pretty J Just kidding of course. On on into May

Gotta be happy without it first

I maintained that about having that special person in your life. First you need to be happy and comfortable living with yourself, by yourself. And THEN you go out and find that dream boy or girl. Their job is not to complete you and fulfil your needs, their role is to complement and enhance what you have already got. So many people do it the other way round and if the person does not perfectly fit, they set about trying to change them. That never works out very well! So I am good at that significant other thing, always had one when I wanted one and was content on my own too. Eventually I bagged myself a really special one for keeps. Lucky me.

 

Figures that I would use the same tried, tested and proven successful methodology for that very special relationship with myself.............. *silence*............................................. *embarrassed shifting from foot to foot*.................................................................

 

Obviously I can not live without myself; that would be just plain stupid. But this 'trying to change myself' thing has probably always been a bit out of hand. Nothing wrong with self improvement, in fact I would not want to live without seeking knowledge, insights and new perspectives. But I have never been good at being happy with myself as is. I have always thought I should do better and never lived up to my own exceedingly high expectations. Nothing wrong with trying to achieve high targets or mastering difficult subjects either. Beating me up over the invariably existing gap is silly though. In fact, I know that I am somebody who thrives on praise and encouragement. I have a lot of natural drive and am definitely a carrot girl. If somebody uses the stick method on me, they simply will not get my best. In response, I just make myself smaller and smaller and that destroys my spirit and sucks the enthusiasm out of me. So why do I like most people think that I have to be hard on myself to get better?

 

I have improved a lot and have sort of come to terms with the fact that I will never be perfect. These things all help me to raise my awareness:

• Being grateful for everything in my life
  
• Simply deciding to be happy
  
• Forgiving
  
• EFT
  
• Exercise
  
• 'No complaining' project
  

 

 

1001 Actions

 

74. Tapping every day – and need to get back to the eye improvement project too

75. Juiced on Sunday

76. Made crackers from the juice pulp (delicious!!)

77. A gentle work out with my trainer

78. Giggled with my friends

79. Hurrah – I think I have finally got an exfoliating routine going

80. 3 km treadmill hilly walk

1001 actions

We walked 500 miles from Bavaria to London – our two year anniversary of the start of this journey is coming up at the end of this month. We did not walk 500 miles, actually we walked one mile 500 times. I power phrased this from something I read by Stu Mittleman who set a world record for the 1,000-mile endurance run. He said:

"I never ran 1,000 miles! I can't even conceive of running 1,000 miles. All I did was run one mile a thousand times.

He also said:

"If you just keep moving, sooner or later the finish line will show up."
STU MITTLEMAN

After our epic walk (well it was epic to us – I am not comparing us to anybody else, which is another good lesson!) I wrote:

But back to the question of what will I do with this experience; when I was younger I never let myself be stopped by any kind of barrier or hurdle. I was so good at the 'head down and go through anything' thing. The walk showed me that I have not lost it and on top of that I have got fantastic support in G to do ANYTHING (he is very indulgent!)

I do not think I have cashed in on that potential yet. Now that my health and hormones (if you are out there, I deserve a permanent break on the latter) are back to good levels I feel like going for it again in a more orderly fashion. Really am enjoying the recording of my actions towards my health goal (which I am very close to be able to verbalise) and will use this in other parts of my life too.
It is so easy to forget the ups and downs of any journey. But this record will always remind me and I can recommend the practise highly!

Being really really good at something needs practise and time. This is true for most people on most subjects – if you are lucky and are a genius in one area of your life, good for you! But you still got to work on the rest like everybody else. And yes, sometimes there are quick fixes but most of the time there aren't any. Sorry if I am destroying a whole industry of 'in three minutes..... in a week' success books, videos, got the T-shirt.

I am just asking myself the question, how many hours do I need to invest to be fit, flexible and healthy on my 50^th birthday? How many to be the same on my 70^th birthday? This is where my health goal seems to be gravitating to. I want to be a fit bendy chick growing old with fun and grace – wow; this is really resonating with me so much more than losing 40 pounds, going all tingly over it actually. Sometimes it is good to write out loud!

 

 

1001 actions

64. First real organic salad dinner of the year accompanied by my hand made bread. Yummy!

65. Talking about bread, I worked out how to have it in the house and live with it like a normal person who does not have a fresh bread fetish. I make the dough, divide it into rolls and freeze them. When I want one I need to bake it. I really need to want one to do throw the oven on.

66. Thanks G ;) it is like falling of a horse, one has got to get back into the saddle. What took me so long????

67. Put some seeds into trays. I adore growing plants – there is something very Zen about looking after growing plants.

68. Did a lot of EFT tapping around my questionable body image

69. Slept through twice in a row – no pain when I am horizontal. Hurrah!!

70. Got my health goal / vision in my head and heart

71. First work out on my own – LOVED it. Another back in the saddle and I was kind to myself and took it easy

72. Acupuncture session

73. I have got that loooooving feeling – delicious!

 

 

 

 

Crutches

Standing up in life and being counted without crutches – is it possible? I gave up my career crutch over 12 years ago and whilst I am still limping slightly I have discovered the most wonderful rich personal life. I visualised it about 14 years ago and it came true nearly exactly the way I had visualised it. What I refer to as my limp is my still not particularly successful role as an entrepreneur and money earner – but I rather have a wonderful personal life than a glittering career rise as an entrepreneur. Perhaps one day I find a way of having both without the pitfalls I had experienced before I handed in my notice.

I gave up my smoking crutch about 8 years ago. Smoking fulfilled all sorts of imaginary needs which then where feeling very real to me but today I no longer can relate to. Nearly four months ago I gave up my drinking crutch. As it is not so long ago, I can remember that I had a need for a glass or five to help me relax better in the evening and I have also always connected having a drink with having a good time. Where I stand now, I find it quite easy to relax in the evening without alcohol. I am not very keen anymore on alcohol fogging my brain and clouding my thought processes. What I am still missing though is the way alcohol made me feel less inhibited – I really want to work on that. As you might imagine, there are some pretty strong beliefs connected to that subject. Acting uninhibited sober – involuntary shudders are running down my spine just thinking it!!!

And there are a couple of other crutches I have my eye on – watching television and the amount of time I spend on my computer for example. Food is also still on the agenda, whilst I have done a lot of work in that area, I discovered another couple of 'issues' concerning the connection of my emotions with certain types of foods. But one day at a time, I have not been doing badly!

 

What are your crutches?

 

1001 actions (I know, just could not resist! I love the story of 1001 nights)

I tried to twitter my actions but that threw me out of the rhythm of writing them down – perhaps I got all shy about it. Have to catch up; there are lots I will have missed. So in no particular order:

 

56. Went for the first in a series of acupuncture treatments (based on Chinese five elements) and I made it through the session. Let's just say that there were two needles which had to be placed in very, very sensitive spots..................

57. Went for a great mixed media art weekend and had fun

58. Re-defined my creative mojo after watching this TED video – I have no problem with the idea of creative fairies in my life

59. Did a very careful workout with my trainer

60. Sat in the garden and sunned myself today. Not a child, lawn mower or the neighbours yapping dogs disturbed the sound of birds and spring

61. Created a new body image affirmation and working myself through they 'Yeah – buts' with EFT

62. G and I did my favourite forest walk on Wednesday

63. Been keeping up with my daily dose of herbs