If you’re not familiar with the concept of this project (and the book I was inspired by), be sure to check out this post!
Welcome to the second month of my happiness project! Before I jump into my plan for February, I want to do a review of January. If you’d like to skip this over, click here to jump down to February.
In January, I explored the resolution of being more energized. Gretchen Rubin did this in her novel to help her with her other resoulutions, but I wanted to explore this in January as well since I struggle with staying energized in the winter months. Here are my last month’s resolutions, and my results!
Establish a proper morning/evening routine.
It took me a long time to establish a proper morning routine, but I learned that having an evening routine was a necessity for me. I used it for things that I wanted to make sure I was doing everyday (reading, journaling, not forgetting to take my vitamins) and this really consolidated everything. It also gets me into the frame of mind that I’m going to bed soon, instead of having most nights be all over the place. My morning routine will need some improvements, but this month’s resolutions will help that.
Re-establish an exercise routine.
Before the holidays, I had a workout routine that I was keeping for years. I had taken off a couple months, but I really wanted to make sure I kept with it because it helps my sleep that much. When I don’t work out, I sleep more and feel more tired, so this was a must.
Declutter and organize.
What better time to do this when 15 inches of snow makes you stranded in your house, right? Especially since spending more time in your house means all your clutter will bother you more. I love coming to a clean room after work, it feels much better than when I get back and there’s piles everywhere.
Sort through digital clutter.
It’s easy to treat your digital clutter differently than real clutter, but once I went through it I spent less time searching for files. Plus, going through e-mails takes less time. It’s a simple fix that does wonders for time and energy.
Opt for healthier snack alternatives.
I love holiday baking, but with all the sugar that must come to an end. I’ve been compromising with recipes that replace sugar with alternatives like honey, and although that is technically still sugar, I end up using less of it. Perhaps you’ve seen this recipe before, and I made it this month for a quick work snack. It tastes great and gives me a nice boost!
Address afternoon and after-work crashes.
I think those energy bites helped me out here, but if not that, I’d usually just settle for a cup of tea. And having a scheduled evening helped me with after-work crashes – it was quite the improvement! A big part of this for me was alerting myself when I was starting to lose energy, and taking necessary action.
FEBRUARY
In January I got started with creating a routine for myself, and in February I’m going to add to my routine. This month’s resolution is mindfulness, because I think this is also something that should be sorted out during winter. I’ve spent my last month focusing on energy and vitality. My resolutions were mainly physical tasks, but what about the mind? It is true that constant negativity and a bogged-down mind can drain you, and I wouldn’t like to lose last month’s progress or let it stall!
Here are this month’s goals to address mindfulness. If you’re looking to address similar resolutions, I hope these goals will be helpful to you!
Daily meditation in the morning.
I will be adding this practice to my morning routine before I get ready for work (and on the weekends as well!). I believe this will put me in the right mindset to tackle my day and let any thoughts that are bothering me to escape me. I’m planning to do more unguided exercises, but will be mixing in some guided exercises as well as further research on meditation so I can become as familiar with the practice as possible.
Daily journaling in the evening.
I’ve already started to do this regularly, but I would like to make this a part of my routine as well. I’ve found that journaling is a great method for self-discovery and it can really help pinpoint where negative feelings originate. It can also help you discover your best qualities and how to use them to your advantage. The last thing I’ll say about journals is that they’re great for expressing gratitude, which is a great way to express positive energy. For February I recently re-incorporated a favorites section into my monthly spread, where I write all the little things about this month that made me happy. I also have my 2018 memories spread, so I can frequently look back at all the experiences that I’m fortunate to have.
Readily dismiss negative thoughts and energy.
When I say dismiss, that may not always be the case. Sometimes dismissing may really mean asking yourself why something is troubling you. For smaller issues, or non-issues, I want to make sure I’m not unnecessarily dwelling on something. This could either mean spinning the issue into something more optimistic, or it could mean changing the subject in my mind.
Have you ever been in a recurring conversation with the same group of people, over something extremely frustrating, that you all just can’t stop bringing it up? Maybe you were even over it until somebody had to bring it up again, and you’re suddenly riled up over it. Maybe you do this in your head too! But it’s time to let these things go. It’s time to let go of all that. And you probably can’t control the flow of conversation, but you can be aware of what’s going on and resist the urge to contribute, and that’s what I’d like to do more of.
I’d also like to let go of thoughts about things I can’t control. On the way to the airport the other day the train was down, so I had to take a bus, and for a moment the bus wasn’t working. From the bus I would have either had to take a cab or take the train at the next station and then a connecting train to the airport. I kept on thinking to myself, what if we miss our flight? But at that point, when we decided to take the cab, everything else was out of my control. So I let go of that thought, and as it turned out, we were still pretty early. I would have wasted so much energy worrying otherwise.
Embrace my feelings without distraction.
When I was stressed in school, I would often do something on my phone while eating because I wanted an escape from the anxious feelings I was having. This did provide a temporary escape, but it didn’t solve my problem. If I really gave myself the time to think about it, I would have realized that some of my nervous feelings were often overplayed. I don’t think escapes like these are the answer and I think eliminating these distractions will be a more effective treatment when I’m not at my best.
Thank you for joining me in my own happiness project! If you’re looking to make some goals towards mindfulness, I hope this inspired you or gave you ideas to get started! How do you embrace mindfulness in your life? Let me know below.
Sincerely,
Julie Anna
